Safe Speed Forums

Now this is really sad, today I find on the BBC news site that a group of friends returning from a stag do have died in a motorway smash, the sad thing about it, speed of the truck that caused the collision was just 19MPH! - for the ones that have just thought they must have been speeding or drunk, don't... they was on the back of a tow truck having broken down earlier on....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7339624.stm

Yet if you get enough accidents like those in the same place then the "speed kills" brigade will still say "Right, better reduce the speed limit and put some cameras in[, because it's just obvious that that will reduce accidents, and even if it doesn't then it can't make things any worse]". They're so convinced of the bit in the square brackets that they don't even bother saying it; they can't even see what a huge assumption it is, let alone how incorrect it is. Incredible that they're still saying that sort of thing after all these years, when it's so obvious to anyone with an open mind who knows anything about real road safety that it's proven to be the wrong approach.

Whenever I need to remind myself of just how misguided some people can be, I just have to think of those who continue to support cameras (or at least those who actually think they work, as opposed to those who just pretend). It's one of the most blatant examples of widespread human idiocy that we've had in the last couple of decades. Cameras will go down in history as an embarrassment to the human race (as well as a massive waste of lives).

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Paul Smith: a legend.

"The freedom provided by the motor vehicle is not universally applauded, however: there are those who resent the loss of state control over individual choice that the car represents. Such people rarely admit their prejudices openly; instead, they make false or exaggerated claims about the adverse effects of road transport in order to justify calls for higher taxation or restrictions on mobility." (Conservative Way Forward: Stop The War Against Drivers)

Given that suicides from overbridges were included in the road death stats to justify the cameras on the M4, nothing surprises me any more...

Folks,

Speed doesn't kill; a badly driven motor vehicle kills. Sometimes speed, in the hands of a skilled and aware driver, can save lives.

C.

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More rules and regulations please! (Not)

True, and apart from the obvious one as well. Last summer I had to rush my then-girlfriend to hospital, she was suffering from depression and had taken an overdose. If I'd stuck to 70mph between Bridgwater and Taunton (M5 J23-J25, 11pm) she might not still be around.

Those occasions are rare - but more common in the "speed saves" examples are where a quick burst of acceleration WILL get you out of trouble, braking for example may not give you enough space. For example someone pulls out of a side road without looking and is directly in your path, 4-5 car lengths, you're doing 60mph (NSL single carriageway).

Do you:

1. Brake, not have enough room and plough into them?

2. Having already observed that you're on a straight road and there's nothing coming the other way, accelerate hard (dropping a gear if needs be) and go around them?

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Magistrates rule #1: "Never let justice get in the way of a conviction."

Bigger problem being ignored by the government is foreign HGV's ignoring tachograph rules in the UK and being able to get away with it until a serious accident happens, leading to accidents like this.

Is it legal for people to occupy a vehicle on the back of a tow truck? This doesn't seem to be safe at all.

I believe all 7 were in the extended cab of the recovery truck, the rest were taken in an mpv that the AA had sent.

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

Using the same logic:

For those saying that guns kill...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lanc ... 337521.stm


Some accidents are not caused by speed in excess of the limit. This does not mean that no accidents are caused by speed in excess of the limit.

What a terrible shame, I really feel for those guys The worst thing is, there would be nothing they could have done about it whatsoever. I guess you can't see the drivers face in their mirror in a left hand drive vehicle so they would have had no clues that he was nodding off.

In case there's anyone left who didn't see my previous warnings about thewurzel, they're here and here. My advice, which you are free to ignore along with the rest of my ramblings , is not to bother with him as he has been trolling on other sites for a while.

For anyone who's getting fed up with these warnings (other than the troll himself), I apologise, and I'll stop giving them once I'm sure that pretty much everyone has seen them.

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Paul Smith: a legend.

"The freedom provided by the motor vehicle is not universally applauded, however: there are those who resent the loss of state control over individual choice that the car represents. Such people rarely admit their prejudices openly; instead, they make false or exaggerated claims about the adverse effects of road transport in order to justify calls for higher taxation or restrictions on mobility." (Conservative Way Forward: Stop The War Against Drivers)

Am I missing something? This was a kinfe attack wasn't it?

Still, I completely agree with you. There are lots of guns around the country. Very occasionally, someone might get killed by someone else misusing one. Slightly more common, is someone getting killed by someone using one correctly (but illegally). The vast majority of the time, however, guns get used and nobody gets hurt. (Much like speeding cars really)!

Surely you have something better to do than following me around trolling the posts I make trying to take the threads off topic?

Go outside, go for a drive, the world is bigger than an internet forum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_on_shoulder

No, you got the point I was making

Thewurzel: YOU could go out for a drive and take your two chips with you. Maybe you could take up a hobby other than annoying people with puerile comments and NVR posts on message boards?

(NVR = Not Very Relevant)

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www.thatsnews.org.uk / www.thatsnews.blogspot.com / http://thatsmotoring.blogspot.com/

It was reported that the lorry was seen veering from lane-to-lane, speeding up and then quickly slowing down, and then speeding up and slowing down.

And what the the damn Daily Mail do? Harp on about the fact that cannabis had been found in the body of the Recovery Driver, even though the forensic scientist said that it could not have caused any problem with the driver as the amount was too small to have had any impact on his driving!

Bloody Daily Mail!

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www.thatsnews.org.uk / www.thatsnews.blogspot.com / http://thatsmotoring.blogspot.com/

Here's hoping. From his latest posts on PH it's looking like he may be an SCP employee, which would explain the fact that he supports cameras despite not having a clue about the figures etc. "Vested interest" is the only explanation for that fact other than "anti-motorist" that makes any sense to me.

Since he hasn't so far admitted to either, I'll ask him the same question that I asked him (and haven't had an answer to) on PH. Wurzel, how can you know, and why would you assume, that cameras make the roads safer when you have shown that you don't remotely understand the statistics or the other science?

(We're unlikely to get a straight answer, but the very presence of the question, and the unwillingness to answer it properly, should tell everyone what they need to know.)

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Paul Smith: a legend.

"The freedom provided by the motor vehicle is not universally applauded, however: there are those who resent the loss of state control over individual choice that the car represents. Such people rarely admit their prejudices openly; instead, they make false or exaggerated claims about the adverse effects of road transport in order to justify calls for higher taxation or restrictions on mobility." (Conservative Way Forward: Stop The War Against Drivers)