A modest proposal to abolish speed limits

[Glaucus]

banning motorbikes
building lots more bridges, subways and barriers and keeping pedestrians of the public highway
introducing and enforcing jaywalking laws
embracing Volvo's city safety system for avoiding collisions at low speeds
banning cheap tyres and brakes
employing more traffic cops to crack down on bad and dangerous driving habits
more driver education

1) banning motorbikes is silly. They will always account for a large number of deaths Good thing is, it's usually them and them alone.
2)Building more bridges, footpaths and cycles lanes of the road, is fantastic and should be done.
3)What's wrong with jay walking laws? they are good.
4) Nothing wrong with supporting and inticsing companies to include such safety measures.
5) Why not? many things allready have the EU saftey mark on.
6) most certainly dangerous and driving is not caught be cameras.

 

[Glaucus]

I take it that you are happy to have the Police randomly decide what is and is not ""bad and dangerous driving" and that their word should be accepted as gospel in court?

They all-ready have this power and use it, the few traffic cops we do have.

 

[stockhausen]

So basically, we'll have a choice between an inconvenient but comfortable means of transport, and an inconvenient and uncomfortable means of transport?
...

This is why the Government needs to commit to improving public transport in cities and towns in order to make it reliable, frequent, convenient, affordable and comfortable and incentivising the public to use public rather than private transport. This might even serve to some extent to get people onto public transport when travelling between cities and/or towns

 

[rsatd]

Just to say, in the 2 and a half years I been riding a motorbike, only ever had a patrol car go the same way as me twice (ie up the same road). So I call for more traffic cops!

 

[miniyazz]

Just to say, in the 2 and a half years I been riding a motorbike, only ever had a patrol car go the same way as me twice (ie up the same road). So I call for more traffic cops!

Obviously you don't look suspicious enough

 

[growse]

This is why the Government needs to commit to improving public transport in cities and towns in order to make it reliable, frequent, convenient, affordable and comfortable and incentivising the public to use public rather than private transport. This might even serve to some extent to get people onto public transport when travelling between cities and/or towns

I don't think this is an issue of investment, I think it concerns a public need that fundamentally cannot be fulfilled by our current public transport model, no matter how much money you throw at it.

The only way you could make the tube reliable, frequent, convenient, affordable and comfortable would be to rip the whole thing up and start again. There's too many constraints on the existing design that prevent these goals from happening that were caused by engineering decisions made over 100 years ago.

If we're talking that sort of level of investment, I'd rather see that thrown at affordable, safe, clean, personal transport.

 

[stockhausen]

Just to say, in the 2 and a half years I been riding a motorbike, only ever had a patrol car go the same way as me twice (ie up the same road). So I call for more traffic cops!

I think that they are all far too busy delivering birthday cards to their relatives

Actually, I think that the use of monitored CCTV and ANPR at points considered dangerous would be more cost-effective than a huge increase in the number of traffic cops parked up in Burger King.

I believe that the Police / DVLA / Government have so far completely failed to make proper use of CCTV and ANPR linked to existing Licence, MOT & Insurance databases.

 

[miniyazz]

I think that they are all far too busy delivering birthday cards to their relatives

Actually, I think that the use of monitored CCTV and ANPR at points considered dangerous would be more cost-effective than a huge increase in the number of traffic cops parked up in Burger King.

I believe that the Police / DVLA / Government have so far completely failed to make proper use of CCTV and ANPR linked to existing Licence, MOT & Insurance databases.

While good in principle, the problem with that is getting a good field of view for a significant amont of the road. Not to mention you then have problems with identifying the driver for prosecution (charge for failing to identify driver is far less than that of dangerous driving).

 

[Dave M]

I do think bikes are a problem - could ban them from overtaking on single carraigeway roads and make them have a big flashing orange light on top of a pole so drivers see them more easily.

They'd not like it but I think that's the point.

 

[stockhausen]

I do think bikes are a problem - could ban them from overtaking on single carraigeway roads and make them have a big flashing orange light on top of a pole so drivers see them more easily. ...

The big flashing orange light on top of a pole idea makes sense.

I can't say that I agree about their being banned from overtaking on single carriageway roads; why not ban ALL overtaking on single carriageway roads

 

[miniyazz]

Their overtaking on single-carriageway roads is hardly a risky manoeuvre - no reason for them to be banned from overtaking. Big orange flashy light probably won't work either
Dunno how to make them more visible really.

why not ban ALL overtaking on single carriageway roads

I presume that's not a serious suggestion?

 

[The_Dark_Side]

More Traffic Cops is whats required imo.

The thing is mate, without even debating if it would be a good/bad/negligible thing the fact of the matter is it's something you're just not going to get.
It boils down to money and budgets, and traffic plods are just too expensive.

 

[Dr Who]

I presume that's not a serious suggestion?

It is no less serious than the whole thread to be honest. Speed limits are not going to be abolished, if anything the Govt will continue with this policy until THEY are replaced.

 

[The_Dark_Side]

As a sidenote, I think that if the base requirement of vehicle construction (a la airbags/ABS etc) was extended to include the radar distance protection system it would definitely have a major effect on the number of accidents per year. Perhaps not the major RTA's, but definitely the minor accidents that tend to damage metal but rarely skin and bone.
Once it had to be fitted to all new vehicles, it's cost would drop away to a minimal level due to the economy of scale.

 

[The_Dark_Side]

It is no less serious than the whole thread to be honest. Speed limits are not going to be abolished, if anything the Govt will continue with this policy until THEY are replaced.

"It doesn't matter who's up there, they're ALL terrible"

Woody Allen.



Speed limits and traffic laws in general may be modifed or amended over the years, but any major change is unlikely.

 

[Dave M]

The big flashing orange light on top of a pole idea makes sense.

I can't say that I agree about their being banned from overtaking on single carriageway roads; why not ban ALL overtaking on single carriageway roads

Why not, use all those thousands of new traffic cops to punish people driving too slowly instead.

 

[Dave M]

Their overtaking on single-carriageway roads is hardly a risky manoeuvre - no reason for them to be banned from overtaking.

It can be if done stupidly, and discussions like these always assume everybody is stupid. Most of our laws are made on this assumption.

Big orange flashy light probably won't work either
Dunno how to make them more visible really.

I'm pretty sure it would work, how can you miss a orange flashing light 6ft in the air?

 

[The_Dark_Side]

I'm pretty sure it would work, how can you miss a orange flashing light 6ft in the air?

I dunno, plenty of drivers seem to miss the large, flurescent yellow speed cameras until the last minute, causing them to brake hard. And that's after they've passed a sign telling them there's a camera ahead.

 

[Kitchster_uk]

Firstly, get real about public transport. If you live outside of London, try heading out of the big smoke for a while. Give you some examples. I live in Hartlepool and currently work in town. It costs abut £10 for a weekly bus pass and I need to be on the 8:12 into town to get in for around 8:45 so that means leaving at 8:05 and. I can drive my 7 series the same 40-mile round trip for a petrol cost of 2 gallons, or £9 and don't need to set off until 8:25. I also get a 5-min brisk walk from where I park, plus I also save another 20 mins on the way home - 40 mins per day saved.

My last two branches were both 30 miles away. Both took c. 45 mins to drive. Consett would have meant a bus at 6:20 to Durham, getting in for 7:35. Then, wait around until 7:55 and I'd be in for 8:50. Again, this bus is around school run time which is full of kids. The bus back got me in just shy of 8pm. So, add on nearly 4 hours per day... But that is cross country. What about somewhere on the Tyne & Wear metro? South Shields? Well, if I got the train, I had to get the 7:02 to Newcastle, then a metro out, but that means a bus into town first, so leaving home at 6:30 rather than 7:55 and the cost? An additional £190 per month. Over a 728 BMW...

Secondly, I couldn't give a crap about the 2000-odd people who get minced each year - that isn't enough to care. Bikers are a good chunk of that, as are daft chavs, both of whom are more likely to drive like a pillock. Strange that sensible bikers are less likely to get distributed all over the road...As for kids who run out into the road, Darwin tbh. The are the sort that, 10,000 years ago, weren't told not to go play with the big kitty and got eaten by a tiger. If parents can't teach their kids road safety, we have a problem and until thye know it, how about not letting them out on their own?

Speed cameras, as mentioned, DO NOT CATCH DANGEROUS DRIVERS. Make the roads safer, take all the buses off them...

 

[miniyazz]

It can be if done stupidly, and discussions like these always assume everybody is stupid. Most of our laws are made on this assumption.


I'm pretty sure it would work, how can you miss a orange flashing light 6ft in the air?

How can you miss 80dB of 1000cc beef with a big shiny headlight? Perfectly easily, it seems, for some people.

Just because there are some retards on the roads does not give the government a valid reason to legislate legislate legislate, restricting everyone's freedoms, because they haven't bothered to put the funding into enforcing existing laws (e.g. dangerous driving) through simple provision of traffic cops. Do that, and you don't need to blanket-ban absolutely everything that could possibly increase risk of crashing, with no regard to the positive aspects of performing said activity.

I'm sure you'll love being stuck behind a lorry doing 40/tractor doing 30 on a main A-road with plenty of overtaking room and clear line of sight because some numpty with a pen thought, "Save the children! Ban overtaking!"
Quite apart from it won't stop the actual dangerous drivers who will disregard the law and overtake anyway because they want to go faster dammit; all it would do is slow down/criminalise law-abiding motorists who instead of performing a safe overtake will be getting steadily more and more annoyed, opening themselves up to driver error.