Safe Speed Forums

However I was lead to believe that 95% of accidents happen with the speed limit. The DfT has published this (was it a year ago)

What you fail to appreciate, we are all (hopefully) human, we make mistakes. We all make errors in judgement. Messing with the speed limits is not going to correct these errors. Do you really think your “boy racers” and “aggressive middle-aged men” (?) are really going to be effected by reducing speed limits, that they probably already ignore?

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If you examine the road casualties in the stats by the DfT, you'll note that while the population has dramatically increased (1949-2005) and the road traffic (vehicles) have also increased dramatically, the amount of deaths and injuries have not increased by anything like the population and vehicles. In fact, they remain fairly static over the last few decades.

It is a bit hard to derive anything from these stats though, because of the large engineering work done to reduce deaths in collisions. Not to mention that the treatment of road casualties is better and faster now. Which is balanced-out by the increase in deaths due to hospital acquired infections (which, I am assured, go down as road deaths)

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Deaths and injuries have in fact dramatically declined over the past 40 years, despite rising population and a massive increase (maybe threefold) in the number of vehicles on the roads. In the 1960s, annual fatalities were over 7000, now they are more like 3200.

However, the rate of decline, particularly in fatalities, has significantly tailed off since the early 1990s. This was always one of the main planks of Paul Smith's argument.

I believe if we had continued the tried and trusted policies that applied until the early 90s - improving roads, sensible and credible road safety messages, and properly targeted enforcement - the annual fatality rate would be much lower now than it actually is.

Instead we got "speed kills", speed cameras and a drastic retrenchment in traffic policing that has allowed all kinds of illegal behaviour to flourish

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

And they engendered a totally unhelpful "Them and us attitude" between the police/courts and drivers.

"You were captured on film driving at 30.9mph. Therefore you are a criminal."

Hasn't helped at all.

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This wouldn't quite square up with at least 65% of people admitting they speed persistantly.

Or perhaps the accidents (hate that word when used alongside vehicluar crashes) "start" occuring when the participant(s) are over the limit, and actually occur under it, because all the parties involved have slowed down by the the time they start mixing it up in a physical way?

I admit that it was a generalisation but it's not a misassumption because I see it happening all the time.

So right away you're trying to find excuses. And what did you have in mind?

But surely it depends on a judgment as to how likely those pedestrians are to suddenly saunter into the road. After all, pedestrians may be encountered on roads with any speed limit.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

No I do appreciate that people make mistakes, but if you make a mistake at a lower speed then generally the outcome is going to be less serious isn't it.



But that's not the point. What I want is the speed limit to be rigourously enforced, whether by average-speed camera or by trafpol. Additionally, by lowering the speed limit whilst rigourously enforcing it you have a double gain if you see what I mean.

And why are you putting "boy racers" in quotes?

Well not on motorways or dual carriageways. But that's not the point. I think you need to ask Big Tone what difference he thinks that having children walking along the road should make. The reason why I changed that to pedestrians is because we all absent-mindedly do things at one time or another.

Hang on! That's not logical! Perhaps the 65% of people who admit they speed "persistently" are not those who are involved in accidents because they drive safely? Had you not considered that possibility?

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1) Sat on a bench on pavement, behind barrier.
2) Stood gazing into shop window
3) Dithering around on edge of pavement like demented Meercats
4) Actually on a bloody Zebra crossing

I was not fining excuses, just realising that just because a driver sees a pedestrian means nowt. It does, as I pointed out, depend what the pedestrians are doing and where they are.

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1) Sat on a bench on pavement, behind barrier.
2) Stood gazing into shop window
3) Dithering around on edge of pavement like demented Meercats
4) Actually on a bloody Zebra crossing

I was not fining excuses, just realising that just because a driver sees a pedestrian means nowt. It does, as I pointed out, depend what the pedestrians are doing and where they are.[/quote]

You forgot -wandering around ,from shop window to kerb, arms flailing, mobile glued to ear ,with no idea of position on pavement ,and seeming as if about to commit hari kari ,or jump under a bus .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

You forgot -wandering around ,from shop window to kerb, arms flailing, mobile glued to ear ,with no idea of position on pavement ,and seeming as if about to commit hari kari ,or jump under a bus . [/quote]

They were covered in general by the meercats!

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What all on here want is for speed limits to be sensible, and sensibly enforced - not merely a revenue-raising exercise.

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the majority of limits are sensible at this time, IMO.

moving off-topic for a minute, have you noticed the number of drivers who ignore zebra crossings these days? the signs of driver impatience and arrogance are growing by the day. in my opinion, CCTV camera enforcement of zebra crossings would be a bloody good idea.

Must have missed that bit on Meercat Manor - but it's a good description - although the expression "Fa** in a trance " seems more applicable to peds on mobile . Perhaps we need a law pertaining to using a mobile on foot ,punishable by mobilsectomy.( spell checker suggests some more painful cures )

And as for the cyclists on mobile - perhaps crossbarsectomy might be appropriate.(removing the crossbar and the equipment needed to have one )

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

http://www.safespeed.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=156087&highlight=pedestrian+motorway#156087

Funny you've totally left car drivers out of that one!

But there already a law for drivers over this.

Not that they all obey it.. I would love to ram Handy phones down some orifice on each occasion someone use them in most rudey fashion.

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