I am a wanted man

[LimitedSlip]

Should I feel riddled with guilt and remorse or should I feel aggrieved?

AGGRIEVED.

This is long past the common sense stage and has become ridiculously unconscionable and punitive. So you did 35mph... and precisely who or what is any the worse for it?




(p.s. and I'm not inviting replies from the "what if" repeaters).

 

[oldcro]

Just a quote from ROSPA to make Spike feel a little better.

Approximately two-thirds of all crashes in which people are killed or injured happen on roads with a speed limit of 30 mph or less. At 35 mph a driver is twice as likely to kill someone as they are at 30 mph.

Studies have shown the extent that the speed effects the risk of injury, and this is also shown in the simulator. Some key facts to note are that,

Hit by a car at 20 mph, 1 out of 40 pedestrian will be killed,
97% will survive
Hit by a car at 30 mph, 2 out of 10 pedestrians will be killed,
80% will survive
Hit by a car at 35 mph, 5 out of 10 pedestrians will be killed,
50% will survive
Hit by a car at 40 mph, 9 out of 10 pedestrians will be killed,
10% will survive

 

[Sp!ke]

[Groan] - that sort of response is more infuriating than the NIP itself.

I am well aware of the risks so treat me like I'm a responsible adult instead of assuming I'm an idiot.

It was a 3 mile long straight piece of road with excellent visibility and not a sausage around but me and only a few yards past a NSL. If there was any doubt, I would have been going a great deal slower than 30 let alone 35.

The camera is sighted close to the location of what was once a group of village shops that have long been knocked down. The section of road is now completely devoid of any pedestrian traffic and the potential risk much reduced from what it was when the camera and indeed the speed restriction was originally sighted.

I drive according to the conditions and I concentrate on my surroundings. If it were your call would you rather people clock watch instead?

 

[Dryce]

Studies have shown the extent that the speed effects the risk of injury, and this is also shown in the simulator. Some key facts to note are that,

Hit by a car at 20 mph, 1 out of 40 pedestrian will be killed,
97% will survive
Hit by a car at 30 mph, 2 out of 10 pedestrians will be killed,
80% will survive
Hit by a car at 35 mph, 5 out of 10 pedestrians will be killed,
50% will survive
Hit by a car at 40 mph, 9 out of 10 pedestrians will be killed,
10% will survive

Sounds like it's worth crossing a road by zig zagging at a run.

If you run diagonally to your left and then as you reach the middle of the road you pivot and run diagonally to your right your relative speed to a car that would run you down is reduced.

So if you could manage 5mph relative to the direction of the car by running at 10mph at say 45 degrees diagonal then if the car is doing 35mph or 40mph you just managed to roughly double your chances of survival.

Now if one is really cynical and figures that pedestrians and drivers can trade speed vs death rates then we could have higher speed sections of urban road where pedestrians get fined for crossing the road at too slow a speed relative to the approaching traffic. The traffic calming islands could be converted to pedestrian stopover points to allow them to catch their breath before running diagonally to their right to complete their crossing. these coud have a short acceleration zone along the crown of the road and markings to indicate the optimal angle to run out into the traffic.

 

[sparkyc270]

Sounds like it's worth crossing a road by zig zagging at a run.

If you run diagonally to your left and then as you reach the middle of the road you pivot and run diagonally to your right your relative speed to a car that would run you down is reduced.

So if you could manage 5mph relative to the direction of the car by running at 10mph at say 45 degrees diagonal then if the car is doing 35mph or 40mph you just managed to roughly double your chances of survival.

Now if one is really cynical and figures that pedestrians and drivers can trade speed vs death rates then we could have higher speed sections of urban road where pedestrians get fined for crossing the road at too slow a speed relative to the approaching traffic. The traffic calming islands could be converted to pedestrian stopover points to allow them to catch their breath before running diagonally to their right to complete their crossing. these coud have a short acceleration zone along the crown of the road and markings to indicate the optimal angle to run out into the traffic.

Fantastic piece of lateral thinking....spat out my coffee laughing at this..
Thanks for posting this,

..Steve

 

[Druk]

Spike. There but for the grace of God go I. Bad luck mate.

I have a Talex and it's a dedicated Gatso/Truvelo device. You get a warning at 500m then it starts going berserk if you're still speeding and approaching the camera. Very difficult to ignore.

 

[mattc]

Just being cynical but since the country ran out of money have the number of people being offered speed awareness courses dropped and the simple issue of a FPN increased proportionally?

 

[PXW]

Completely criminal behaviour. If everyone acted like that then what would the country come to? It should be stamped out by using whatever tactics may be proved necessary, so as to make the roads a safer and better place for all. Studies have shown the danger of this sort of activity, and personally I find it absolutely incredible that despite all the evidence to the contrary people will still do this.

For goodness' sake - to have a speed camera in a location like that - what is the world coming to?

Oh - and Sp!ke - slow down a bit, would you!

 

[nick.ged]

i think the automatic 10% allowance was scrapped a few years back, something to do with speedos being accurat nowadays(lol) what annoys me about speed cameras is that there is no discretion, a cop on the motorway can and do ignore speeders upto 80ish as long as they are safe, ie not tailgating/sat in overtaking lane when lanes to the left are clear, but cameras are set and "pop" they get you no matter what.

 

[oldcro]

[Groan] - that sort of response is more infuriating than the NIP itself.

I am well aware of the risks so treat me like I'm a responsible adult instead of assuming I'm an idiot.

It was a 3 mile long straight piece of road with excellent visibility and not a sausage around but me and only a few yards past a NSL. If there was any doubt, I would have been going a great deal slower than 30 let alone 35.

The camera is sighted close to the location of what was once a group of village shops that have long been knocked down. The section of road is now completely devoid of any pedestrian traffic and the potential risk much reduced from what it was when the camera and indeed the speed restriction was originally sighted.

I drive according to the conditions and I concentrate on my surroundings. If it were your call would you rather people clock watch instead?

All I was trying to point out is the reason why people are now being prosecuted for being slightly over the speed limit. No way did I intend it as a dig at your driving and if it was read that way I apologise.

Your comment about me treating you like an idiot I find totally unacceptable as my post had nothing to do with your driving, just giving a reason why you received a NIP for such a minor offence.

 

[BTB 500]

Re. ACPO guidelines, in a 30 mph zone fixed penalty goes from 35 to 49. 50 is a summons.

 

[LimitedSlip]

That was a class post Dryce



(be careful a "proactive thinker" in a local authority somewhere doesn't adopt it)

 

[st13phil]

Sounds like it's worth crossing a road by zig zagging at a run.

I thought that was a truly inventive solution to the issue of pedestrian / motor vehicle interface incidents

What's truly worrying about it though is that it illustrates very well the sort of skewed logic that seems to have taken over some of the official road safety thinking - which has lead to the adoption of thoroughly plausible, but equally absurd and ultimately ineffective, "solutions" to the problem

 

[Noodle-Pulp]

Sounds like it's worth crossing a road by zig zagging at a run.

Isn't this a similar principle of unbuckling your seatbelt on the plane, and standing up and doing a jump just before it lands, that way the chances of dying on impact are lessened?

Oh, and Sp!ke - go to jail - do not pass go, do not collect 200...

Bad luck matey.

 

[Wizeng]

My wife recommends telling 'Watchdog; and seeing if the speed limit is increased, but I think it would'nt help you anyway. tough luck!

 

[Dryce]

What's truly worrying about it though is that it illustrates very well the sort of skewed logic that seems to have taken over some of the official road safety thinking - which has lead to the adoption of thoroughly plausible, but equally absurd and ultimately ineffective, "solutions" to the problem

I suspect that I'm the one who is skewed.

There are also quite a few flaws in the whole diagonal road crossing scheme that would completely negate the simplisticly assumed advantages. But it's fun to toss that sort of thing at the dogmatists.

 

[speedwell]

I drive past the same camera everyday. It's a gold mine if you want to put film in it.

I've also acquired a visit to Speed Awareness for 35 in a 30. Less irritating than I was expecting, with some pertinent information. There are some silly 30s around though ( generally where important folks want them).

 

[Sp!ke]

So I received an offer of a speed awareness course today and I'm currently filling out the form but I have a bit of a dilemma.

The very first question is:

I would like to attend a speed awareness course - YES/NO

Now if truth be told, I don't want to attend the course at all but given the alternative of a possible court appearence, points and a fine it seems the lesser of the two evils.

So I could lie and tick YES, were it not for the fact that it then asks me to sign and date a declaration that my statement is true. It goes onto say that providing a false statement is an offence that can incur a fine of up to £2000.

I just dont get these people... they leave me little option than to be a serial law breaker.

 

[bennesspipers]

Post 9 says "all my misdemeanours", WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU DONE !

 

[Spinal]

Just wait until you get on the course... I got send on one last year for doing 38 in a 40... (well, 38 on a road which was 40 for 7 years before... and had been converted to a 30 while I wasn't looking). The instructors on the course drive faster than I would ever drive on a country road, and rely heavily on guilting you into thinking you're a criminal and almost killed someone...

Total waste of time imo... but at least you don't get the points!

M.