[Closed] Average speed cameras work. Are they even on ?

deadlydarcy - Member

rebel12 - Member

Because we live in the UK (a free country), not the former USSR. Driving would turn into a dull, frustrating, monotonous and stressful chore with no one being able to develop the necessary driving skills to judge what is a safe speed for the conditions. Plus I'd never be able to have any fun on a deserted motorway or quiet country B road.

So you want to be able to break the speed limit when you want.

If road and traffic conditions outside of built up areas mean that it's perfectly safe to do so then yes. And before you say 'but what about the unexpected' or 'what about the group of cyclists around the blind corner' - well that's part of the skill of driving, to be able to anticipate this sort of thing and to slow right down to walking pace if necessary.

TooTall - Member

My record is 123mph through them on a motorbike

You chimp. The reduced limit is there because of limitations due to roadworks and the like. The reduced limit is there for safety reasons. I suppose naming some bikers 'organ donors' isn't that far from the truth,

Miracle i'm still here typing really isn't it 😛

Miracle i'm still here typing really isn't it

[s]We[/s] YOU should be ashamed of yourself! 8)

Miracle i'm still here typing really isn't it

Not really. STW seems to have a few mouth-breathing, self-centred chaps (as is evident by this thread).

I like 'em

Set the cruise control, sit back and relax.

"My turn on the ipad kids" 😯 😆

Well, yeah! I thought it was common knowledge that car speedos read 10% fast, so at 55 indicated you're doing 50, etc.

No it isn't.

At most 10% fast, and not at all slow is the actual thing. How much fast it is varies per car, it's 72 = 70 on my Golf (less than 3% over-reading).

Anyone know how 2 cameras can cover 3 lanes?

Or, indeed if they're effective at night? I'd have guessed the glare from headlights might prevent the reg plate being read. Maybe.

Because we live in the UK (a free country), not the former USSR.

The UK isn't a free country. We have all sorts of restrictions on what we can and cannot do, including how fast we drive.

Not really. STW seems to have a few mouth-breathing, self-centred chaps (as is evident by this thread).

That's true actually. There's nearly as many of those as there are perfect, self righteous people riding around on high horses taking themselves too seriously...... 🙂

Or, indeed if they're effective at night? I'd have guessed the glare from headlights might prevent the reg plate being read. Maybe.

http://www.speedcamerasuk.com/specs.htm

That's true actually

I know. The only time I met you, you sashayed into the building, declared everyone present knew you (when introductions were offered), waved your arm like a fading actor, then sat down and didn't listen to most of the advice you asked for.
I thought it was how an unusually-pierced Danny LaRue would hold court.

The 'only joking' defence is up there with the Edinburgh Defence. I've dealt with too many deaths and injuries caused by people riding and driving beyond limits (external and internal) for me to give a toss about hurting the feelings of idiots who brag about that sort of thing on an internet forum.

I can't imagine PP sashaying FWIW.

I've dealt with too many deaths and injuries caused by people riding and driving beyond limits (external and internal) for me to give a toss about hurting the feelings of idiots who brag about that sort of thing on an internet forum.

I'm too skilled and too well trained to listen to idiots who think they know it all on an internet forum.

Just because you think 150mph is 'fast' and 'dangerous' doesn't mean we all do.

Stop trolling 🙄

I'm too skilled and too well trained to listen to idiots who think they know it all on an internet forum.

If you won't listen to him, why should he listen to you?

Ah I forgot this is STW where we are all experts in everything & have never made a mistake.......

"Pot calling kettle..."

If you won't listen to him, why should he listen to you?

That was kind of my point really. He's coming over as a know it all because someone was killed/injured etc...

Damn, i know someone who was killed by a toaster, doesn't mean i'm never using a toaster again. People die, people get hurt, it happens.

Does that mean just because i/we ride motorbikes we should give them up ? How about bicycles, plenty of people die doing that too.

My point is... just because his perception is that 'people were driving beyond their limits' doesnt necessarily mean that just because someone is going quickly they're beyond their limits. Many many hours of riding motorbikes on racetracks mean that IMO my 'limits' are different to a bloke who drives to the shops on a wet Wednesday afternoon once a week.

And before you say 'but what about the unexpected' or 'what about the group of cyclists around the blind corner' - well that's part of the skill of driving,

Wouldn't you have to still anticipate these things driving within the speed limit, by speeding aren't you just reducing the chance of negotiating these things safely? I've heard all the 'i thought it was safe' stuff, from the mouths of folk whose speeding has contributed to the death of their child/ parents/ spouse/ friends/ strangers, and i wonder if people like yourself can understand what a dick it makes you sound spouting it off because you want to speed.
Even if folk didn't speed people would die on the roads, but a few less. I would just rather folk that want to speed just be honest and say 'I'll speed if i want and don't give a **** about the consequences to others', all this I'm a highly skilled driver Clarkson bollix is just that. It's no different than saying i only use my phone driving when i know it's safe, or i know about that assault shite, but I'm not having the government tell me who i can or can't slap around a bit.

Edit - oh, i see the tolling has started, just ignore me.

Duh, everyone knows that breaking the speed limit gets you straight into MAN territory. If you were lacking in that area to begin with, anyhows.

Because we live in the UK (a free country), not the former USSR. Driving would turn into a dull, frustrating, monotonous and stressful chore with no one being able to develop the necessary driving skills to judge what is a safe speed for the conditions.

What was your point again?

konabunny - Member
What was your point again?

I think it was something about a pissing contest.

Anybody for a bloke with a red flag?

with no one being able to develop the necessary driving skills to judge what is a safe speed for the conditions

Lol, what a load of total garbage.

Just because you think 150mph is 'fast' and 'dangerous' doesn't mean we all do.

It is more dangerous than 70mph. Fact of physics I'm afraid. Just ask Ayrton Senna.

Oh and drive to the speedo not the satnav. Traffic flows better if everyone goes at the SAME speed not some people doing 10% more than others.

Re the average speed cameras - they need to install some on the M4 around Newport. They took several years and annoyed everyone installing variable speed limits to ease congestion, and everyone totally ignores it. What a bloody waste of effort. The people of South Wales are apparently too retarded to realise why the signs are there.

It's no different than saying i only use my phone driving when i know it's safe, or i know about that assault shite, but I'm not having the government tell me who i can or can't slap around a bit.

Nicely put. He won't listen though because he knows better than you.

Oh and drive to the speedo not the satnav. Traffic flows better if everyone goes at the SAME speed not some people doing 10% more than others.

That would assume that everybody's speedo overreads by the same amount. Should I go a few mph slower now I've got a car where the speedo overreads a bit more?

Oh, and it also ignores that you can generally go a few mph more than the limit without any danger (of either killing somebody by doing 52mph on a straight but of motorway or getting points on your licence).

...well that's part of the skill of driving...
...no one being able to develop the necessary driving skills to judge what is a safe speed for the conditions...

Average speed cameras with changeable speed limits would be a good idea for busy roads, I presume I'm not the only one to witness loads of people doing 70+ in driving rain and bugger all visibility but still tailgating the guy in front?

*&or pay the fine

Sorry but using a mobile phone whilst driving is nothing like speeding. Using a mobile is a big distraction, whereas when I'm driving fast my full attention is on the road. Before anyone criticises people who speed, perhaps you should look at your own driving. If you can hold your hands up and say with honesty that you've newer strayed over the limit then fair enough. I doubt whether that's the case though, and clearly if you've just strayed over the limit by accident rather than deliberately then you're not paying enough attention when you drive.

Average speed cameras with changeable speed limits would be a good idea for busy roads, I presume I'm not the only one to witness loads of people doing 70+ in driving rain and bugger all visibility but still tailgating the guy in front?

Though the most dangerous bit of that is the tailgating - we really need tailgating cameras (not that I disagree about enforcing lower speed limits in bad conditions).

The people of South Wales are apparently too retarded to realise why the signs are there.

This is kindof the point isn't it?

[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-21829522 ]M4 shut for 6 hours, 1 dead man[/url]

Ah I forgot this is STW where we are all experts in everything & have never made a mistake

But the consequences of getting it wrong are so vastly different, If my souffle fails to rise or my photograph is out of focus it doesnt kill or injure somebody and change other people's lives forever because of my misplaced sell belief in my own skills.

I've cadged plenty of advanced training on the motorbike, and the approach to out of town driving is about creating space and time for yourself. You do this in order to give yourself a situation within which you can make progress. If you're doing it right you shouldn't actually know if you're speeding, the number on the dial can't tell you anything more useful than the view in front.

I've never been a racing driver, but I suspect there is zero overlap between racing driving and advanced IAM style driving. Advanced driving is not that heroic really, it's not about "rarr I'm on the limit", it's about being in the right place, taking in all the information, and making a good plan.

This is a forum which regularly sees huge swathes of cyclists insist that jumping a red light, when done with care, is safe. I'd like to see the venn diagram of those who defend "RLJ"-ing and those who condemn speeding.

2,000 dead people every year on the roads.
Over 5 people every single day...
Don't see the point of joining them or contributing to it by speeding...

Before ASCs were used in motorway road works, a few miles of 50mph works would nearly always cause tailbacks for miles as folk drove at 70/80/90 and slammed on the anchors for the one or two Gatsos, then went back to whatever speed they'd been doing before. Now, unless the weight of traffic is so much that a reduction in speed is going to cause delays anyway, traffic generally flows much better through the works. They've been a fantastic idea. I can't see any reason why all motorways and say, dual carriageways shouldn't have ASCs all the way along. Anyone who's happy to drive at the limit doesn't need to worry. Anyone who wants to speed with get themselves a ban. So, reduce congestion and remove idiots from the road at the same time. Yay! 🙂

(If donorbikers, by their actions, didn't affect so many others by getting themselves killed, I'd happily let them do as they please. However, technology will catch them eventually. It's only a matter of time till the ASCs can catch the back of the vehicle too.)

Perhaps we need a two stage driving test, so that all the experts who can read the road perfectly and never make mistakes get a different coloured numberplate to exempt them from speed limits?

Perhaps we need a two stage driving test, so that all the experts who can read the road perfectly and never make mistakes get a different coloured numberplate to exempt them from speed limits?

I thought they just bought an Audi with S in the model number?

Perhaps we need a two stage driving test, so that all the experts who can read the road perfectly and never make mistakes get a different coloured numberplate to exempt them from speed limits?

Great idea, maybe give the plate an EGO prefix so it's easy to spot?

This is a forum which regularly sees huge swathes of cyclists insist that jumping a red light, when done with care, is safe. I'd like to see the venn diagram of those who defend "RLJ"-ing and those who condemn speeding.

This^^^^^^

2,000 dead people every year on the roads.
Over 5 people every single day...
Don't see the point of joining them or contributing to it by speeding...

I'd be interested in how many of those deaths were actually caused by exceeding the speed limit, rather than an inattentive/careless driver/pedestrian/cyclist?

In the 23 years I've been driving, every accident that has involved someone I know or an accident I have heard of, only one has been directly caused by the spped the person was doing. He was going too fast and couldn't stop when something pulled out infront of him. So he was going too fast for the circumstances. [u]BUT he was under the speed limit[/u]. It was a national speed limit - it has since been lowered to a 40.

Every other one has been caused by one of the parties involved not paying full attention to the job of driving.

EGO?

EVO would do for anyone with one of those. 🙂

Advanced driving is not that heroic really, it's not about "rarr I'm on the limit", it's about being in the right place, taking in all the information, and making a good plan.

Spot on.

But the consequences of getting it wrong are so vastly different, If my souffle fails to rise or my photograph is out of focus it doesnt kill or injure somebody and change other people's lives forever because of my misplaced sell belief in my own skills.

How do you know hes not as good as he says he is?...

That was kind of my point really. He's coming over as a know it all because someone was killed/injured etc...

Damn, i know someone who was killed by a toaster, doesn't mean i'm never using a toaster again. People die, people get hurt, it happens.

Does that mean just because i/we ride motorbikes we should give them up ? How about bicycles, plenty of people die doing that too.

My point is... just because his perception is that 'people were driving beyond their limits' doesnt necessarily mean that just because someone is going quickly they're beyond their limits. Many many hours of riding motorbikes on racetracks mean that IMO my 'limits' are different to a bloke who drives to the shops on a wet Wednesday afternoon once a week.

I think we are on the same page.

michaelbowden >>

Speed "limit" does not mean "drive at that speed all the time".

So, he may have not been "speeding" per se (from a legal perspective), but he was "going too fast for that section of road in those conditions"

I like it when people set conditions on when I can criticise their selfish behaviour, really shows what a robust defence they have.

So much crappy logic on this thread!

Using a mobile is a big distraction, whereas when I'm driving fast my full attention is on the road.

Uh.. yes.. but if you drive fast habitually, then on that occasion when you do get distracted, or someone pulls out unexpectedly, or something else happens, you're already going fast which makes things worse.

If you think speeding's as safe as not speeding, then you are either stupid or lying to yourself.

Wilfully speeding is deliberately making the situation more dangerous (more kinetic energy, smaller margins for error) because you think you can handle it. It's arrogance.

Imagine you're bombing along at 80mph on a country road, it's fine, there's not much traffic, it's not that windy. There's a few cars coming the other way. Unknown to you, one of them's a dozy pillock who's not concentrating, then they get a phone call. They stray across the white line. Now, if you're going 85 you've got far less time to react and slow down. And if you do hit, you've got far more energy so are much more likely to kill yourself and/or the other driver.

Very simple physics. Keep it in your ****ing trousers for all our sakes.

Many many hours of riding motorbikes on racetracks mean that IMO my 'limits' are different to a bloke who drives to the shops on a wet Wednesday afternoon once a week.

You mean your concept of speed is different. However that doesn't change the physics. You're just less worried about it cos you're used to it. Familiarity does in fact breed contempt.

I'd question how useful safe track skills are on the roads however, because tracks don't tend to have many blind corners or people coming the other way etc.

I'd be interested in how many of those deaths were actually caused by exceeding the speed limit

You're still not getting it. WHATEVER THE ACCIDENT, be it inattentive cyclist or mobile phone or whatever, the CONSEQUENCES ARE WORSE IF YOU ARE SPEEDING. Also, it's harder for everyone to avoid. Either you or the other party.

Rob Hilton - Member
Anyone know how 2 cameras can cover 3 lanes

molgrips - Member
Very simple physics. Keep it in your **** trousers for all our sakes.

Or pay for a track day you selfish twunts.

Speed "limit" does not mean "drive at that speed all the time".

So, he may have not been "speeding" per se (from a legal perspective), but he was "going too fast for that section of road in those conditions"

100% correct, good driving is about assesing the road and the conditions. Which is why there are times it is not safe to drive at the speed limit and times when it is safe to drive over the speed limit.

[u]JUST becuse you exceed the speed limit[/u] on a given stretch of road does not inherently make you dangerous. Yes if you get caught you need to accept it and take the consiquences

How do you know hes not as good as he says he is?...

Who's as good as who says they are? No idea who you are referring to, I'm referring to the consequences of speeding and driving in a manner that causes collisions
(I don't use the word accident as that suggests something unpreventable, you don't accidentally lose control because the corner is tighter than you thought, you just failed to drive appropriately for the road conditions)