Is anyone else getting really tired of this whole speeding thing ?

MaX_PoWah · 16 Jun 2006 at 15:52

Am i the only one who spends most of there time in there car staring at there speedo, and if i am not doing that i am watching for gatso guys, people flashing there lights, cop cars, speed cameras, speed traps, instead of everything else.

What is going to be the envitable conclusion of all of this ? its already starting to feel like a massive money making excercise, how long are the motorists in this country going to stand for it ? how long before the goverment start using it as a source of income for all there ways to waste money, we already pay billions in road tax, so little of which ends up been spent on the roads, can they really shaft us much more ?

edit: and please if you dont drive, dont come in here spouting, because you will have no apreciation for what an issue this is!

Zefan · 16 Jun 2006 at 15:53

It's to stop people speeding. Surely that's obvious.

If it's all a money making excercise then explain why they have adverts showing SPEED KILLS. It costs them a lot to show those and they have a very good reason to be showing them.

Mat · 16 Jun 2006 at 15:54

Remember... speed kills.

stoofer · 16 Jun 2006 at 15:55

im driving an F reg peugeot at the moment. looking at my dials really wouldn't help me, they wobble more than Jordan would running a marathon.

Werewolf · 16 Jun 2006 at 15:58

Zefan said:
It's to stop people speeding. Surely that's obvious.

nah it's a voluntary tax on the motorist innit.

Seriously i've never had a problem keeping my speed under control (in my experience you get used to how the car feels at the speeds), I don't need to keep my eyes on the speedo, I just check it at the same time I check the mirrors etc.

Whilst I don't agree with the way the government has dealt with it, removing police from traffic duties to replace them with cameras, I don't have any problem at all with the cameras being used to enforce the law as it stands (I just wish they had kept all the traffic cops and moved them onto enforcing other parts of the law regarding the roads).

Cyanide · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:02

Werewolf said:
Whilst I don't agree with the way the government has dealt with it, removing police from traffic duties to replace them with cameras, I don't have any problem at all with the cameras being used to enforce the law as it stands (I just wish they had kept all the traffic cops and moved them onto enforcing other parts of the law regarding the roads).

My thought's exactly. The law's the law, people shouldn't complain if they break it and get caught regardless of how they were caught.

Yes some speed limits are stupid, like the 40mph limit on the dual carrageway near me, and they may seem to have no point and accidents may still happen even sticking to the limit but they are there for a reason and they are enforcable law.

wozzizname · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:03

I hate it when they fit the scameras on steep hills, where you have to keep your eyes glued to the speedo to avoid exceeding the limit.

Pho · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:07

Yet all that makes people drive worse. Sharp braking for camears, or simply paying more attention to their speedo than the road. I'm sure as more and more cameras come into the country there will be more accidents because they cause them.

Admiral Huddy · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:07

If you don't speed then you have nothing to moan about.

It's one thing getting away with being caught by a camera but a hitting a someone is another issue.

Townlea · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:08

wozzizname said:
I hate it when they fit the scameras on steep hills, where you have to keep your eyes glued to the speedo to avoid exceeding the limit.

Aswell as that... I have been caught on a dual carridgeway and the speed limit was 40 and i was doing 50.. fair enough but!

He was hiding in a bush the bugger :mad:

don't agree with that.. atleast make it obvious!

Zefan · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:09

Admiral Huddy said:
If you don't speed then you have nothing to moan about.

I was just thinking that, then thought that there wasn't any point seeing as people will always moan.

/Waits for moaning.

Zefan · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:10

Townlea said:
He was hiding in a bush the bugger don't agree with that.. atleast make it obvious!

Are you saying you should be told when you're going to be apporoached by the police and searched? This is on exactly the same level. What's the point in them if you just see them and go "ah I'll slow down here"...

Cyanide · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:10

Pho said:
Yet all that makes people drive worse. Sharp braking for camears,

If you're not speeding then you don't need to brake sharply, thus no more accidents are caused. Where's the problem? :confused:

Pho · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:10

Zefan said:
I was just thinking that, then thought that there wasn't any point seeing as people will always moan.

/Waits for moaning.

Of course. But it's easy for the car to creep over the limit, and people will generally be paranoid when they go through a known-camera even if they know they aren't speeding.

Cyanide said:
If you're not speeding then you don't need to brake sharply, thus no more accidents are caused. Where's the problem?

I agree, but as said above, other people who are speeding tend to brake sharply, causing other people problems.

stoofa · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:12

MaX_PoWah said:
Am i the only one who spends most of there time in there car staring at there speedo, and if i am not doing that i am watching for gatso guys, people flashing there lights, cop cars, speed cameras, speed traps, instead of everything else.

What is going to be the envitable conclusion of all of this ? its already starting to feel like a massive money making excercise, how long are the motorists in this country going to stand for it ? how long before the goverment start using it as a source of income for all there ways to waste money, we already pay billions in road tax, so little of which ends up been spent on the roads, can they really shaft us much more ?

No - I spend very little time looking at my speedo.
I've been driving now for over 13 years and I feel I'm a pretty good judge of speed.
As I'm not looking at speedo all the time I spend my time when diring watching for other road users and watching the road in general.
This is how you remain accident free.
Also if you're keeping an eye on the road and watching for pedestrians rather than watching your speedo or looking for other cameras there is a chance you would actually be able to stop should somebody be in the road in front of you.
If I squish a pedestrian I know that I did nothing wrong and did everything in my power to stop - "I was looking at my speedo and/or looking for cameras" would quite rightly not be a valid defence for me.

Please also remember that a speed camera, policeman with a camera, speed trap, etc makes absolutely zero revenue by itself.
It only ever makes money when you speed through it.

Speed as much as you like when you like.
If you feel you are safe doing 80mph - 90mph down the motorway then that is your decision.
If you feel that 40mph through town is fine rather than the 30mph posted that is your call.
If you feel 120mph at midnight on a totally clear stretch of motorway is OK then go for it.
However remember it was your choice to go at those speeds, nobody forced you and should you be caught you must accept responsability.
Don't start bitching about cameras, governments & alternative revenues from car drivers - it was your conscious decision to go at that speed and as I said above the camera alone makes zero revenue by itself.

mr jamez · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:13

Problem is, they have put a lot of time, effort and money into something that will barely save any lives, even if all speeding stopped tommorow. It glosses over the real problems which in turn leads to people getting killed, which funnily enough is why a lot of people are complaining about it.

DRZ · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:13

Its not hard at all to drive at or below the speed limit once you are at least semi used to the car at various speeds. I dont know why there is such a fuss about it. Im not fixated on my speedo when driving about, I hardly ever look at it.

If you choose to speed, live with what happens to you if you do it inappropriately (either past a camera / van etc or crash because of your speed exceeding your skill).

The fact is that millions of people CHOOSE to exceed the speed limits that have been in place for many years. The fact they are now enforced is irrelevant. Fair enough it appears to be disproportionate but if there was a way EVERY crime could be monitored in such a way then you can be sure it would happen.

Glaucus · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:30

Zefan said:
If it's all a money making excercise then explain why they have adverts showing SPEED KILLS. It costs them a lot to show those and they have a very good reason to be showing them.

Speed doesn't kill that many though, look at the polices own statistics. It's somwhere in the region of 5% of crash have speed as a factor and 2.5% of crashes have speed as the main cause. Dangrouse driving, like tail gatting and swerving in and out of traffic that have much higher levels of crashes.

D4VE · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:32

Luckily around here there aren't many $peed camera$.

There are other ways of slowing traffic down such as humps, cushions, signs, pinch points etc, the list goes on, its clear the cameras are there to make money.

Zefan · 16 Jun 2006 at 16:33

D4VE said:
$peed camera$.

Yep, that's it. I now have no more hope for the human race.