How safe are Britain's Roads - just started on BBC2

[summerdays]

Already they have made some valid comments such as how we wouldn't tolerate the same number of deaths on the railway! Just started.

 

[middleagecyclist]

Good programme. Thanks for highlighting it. Will be watching next week.

 

[Night Train]

It was quite good and explained well in a layperson's way.

 

[summerdays]

I didn't know about it in advance, it was only because it was after Autumnwatch. There were a number of things that I didn't know anything about from automatic fog warning devices to the European Road surveying car.

 

[sidevalve]

Hmmm ,think about it, do you really want anyone to be able to track where you are at anytime of the day or night ? Oh and yes it will include bikes, maybe not at first but it will [so much for the RLJs then]. As for the electronic anti skid gizmos, well how about teaching people to SLOW DOWN instead of relying on the vehicle to save their incompetant backsides ? The most telling moment in the prog was an example given of a woman putting on lipstick in the mirror, drifting onto the hard shoulder then swerving back onto the road and skidding ! How about a "learn to drive you dummy" campaign ?
I'm not much for the "anti big brother" campaigners but this will develop into a serious monitoring tool and if anyone thought that the CCTV cameras were an invasion wait 'till this little lot kicks in.

 

[summerdays]

I agree about the M5 fog warning - though there is just a chance that they may have been a sensor at the correct place. But it was the fact that we have a potential warning system that we are not using, particularly in those areas (such as the M5 crash), which are prone to fog.

I can see the point about more safety aids there are the more the person doesn't have to think for themselves, but those people are already out there driving on auto-pilot (like the woman putting on her make up or the number I see looking down at their mobile phones). Somehow we are failing to realise that driving isn't the safe cosy thing that the population at large believes it to be.

 

[middleagecyclist]

The automatic fog warning put in the context of last years M5 crash piece was a little misleading, and if I was the family of a victim, plain upsetting.

The crash was caused by a very small area of "fog" (smoke) caused by a bonfire. Unless they are proposing on putting them every 10 feet or so, then in that case at least, its rubbish.

I know of some drivers who conciously drive more closely to the vehicle in front when visibilty is reduced as they can still "...see the brake lights". Morons!

 

[summerdays]

And if I was the reporter going to see some safety expects I think I would have done some basic checks on my car first!

 

[snorri]

I was surprised to see several people on the film chatting to camera as they were driving, and these were the guys supposedly working to improve road safety!

 

[davefb]

I know of some drivers who conciously drive more closely to the vehicle in front when visibilty is reduced as they can still "...see the brake lights". Morons!

i've done that.. when it was *very* low and moving at about walking pace..

you then look out the back hoping to see some lights that are at a similar distance and not approaching at high speed....

we shouldn't tolerate so many deaths, but the reduction in deaths when compared with the increase of traffic really is something to be 'impressed' by in a lot of ways ( missed the program, dunno if it showed any of this)

 

[middleagecyclist]

i've done that.. when it was *very* low and moving at about walking pace..

but not at 70mph right? I was a passenger in a vehicle hurtling into a wall of fog at this kind of speed once. Never again!

 

[davefb]

bah watching on iplayer and got annoyed when they made some point about how the number went up... grr

"road deaths are rising, but why?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reported_Road_Casualties_Great_Britain
remove the 2% traffic level drop figure for 2010 and 2011 doesn't look out of place at all..


suppose it wouldn't have led to a great program though..

 

[davefb]

but not at 70mph right? I was a passenger in a vehicle hurtling into a wall of fog at this kind of speed once. Never again!

err


no it wasnt ! yikes

whats staggering is that motorway speed limits were put in place PURELY because of accidents in fog and people driving too fast. initially temporarily..

 

[on the road]

As for the electronic anti skid gizmos, well how about teaching people to SLOW DOWN instead of relying on the vehicle to save their incompetant backsides ? The most telling moment in the prog was an example given of a woman putting on lipstick in the mirror, drifting onto the hard shoulder then swerving back onto the road and skidding ! How about a "learn to drive you dummy" campaign ?

I agree. As cars get older more things fail on them so what when the so called auto braking fails, they will be so used to it that they won't know how to brake properly.

 

[wheeliebin]

I'm not sure what point they were trying to make with the "presenter's older car with a worn tyre vs. new car with good tyres" braking test. The tests were done in the dry, so IMO the worn tyre wouldn't have made any difference - some cars stop faster than others? They repeated the test braking from 80mph - if they wanted to show what difference in speed makes to braking distance, why not just use one car?