Safe Speed Forums

so, as a brief summary [of the whole of this site and this comment from Rewolf] having something at 600 degrees a few inches from your face DOESN'T interfere with driving, but being aware of your speed and the speed limit DOES? Have I got this correct?

As an ex smoker who has at various times

dropped a lit cigarette in my lap
flicked a cigarette out of a window for it to be blown back into the back seat
blinded myself with a lighter when sparking up in the dark

I think the occasional glance at the speedo represents far less of a 'clear and present danger'!

To quote another comment from this thread:

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COAST Not just somewhere to keep a beach.

A young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

I notice the LBC spend £3,000,000 on keeping Luton clean & tidy. I would hazard a guess that most of this money (as with most councils) goes on removing rubbish from fly tippers, rubbish left by travellers, graffiti, chewing gum etc, things worth doing something about. Do the council pursue these people - no because they’re not traceable and even if they did catch up with them they wouldn’t get anything out of them. As already said the motorist is seen as an easy target because they know where to get hold of them (or most).

If the council official was so concerned why didn’t he stop the lady himself and say something about it, instead of simply reporting her and making such a big issue. Since he didn’t stop her, how does he know it was a cigarette end she chucked out of the window?

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

You're rather missing the point, Handy.
Nobody says that there's anything wrong with the occasional glance at the speedo - the big problem is the system, which is engendering a new generation of drivers who drive to their speedos rather than to the road ahead, with their minds focused on their speed rather than on the task of driving, who, in a nutshell, drive by numbers.

And, just for the record, a glance at the speedo can be dangerous if done at the wrong time - it's only by experience that we learn when it's safe to take our eyes off the road and when it's not.

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Only when ideology, prejudice and dogma are set aside does the truth emerge - Kepler

Thanks for that link FJSRiDER, pretty much says what I read into the article.

Sometimes some members of this board are exceptionally quick to jump to the conclusions that they wish to read into stories.

Actually, rather than ranting about the iniquity of being fined for littering, I'd have expected a group of people whose common link is a concern for safety on our roads to be pointing out that having children throwing Wotsits around in a car, followed by the driver finding the Wotsit, opening the window and throwing it out, is a far bigger risk to road safety than a £75 fine.

IMHO it does SafeSpeed no favours to have all this persecution ranting on it's forums.

You won't be saying that when they come after you for dropping a crumb from a sandwich.

They admit she was wrongly fined for dropping a cigarette end. Now it has emerged they took this action on the basis of and incorrect assumption not backed up by evidence, they are trying to rationalise it away:

I rather think that IS the point! Being aware of your speed does not require constant attention to the dial (or perhaps, should not).

the system includes driver education, and we can all (I think?) agree that education at the moment is not as good as perhaps it could be - in this case specifically educating people to be aware of the 'non-dial' clues to the changes in velocity?

But I agree with your point.

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COAST Not just somewhere to keep a beach.

A young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

Not wishing to start a bunfight (it's the wrong forum anyway) but why's it so necessary to always be aware of your speed? (other than for reasons of licence preservation)

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Only when ideology, prejudice and dogma are set aside does the truth emerge - Kepler

if you wish to remain legal?

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COAST Not just somewhere to keep a beach.

A young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

Not in the link they don't!

And here I was thinking it was all about safety. Silly me!

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Only when ideology, prejudice and dogma are set aside does the truth emerge - Kepler

so are you suggesting that it is NOT possible to stay both legal and safe?

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COAST Not just somewhere to keep a beach.

A young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

Nothing of the sort. But you appear to be suggesting that 'legal' and 'safe' are synonymous.
I'll rephrase the question - why is it so important, from a safety point of view, to constantly be aware of your speed within narrow limits?

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Only when ideology, prejudice and dogma are set aside does the truth emerge - Kepler

Or "a wotsit -wots that"

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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

Yes, well done.

Clumsy - I hope you drive better and safer than how you used to smoke!

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Pecunia Prius Equitas et Salus

And there we have it, Ladies and Gentlemen! Preservation of legality is the prime directive of the motorist today!

Don't worry about your driving environment, road conditions or other road users - you just keep your 'baby-blues' fixed on that speedo and all will be hunky-dory!
And while you're at it, pack in smoking and take up chewing tobacco - then you can add some colour to the glistening streaks of gob that mark the passage of cyclists...

FFS!

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Aquila



Licat volare si super tergum aquila volat...

100% legal, at all times with no error, ever? No it is NOT possible. The degree of vigilance required to the task of remaining legal is far too great and must reduce safety.

On the other hand, if the objective is to remain legal 'normally' or perhaps 'nominally' then I don't see much of a problem in normal driving. But even here I have serious concerns that we're operating wih a sub-optimal set of priorities.

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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

Yep, even the Ayatollah of speeding himself Mr Brunstrom can't do it.



To remain nominally legal should be the aim of every driver IMHO, and I ain't gonna change that. Of course it then becomes a subjective matter of opinion as to whereabouts one crosses over between 'playing the game' and 'taking the piss'; if you choose to do the latter - and I have don't get me wrong - then it should be a police officer that decides, not some clicky, flashy thing.

And surely, that is the nub of the matter? It's the 'spirit of the law' that should be applied...

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Pecunia Prius Equitas et Salus