Safe Speed Forums

I've had an interesting concept on speeding in the UK that takes both sides for and against speed limits and cameras. If the Government and Police Force's theory that Speed Kills really is correct, lets look into a hypothetical scenario.

In the not too distant future, the Government and Police Force enforce devices in all vehicles on the roads. John Prescott VIII invents the revolutionary Prescott Slow-o-meter. The device determines the speed limit of the road via GPS and it is impossible to break the limits.
All people would travel to the speed limits set out by the Government and Police Force.
There would be no more need for speed camera's. Accidents on our roads would be dramatically reduced.
Our roads would be a safer place for everyone that uses the public highways.
The UKs roads are the safest in the world.

There have been concepts similar to this before, and this is an ideal world for the Government and Police Force and supporters of the Speed Kills campaign. What are the chances of this making reality Very slim. Why?
Without Speed Camera's there would be no means for the Government and Police Force to cash in on the revenue that your average drivers generate for the Government/Police Force. (£110million+ circa 2003)
The people that have the power to introduce such a system regularly exceed the speed limits and would find it preposterous to drive at such speeds, people in this group includes
i) your average off duty police officer
ii) chauffeurs that drive the fat cats in the Government.
The logistical impact of artifical speed limits on road and business users would cost millions in added time and reduced service.
Overall petrol consumption in the UK, would take a nose dive, resulting in less money the Government generates from elevated tax on petrol.

The reasons are endless for this never making it reality, which just goes to show that even in an ideal world of speed enforcement, the Fat Cats that make the decisions for the general public would never put what they preach into practice.
Opting instead investing in more speed camera's and speed camera technology to ensure they get as much out of the everyday motorist possible.

A key reason why such a thing is very unlikely ever to be implemented is the effect it would have on the car industry, particularly the manufacturers of luxury and sports cars.

If you knew you could never exceed the speed limit by even 1 mph on public roads, the incentive for buying a new BMW or Porsche would be greatly reduced.

The overall impact could cause a Europe-wide recession.

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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

I hope speed limiters do become law, because as soon as they do, that will open up a nice little niche market where it would be quite easy to charge (say) £200 to remove it for people again

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

If speed limiters were introduced then the market for small lightweight cars with phenominal acceleration up to the prescribed limit would appear. There are the electric cars that do 0-60 in about 3 seconds which would give most bikes a run for their money and I can imagine they'd become very popular. Oddly I find driving a powerful quick accelerating car more easy to drive within the speed limit than some asthmatic one. If you lose a few mph in an asthmatic car it takes ages to regain your speed. In a decent car it doesn't so you become more likely to slow down for things as you know you can speed back up briskly. I wonder whether the emphasis on tiny little cars with inadequate performance is actually making road rage and driver frustration worse? If everyone had a car that could whisk them back up to the limit as fast they could really want to go then the feelings of frustration should die down. Also when encountering a dodderer they could whizz past in a heart beat rather than get stuck behind old Mr Flatcap for miles on end.

This is a common perception, but it is a complete myth - the average car is more powerful and accelerates more quickly than it ever has done.

_________________
"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

I'm not so sure of that. When I drive one of the company pool cars (turbo diesel) I find myself sitting forward in the seat pushing on the wheel while overtaking someone doing 50 on a NSL road - so I'm obviously frustrated by the lack of acceleration.
Then again, I'm used to driving high-performance cars.

Cheers
Peter

Well, that's only your perception, and it's generally reckoned that turbo-diesels are much better at mid-range acceleration than equivalent petrols (so long as you get the revs in the power band).

The "average" car today is probably something like a 1.6 Astra or Focus, which will produce about 100 bhp, accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about 11 seconds, and reach a top speed of about 115 mph. The raw performance figures for equivalent diesels are fairly similar.

Thirty years ago the equivalent was probably something like a 1.3 Allegro, which produced about 60 bhp, accelerated from 0 to 60 mph in about 17 seconds, and reached a top speed of about 85 mph.

If your impression is that people are driving more slowly, then it is due to driver attitude rather than the capabilities of their cars.

Even things like Matizes and Picantos are considerably quicker than the 40 bhp 1.0 litre Fiestas and Metros that were commonplace in the early 80s.

_________________
"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

I don't disagree with what you're saying, but i don't believe it's a complete myth either.
I'm always happiest when driving my own car, because I know that I have the power I need to acclelerate rapidly past a slow driver at the earliest safe opportunity, rather than resigning myself to sitting behind them for mile after frustrating mile.

Cheers
Peter

You can all see the stupidity of todays speed limits and how that we are all talking about acceleration past slower drivers, but with the Fantasy Speed limitations, its kinda unrealistic for the Fat Cats to promote sticking to the speed limits.

But if anything, fast accelerating electic cars that are limited to the speed limit are dangerous in their own right. 0-60 in 3 seconds, achieved without being louder than a baby's fart.

IMHO - Its all about money for the Fat Cats!

A couple of weeks ago I did a 1,300 mile round trip to London (and around) in a fundamentally slow car - the first time in years that I'd driven a distance in a vehicle with crap performance. The first few hundred miles were hell. I wondered how I was going to maintain frustration and concentration levels. But I soon settled down and everything became 'normal'. Overtaking came back on the menu, albeit with more planning and fewer opportunities.

Being 'used to' a vehicle seems to be of very fundamental importance. I theorise that one of the pleasures is 'getting the most out of it' whatever it is.

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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

Apart from a small number of obvious "performance" models such as Scoobys, I would say the brio with which a car is driven bears very little relationship to its theoretical performance.

The most reckless piece of open-road overtaking I have witnessed in the past twelve months was done by an elderly Fiesta van

_________________
"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

Ive just been out on the road, and decided to drive at the speed limits on the A2/M2. I was overtaken by every single car. I did not overtake a single car from Canterbury to Dartford.

Think of driving at the speed limit like , only having only the ability to walk when going down a street, only to see that everyone around has the ability to running.

It was frustrating and an effort to make sure 70mph was broken, but funny to see the kind people I would pass on a usual drive.

The funniest thing was looking out to the side to see a Robin Reliant overtake me at over 70mph (it was downhill tho).