Caught Speeding

[Nigel-YZ1]

Having a girlfriend who is an ambulance driver makes staying in the limit quite easy. It's the steady stream of tailgaters, bad overtakers and head on merchants it seems to encourage that pees me off. I won't say I'm an angel but I've learnt a lot.
There is no presence at all now of anything to slow people down or make them afraid of consequence. Roadpeace said lately that there is a danger of the roads becoming lawless. I think they already are lawless and many people have woken up to it.
I'm sat 100 metres away from Burton Road in Barnsley. It's a 30 limit that acts as Barnsley's back door motorway. 60 mph drivers are quite common.

 

[mjr]

I think it's just regarded as a matter of being unlucky these days. Depending on your point of view it's either a way to reduce accidents or a revenue earner.

Or it's a way to reduce the death and destruction being wreaked on our friends and neighbours and their homes and our local economy through avoidable collisions and increased pollution caused by crap motoring. Not accidents. Incompetent driving. I think we should give the crap motorists points even if they take a speed discouragement course - just let them off a steeper fine - that'll put them closer to a normally-well-deserved ban if they ignore the course.

If people drive slower, they probably will just ding their cars rather than demolish walls:

(source)
I'm probably a bit more scathing than sometimes because both the A10 and A47 near here have been closed for hours at a time in the last week by collisions, screwing up commercial traffic - I saw the aftermath of one of the A10 ones and the length of skid makes me pretty sure that inappropriate speed was definitely a factor in them crashing into a right-turning vehicle from behind.

There is no presence at all now of anything to slow people down or make them afraid of consequence.

Not quite no presence - there were 9 or so people doing a spotter-and-catcher operation on the A10 near me this week - but it's clearly not enough.

 

[The Jogger]

Last year in Spain, I got two speeding tickets on the same day at the same camera but I didn't get points as I wasn't massively over the limit. It was just 100 euros less in my pocket. I now try to stick to the speed limits.

 

[Cycleops]

If people drive slower, they probably will just ding their cars rather than demolish walls:
View attachment 351986
(source)
.[/QUOTE]
That crash was obviously caused by the rear spoiler causing the driver to go too fast.

 

[Drago]

I now try to stick to the speed limits.

Then then fine did its job, served to give you incentive to stick to the limits.

 

[The Jogger]

Then then fine did its job, served to give you incentive to stick to the limits.

Absolutely.

 

[steveindenmark]

You can set your GPS to tell you when you are exceeding the speed limit.

I turned mine off after 5 minutes. I would have murdered that woman who kept telling me to slow down.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

There are 11 people working in my office, nine have done the speed awareness course and one doesn't drive. It's difficult to find a driver that hasn't done the course these days.

The course is quite interesting, and I was shocked to see how ignorant of the highway code and the meanings of road markings that some people were.

I am reading 'Bike Nation - How Cycling Can Save the World' by Peter Walker. I can't speak for the author, but from having read to where I am in the book, I've got to say from your small control group, these courses are totally ineffective. Your 9 out of 11 drivers will still still be 9 out of 11 in years to come. Very sweet that we're being sent on cosy little courses that are interesting for all participants. Doesn't seem to change the population's speeding habits.

A waste of money, that I for one would rather see being put into fixing our crap infrastructure and rebuilding a sizeable and effective police force to clip the ears of the errant.

 

[gbb]

Me
[QUOTE 4798947, member: 45"]I'm eternally grateful (and slightly staggered) that nothing bad happened as a consequence of my teenage driving.[/QUOTE]
Me too. When I look back at my driving style I'm staggered I never had a bad accident (well I did once but that wasn't down to stupidity).
I did a speed awareness course a couple years ago, informative, sensible, no sense of finger pointing or condemnation from the suppliers, very well run. Thankfully allowed me to keep a clean licence for nearly 40 years.

 

[Drago]

Hell yeah. You'd either learn to behave right quick, or you'd be getting the bus. Alas, driving a car is seen by society at large as a right, not a privilege, and no government would have the balls to do it because they'd soon be in opposition.

 

[Biff600]

[QUOTE 4800078, member: 9609"]

My problem with the speed awareness course is it has little deterrent affect and is seen by many now as a last chance to avoid the penalty points and fine. [/QUOTE]


Have you attended the course ?

 

[ufkacbln]

[QUOTE 4800078, member: 9609"]a
Was there no other indication that you had entered a 30 zone, it is usually very obvious even without the sign, and if you are in doub't keep below 30.

[/QUOTE]


Not really, there were no changes in road width, street light distance did not change, there was continuity of housing etc with no change from the promulgate 40 mph a few yards earlier, no junctions, no roundabout approach, no Schools or similar.

No real indication that there should be a change

 

[gbb]

There's another form of bad driving that is so dangerous but it seems to slip under the radar....last minute lane switchers to exit at junctions.
I'm now driving the A1 daily and the Alconbury exit onto the A14 is like a go kart track on a daily basis, I suspect most accidents on motorways happen at exits. Just pure impatience is all it is.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

[QUOTE 4798947, member: 45"]I'm eternally grateful (and slightly staggered) that nothing bad happened as a consequence of my teenage driving.[/QUOTE]

I rode motorbikes as a teanager and look back on that and wonder how come I didn't do myself any harm.

 

[swansonj]

Not really, there were no changes in road width, street light distance did not change, there was continuity of housing etc with no change from the promulgate 40 mph a few yards earlier, no junctions, no roundabout approach, no Schools or similar.

No real indication that there should be a change

If the street lights were continuous on both sides of the limit change, then there must have been repeater signs on the 40 side, so the absence of repeater signs after the 30 came into force would have been, in theory, a clue?