Why do people think it acceptable to break the Speed Limit.

[bigmike20vt]

Speed is responsible for more than 40% of Killed and Serious Injury incidents in Essex.

i am not sure i believe that.
Yes speed can certainly compound an accident and i am not defending excessive speeding

however I would say tailgating, randomly pulling out at either junctions or overtaking - often with out indicators

oh and then there are the 1 speed people. in a 30 ..... do 40mph, in a national speed limit, do 40mph, in sun, rain, Fog, snow or ice............ do 40mph!

is at least as responsible for serious accidents than speeding per se

as to why do i sometimes speed (albeit not hugely any more) ......... because sometimes imo the speed limit is not sensible.....

examples - near where i live there were a number of car accidents, some were fatal. the straw which broke the camels back and caused the limit to be lowered to a 50 was where a man and wife were driving home drunk and the driver lost control and went into a tree going in excess of 100mph.
So the solution was lowering the limit to 50. is it just me who thinks that is an illogical response? the issue wasnt the 60mph speed limit, the issue was drink driver combined with travelling over 100mph.

another one where i use the limit as a guide rather than a hard and fast limit, on a motorway at night with zero other cars on the road, 70mph historically was made the speed limit somewhat arbitrarily anyway. if there is no other cars around i dont worry if i sneak over that a bit.

and the other one which makes me smile a bit, and i can see why they do it but it really is not relevant to me is, esp around birmingham where the speed limit on the M6 is often lowered due to poor air quality to lower emissions.

given my car has no tail pipe emissions then it makes zero difference me dropping my speed from 70 to 50. its not a safety issue and my car will not lower its emissions noticeably dropping the speed.

in 30mph areas i am far more careful. i also dont mind 20 around schools etc however i do think if you have too many of those areas then they will lose their effectiveness. Again much like my 1st example - other than outsides schools etc - i would rather 30mph was more enforced rather than blindly lowering the limits to 20.

 

[rtho782]

Perhaps people who have this opinion should investigate exactly where the money from speed enforcement goes.

The fine money goes to central government. The Police forces get a kickback from speeding awareness courses.

What is my Course Fee used for? | UKROEd

An explanation of the fees charged to drivers and riders who choose to accept the offer of a course: Course fees are paid to the organisation delivering the ...

web.archive.org

> Second, there is the fixed ‘Central Police Cost Recovery’ component (currently £45), a fee paid to the originating police force.

 

[Haggisman]

examples - near where i live there were a number of car accidents, some were fatal. the straw which broke the camels back and caused the limit to be lowered to a 50 was where a man and wife were driving home drunk and the driver lost control and went into a tree going in excess of 100mph.
So the solution was lowering the limit to 50. is it just me who thinks that is an illogical response? the issue wasnt the 60mph speed limit, the issue was drink driver combined with travelling over 100mph.

If it were a one-off incident then I'd agree with you, but as you've said "there were a number of car accidents, SOME were fatal". That suggests there have been multiple fatalities, so it clearly wasn't just that one incident.

Here's a perfect example of why people simply can't be trusted to determine the appropriate speed to drive down a narrow residential road with parked cars either side and blind junctions:

 

[bigmike20vt]

If it were a one-off incident then I'd agree with you, but as you've said "there were a number of car accidents, SOME were fatal". That suggests there have been multiple fatalities, so it clearly wasn't just that one incident.

Here's a perfect example of why people simply can't be trusted to determine the appropriate speed to drive down a narrow residential road with parked cars either side and blind junctions:

residential areas i agree with however (i wont say all because as soon as anyone says that there are usually exceptions) but most of the accidents on the road in question near me (and yes sadly there were mutliple deaths but not all anything to do with speed) were due to people driving significantly over the speed limit OR doing something equally bone headed.

I would much prefer the speed limits be properly enforced rather than cut them and punish the 90%+ of drivers who didnt drive like absolute lunatics.

Also IME on the same road, the people who drive like berks STILL drive like berks anyway (if you were gonna drive at 90mph in a 60 why would you not do it in a 50?)

what has helped in the small areas which have them are the average speed check cameras.... but these could have been used with the limit still at 60.

anyway it is what it is... i was just answering why i feel its not always the worst thing in the world to use the speed limit as a guide rather than a limit. sometimes i drive below the speed limit, sometimes i sneak over it, but there are far more dangerous things than driving a little fast than the limit in many instances

 

[Haggisman]

I would much prefer the speed limits be properly enforced rather than cut them and punish the 90%+ of drivers who didnt drive like absolute lunatics.

Completely agreed on that point

Also IME on the same road, the people who drive like berks STILL drive like berks anyway (if you were gonna drive at 90mph in a 60 why would you not do it in a 50?)

While true, at least with a speed limit in place, there's the potential for consequences if/when they get caught (which would require having more traffic police, but that's a whole different argument!)

anyway it is what it is... i was just answering why i feel its not always the worst thing in the world to use the speed limit as a guide rather than a limit. sometimes i drive below the speed limit, sometimes i sneak over it, but there are far more dangerous things than driving a little fast than the limit in many instances

Yes, but that comes down to my earlier point about opening the can of worms of allowing people to use their judgement to determine an appropriate speed; while I don't know you, your posts come across as reasonably intelligent and well thought out; the same cannot be said of a great many (dare I say the majority) of drivers.

 

[Simon]

Could be completely wrong but I blame this on modern technology... <shakes fist at cloud!>

Every car I've driven/been in that does speed limit recognition changes it only when you pass the sign, which somewhat makes sense but also means my car would give me the NSL sign until I pass a 30 limit sign at which point it flashes a 30mph sign at me on the dash. It would beep if I had that enabled.

The point being I believe that people pass on the responsibility to the technology, rather than actually pay attention/look where you're going, so they don't even realise the limit has changed until they pass the sign.

Cause Safety.

Mine slows down before the limit. So from nsl to 30mph it will slow down and be doing 30 as you enter the 30. Based on the inbuilt nav/ geo location

Temporary and variable it reads it as you through the sign and reacts

 

[ICDP]

Also IME on the same road, the people who drive like berks STILL drive like berks anyway (if you were gonna drive at 90mph in a 60 why would you not do it in a 50?)

True, but the basic premise is those doing 90 in a 50 will suffer higher penalties than those doing 90 in a 60. It is meant as deterrent because they fall into a higher speeding band, but I would agree this is a very illogical solution.

Mine slows down before the limit. So from nsl to 30mph it will slow down and be doing 30 as you enter the 30. Based on the inbuilt nav/ geo location

Temporary and variable it reads it as you through the sign and reacts

It’s amazing how so many people assume they can be at the new increased speed limit before they reach the sign. When approaching an increase in speed limit, you speed up only after passing the sign. When approaching a slower speed limit zone, you must be at or below the lower limit before passing it's sign.

 

[mejinks]

Its a fallacy to say speed kills/causes accidents. Inappropriate speed causes accidents.

You can be going under the limit and still have an accident or conversly go over the limit and be fine. As speed limits were set when cars had drum brakes and poor tyres, they really need revising. Unfortunately its big business for "go safe" and the police forces that take a slice of the pie.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

Agreed that it’s not speed that causes the accident. However, speed does influence the effect of the accident, eg the statistics for pedestrians hit when comparing say 20mph vs 40mph.

 

[Penfold101]

Agreed that it’s not speed that causes the accident. However, speed does influence the effect of the accident, eg the statistics for pedestrians hit when comparing say 20mph vs 40mph.

And braking distances to avoid an accident in the first place.

 

[Brun]

Its a fallacy to say speed kills/causes accidents. Inappropriate speed causes accidents.

You can be going under the limit and still have an accident or conversly go over the limit and be fine. As speed limits were set when cars had drum brakes and poor tyres, they really need revising. Unfortunately its big business for "go safe" and the police forces that take a slice of the pie.

Who are you trusting to determine what speed is 'appropriate'? Speed limits are supposedly the maximum for good conditions and clear visibility, but how often do people drive slower in other circumstances? That's what makes lower limits necessary.

 

[SKILL]

Mine slows down before the limit. So from nsl to 30mph it will slow down and be doing 30 as you enter the 30. Based on the inbuilt nav/ geo location

Temporary and variable it reads it as you through the sign and reacts

Nice, that's how it should be really.

How often is the nav stuff updated though? A road near me recently changed limits along a bunch of it and Google nav at least was still showing the old (higher!) limits at least 2 weeks later, drove it yesterday but didn't really check the satnav as to whether they've been updated or not.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

How’s we doing on feasible alternatives to the current speed limits?
I haven’t seen many suggestions, which rather surprises me with the number of people who complain about them.

 

[Armageus]

How’s we doing on feasible alternatives to the current speed limits?
I haven’t seen many suggestions, which rather surprises me with the number of people who complain about them.

Add mandatory 70mph speed limiters to all cars sold in UK market. Only allow <200bhp (or electric equivalent) cars to be sold in the UK.

Clearly nothing more is needed and by enforcing both of these, will decrease the opportunity for speeding, and reduce the severity of speeding incidents.

/sarcasm

 

[bigmike20vt]

Nice, that's how it should be really.

How often is the nav stuff updated though? A road near me recently changed limits along a bunch of it and Google nav at least was still showing the old (higher!) limits at least 2 weeks later, drove it yesterday but didn't really check the satnav as to whether they've been updated or not.

the thing is on that the rules are clear.... these are driver aids. we don't have self driving cars so ultimately we are all still responsible for our cars.

It's a bit like as much as I agree speed limits are often arbitrarily slow, sometimes the road conditions are such that they can also be too high. We should not be blindly driving around reliant fully on what our car says or even the road signs but instead reacting to the conditions. Excess speed can kill, but so can not enough speed!. how many times have you been trying to get onto a motorway / dual carrage way off a slip road but get stuck behind someone pootling down it pulling onto the fast carriageway at like 40mph?

Add mandatory 70mph speed limiters to all cars sold in UK market. Only allow <200bhp (or electric equivalent) cars to be sold in the UK.

Clearly nothing more is needed and by enforcing both of these, will decrease the opportunity for speeding, and reduce the severity of speeding incidents.

/sarcasm

i know you are being sarcastic but a lot of people would genuinely agree with that. However it would mean the price of cars would increase due to selling different specced vehicles here or on the continent where speed limits can be (far) higher.
Also the power thing would be a problem for shed tuggers and working vehicles (and what is a work vehicle.... pickups have the potential to carry heavy loads needed more power but are used by many for the school runabout.)

 

[happy_2008]

I think more needs to be done on the driving standard as a whole! Seems a lot of people think indicating is a right of way nowadays.

 

[bigmike20vt]

I think more needs to be done on the driving standard as a whole! Seems a lot of people think indicating is a right of way nowadays.

good luck with that. i forgot to post it in the bad driving thread the other day but i was following a (presumably) driving instructor - they had all the livery on the car anyway - and yet they didnt use their indicators once in the time i was following them. If they are that lazy when driving alone what are the chances that they will actually be on the ball when teaching?

 

[Penfold101]

How’s we doing on feasible alternatives to the current speed limits?
I haven’t seen many suggestions, which rather surprises me with the number of people who complain about them.

Just read them all as kph instead!







Oh, wait…

 

[bigmike20vt]

10 years ago i was really hoping genuine self driving cars would be a thing if not by now then certainly by 2030. I had hoped my lad would never need to learn how to drive (mostly because of how expensive it is with lessons and insurance).

I do suspect were it not for the human element certainly on main roads cars probably could self drive right now, however that is looking a long way away still outside of some highly controlled scenarios.

on the bright side............ i lose my job at the end of this year and am contemplating getting instructor qualifications, so every cloud i guess...............

 

[Penfold101]

10 years ago i was really hoping genuine self driving cars would be a thing if not by now then certainly by 2030. I had hoped my lad would never need to learn how to drive (mostly because of how expensive it is with lessons and insurance).

I do suspect were it not for the human element certainly on main roads cars probably could self drive right now, however that is looking a long way away still outside of some highly controlled scenarios.

on the bright side............ i lose my job at the end of this year and am contemplating getting instructor qualifications, so every cloud i guess...............

Self driving is fine in controlled areas where there are no human drivers and the roads are laid out with no option to deviate from them (essentially like a train, so the DLR in London but without the tracks)

As soon as you introduce human drivers into it on normal roads with pavements, side streets, people crossing, pedestrian areas etc, there are just too many variables for a computer to work with at a good enough level of safety IMO.