Folks,
This is the roll-out of the 'flawed and deadly' speed limit review instigated by Department for Transport.
August 7th 2006:
Quote:
PR341: New speed limit advice: flawed and deadlynews: for immediate release
Initial reaction.
Department for Transport has released today their guidance for setting local
speed limits. Safe Speed called the guidance 'flawed and deadly' because it is
founded on bad science and tends to de skill driving.
* Basing speed limits on average traffic speeds as suggested in the new advice
tends to put around half of all drivers outside the law.
* At the foundation of the new guidance is the idea that reducing speed by 1mph
leads to 5% fewer crashes. The science employed is just plain wrong and the
claimed speed accident relationship does not exist.
* Reduced speed limits, where they are unnecessary, de skill driving, and if
our drivers employ less skill, more of us will die on the roads.
Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign
(
www.safespeed.org.uk) said: "The new guidance is based on faulty foundations
and will ultimately cause road deaths to increase. If we want safer roads we
must look at the psychological factors that underlie crashes. By tending to de
skill driving these proposals will make road safety worse."
"Department for Transport is clearly blinded by its own 'speed kills'
propaganda and is not fit for purpose. It does not understand the process of
safe driving and as such is not competent to devise road safety policy."
<ends>
October 29th 2006
Quote:
PR394: 'Flawed and deadly' speed limit cuts come in for more criticismnews: for immediate release
The Mail on Sunday today reports Police Chief's concerns about crazy new DfT
proposals to ratchet down speed limits all over the country.
Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign
(
www.safespeed.org.uk) said: "For over ten years Department for Transport (DfT)
have been promoting 'speed kills' road safety policies - speed limit cuts,
speed cameras and hundreds of thousands of road humps. It hasn't worked. Road
deaths haven't fallen as expected and we recently learned from the BMJ that
hospitalisations of road crash victims haven't fallen either."
"These policies do not work. They issue millions of fines, but the roads aren't
getting safer. DfT policies tend to de-skill drivers and this has balanced all
the potential gains. The policies are not 'psychologically sound' and do
nothing to improve skills or responsibilities. All the while that we are making
vehicles travel more slowly, drivers are getting worse to balance the potential
gains and to totally offset the gains due to safer vehicles, safer roads and
improved post crash care."
"DfT is not fit for purpose. It does not understand the psychological
foundations of road safety and is doing great damage to road safety with the
wrong policies."
<ends>
Notes for editors
=================
Earlier Safe Speed PRs on the exact subject:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SafeSpeedPR/message/199http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SafeSpeedPR/message/196
We really should be organising 'local resistance' to place objections to these misguided speed limit reductions. Does anyone want to deveop and co-ordinate? I cannot possibly...
Also bear in mind that these speed limit cuts are intended to dovetail with the roll-out of ISA.
We have to stop the bastards before it's too late if we possibly can... They are trying to kill us with their misplaced kindness.