Safe Speed Forums

There are situations where it would be good to be able to leave a message for another motorist. For example to tell them their brake lights are out, give an opinion/praise for a well maintained vintage or impressive supercar, or to let someone know they nearly caused an accident by bad driving.
This trial registration plate messaging website provides a hub for leaving messages/pictures, links/videos against a number plate which can be searched and read in future.

If this type of messaging can be made sufficiently useful, what other situations do you think could take advantage of it?

platemessages

Not out to just promote your website then !

There used to be message display 'boards' to show in the rear window with limited messages.
It was not successful however.

I do understand the temptation to communicate with other drivers but there is already the 'unwritten' learnt language that motorists have, usually from direct hand gestures and facial expressions, car positions etc.
I am not convinced that this warrants to be in the 'brainstorming' section, as what you have 'exists' than a concept, but let's explore it a little ...

By providing a message (whether correct or not) at a later point it allows some people to 'blow off steam' whether they have 'correctly' understood a situation or not. Now while this does avoid the issue of 'engaging' at the time, which is potentially highly dangerous, what is actually gained by placing a 'message'.
It will mean that drivers / riders would need to correctly note number plates and perhaps other details too. If there is a motoring situation that needs all their attention, then this might encourage distraction, when they are trying to observe un-necessary 'details', at a crucial moment.
Whilst a passenger might observe some details, it might be at the cost of missing something more crucial too.

When any incident happens on the road there is (in the classic phrase) always two sides to the story. There are many studies that show that witnesses are awful at observation. It would be wrong to encourage motorists to think that they might be right, than to question their beliefs.
Also if someone isn't as skilled, knowledgeable, or of the same ability, or as aware as another motorists, then they might make a very wrong conclusion i.e they overtook on a blind bend.

I would be against the promotion of people's private information, which includes their numberplate, car details and the fact that they might be at a certain location (or a clone car was) on a certain day, and some description detail too. Anyone that wants to be vindictive against another, could have a field day, and who is to say that it is not just all baloney !
So the discussion cannot be taken seriously.

Once a discussion is under-way about an incident, why not keep the info private, but just allow the facts to help promote education and a learning platform.

What might one gain from a compliment from an unknown source ?
It is meaningless, as you have no concept if that comes from a top class motorist, or one with the lowest ability. Any good motorist worth their salt will care little for other's opinions anyway, and many excellent motorists actually are often 'but just a shadow' around others, so do not want to be 'noticed' anyway.
So where will this lead you, or those that contribute to your concept - into liable / slander cases, maybe?

So what might be the positive when someone provides a nice comment about another's capabilities - nice but worthless IMHO.
Even if you played a 'points game', where will that take anyone ? It too is meaningless - why because let's say a traveller takes a long night trip, but only passes 100 vehicles and non of those happen to know about your site, nothing is mentioned.
So a good driver may go totally un-noticed yet might have driven perfectly and handled 2 incidents with exceptional skill. So you are only appealing to a certain sector of motorists that interact at busy times, and wish to mention those experiences publicly.
We become good riders and drivers (road users) because it is in our own self interest to do so, not because we benefit from others recognising the fact.

However discussing incidents (the good & the bad one's) at Safe Speed, without all the personalisation, may help some to improve their knowledge and skill, and with experience, might perhaps improve ability and obtain a greater understanding about how they might become a safer motorist.
I can't see a true gain from any of the personal angle that you propose - do you ?

_________________
Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

Thanks for the welcome and the comprehensive reply. You've clearly thought about many of the aspects around its concept, so I appreciate the time given in your post.

Promotion? I'd prefer to call it creating awareness The concept is far from mature, so in the absence of any other sensible categories to post, I chose this so I hope you don't mind. Plus I didn't want it appearing like spam in a more widely read forum.

Do you mean those digital LED board things that scroll messages? I can't think of anything worse than using/reading those on a busy road. So I'm not surprised they were unsuccessful if not dangerous and probably road rage inducing.

What's gained from posting a belated message? Well it provides a means to communicate with a driver, to "blow steam" as you say or otherwise. I agree the requirement to recall a partial/full licence plate number shouldn't be a distraction to driving/riding, but the service is useful if a passenger or driver/rider can safely note the details, say at standstill.

The topic about the accuracy of information recall is a very deep subject (influencing factors, observer bias, effects of emotion, etc.) so any problems here would apply equally to all aspects of road incident recall, whether it's with reporting to the police or in telling a friend. Any information noted/posted should be treated in the same way, i.e. needs to be corroborated or proved. Even with Wikipedia, you shouldn't and wouldn't accept everything as being 100%.

I would not classify a number plate as private information because it is legally required to be visible on public roads. Noting specific car details, e.g. "red Volvo, scratch on the front right wing with a cat decal on the bumper", is a valid means to identify a vehicle in public so I don't see a problem with that. However, I am against real private details being used, so no names/address/person details are to be stored or associated with a plate. Like all other services, abuse cannot be prevented, but hopefully it will be used by the sensible majority.

Not quite sure about the specific point you are trying to make about keeping discussions about specific incidents private. If I understand correctly you are assuming the site wants to promote discussions about posted incidents. This isn't the case. It's goal is to allow messages to be posted by one road user and to read (eventually) by the intended recipient.

I would disagree that compliments are not always well received. If people buy vanity plates they must be, by some degree, attention seeking. What about customised car enthusiasts? If someone likes the work of another and spots them on the road, this would be one way to get in touch. Roads are used not just for commuting. Some like to travel around for pleasure and may also like to take time to be noticed or notice others.

I agree being good drivers/road users should be in our own self interests and not for recognition. Becoming good drivers/road users requires information/feedback from others, positive or otherwise. Isn't it true that the majority of drivers think they are better than the average driver? Availability of such information would be beneficial. As you so neatly summarised, Safe Speed unarguably provides the broad opportunities to discuss incidents of interest, for generic discussion and learning by all. Plate Messages however provides a means for specific road users to contact each other within certain contexts, so I do see a value in its goals. It doesn't aim to be just a "discussion" forum, to think so would be a misunderstanding.

Anyway, I found your comments useful and look forward to reading more on SS now that I know about it.

Have a happy and safe new year 2011.

I will have to reply to your post later ... as there are many points to discuss.

In the mean time I too wish you and yours a wonderful New Year.

_________________
Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.