SPEED CAMERAS

Raggie

I tested it yesterday, i could only see a tiny bit of the window over my shoulder.. It also probably depends what car you drive as well

me again.. I would like to add a couple of more thoughts to this question.

Daytona_Nev.. is right (IMHO) regarding looking over your shoulder.. but I too must confess to being a Motorbike tider (of many years).. and the habit of looking over my shoulders when in the car has and never and will leave me.

But for car drivers not used to this, and yes I do drive a lot.. (45K miles in a car last year).. looking over their shoulder can distract them from looking forward.. while maneuvering their body to look in to the "blind spot".. something horrible could have happened in front of them.. (I forget the distance you travel forward.. while checking you blind spot at 70 MPH.. i seem to recall...135meters.. but i look to be corrected on that one)... it is much better to have your mirrors correctly positioned.. and here i look for honesty from all the money savers..

How many people will confess to being able to see the side of their car in their wing mirrors?.. or even in the case of a 4 door car.. the rear door handles..?

have we ever been in a collision with the rear of our own car?

if the side mirrors are correctly adjusted you will not see any of your own car.. but you will gain a dramatically better view of the adjacent lanes.. making that "blind spot".. almost disappear..  to the point that a passing car (or bike) not in your mirrors, Rear or side.. will then be picked up by your peripheral vision.. you should try it.. does feel strange at first .. but live with it for a week.. and you will never go back...

again these are my views.. and I'm no expert.. just think about your safety and the safety of others while driving.. please....

[Deleted User]

I can't see why all the fuss about speed cameras, from either side of the fence. As a tax on motorists it's the only tax on the books that's voluntary, and as a road safety measure, we already have the safest roads in europe.
On the subject of not knowing the speed limit, if you drive directly from the main road to the school near me it's in a 20 limit. If you go to the school from the same main road via my house, it's still in the 30 limit!

Travelqueen

Hi Daytona

Haven't done my test yet, got training scheduled for October though. Luckily my boss bikes to work everyday so is giving me some help with types of bike / clothing etc. I'm not a total novice though, hired bikes in Nepal and Vietnam (where entire families travel by bike). I've seen the accidents, heard the warnings (repeatedly) but the prospect of spending another 6months (I work on contracts) driving for at least 3 hours a day in heavy london traffic sends me into a spin!

With regards to the blind spot thing - I do tend to be extra careful & always check my blind spot just because that's the way I was instructed, also, having ridden pillion a lot & have a father who has been knocked off his cycle (bicycle) a few times you become more cautious, plus, driving a van for work, as I sometimes do, means you are horribly aware of the cr*p visibility in most cars when you get back in... :-/

Anyway, any help with bike choosing will be appreciated (being a shortar*e I'm a bit limited!).. but maybe I'll start a new topic!

TQ

Julian_2-2

I've no objection to speed cameras as long as they have the speed limit ON or very near the camera.

They are by no means just in 30mph areas. When they are on the open road and unmarked, my immediate reaction is to realise I am unwittingly in a 30mph area and slam on my brakes. THAT could have dreadful repercussions!! I actually complained to my Council about one that had been position like that saying it would cause more accidents than it prevented. It was removed not long afterwards.

I do object to them being still in use on 70mph motorways at weekends when their object is to slow traffic down during the week when the men are working on the motorway. Repair men don't work at weekends and cameras should not be in use then - that is misuse of cameras. Weekend traffic is already bad enough – even without the lorries.

16011996

what a good thread.

peterbaker

Peterbaker.... I'll excuse your utter ignorance towards motorcyclists & the causes of motorcycle accidents because its obvious you don't ride one & probably wouldn't have to aptitude anyway.

I only just noticed your utterance from a couple of weeks ago mate.  This part looks like a personal insult. Do you care to take it back?

The vast majority of motorcycle accidents involve no other vehicle & are often due to rider error, road surfaces etc. Of course we only have ourselves to blame in those circumstances ( except for instances such as irresponsible lorry drivers allowing their diesel to spill all over the carriageway )

Yep, first part was right but the part in brackets was lame, wasn't it, because no-one intentionally spills fuel thesedays except terrorists.

You claim that motorcyclists get hit because they take bigger risks. 'Get hit' being the operative term. Its attitudes such as yours which lead to car drivers being apathetic about how much attention they need to pay on roads.

Not sure how you make such a conclusion.

Your second point, we commute faster because we are able to filter up traffic that has come to a standstill.

Yes, a nasty motorcycler's habit causing car drivers to constantly worry about whether the next motorcyclist skimming up the nearside can really manage to stay straight and upright with just 5cm clearance between his handlebars and the wing mirrors of the cars when the cars start moving again.

We don't  ride any faster ( note the term RIDE not drive ) than the cars around us when the traffic is making steady progress, until of course we come to traffic whereby the size & manouvreability of ours machines allows us to make progress.

Oh. Is that so?

Point 3 is laughable,...

No, but your response to Point 2 was, Daytona!

...there's no such thing as a blindspot on a car. The only reason there may be a blindspot when a car driver changes lanes is because they haven't !!!!!! looked. So i can safely assume you never check over your shoulder before changing lanes.

I do hope you don't have a license to drive a car Daytona because what you just said here means you need re-training.

You seem to think that if you hit anyone that happens to be in your 'blindspot' ( i.e. that place you check over your shoulder before changing lanes ) then its automatically their fault.

...ehm, I don't think I seem to think that, Daytona, especially when the only time I check over my shoulder is when I am stationary and intending to move out into moving traffic, because that is the only time it is safe to do so (remember that for your car driving test - you might pass if you do!).

May i suggest you spend a week on a motorcycle, it'll teach you more than you ever thought there was to know about road awareness & planning. But then again..... probably not such a good idea, you probably wouldn't last an hour.

Another side swipe aimed at my persona?  It might interest you to note Daytona that I did consider getting a bike recently so I could reduce a regular two and a half hour car journey, but I think all in all for me, the inconvenience and the risks outweigh the benefits, so I'll probably stick to my stable steel box on four wheels (when I am not using other another type of vehicle which is altogether faster, more exhilarating and more freedom-giving than your bike and my car, in or on which one doesn't tend to drive or ride but more to hurtle inexorably!  You should try That one day - then you'll discover some truths about risks and freedoms.  Until then, stay loose, look where you are going rather than over your shoulder, and then when you have that mastered, look up and wonder!).  

16011996

re the above, sounds like handbags at dawn to me.

robby-01

peterbaker it would seem that you need to get out a bit more.
You have to much time on your hands mate.