Hear me out... speeding permits

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kwerk

kwerk

kwerk

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You can speed on the German autobans and you can get a gun if you have a FAC. Would it be such a radical idea to combine these two concepts and issue "speeding permits" to people who prove themselves to be competent?

You would have to complete a government safety course. If you passed the tests you would get a special license plate to identify you as a permit holder so the police will know and you are now immune to speed limits. If you can be trusted with a gun I don't see why you can't be trusted to drive safely and responsibly above some arbitrary limit the government sets.

They could charge say £25,000 for the permit and raise quite a bit of revenue (and keep chavs from getting them).
 
Spook187 said:
Define how would they know you could be trusted, having a gun licence means nothing of the sort.
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It means the police trust you enough to let you have a gun. They ask your doctor, friends etc if you're an OK geezer, and you have to pass some safety quiz I assume.

It could be a similar process for a speeding permit. Have a psychological review, health tests, references from people and so forth.
 
The problem is, even if you can drive faster than everyone else, is that everyone else can't drive as fast as you.

So:-

1 - You end up getting blocked by people who don't have a licence
2 - You yourself become a danger to other road users because of your speed (or they are to you because you are travelling so much faster)
3 - You don't actually get to anywhere that much faster because there are other people on the road too.
 
kwerk said:
If you can be trusted with a gun I don't see why you can't be trusted to drive safely and responsibly above some arbitrary limit the government sets.
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Because fundamentally, and barring it getting into the wrong hands, what happens with a gun is under the control of the owner. There are many other factors involved in driving a speeding vehicle that are out of control of the driver.
 
How do you do the training to earn the certificate. Don't say on a track because that doesn't remotely represent what road conditions are like.

How does plod know you're legit when you overtake them at 150mph. Can't do it on the car registration number because that doesn't show who is driving.

There's an old saying that "speed kills". I'd say it's more that "relative speed" kills. If I'm doing 70 and someone hits me from behind at 80 that's far less dangerous than if they hit me at 150.

If you want to wave your willy and show how fast you can go, do it on a track.
 
It's not a matter of how wonderful a high speed driver you are, it's the incompetence of the muppet who pulls out on you with no warning as you bear down on him at 150+

Unfortunately, stupid idea is stupid.
 
Going fast is easy, it's the peddle on the right.

Thinking you can do it safely on public roads is stupid.
 
Scania said:
It's not a matter of how wonderful a high speed driver you are, it's the incompetence of the muppet who pulls out on you with no warning as you bear down on him at 150+

Unfortunately, stupid idea is stupid.
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Indeed.

On a related note tho I think its a bit silly we don't have toll roads in the UK i.e. connecting major cities with advisory limits at 130mph like the autobahn.
 
kwerk said:
You can speed on the German autobans and you can get a gun if you have a FAC. Would it be such a radical idea to combine these two concepts and issue "speeding permits" to people who prove themselves to be competent?

You would have to complete a government safety course. If you passed the tests you would get a special license plate to identify you as a permit holder so the police will know and you are now immune to speed limits. If you can be trusted with a gun I don't see why you can't be trusted to drive safely and responsibly above some arbitrary limit the government sets.

They could charge say £25,000 for the permit and raise quite a bit of revenue (and keep chavs from getting them).
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Interesting. Wouldn't work for the reasons mentioned above, but maybe if we expand it a bit.....

What about motorways having a proper fast lane? You can go as fast as you like, as long as you have a speeding permit. It could have a minimum speed limit of, say, 80mph. If you have a permit and a car that is road-worthy (in the UK the M.O.T. would take care of this part) then you're set. There would be some issues, obviously, but I think it could be a good idea.
 
really what needs to happen is an overahul of the speed limits and the way we assess car safety.

Speed limits were set a long time ago in cars that had far greater stopping distances and worse responsiveness. Highway driving speed could be much higher under good conditions and still be perfectly safe, as shown in other countries - not just the German autobahns but there are plenty of countries that have 85MPH speed limits (even in the Us there are some stats with some roads at this speed).

What would be beneficial is a 2 speed system, 85MPH under dry road conditions, 50Mph when it is wet. I also wouldn't mind residential speed limits reduced to 25Mph and 20MPH made more common in narrower streets. The fatality rate of hitting someone at 35mph is so much higher than at 25mph.

Furthermore, instead of cracking down on on people doing a few MPH over the limit ins safe manner they should focus on a actual unsafe driving. Drink driving should have a much more severe penalty.
Cameras should be used to fine people for things like no signaling, tail-gating, overtaking on the inside, not being a courteous driver and pulling over to let other pass, cutting in too close in front or behind another car etc.
 
Another fine Kwerk thread.


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D.P. said:
What would be beneficial is a 2 speed system, 85MPH under dry road conditions, 50Mph when it is wet.
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That would be hell to enforce, I would imagine. When does it start to become 'wet'? When it starts raining? How heavily? When the ground is wet?
 
Raymond Lin said:
The problem is, even if you can drive faster than everyone else, is that everyone else can't drive as fast as you.

So:-

1 - You end up getting blocked by people who don't have a licence
2 - You yourself become a danger to other road users because of your speed (or they are to you because you are travelling so much faster)
3 - You don't actually get to anywhere that much faster because there are other people on the road too.
Click to expand...

So what you're saying is that they should build special roads with no speeding limits that only special people with special permits are allowed to drive on.
 
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