Safe Speed Forums

British Touring Car Championship (Brill !), Formula one (fast but boring), Super GP Bikes (Dangerous), Drag racing.....

Try this for speed saturation.

Australian Touring Car Championship & The Aussie V8 Supercars, Konica V8's, GT Performance, V8 Brutes (utes), Nations Cup, Formula Ford, Formula 3, Aussie Production cars, Moto GP, Superbikes, Forumla Extreme, Drag racing, WRC & Asia Pacific & local rallys, Aussie Racing Cars, Carrera Cup, Lotus Series, Historic Touring Cup, CANAM, Targo Rally, F1, Le Mans plus all those I can not remember like motorcross, jet boating.......

We have no shortage of local racing here plus international coverage.

Have a look at www.v8supercar.com.au or www.v8racing.com or www.clipsal500.com.au to get an idea of how this whole country is into and influenced by speed. remebr this is the land that gave the word the new GM Pontiac GTO and Holden Monaro with a 300kW 5.8l V8. there is also a 7.2L V8

Is it purely by accident that I live 150m from the gates to the Clipsal 500 track which up to 1995 was also the F1 track and Le Mans circuit.

And we wonder why the road toll is so high, why our kids get killed in high speed crashes and why no one changes their driving habits.

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The more abstract the truth is that you would teach, the more you have to seduce the senses to it. (Nietzche)

Uh, so you're saying we should ban all motor racing because it encourages people to drive fast? You'd be depriving an awful lot of people (including me) of something we find great enjoyment in.

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-mike[F]
Caught in the rush of the crowd, lost in a wall of sound..

there is no harm in motor racing sports provided as the motor racing is kept to the track and not the roads. Speeding on the race track is done under strict rules and safety is of paramount importance. Speeding on the roads is irresponsible although it is something we probably are all guilty of at some time. I guess the truth of the matter is " it will never happen to me" syndrome. Sadly it does happen to some of us. the thing is none of us know when and if it will be us or someone we know. Those of you who say there is such a thing as safe speeding are very misinformed. Even highly trained police drivers still have accidents. The thing we all have to remember is whils't we may be driving safely the next person we meet on the road may not be quite so safe. That is how accidents happen.

The safety of a speed cannot be judged by reference to the speed limit. The safety of a speed can only be judged with reference to the immediate conditions.

Road safety entirely depends on drivers adjusting their speed to the conditions. The safest roads in the world (our motorways) have a very high proportion of "speeding" traffic - in quiet sections you can frequently find 90% of cars exceeding the speed limit.

So I am afraid it is you that is misinformed, or rather, your view is too simplistic.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

True. Track, protective gear, special tyres, emergency crews .. completely different style of driving.




There is OTT speeding - which cannot ever be condoned. Behaviour which is dangerous and completely inappropriate.

And there is the "speeding" which each person does at some point in their journey - and which the scammers target. This is the speeding which criminalises people for for safe driving which is a tadge over a speed limit. This is the speeding which stigmatises innocents with the "dangerous" banner in eyes of insurance companies - and threatens livelihoods once a quarter of licence has been threatened.

Because they know they are assured of receiving the fine money from these people. And both Lancs and Cumbria's talivan twits zap anything that moves on offchance. And not mithered about keeping to guidelines either.

But this is hardly "irresponsible" driving.

For record - not been caught out by one, but know of too many decent drivers who have been. It is not serving interests of justice, and I do see decline in driving standards as direct result of replacing policemen with PC Gatso and PC Talivan Twit. And - have not seen/heard of any significant drop in A&E RTACs - despite their claims to contrary.



Ah! The "what if" scenario. Accidents can happen wherever and for whatever cause - in the home, on the fells, on the golf course, on the funfair, at the seaside .... as well as on the road.

And of course - "it will never happen to me" because we all try to use common sense and avoid as much as possible. The human condition is basically optimistic.





We have different speed limits - on different roads. In Lancs (area I drive through reduces speed limits on safe dual carriageways (with no history) to 30mph and enforce with scamera. Difficult to reconcile that road which was safe to drive on at 40-50mph one week is judged dangerous at those very speeds the next.

It is possible to drive very safely at a fair rate of knots - if you are applying COAST. Majority do, in fact, do this. That is how we avoid the numpties and perceive the hazards more quickly - especially at speed.

Just returned from Germany (medical conferrence there!). Lane discipline, PSL, MSM, and COAST were all very much in evidence. The lackadaisical Brit driver did seem to be much more noticeable once I returned to our roads. Perhaps the increased speed and the deep down knowledge that speed requires deep concentration sharpens reactions. There was no real evidence that this style of driving was extremely dangerous over there. But then again ...... the initial driver training is that much better than ours!

However, we all know the numpties are out there - hence our debate in the "Improve Safety forum" in which we all agree that driver education should be continuous for all - assessed - with grades - on regular basis - with incentives such as reduced insurance premiums for higher grades.