The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

PasturesNew

Pyxis wrote: »

... I did once get a ticket years and years ago, driving along a dual carriageway I'd used for years, with a 50 mph speed limit, but I hadn't noticed that a very, very short stretch had changed to 40, (and then back to 50 a little bit further along).
So I set the camera off. ...

I'm kind of half sitting in fear that I'll get a ticket for last weekend's driving.... through simply not spotting a sign (as opposed to thinking it unimportant, or I can do what I like, or any other strange thinking of speeders) .... and I won't rest for 2 months until I feel kind of sure that a ticket won't appear!

chris_m

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'm kind of half sitting in fear that I'll get a ticket for last weekend's driving.... through simply not spotting a sign (as opposed to thinking it unimportant, or I can do what I like, or any other strange thinking of speeders) .... and I won't rest for 2 months until I feel kind of sure that a ticket won't appear!

At least it wasn't a pedestrian or cyclist that you simply didn't spot

PasturesNew

chris_m wrote: »

At least it wasn't a pedestrian or cyclist that you simply didn't spot

Most of where I drove was deserted, but there was one tiny hamlet, all wiggly narrow roads, with gazillions of tourists walking aimlessly and gawping in awe at the tourist attraction they were there to see!!

Trouble was, I had to go through that bit about 8x. It was the route to anywhere ... and the route back, no alternatives exist.

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'm kind of half sitting in fear that I'll get a ticket for last weekend's driving.... through simply not spotting a sign (as opposed to thinking it unimportant, or I can do what I like, or any other strange thinking of speeders) .... and I won't rest for 2 months until I feel kind of sure that a ticket won't appear!

I don't know for sure, but I think that as everything's computerised, you'd be likely to hear very quickly.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Jackmydad

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'm kind of half sitting in fear that I'll get a ticket for last weekend's driving.... through simply not spotting a sign (as opposed to thinking it unimportant, or I can do what I like, or any other strange thinking of speeders) .... and I won't rest for 2 months until I feel kind of sure that a ticket won't appear!

If you think about it logically, if you've got a ticket, then you've got one. Nothing you can do now apart from pay the fine / take the points, or do the course if it's offered.
No good worrying about it until you get the paperwork.
I used to worry a bit myself, then I realised that you can only be as careful as reasonably possible.
Like everything else in this country motoring has been spoiled by too many speed cameras, and poor enforcement of the really bad driving which you see every time you go out.
I'm sure that you or I doing 5 mph over the speed limit somewhere would be a lot less dangerous for example than the idiot I saw coming the other way on a country road on Saturday night, driving too fast, with all the front nearside lights out. I thought it was a motorbike for a moment.

PasturesNew

I think the biggest "trap" is when you go through a 30 and then pass out into the countryside ... and it's a LOOOONG way before you reach a 40mph, so you're unsure if you missed it or not .... and the cars are up your 4rse, so you think you must've missed it and they think you're an idiot because it's actually 60mph here.... so you nudge up a bit ... to 31-33 or so .... turn a corner .... and then see, in the distance, a new speed sign!

Round here, roads do seem to randomly change speeds up and down and up and down and up and down, just for simply going past "a row of 3 houses in the middle of nowhere", so it's easy to lose track of what it is "right now", especially because you're winding and wending your way along narrow roads with lots of bends in them and the potential of meeting a bus or tractor coming the other way, or cyclists round the next corner etc..... you kind of concentrate "more on the road" than reading every sign you pass, especially where verges and hedges are overgrown etc. Or you're sweeping round a corner and your eye catches a big sign hammered into the ground of a field "Car Boot Sale Here Sunday ...." while the speed changes and that's on a sign half obscured by an overhanging tree.

Jackmydad

It's the same here. I hate it.

PasturesNew

While I believe I do see all the signs..... can any of us really KNOW and guarantee that on every journey we really did see all the signs.... ?

The modern world, though, wants to catch you "speeding" at 31mph when your speedo is saying 29mph!

Jackmydad

PasturesNew wrote: »

While I believe I do see all the signs..... can any of us really KNOW and guarantee that on every journey we really did see all the signs.... ?

The modern world, though, wants to catch you "speeding" at 31mph when your speedo is saying 29mph!

One thing about it is, is that most car speedos read about 10% slow, deliberately to give some "leeway"
So if you're reading 29mph, you're probably doing nearer 26 in reality.
Don't absolutely bank on it, but every vehicle I've had has been something like that.
Easy to check with the satnav these days.

chris_m

Jackmydad wrote: »

One thing about it is, is that most car speedos read about 10% slow, deliberately to give some "leeway"[/quote[]

Not quite - it's actually to ensure that they definitely don't under-read, which is not permissible under the construction and use regulations.
It's also to allow for variations in tyre pressures and wear, not to mention slightly different size tyres - oops, I did

On a previous car I had, the speedo consistently read 5mph low compared to the satnav. I changed the tyres from 45% profile to 55% to give a little more protection to the wheels on the rough roads up here, then took the car out to clear roads of every speed limit so I could compare it against the satnav again to confirm how the speedo was reading then - it was spot on at all speeds, so I then had to remember not to allow that 5mph leeway that I'd had before