Speeding offence

Bantex_2

AdrianC wrote: »

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



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

Any competant driver should be able to do both at the same time. If they are not capable it is best they get taken of the road.

kwmlondon

AdrianC wrote: »

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

I don't think it HAS to. I've not had any difficult monitoring my own speed while also being aware of what's going on around me, it's just part of my driving technique, one of the many things I monitor.

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

While it may not be the most serious offense many bad drivers are committing, my experience (which may be different to yours - we probably notice different things) is that a bad driver going too fast is a more significant risk than one driving badly slowly.

I've also noticed that as people become better drivers they often attenuate their speed and, conversely, go quicker as they don't do that awful full-on, full-off accelerate like hell brake like mad driving and start anticipating and driving defensively.

Joe_Horner

Yeah, the system works, which is why if I speed and get caught I don't !!!!! about it. Regardless of speed, I start every journey with the (conscious) idea that I mustn't have an accident during it. That includes "wasn't my fault" accidents because, if someone else does something stupid I'm far less likely to avoid their mistake if I've already got the excuses lined up.

I've seen a lot of unbelievably stupid driving over the years and, every single time, I've noted it as another possible hazard for the future. So, by now (and amongst others), I do expect to:

Come round a corner and see someone overtaking towards me across double whites.

Have someone come across a hump-back bridge towards me in mid air

Have a tyre blow on a lorry as I'm passing them

Have a wheel come off in the other carriageway and bounce across the central reservation in front of me

Have the car I'm following suddenly swerve off the road, down a bank, then back up sideways into my path

Come round a bend on a dual carriageway, at night, to find a potted Christmas tree sitting in the middle of the lane! That was on the A303 about 2 miles west of Amesbury in around 1990 - the only time I've been shaken enough to stop at the services. Reported it to a patrol car who was in the car park, who was skeptical but went to investigate. He came back with the tree, which he presented to me


Those and many other experiences over the years mean that you'll have to try really really hard by now to surprise me or get me saying "I couldn't have predicted that" on the road

Joe_Horner

kwmlondon wrote: »

[...]they don't do that awful full-on, full-off accelerate like hell brake like mad driving and start anticipating and driving defensively.

Yeah, why do people drive like that? :beer:

AdrianC

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Yeah, why do people drive like that? :beer:

Sheer incompetence. They _cannot_ understand that it's possible to moderate inputs. Same reason as they 50p-piece around constant radius bends.

But it's OK, they're not speeding, and they're not on the phone, so they MUST be driving safely...

kwmlondon

AdrianC wrote: »

Sheer incompetence. They _cannot_ understand that it's possible to moderate inputs. Same reason as they 50p-piece around constant radius bends.

But it's OK, they're not speeding, and they're not on the phone, so they MUST be driving safely...

Yeah, but it's often people who drive like this (may I be allowed a stereotyping generalisation) and say younger, more-testosterone fueled drivers? It's once you stop feeling quite so immortal, when you don't feel the need to "impress" friends in the car that you get a grip.

And, I really, really think that it goes hand-in-hand with speeding. Especially the kind of speeding that is really dangerous. And the kind of speeding that results in points and fines.

I know someone who just passed his test and within a month had lost his license. Good thing. He was a bloody danger to himself and everyone else.

He's had to re-take his test and is a much better driver for it.

And... It will not be long before we all have in-car trackers that will not only monitor speed, but the quality of our driving. Not because of legislation, but because our insurance will be so much cheaper if we accept this. It's starting with high-risk drivers, but it will filter down to the rest of us.

Then you won't have to worry about speed cameras at all any more, they wont' need them!

Joe_Horner

Those'll be the same people who think that, if you're in heavy traffic, it'll move quicker if you all close up to 6 feet from the vehicle ahead I guess?

AdrianC

kwmlondon wrote: »

Yeah, but it's often people who drive like this (may I be allowed a stereotyping generalisation) and say younger, more-testosterone fueled drivers? It's once you stop feeling quite so immortal, when you don't feel the need to "impress" friends in the car that you get a grip.

Actually, no, it isn't. Not IME.

The on-off throttle/brake and 50p-corner drivers are most often the middle-aged or even elderly lowest-mileage drivers. The ones who are sure they're the safest drivers around because they've never broken the speed limit or been in an accident (all those parking bumps don't count, do they?).

I used to work with somebody - in her 50s - who actually left the job she loved when the office moved. Not because it would have been too long a commute. Oh, no. It would have been nearer and quicker for her. Because she would have had to turn right. She didn't like turning right. She would always arrange a route that meant she didn't have to turn right, and if she couldn't...? She wouldn't go. That simple.

THESE are the people who would be incapable of passing a driving test resit, and who are the scariest when you think of how they might react to any given situation out of their comfort zone.

kwmlondon

AdrianC wrote: »

Actually, no, it isn't. Not IME.

The on-off throttle/brake and 50p-corner drivers are most often the middle-aged or even elderly lowest-mileage drivers. The ones who are sure they're the safest drivers around because they've never broken the speed limit or been in an accident (all those parking bumps don't count, do they?).

I used to work with somebody - in her 50s - who actually left the job she loved when the office moved. Not because it would have been too long a commute. Oh, no. It would have been nearer and quicker for her. Because she would have had to turn right. She didn't like turning right. She would always arrange a route that meant she didn't have to turn right, and if she couldn't...? She wouldn't go. That simple.

THESE are the people who would be incapable of passing a driving test resit, and who are the scariest when you think of how they might react to any given situation out of their comfort zone.

Ooh, interesting.

I guess that living in London you just can't get anywhere if you dither, and you've got to be pretty aware just to make any progress. I'm not saying drivers are good, but if if you drive badly you will find yourself in a crashing scenario before very long - you can't go onto auto pilot. So most of the bad driving I see is very aggressive, speeding, cutting up etc.

AdrianC

kwmlondon wrote: »

So most of the bad driving I see is very aggressive, speeding, cutting up etc.

Thank you for that fine demonstration of conflation of "Speed in excess of the limit" with "Inappropriate speed for the conditions".