Dracoro

The president of the Institute of Advanced Motorists. Surely the role model for all good drivers

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/c...re/4120545.stm

SJ_Skyline

So this is an annual thing eh?

BlkKnight

HAHAHA

Classic

Apparition

Just up the road from us, everyone knows its a speeders nightmare, so either he thought he could get away with it or he's 'tick'. Oh how the mighty fall !
Hi SJ say hi to everyone from us !

Diesel

I think this just proves how sick and idiotic the speeding system is. Lets hope he goes down ridiculing the scameraships and let it be a turning point for these punitive quangos.

D (IAM & 6 points)

Jerome

Maybe the guy can sell his car to buy some new glasses...

Langy

Yup, should've gone to specsavers really

Shouldn't the November 2001 points not count as they would be over three years old now therefore not count?

Jerome

At the time of the offence (August), they would still count. Because a ban was on the cards, it has to go to court and for some reason it has taken several months to get there.

Senior_AP

70 in a 60

Pathetic. Oooooohhh what a f$cking criminal.

Abdabz

Criminal - noun. - One that has committed or been legally convicted of a crime.

Yip thats about the size of it

hedgehog

This would be in keeping with the calculations I discussed recently in "Mathematics Today" where Prof. Rose Baker calculated that your chances of being baned are, basically, random no matter how you drive, unless of course you are like the proportion of people on here who have never ever exceeded a speed limit in their lives.

She calculates that 91% of drivers will be banned in their driving lifetime no matter what they do and the average driver will face a ban once every 15 years. This supports the conclusions of the Canadian Government, who removed speed cameras, that the enforcement was arbitrary and had no safety benefit.

Senior_AP

I'm sure you've never gone above the limit??

Jerome

LOL - how true!

imi

why dont they just stick with safety measures in residential areas, school areas etc and not bother with cameras on the motorways / single and dual carragieways? That would make sense.

bring back police cars on the motorways if they are concerned about dangerous driving.

hedgehog

In truth school areas are the worst place on earth to put a camera as cameras distract motorists and that is the last thing you need in front of a school where kids may be running about.

In a recent case the coroner blamed the speed camera for an accident in which a woman was knocked down and killed and the police accident investigator involved in the case said "Yes, they do tend to divert drivers' attention away from other areas and they concentrate solely on their speed."

I think it is an example of just how many times the government has been repeating the same message that people do honestly believe that there are "good" places for speed cameras. In truth there are no good places for speed cameras as their presence has caused an increase in the number of deaths on our roads.

Jerome

Hedgehog,

If you aren't already, you should be a spokesman for the ABD. I hear nothing but knowledgable and informed comment on all things motoring from you. I gather there will be a vacancy going at the IAM as well...

imi

I dont understand why a speed camera would distract a driver...surely if the speed limit is 20mph you wouldnt be playing russian roullet with the speedometer.

if one doesn't speed, then they dont need to worry about the camera.....right?

If you find a camera distrcting then what about the other road signs....seems like a poor excuse to me.

hedgehog

The first thing is that many people do exceed the posted limit on a regular basis and even those who claim never to exceed the posted limit need to check occasionally to ensure that they are keeping to the limit. I personally will not believe anyone who tells me that they don't check their speedo when they see a camera and the scamers would claim that this is the very object of a camera.

Some research has shown that the average motorist will spend about 5 out of the 8 seconds it takes to cross a given junction checking their speedo. Would you honestly suggest that it would be a good thing if half of all drivers had to wear blindfolds when passing schools?

I believe there is currently some research being undertaken which uses one of these fancy laser head set things which monitors where the attention of a driver is being directed. Now, I haven't seen any of this research and it will take some time before it goes through the peer review process and so on but I am led to believe that it supports what I have detailed above.

The fact is that when an experienced motorist sees a road sign, such as one indicating an approaching junction, they direct their attention to the road ahead, anticipate the hazzard and establish the potential for danger. When a motorists sees a speed camera they direct their attention to their speedo, think of the points already on their licence and worry whether they might lose their job if they get flashed again. They are certainly not looking our for children and the first time they take their eyes off the speedo is to look in the mirror to ensure that there is no flash from the camera.

This isn't an excuse, it is an example of basic human behaviour in the real world for the majority of people.

Dracoro

Even if you are not speeding, upon seeing a camera most drivers would double check the speedo just to 'make sure'. Drivers need to minimise the amount of time they spend looking at instruments in the car and maximise the time looking at the road. Cameras can increase the amount of time doing the former and reduces the time looking at the latter. This can't be a good thing.

As to anyone who claims never the break the speed limit, a small test. Drive for a week in a car that logs speed (like a lorry does) but has no speedo. Then you'll drive to the road conditions. In many cases you'll drive slower but in many cases (esp on the open road, mototrways etc.) you'll drive making decent progress and I'll wager that you'll exceed the speed limit many times.

Lum

IAM always used to exceed the speed limit regularly. In the old days they taught drivers to treat it as a guideline.
It's only fairly recently that they have (for some reason) decided to tow the government line. I bet a lot of their membership isn't too happy about it TBH.

imi

I find that very hard to believe....but nevertheless...I think people should be driving more carefully around schools and residential areas, I have seen too many numpties driving like pure idiots and they are only asking for trouble- and they give the rest of us a bad name.

Not to mention that during the school run the amount of cars stopped in the middle of the road with their hazards on.....we need some vigilant ticketing officers to sort these people out too.

other than that....specs cameras...now they are a real pain, cause youve gotta monitor your speed for about 3/4 of a mile...that I can see as being a major distraction.

Andrew Dixon

Yeah, I wondered about that. I passed my IAM test in '96 and the tester praised my "use of speed" in order to maximise safety when performing an overtaking manoeuvre.

Speed cameras do distract drivers attention .. and the worse possible place to do this is at an accident blackspot. I'd much rather be spending those vital few seconds watching the road than glancing at my speedo.

Speed limits are by their very nature arbitrary. Absolute enforcement by cameras has absolutely no benefit to safety whatsoever. Neither is their any impartial evidence to suggest otherwise.