Safe Speed Forums

Many don't slow down enough (or even at all), case in point motorway pile ups in fog.


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The off topic posts have been split from this post.

Which happen how often?

The rarity of such incidents suggests that the vast majority do slow down in time.

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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

Quite often, I'm sure we only hear about the big ones, but even they happen a few times a year.

Of course, in Germany they're far more efficient at it!




http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... jured.html

Another failed argument: always the 'speed', never with anything else

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

Quoting examples doesn't change the fact that statistically motorways are the safest type of roads.

Yes, because typically there are no hazards on them.

Introduce a hazard to a motorway though and you've suddenly got a very dangerous situation that often results in a crash, and they normally involve multiple vehicles.

That has never been discounted - they're still the safest type of road!

What about Peter's earlier point regarding the rate of occurrence?

Let's get to the nub of this latest 'issue' (I've given up splitting):


Clearly motorways are the fastest roads. They're also the safest.
Does this not show that other factors besides 'speed' are at play, and that these other factors are dominant?

Are we better off making roads safer, or slower?
The answer is obvious, but I have that funny feeling it won't be to someone.....

Let's go back further:

I don’t buy your response. Fatigue is the obvious confounding issue (stimulation and journey time).

How are the groups represented in crash stats:
Per unit distance driven, are those who go faster represented more in crashes than those who go slower? You will have to prove this for your claim to stick.

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

No hazards on motroways...like other cars you mean or don't you count other cars as potential hazards and in that case, what exactly do you class as a "hazard"?

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

The other cars are typically moving at a very similar speed in the same direction.

When they don't however there are often problems. I regularly see the results of rear enders for instance, and I imagine junctions are a hotspot for motorway crashes, I certainly see some crazy driving near them as people swing across three or four lanes, or travel down the outside of a line of traffic at 70 - 100 mph.

It's you with the logical fallacy; implicitly asserting that motorways are our safest roads because they are our fastest.

As a thought experiment imagine the speed limit on motorways was 30 mph and everybody adhered to this; they would be safer still.

Well, I think it's a better idea to make our drivers safer.

Similarly I could ask you for proof that faster drivers are represented in less crashes than those that go slower.

What's this weepej? Have you changed your mind now and decided that there ARE hazards on motorways after all???

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

No, in reality there would be massive pile ups caused by tiredness and frustration but I wouldn't expect you to know why!

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

And how would you achieve this?

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

More stringent initial testing, retesting, strict liability law, more severe punishments for transgressions.

30mph pileups!?

Remember in our thought experiment nobody speeds.

Oh, lot's of 30MPH pileups make it a safe road eh? Obviously no one can get killed or hurt at 30MPH, right?

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

I never said there were no hazards on motorways, I said typically there are no hazards; you don't have t junctions, cross junctions, pedestrians, sudden road works (without being coned off for miles in advance), hump backed bridges, sharp turns, very bad road surfaces etc....

At what speed would you rather have somebody drive into the back of you, 10mph having slowed down from 30, or 50 mph having slowed down from 70?

Now, both could kill you, but statistically you're going to survive the former more often.