Private Eye piece on effects of speeding traffic

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
This is Private Eye’s view on the switching off of Oxfordshire’s safety cameras. I thought the conclusion of the piece put things pretty succinctly and may be of interest to you all…



Copied from Private Eye 1268, 6[sup]th[/sup] to 19[sup]th[/sup] August 2010, page 7:



ROAD RAGE

How does switching off speed cameras in Oxfordshire and other areas, as central government axes their funding, square with the Tories “Big Society”?

David Cameron wants people to be more active in improving their communities, but the big improvement many communities want is safer roads. Local campaigns for speed cameras came up against Labour’s bizarre rule that cameras were allowed only at places where at least four deaths or serious injuries had happened in three years (any factory, hospital or airline manager would be hauled over the coals for taking that reactive approach to risk management). Sporadic enforcement by camera was allowed at some “sites of community concern”, but many residents had to settle for borrowing police equipment to register vehicle speeds themselves, with punishment impossible or unlikely.

What Labour and Tory ministers have never understood is that speeding traffic is a problem because of intimidation, not just the occurrence of accidents. Over the past 40 years children’s independence of movement has reduced dramatically, with worrying health consequences, thanks largely to parental fear of traffic.

Elderly people can be cut off from neighbours or services if they are terrified of passing vehicles. The absence of recent accidents where traffic routinely exceeds the speed limit could be an indicator not of safety but of locals being too scared to cycle or walk on the road as they’re entitled to do.
 

HJ

Cycling in Scotland
Location
Auld Reekie
Lets face it the Tories “Big Society” is just a lie. We really need to castrate the Sacred Bull in Society's China Shop, but central government doesn't like the idea of local democracy...

Opps that's this thread headed for P&L
 

downfader

extimus uero philosophus
Location
'ampsheeeer
Having elderly or disabled aquaintances lets you into a mind that struggles to cross a road, let alone the body. Its not just kids who are affected but many others who find the sporadic behaviour of some motorists hard to judge.
 
I like the castration analogy. It sums up well our society's TopGear/Fifth Gear/Max Power obsession.

I also think that there is some obsession with assuming Top Gear et al. is to blame for motorised transport issues.

After all, I am a big fan of TG just like I am sure many are here - I can also see the comedy off it and I understand that JC is just trying to wind people up that shouldn't be.

I also think Top Gear, Fifth Gear and Max Power are different fruits in the basket.
 
Having elderly or disabled aquaintances lets you into a mind that struggles to cross a road, let alone the body. Its not just kids who are affected but many others who find the sporadic behaviour of some motorists hard to judge.

One in Fareham last week, elderly chap with stick crossing road. Obviously no way he is going to make it before the lights change. Muppet in hatchback revving his engine and sounding horn, then scoots through the crossing and past the gentleman whilst still on the crossing. Why does it always happen when raining and the Muvi is in my pannier?
 
One in Fareham last week, elderly chap with stick crossing road. Obviously no way he is going to make it before the lights change. Muppet in hatchback revving his engine and sounding horn, then scoots through the crossing and past the gentleman whilst still on the crossing. Why does it always happen when raining and the Muvi is in my pannier?

My nan is a bit slow and she is always getting buzzed.

Maybe we should take the Muvi out more often whilst walking too :tongue:
 

Davidc

Guru
Location
Somerset UK
The car is king. Who cares about anything else.

How about a new mission statement for the coalition - "There's no such thing as big society".
 

trsleigh

Well-Known Member
Location
Ealing
This is Private Eye’s view on the switching off of Oxfordshire’s safety cameras. I thought the conclusion of the piece put things pretty succinctly and may be of interest to you all…

Copied from Private Eye 1268, 6[sup]th[/sup] to 19[sup]th[/sup] August 2010, page 7:

..........What Labour and Tory ministers have never understood is that speeding traffic is a problem because of intimidation, not just the occurrence of accidents. Over the past 40 years children’s independence of movement has reduced dramatically, with worrying health consequences, thanks largely to parental fear of traffic.

Elderly people can be cut off from neighbours or services if they are terrified of passing vehicles. The absence of recent accidents where traffic routinely exceeds the speed limit could be an indicator not of safety but of locals being too scared to cycle or walk on the road as they’re entitled to do.

Thanks for posting this TC.
As a father of four these last two paragraphs sum up my feelings entirely.
Yet all the concern in society appears to be about pederasts etc, the 57 child pedestrians killed in 2007 seem to be accepted as unfortunate, but inevitable.
Although it could have added increased road noise.
 

Eddie

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure that speeding on the whole is dangerous. If someone is on a quite none residential road and doing 35mph on a clear stretch this isn't so dangerous. It's people who insist on accelerating as hard as possible, braking late and hard, taking corners way to fast (often without indicating) who cause more of an issue even if they don't break the speed limit in doing so.
 

Chamfus Flange

Well-Known Member
Location
Woking, Surrey
As far as speed is concerned, if you increase it by 10% you increase the potential damage by about 20%. There lies the danger. Your average drive does not understand the potential for damage.

People often say that they can speed because the road is clear. It can take only a fraction of a second before it is no longer.
 

adscrim

Veteran
Location
Perth
I'm not sure that speeding on the whole is dangerous.


It is illegal though.

I can understand calls for speed increases on motorways but how would a government reconcile this with green policies?

With regards driving at speed in residential areas, I think all speed limits should be lowered. It takes no time at all for a kid to run out onto the road and even less for a driver to be looking in a mirror/changing a radio station/trying to light up/checking out the totty etc. I live in continual fear that it's going to one of my kids that's squished by some idiot in a car not paying attention (a crime that I honestly think should be treated in line with not paying attention while discharging any other lethal weapon.

I also understand that I didn't think this way before I had kids and that it would be a real struggle to stay below 20mph (for example) on my ride to work every day!
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
Speeding most definitely is dangerous. Not only do the consequences of a collision become much larger, but the chances of making mistakes also increase significantly.
 
I think a lot of the issues are to do with speed DIFFERENCES, not just between cars but other road uses (us cyclists, peds etc).

If you lower the speed limits, of course that will help reduce accidents to some degree in speed alone, but you slow down the faster drivers (people that can maintain 60 on an open A road) to the speed of people that insist on doing 40 and the whole lot bunching up behind them (often stupidly tailgating).
 
Top Bottom