Speeding in a thirty limit

[cleanstrike]

My copy of the Highway Code states quite clearly that I can do whatever speed I damn well please ... providing I don't get caught.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

My copy of the Highway Code states quite clearly that I can do whatever speed I damn well please ... providing I don't get caught.

Which would be funny if many didn't actually believe it.

 

[PIng]

During my 30 years of driving I've been caught speeding 3 times, each time I've been doing around 40mph on an empty dual carriageway which for some reason had 30 mph limits. I wasn't deliberately flouting the law - it just seemed to be a natural safe speed for the road. If the local authorities believe that a road needs a 30 mph limit then why build a dual carriageway?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

During my 30 years of driving I've been caught speeding 3 times, each time I've been doing around 40mph on an empty dual carriageway which for some reason had 30 mph limits. I wasn't deliberately flouting the law - it just seemed to be a natural safe speed for the road. If the local authorities believe that a road needs a 30 mph limit then why build a dual carriageway?

Did you know it was 30mph ?

 

[Imurg]

During my 30 years of driving I've been caught speeding 3 times, each time I've been doing around 40mph on an empty dual carriageway which for some reason had 30 mph limits. I wasn't deliberately flouting the law - it just seemed to be a natural safe speed for the road. If the local authorities believe that a road needs a 30 mph limit then why build a dual carriageway?

Maybe due to the weight of traffic at certain times of the day they ned the extra road space but the road still goes through a zone deemed to need a 30 limit.

Long, long ago, far back in the mists of Time, I gave up wondering why roads had a certain speed limit on them. "Far greater minds than ours" have decreed that this road is 30 but that road, which to be fair looks like it should be a 30 but it is in fact a 40....

Speed limits are what they are, they're not generally variable, even though it appears many believe they don't apply on a Sunday morning....

 

[Foxholer]

There is some evidence that speed cameras do cause accidents, not directly at the site but nearby.

A camera can't cause an accident.
If a driver sees a camera and slows suddenly to avoid getting flashed and gets hit up the backside, what's the cause?
The root cause is someone driving too close behind
The secondary cause is speeding.

I have a foot in both camps on this one!

For the 'Cameras cause Accidents' argument
Many motorists instinctively slow down approaching Speed Cameras, whether they are speeding or not. And if the Camera was removed, the traffic would pass by the spot smoothly just as it did the previous several miles. So there is an element of 'Cause' - in the similar way that hazardous objects on the road cause (or don't) accidents.

For the 'Too close/Speed' argument
Yes. Travelling too close is almost certainly the major cause of such collisions. And speed is generally a major factor too.

And for we neutrals...
Speed Cameras are a classic application of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle!

 

[PIng]

Did you know it was 30mph ?

I can't remember for the first 2, but for the one a few weeks ago I'd just turned onto the dual carriageway from a side road and before I knew it I was staring into a police mobile camera. My fault entirely, but some roads are deceptive in that even 40 mph on a dual carriageway seems slow and you end up speeding without realising.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

When people approach a camera and they arent speeding their breaking will be minimal - when approaching it and they are speeding then the breaking will be braking sharper which will possibly cause more problems

Whatever element of cause ban be placed on the camera - the main cause will always be the driver

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I can't remember for the first 2, but for the one a few weeks ago I'd just turned onto the dual carriageway from a side road and before I knew it I was staring into a police mobile camera. My fault entirely, but some roads are deceptive in that even 40 mph on a dual carriageway seems slow and you end up speeding without realising.

There will be signs telling you what speed limit is on the dual carriageway unfortunately - i know its harsh mate.

 

[Ethan]

In the real world people should slow down

Bunching is caused I believe by people speeding then arriving at cars doing the speed limit or slowing down for a reason.

Again accidents will occur at speed camera sites or nearby - because people are speeding and then have to stop suddenly to avoid getting caught

I see it every morning

Bunching is actually described in flow dynamics in physics. Too much of any kind of stuff prevented from moving away (and hence separating out) quickly enough equals bunching. Artificial speed restrictions and/or bottlenecks can do this, or if used properly, can sometimes prevent it. Speeding may or may not be involved. Traffic travelling too slowly can cause it just as much. Have you ever sat behind a lorry doing 54 passing a lorry doing 53 up a long hill? Was there a long queue of traffic doing legal speeds behind.

 

[Imurg]

When people approach a camera and they arent speeding their breaking will be minimal

Although in general I agree there is a camera on the way to Oxford from here in a 50 zone.
There are signs for the 50 close by, a sign just before the camera that clearly says 50 and yet virtually everyone slams on their brakes when they see the camera and goes past it at 40.....for the life of me I can't even begin to imagine what's going on in their heads.
But it's not the camera causing the braking - it's drivers being completely oblivious to what's going on around them.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

The lorries can't go any faster and again that's poor driving

But it's still no excuse for people speeding - people need to be more aware of other motorists

Instead of complaining about speed limits - stick to them

The problem is people aren't aware of others - they are only interested in themselves

It's a mentality that needs to change on the roads

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Although in general I agree there is a camera on the way to Oxford from here in a 50 zone.
There are signs for the 50 close by, a sign just before the camera that clearly says 50 and yet virtually everyone slams on their brakes when they see the camera and goes past it at 40.....for the life of me I can't even begin to imagine what's going on in their heads.
But it's not the camera causing the braking - it's drivers being completely oblivious to what's going on around them.

Yep totally agree - most certainly about a lack of awareness

Think it would great if everyone could do a speed awareness course but prob to impractical

 

[Foxholer]

When people approach a camera and they arent speeding their breaking will be minimal...

I should hope so too. I'm just trying top imagine bits falling off/apart as cars approach a camera! Of course, the 'breaking' could be caused by a speeding driver not braking and colliding with them!

 

[Ethan]

The lorries can't go any faster and again that's poor driving

But it's still no excuse for people speeding - people need to be more aware of other motorists

Instead of complaining about speed limits - stick to them

The problem is people aren't aware of others - they are only interested in themselves

It's a mentality that needs to change on the roads

I think you have made your viewpoint clear through repetition and yet more repetition in more than 30 posts on this thread. But you have ignored all the stuff you can't refute.

The simple fact is that unthinking application of speed limits causes accidents. And stuff other than excessive speed causes accidents too. Including driving that is too slow for the road. That is why some countries have minimum speeds as well. the mentality of 29mph good, 31 mph bad is an example of concrete thinking. Any fule kno it ain't as simple as that.

Sorry if that doesn't figure into your 'just follow the speed limit' mantra. It is a complicated world out there.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I should hope so too. I'm just trying top imagine bits falling off/apart as cars approach a camera! Of course, the 'breaking' could be caused by a speeding driver not braking and colliding with them!

 

[MadAdey]

Been there done that did my speed awareness course because they had me doing 36MPH.

I actually enjoyed the speed awareness course as it put some very interesting points across. The most interesting one was this. The figures are not spot on as I haven't got time to do the maths on it, but I think this is what we where shown on the course regarding the speed that a car is still doing if it brakes a 30MPH speed limit.

At 30MPh it takes 75 feet
At 33MPH after 75 feet the car is still going something like 20MPH
At 35MPH after 75 feet the car is still going about 27MPH

Not spot on but if someone who has the time on their hands would like to do the maths then please feel free. But I think it just goes to show that if you brake the limit you are in more danger of killing someone.

Something that we did on the course was to say the reason we where speeding. When you actually think about it there is no reason to speed, there are only excuses.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I think you have made your viewpoint clear through repetition and yet more repetition in more than 30 posts on this thread. But you have ignored all the stuff you can't refute.

The simple fact is that unthinking application of speed limits causes accidents. And stuff other than excessive speed causes accidents too. Including driving that is too slow for the road. That is why some countries have minimum speeds as well.

Sorry if that doesn't figure into your 'just follow the speed limit' mantra. It is a complicated world out there.

Yes slow drivers cause accidents - poor drivers cause accidents - reckless drivers cause accidents - lack of concentration from drivers causes accidents

Speed limits don't "cause" accidents - drivers application to driving cause accidents

Trying to shift the blame away from drivers won't change things

People will blame speed limits or councils or cameras or "NIMBYs" but the irrefutable fact is the cause is the car and the driver

People have tried to prove others are to blame but it will always come back to take personal responsibility of the vehicle under your control and your own actions

 

[Doon frae Troon]

This is most strange, I find myself agreeing with Phil!!

I always relate speeding to cheating, so don't start greeting when you are caught and have to pay the penalty.
Lack of knowledge of the rules is no excuse in the law.

 

[Ethan]

Yes slow drivers cause accidents - poor drivers cause accidents - reckless drivers cause accidents - lack of concentration from drivers causes accidents

Speed limits don't "cause" accidents - drivers application to driving cause accidents

Trying to shift the blame away from drivers won't change things

People will blame speed limits or councils or cameras or "NIMBYs" but the irrefutable fact is the cause is the car and the driver

People have tried to prove others are to blame but it will always come back to take personal responsibility of the vehicle under your control and your own actions

You just don't get it.

Goodbye.