Speeding offence

AdrianC

Bantex wrote: »

I find the thought of drivers who are not even aware of what speed they are doing rather worrying.

If we're talking about thinking you're doing 30 when you're actually doing 55, then - yes.
If we're talking about a smallish range difference, as Joe said, then that's a very different situation.

Joe_Horner

Bantex wrote: »

So you are incapable of judging your speed or keeping an eye on the speedo? Surprised you managed to pass the driving test.

If you actually read my post you'd see that I'm perfectly capable of judging my speed to keep it suitable for the road conditions. Judging it to an exact speed "as a number" is a good party trick (which I can probably do better than you btw) but of no practical use on the road except to those who say "it wasn't my fault because I was under the speed limit". So I don't bother, and use that little extra bit of my brain for observation.

You'll often find me driving well below the posted limit if conditions dictate, and I won't feel impatient doing so. I also don't get impatient if I happen to be behind someone driving the limit when conditions would allow more. I simply hang a little further back because, by religiously "sticking to the numbers", their actual road awareness may be suspect and I don't want to be surprised when they do something stupid but "safe because I wasn't speeding".

kwmlondon

Iceweasel wrote: »

If you want a twisty road with no speed limit you could always try the Nurburgring or even the Isle of Man which is cheaper.

I did the IoM in an Imperzza Turbo. One of the most fun things I've ever done. Thought I was really driving, then got overtaken by an old cover in a Rover 75. Put me in my place, I can tell you!

One day I'll do another track day, and I'll do it on a track-prepared bike and get some proper training. In the meantime I'm totally happy to play the game on the road and stick to the speed limit. Especially when I've got the other half on the pillion - that's a plenty enough to keep me challenged!

Bantex_2

Joe_Horner wrote: »

If you actually read my post you'd see that I'm perfectly capable of judging my speed to keep it suitable for the road conditions. Judging it to an exact speed "as a number" is a good party trick (which I can probably do better than you btw) but of no practical use on the road except to those who say "it wasn't my fault because I was under the speed limit". So I don't bother, and use that little extra bit of my brain for observation.

You'll often find me driving well below the posted limit if conditions dictate, and I won't feel impatient doing so. I also don't get impatient if I happen to be behind someone driving the limit when conditions would allow more. I simply hang a little further back because, by religiously "sticking to the numbers", their actual road awareness may be suspect and I don't want to be surprised when they do something stupid but "safe because I wasn't speeding".

And it stops you getting fined and possibly banned from driving.

brat

Bantex wrote: »

And you base that assumption on what?

Firstly, do you agree that research which says people who get speeding tickets are more crash involved should take account of individual annual mileage for it to have value?

I looked at this Scottish research about 7 or 8 years ago, and, in the absence of individual driver mileage, I also looked at what available data there was that might add value to the above research. Unsurprisingly, there isn't much.

I looked at the age range of those who were likely to get most speeding tickets, which was the 35 to 55 year old male. They were also the group who drove the most miles. They are also the age range of the drivers who enjoy the lowest fatality rate per unit distance travelled. http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/1007/83596.0001.001.pdf pp44-46

So the 35-55 year olds when taken as a group are by far the greatest recipients of tickets and also by far the safest drivers per unit distance. That is not absolute proof of my assertion that speed ticket recipients crash less often, although it's quite a convincing argument. Nor does it mean that increasing speed makes you a safer driver - far from it.

What it does suggest is that speed cameras dish out the greatest majority of their tickets to those from the safest age range of drivers. It also means that a very small percentage of tickets are being received by the age groups who are much more likely to be involved in serious collisions. They are therefore, in my opinion, completely missing the target risk groups.

brat

Bantex wrote: »

I find the thought of drivers who are not even aware of what speed they are doing rather worrying. Weighing up the risk and purposefully going over the limit at least shows a level of concentration.

I don't agree.
I recall coming along an A road dual carriageway at almost twice the speed limit on driver training. My instructor told me not to look at the speedo prior to a right hand bend in the road. I looked, got a bit of a shock at the speed I was doing, and instinctively brought the speed down about 15mph prior to the bend. This put me out of balance for the bend. In other words it put a non-skill parameter into the drive and my smoothness suffered as a consequence. The instructor laughed afterwards and said that it happens every time someone looks at their speedo in that situation.
Reading the road combined with a good driving attitude is far more important in terms of safety than knowing your numerical speed precisely

jimjames

brat wrote: »

Firstly, do you agree that research which says people who get speeding tickets are more crash involved should take account of individual annual mileage for it to have value?

Totally agree.

Much the same as research in Which magazine that shows the least reliable cars are company vehicles yet their inputs take no account of mileage. Hardly surprising that vehicles that travel the most need to have more repairs.

Joe_Horner

Bantex wrote: »

And it stops you getting fined and possibly banned from driving.

Possibly, although only having had 3 points in 30 years or so, and never having lost my licence, it doesn't seem to have had much effect either way for that.

Besides, neither of those factors are direct safety considerations* which is what the discussion has been about.




* Other than, if I lose my licence, that's one demonstrably safe driver off the road which will fractionally increase the UK average fatalities-per-mile-driven figure by removing all my non-fatal miles from the statistics

kwmlondon

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Possibly, although only having had 3 points in 30 years or so, and never having lost my licence, it doesn't seem to have had much effect either way for that.

Besides, neither of those factors are direct safety considerations* which is what the discussion has been about.

* Other than, if I lose my licence, that's one demonstrably safe driver off the road which will fractionally increase the UK average fatalities-per-mile-driven figure by removing all my non-fatal miles from the statistics

I think you're probably a safer driver than many because you are aware of the speed limit and are very conscious of when and where you can transgress it with a very small risk of getting caught. Those who are not so aware of their surroundings and what the risks are of being caught for speeding are likely to be not only less safe generally but also the kind of people who really ought not to be speeding.

Maybe the system works fairly well?

AdrianC

kwmlondon wrote: »

I think you're probably a safer driver than many because you are aware of the speed limit and are very conscious of when and where you can transgress it with a very small risk of getting caught.

But is it taking attention FROM the road and surrounding hazards, and putting it ON prioritising absolute speed-relative-to-limit?

Those who are not so aware of their surroundings and what the risks are of being caught for speeding are likely to be not only less safe generally but also the kind of people who really ought not to be speeding.

Sure. But I'm not convinced that exceeding the speed limit is the most serious offence many of them are committing. DWDC&A, anybody?