spylon
spylon wrote:
....If there is no compulsion to drive without putting others at risk, just relying on individual judgement to dictate how a person drives how are we going to have safer roads.
For sure - check out
Here and
Here.
I agree engineering and road and traffic management all have their place in Road Safety and Development, but none can better a good motorist applying appropriate judgment and managing risk.
spylon wrote:
...The place to start improvements is the driver, whatever you do to the road its the drivers who decides whether this an accident or not - there will always be a choice (always? yes i think so, blown tyre not withstanding) that could have prevented the incident. So a multi-stage introduction to driving - theory, basic skills (50 hours to achieve automation of gears, brakes etc.), motor way driving (experience of driving at speed) night driving, hazard avoidance. tests and checks as they go.
The results of two hours practice and scrape the test can be seen passing me on twisty country roads at gods know what speed.
Other countries, mostly Scandanavian, pay a bit more attention to driver training. We should do the same.
Were you too watching the repeat of the Top Gear episode that reviewed the Finland and in particular Hakinnan's rallying skills to the test with James May ?
Teaching 'Driving' needs to enable the inexperienced new motorist to apply, good knowledge, skill and ability in typical situations.
Safe Speed call for the removal of all Speed enforcement cameras as they (as our website proved) are nothing to do with road safety and the disadvantages far, far exceed any possible advantages.
We also request the return of well trained Traffic Police (TrafPol) back patrolling the roads - they are about in some areas of the Country still and those areas show little alteration to the Statistics of KSI (Killed & Seriously Injured or PIA - Personal Injury Accidents). Showing that Camera's are not solving a problem.
There is great understanding of how to drive well - there are many good phrases and concepts - one that I often mention is :
Always drive /ride so that you can stop in, the distance that you can see to be clear. Clear is free from all potential and real hazards.
This self corrects all appropriate speeds for conditions, enables the motorist to travel observing the road ahead and act and react accordingly.