Safe Speed Forums

Another classic, "oooo you're saying speed is dangerous therefore you want us all to drive at 5mph" argument there then.

I'm not.

I think the posted maximum speed limit is too high in lots of places, 30mph on high streets with crossings for example, but I don't think we should all be going around at 5mph and no more, unless you're driving through a crowd of people, but of course even then it might be safe to stop altogether.

I reckon 80% of people need to slow down by a good 30%.

So, you can't reconcile......

Anyway,

One would think that, all else being equal, roads with crossing features would be the safest of all....

I reckon 30mph is a good boundary between driver and pedestrian responsibility where tarmac is used for getting from A to B. Tarmac potentially used for playing/socialising could well be more suited with a 20 limit. We can't make all roads (except motorways) a 20 limit because pedestrians want to use them.


Assuming if so, so it is about attitude?

Really? Tell that to the idiot in L3 of a busy motorway travelling at 30mph with traffic swerving around him.

And do you really think that 60mph on a quiet motorway is 'hairier' than 40mph in a narrow village high street?

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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

Based on what, exactly?

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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

Based on weepej's opinion. And, as David Coulthard once said, "Opionions are like arseholes - everyone has one (but some of them stink)".

Well, the people that are undertaking him and swerving are idiots too in that situation.

He's hardly going to pull over if people are shooting up the inside of him at 60mph.



No I don't, I didn't suggest that.

Motorways are different, pedestrains are forbidden and they are designed to allow higher speeds (although I don't think people should ever assume they won't encounter people on them).

Of course, if your wheel falls off, or you drive into the barrier the consequeneces are still going to be most likely worse the faster you go.

I don't quite get what you're asking.

Maneuvering a one tonne vehicle (any vehicle actually) at any speed is never safe, it should be done with great care, consideration and attention, simply because the situation has great potential for calamity.

Just a gut feeling.

In other words "blind faith". You my friend are not of this world.

Its everyone else fault in your motorway situation because some twerps doing UNDER the the travelling speed everyone else is using.
Its the fault of speed cos some idiot decided to take a manouver without having as full a picture as possible, and its your "gut instinct" that eveyone should slow down.

I wont debate with a blinkered fool.

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"Safety" Scamera Partnerships;
Profitting from death and misery since 1993.

Believe nothing- Question everything.

And why's he doing 30 in L3?

He might not be a twerp.

Its such a rare situation that there's bound to be something wrong, so undertaking somebody doing this at speed is about the worst thing to be doing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fNyU5ZtGfE

Why is it the worst thing to be doing? So you expect everyone in lane 1 & 2 to suddenly brake hard and slow down to 30mph. Also if you pause the short video it looks to me like the car in lane three was actually stationary when the other car hit it.

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

But the fact remains that your point is proven wrong. In the example, going slow was very hairy indeed.



I'm afraid you did. You said:



And it's JUST NOT TRUE.

You need to build in proper and necessary qualifications.

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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

Not necessarily. The key to this issue is use of hazard lights.
A true story, not exaggerated to fit:
I once had my immobiliser activate, without warning, when I was in L3 of the M3. We were all slowing down at the time (well it was rush hour) so I didn't immediately notice, so at the time I didn't quite know what was going on (I tried a push start, then the starter - which gave it away) so I did lose some speed. Use of hazard lights, judicious positioning (a toot wasn’t necessary but I was ready to use it) cleared me a path to the hard shoulder before I rolled to a halt.



I was asking for you to reconcile two of your posts as they seemed to me to be contradictory.


So it is about attitude. I say that because I highlighted another IMO apparent contradiction: "You don't need to have an attitude to use inapproriate speed in a car..."

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

The problem in that situation is that the warning triangle was not deployed. Had it have been the crash likely would not have occured, that's why they exist and the keeping of them in vehicles is mandatory.

It is stationary, but serves as an example that maintaining speed and undertaking when approaching a slow moving or stationary vehicle in L3 is probably not a good idea.

You were lucky; you didn't have to deal with some idiot who wanted to maintain their speed whilst trying to undertake you.

I suspect if not everybody had been slowing down anyway that would have been a good deal more scary, certainly if you had neglected to tun on the hazards.

Not sure it is, and I'm certainly sure its not a good idea to attempt to deploy one on a motorway.

Highway code says.

274.

put a warning triangle on the road at least 45 metres (147 feet) behind your broken-down vehicle on the same side of the road, or use other permitted warning devices if you have them. Always take great care when placing or retrieving them, but never use them on motorways

Well, I never. Thanks for pointing that out.
I'm not sure I would agree with it. IMO if one is capable of crossing 3 lanes of motorway then one should be able to also run down the central reservation and place a warning triangle (obviously that wouldn't apply if broken down in L2 of 3).



No, I wasn't. I made it very clear to other drivers that I needed a path and that I was going to take it. I think it fair to say that I would rather take my chance with someone insistent on undertaking than remaining stationary in L3 for any amount of time.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

u get used to the multi angled assassination

weepej

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now retired

There was some good research into why patrol cars get hit when stopped on motorways despite having lights and high vis (done by TRL internal only). The conclusion was that people cannot identify a vehicle that is parallel to the road as stopped. Subsequently they carried out a pilot of getting cars to stop at an angle. This reduced the collision rate by something like 200%

When I stop on the hard shoulder I park at an angle as best I can. I also stop at an angle when turning right when I can on my bike as this helps to reinforce the view of a stopped vehicle (and means both front and back indicators are likely to be visible).