Nimbus

I don't know if anyone read this article in the Times2 yesterday, but I found it refreshingly balanced on the issues of speeding and driving in general. A reporter spent a day with the West Yorkshire traffic police.

Some notable excepts...

1.
So determinedly do we set about breaking the 70mph limit every time we are let loose on a motorway that, until last week, the Home Office was considering imposing an automatic ban for a year on anyone caught driving at more than 85mph.

The Government backed down after motoring organisations protested that the plan amounted to persecution of the driver and would take half the population off the road. But it has promised that something will be done to curb speed and reduce road accidents, which claim 3,500 lives a year. The Conservatives, meanwhile, want to raise the limit to 80mph, ensuring that motoring will be a likely general election issue.


2.
...drivers concentrating intently on punching numbers into their mobile phones while in charge of a a ton of metal travelling at 80mph; a man blithely towing a trailer without a registration plate in the outside lane — which is an offence. PC Crossley says that, in his view, most accidents are caused by vehicles travelling too close together.


3.
“I like to be able to sleep easy at night,” says PC Crossley. “I don’t see this job as just notching up summonses and taking licences away. We like to think that there is an educational role — that as people get back in their cars they feel they have learnt a lesson. We tend to meet Middle England on the motorway, ordinary people who are not habitual lawbreakers. We use our discretion where we feel someone is not a dangerous driver but just someone who needs a warning.”

Most police officers privately admit that 70mph is unrealistically low for a motorway limit and don’t generally stop anybody travelling at 85mph or less. Officers to whom I have spoken in other forces have described the notion of an automatic ban for 85mph as “unworkable lunacy”. “We would be nicking every other person on the road,” says an officer with Staffordshire police.


4.
Men speed about four times more often than women, but, surprisingly, it is not those in sports cars who tend to be the main offenders. “The people who speed the most are the Audi/BMW brigade, businessmen with places to go and deadlines to meet,” says PC Lewis. “They are usually driving company cars and not paying for petrol.”


5.
As the police say, general standards of driving can be abysmal. This incompetence surely puts us in just as much mortal danger as speed.

For the full article go to;

Gussie Cup

"As the police say, general standards of driving can be abysmal. This incompetence surely puts us in just as much mortal danger as speed."

I'm still amazed on a daily basis by the level of incompetence and lack of awareness by some drivers - I can't believe that some of these people have actually passed a driving test.

Tempted to rant on but I'll leave it there

Nimbus

Hi Gussie,

I agree. It's the driver lack of awareness for other road users that the biggest problem..

PS. Can you do me a copy of your Bruntingthorpe tape...?

adamp

Glad to see someone backing up something that I have long preached, namely sports car drivers are not the main offenders but the Audi/BMW brigade. When will insurers etc. realise that we have to play by the rules most of the time, I mean what's the more obvious speeding target, a dark blue BMW 318i or a Sonic Blue 22B?

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

>>“unworkable lunacy”. “We would be nicking every other person on the road,” says an officer with Staffordshire police.

Its workable, its called speed cameras....

Justin

boomer

Just started reading the section, and straight away i spotted the following quote from a SAAB driver caught doing 101.3mph, which was ...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>“Was I?” says Silk Tie, aghast. “I’m surprised, because I definitely set my cruise control for 96.”<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

.. as far as i am concerned, 96mph is not actually dangerous, but to set your cruise control (and thus turn off brain) at this sort of speed is madness

The article does give some potential hope, as most "sensible bodies" in it do seem to have the right attitude to the cause of road "accidents" (apart from HMG that is )

mb

boomer

Just read the whole article, and "big up, respect" - to use the younger persons accolates!!!

Now all that we have to do is convince the Gatsos and Safety Vans!!!!

mb

Gary Foster

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by boomer:
<B>but to set your cruise control (and thus turn off brain) at this sort of speed is madness
[/quote]

I have to admit to doing this - well I <B>would</B> do if I ever drove at more than 70Mph)

Why would you think this makes you concentrate less ?

If I have cruise on, I am not constantly staring at my Speedo and can concentrate on the road instead. In addition my right foot stays covering the brake .. I would say this would be safer no ?

I haven't personally felt myself concentrate less whilst using cruise.

Gary

jsh

I currently travel about 50,000 miles per year for my job, I dont have a bmw or audi but i do have a merc, and the main cause of problems on the motorways is incompetence and lack of awareness and NOT speed.

Lorry drives just pulling out into the middle lane with little or no indication and complete disregard for other road users, people just sitting in the middle lane when they should pull over and there are many more. Let us have less cameras on major road routes and more in built up areas near schools etc, and let the police use their discretion, which generally is pretty damn good

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

I have to agree and say that the average driving standard in England is absolutly crap! I am not the world's best driver by any means and normally am fairly over the limits on decent roads, but always indicate, keep my distance and never ever bully people off of the road. All people need to do is be more AWARE on the roads and try to use some common curtousy (spelling?). Far too many people on the roads drive like complete prats. I have to agree that people with decent, real high-performance cars feel less of a need to prove anything on the roads, but know how to handle the roads, their cars, other drivers around them and take out the occasional punk! What does make me larf is all of the Merc Sprinter vans on the motorways that think they own the fast lane.
Get that tank back in the mediocre lane, where it belongs.....

boomer

Gary,

Why _do_ it (CC at 90+) unless you want to concentrate less? Call me old fashioned, but motorway driving at ANY speed takes an amount of concentration. Unless your are in America (or driving a train) you do need to look ahead - and the SAAB driver did miss a (n unmarked) car off the carriageway. Unfair, maybe, but he missed it! What else would he miss?

mb

Gary Foster

I use CC for

1) Stopping my speed *creeping* up (especially up and down inclines)
2) Stopping my right ankle from 'falling asleep' after an hour or so's constant speed driving

It's nothing to do with attempting to get a bit of kip whilst commuting to work All CC does is stops you having to keep constant pressure on the right pedal .. you still have to steer, check the road, mirrors, etc etc as normal.

You might be right, I'm just not convinced

Gary Foster

I'll tell you what you guys, it's a damn good job you lot are such safe drivers as I'm a complete bloody pratt on country roads. Scare myself silly everyday (and not at legal speeds)

The sooner they lock me up the better I say.

(Ps I don't *ever* speed in 30/40/50 or Motorways - though mainly through fear of the speedcamera in the latter case)

MrWood

I say everyone should retake a driving examination every 5 years!
This would really help to sort the discourteous, dangerous drivers with their bad driving habbits.
This would no doubt filter some of the nissan/honda driving oap's off the streets too! (If you know what i mean)

Merc Sprinters are a serious pain on the motorways aswell! (White ones!)

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

Mr Wood, I didnt know they came in white. I only ever see the grey/brown models with 'cleaned by Stevie Wonder / Waxed by Ray Charles' on them

MrWood

Ha! Ha! Ha!

So True!

Scruff

If you guys think you have **** drivers over there you should try driving on the roads in Ireland. Most cars don't come with standard equipment such as indicators, brake lights,speedometers or rear view mirrors, oh and sometimes steering wheels. Anyone over the age of 18 who applies for a provisional driving licence can drive anything they can afford. The Police are supposed to stop them if they don't have an experienced driver beside them at all times, do they , do they what,....NO. Also L plates are supposed to be displayed, are they .....NO. We have two lanes over here, the fast lane and the faster lane. By the way can anyone beat this, down the road from where I live is a stretch of road about 2.5 miles long and there is 13 sets of traffic lights on it?

Alan

[This message has been edited by Scruff (edited 27 February 2001).]

nevr

Put yourself in the Police Officers shoes,which is easier, giving a fixed penalty for speeding , easily proved very few argue against it, or all the paperwork required for a dengerous driving, very difficult to prove even harder to prosecute, remember lots of forces now have Performance Indicators that officers must reach to keep a job on the traffic department