No more white lines!

[renault12ts]

Seems like theres lots of scurrying around for the best way to increase safety. Ive said it a million times, turn speed cameras into 'distance' cameras. The camera takes images measuring the distance between the two drivers, if your too close you get a fine and 3 points. If your not close enough to hit the car in front....you won't hit it?

Yep, that would work...there you are minding your own business, keeping a safe distance between you and the car in front, when someone changes lane, fills the gap and the "distance" camera zaps you at the wrong time...:fail

 

[lfckeeper]

Yep, that would work...there you are minding your own business, keeping a safe distance between you and the car in front, when someone changes lane, fills the gap and the "distance" camera zaps you at the wrong time...:fail

Was meaning on single lane carriageways

and you should be leaving enough room for a car to safely pull in front of you anyway shouldn't you?

 

[renault12ts]

Was meaning on single lane carriageways

People overtake on single carriageway roads too...or should we ban that too?

 

[moonloops]

I never realised some of the white lines on roads were dashed until I got on a bus

 

[lfckeeper]

People overtake on single carriageway roads too...or should we ban that too?

why would that affect the distance you keep from the car in front?

I suppose i agree with you in the fact that people would continue to keep the minimum required distance and not use common sense (so when they saw a car overtaking on a single carriageway and it was going to end up in front of them they could ease off the accelerator thus keeping the required distance)

 

[markjay]

I was involved in the '80 with a project to develop a system that used cameras and reflecotrs in the road to measure the speed and distance between vehicles and issue fines.

It was financed by a British enetrpuener and offered to police forces around the world, but failed to attract enough attention at the time and was eventually shelved.

 

[renault12ts]

I was involved in the '80 with a project to develop a system that used cameras and reflecotrs in the road to measure the speed and distance between vehicles and issue fines.

It was financed by a British enetrpuener and offered to police forces around the world, but failed to attract enough attention at the time and was eventually shelved.

Good!

 

[renault12ts]

why would that affect the distance you keep from the car in front?

I suppose i agree with you in the fact that people would continue to keep the minimum required distance and not use common sense (so when they saw a car overtaking on a single carriageway and it was going to end up in front of them they could ease off the accelerator thus keeping the required distance)

But then every time one car overtook another the traffic would have to slow up...

 

[lfckeeper]

I was involved in the '80 with a project to develop a system that used cameras and reflecotrs in the road to measure the speed and distance between vehicles and issue fines.

It was financed by a British enetrpuener and offered to police forces around the world, but failed to attract enough attention at the time and was eventually shelved.

Interesting there was little interest, any reasons as to why? I can imagine cost may have been a factor. I absolutely believe if there was a system to keep cars an appropriate distance from each other the number of accidents would drop dramatically.

 

[lfckeeper]

But then every time one car overtook another the traffic would have to slow up...

im not sure why that matters? it would be by a few MPH if people were sensible and lifted off the accelerator and not use the brake all the time. Also what you are suggesting is if a car over took you and was too close you wouldn't ease back?

 

[markjay]

Interesting there was little interest, any reasons as to why? I can imagine cost may have been a factor. I absolutely believe if there was a system to keep cars an appropriate distance from each other the number of accidents would drop dramatically.

To be honest I don't know... I dealt with some aspects of the IT.

Perhaps the technology was premature (it was 30 years ago...), perhaps they did not know how to market it properly, or it may have been deemed to be too expensive.

Keeping in mind that cameras at the time took photos but there was no ANPR hence a person needed to manually view and process each fine.

(I read recently that one police force in the UK stopped issuing fines for speeding because the cost of staff processing the fines was more than the revenue generated by the cameras).

Also the system could be gantry-mounted, pole-mounted, or installed inside a van, but either way it only measured distance at one spot (like fixed speed cameras) and one of the concerns raised at the time was that it could be easily avoided by drivers once they learn how to spot it. But I am not sure if this was the reason it was not successful.

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

Seems like theres lots of scurrying around for the best way to increase safety. Ive said it a million times, turn speed cameras into 'distance' cameras. The camera takes images measuring the distance between the two drivers, if your too close you get a fine and 3 points. If your not close enough to hit the car in front....you won't hit it?

This wouldn't work, in any situation. There's always some idiot that will overtake, overtaking is fine yes, but there's always one who overtakes when it clearly isn't safe, and retreats back into the lane smack bang in front of you, resulting in you getting a fine

What about those other idiots who travel at 40 in a 60 on such roads? You're going to hang back to not get a fine and not overtake?

 

[artyman]

With modern electronic distance tech why not fit all cars with a interior beeper that sounds if you get to close to the vehicle in front, would stop tailgating. Ok it may sound just prior to an overtake but who would want to drive with a continuous beeping which you can solve by dropping back a bit.

 

[lfckeeper]

This wouldn't work, in any situation. There's always some idiot that will overtake, overtaking is fine yes, but there's always one who overtakes when it clearly isn't safe, and retreats back into the lane smack bang in front of you, resulting in you getting a fine

What about those other idiots who travel at 40 in a 60 on such roads? You're going to hang back to not get a fine and not overtake?

Would it not encourage you to drop back even more thus making the roads safer still? A safe overtake could still be done

 

[markjay]

With modern electronic distance tech why not fit all cars with a interior beeper that sounds if you get to close to the vehicle in front, would stop tailgating. Ok it may sound just prior to an overtake but who would want to drive with a continuous beeping which you can solve by dropping back a bit.

The safe distance is speed-related so the system would have to be slighthly more sophisticated than that.

But yes it is feasible, though it might take a few years before all cars have it, assuming the regulation will only apply to new cars.

 

[lfckeeper]

With modern electronic distance tech why not fit all cars with a interior beeper that sounds if you get to close to the vehicle in front, would stop tailgating. Ok it may sound just prior to an overtake but who would want to drive with a continuous beeping which you can solve by dropping back a bit.

I like this idea

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

Would it not encourage you to drop back even more thus making the roads safer still? A safe overtake could still be done

I tend to drop back, wether it's so I can overtake and see ahead or just as I know people like to plant the brakes on, Artymans idea sounds more do-able

 

[artyman]

Detecting the vehicle speed and distance from what's in front should be quite simple, just a calculation as to whether it's sufficient, if not sound the buzzer, or perhaps an electric shock transmitted to the drivers bottom might focus their attention

 

[tec]

I haven't read all the posts, but this is just another jobsworth opportunity to reduce speeds, when everyone already knows that speeding is not the main cause of most accidents.

Soon we will all be driving at 1mph and there will be loads more accidents due to the people still doing 70mph.

 

[moonloops]

Detecting the vehicle speed and distance from what's in front should be quite simple, just a calculation as to whether it's sufficient, if not sound the buzzer, or perhaps an electric shock transmitted to the drivers bottom might focus their attention

Some people would pay for that to be installed and intentionally tailgate..