I don't drive. The vast majority of accidents are caused by people speeding.
The former statement arguably invalidates the latter.
Sounds like a poorly reasoned argument to me. As I said, this was an observation made from watching several crashes on video.
Can't believe so many people have bothered to respond to the OP.....what a shite thread!
Where's the 'thumbs down' emoticon when you need it?
@Cougar: apologies, that came across rather pishy- it's been a long week.
's absolutely fine mate. I didn't think you were, I was probably being pishy myself. My doctor tells me I have an overactive sarcasm gland.
A bloody overactive ban-hammer more like...
I'm awesome and a great driver is basically what some seem to think. The thing is, you can be the best driver of all time, but you can't control or account fort the behaviour of other motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, horses, dogs etc. Hence the awesome skillz are worth two things, jack and shit. That's why lower speed limits are a good thing. They help to lessen the seriousness of an incident.
I always promise myself I won't look at or post on speeding threads. I can't help it though. Hands up how many of you have lost somebody very close due to a driver thinking speed limits don't matter. I have and it's shit. My brother was killed crossing the street. According to the investigators three miles an hour makes a big ****ing difference.
Three miles an hour less and I'd have been celebrating my brothers 46th birthday with him a couple of weeks ago. Instead I had to sit in a corridor in intensive care eleven years ago and explain to an eight year old boy that we were turning off the machines that were keeping his father alive.
A bloody overactive ban-hammer more like...
It's underactive if anything. Bans are always a last resort.
I'm awesome and a great driver is basically what some seem to think. The thing is, you can be the best driver of all time, but you can't control or account fort the behaviour of other motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, horses, dogs etc.
Of course you can't. But you can look and think ahead, forward-plan your driving and mitigate a lot of the risks. Driving at a speed appropriate to the conditions is an important part of that but only a part of it, and as you say will also reduce the severity of the outcome should a collision occur (though I'd rather try and avoid a collision in the first place). Speeding through a built-up area when there's likely to be people about is bellendery. Doing 75 on an empty motorway, not so much.
And I've said it before but it's probably worth repeating if only so that people don't think I've had an empathy bypass; I'm sincerely sorry for your loss.
Unrealistic speed limits in a lot of instances. Roads that used to be national, now 40 or 50. I didnt die 20 years ago when they were national, I have no intention of slowing down on them now.
Please for the sake of yourself and others you share the road with, go on a speed awareness course. Or if you've been on one, go again but this time listen. Things have changed somewhat over the last 20 years.If there is a stretch of road that has had the speed limit reduced it is because people have died. And on these accident blackspot stretches of road where speed limits have been reduced it is proved to be an effective way to reduce the accident rate. So that sort of disproves your point of view about lower speed limits being introduced as an annoyance to road users - they are introduced very deliberately backed up with evidence to support them being changed.
There have been a number of local roads to me which had limits lowered just because there were a couple of accidents, only one of which involved a fatality, and all were caused by inattention at speeds below what was originally set, i.e. 60mph.
The fatal accident was on a bypass, which has a housing estate built inside it, a woman was killed when she turned around to berate one of her children, and drifted across the road into the path of a large truck. Neither vehicle was doing more than 40mph on a 60mph road.
The other one on the same stretch was at a junction where a woman was waiting to pull out onto the bypass, a motorist turning left into the road she was on flashed her to say she could pull out, and she was hit by a car overtaking the one turning. Nobody was seriously injured, no vehicle was doing more than 35 mph.
They installed roundabouts on all the junctions and dropped the limit to 50, on the grounds that it's "an estate road".
It is not, it's a road bypassing a road into town that's heavily built up, narrow, and has a school nearby, and it happens to have an estate built inside it after it was put in place, as nearly always happens when developers get a chance to do 'infill'.
Another limit was imposed on the A4 near Box after a collision where a car pulled out from a garage into the path of another vehicle without looking, again neither vehicle was travelling more than 40mph, as established by accident investigators.
The classic is the Batheaston bypass, put in place to avoid the accident blackspot that is Batheaston; it's a dual-carriageway that sweeps around the watermeadow below the village, and it had a speed-camera installed and a 50mph limit imposed, [i]before it was even opened![/i]
Why? Because the rules state that a speed camera can be set up within 2km of an accident black-spot, so as Batheaston is within the 2km limit, a camera was installed on the road built to avoid the black-spot; a clear and blatant case of using a camera for making money, not to avoid accidents that had never ever happened on that road.
It doesn't even need to be 50mph, it's a dual carriageway with no other roads accessing it, except for assess ramps.
But you can look and think ahead, forward-plan your driving and mitigate a lot of the risks.
You can, but I don't think a lot of people do. I'm with you on the motorway thing though. All traffic flowing one way, no pedestrians, cyclists etc. I know I shouldn't post and you don't come across as having no empathy.
It's the people that think speeding is okay and act like children when they receive a fine that piss me off. Don't like it, don't speed. It's selfish, entitled behaviour at the end of the day.
I speed occasionally because I want to. And I've decided that it is safe to do so. So there.
My theory, as in life as well as driving. Is that one should always give way/help to the weaker/more vulnerable. So when driving, pedestrians and cyclists are ALWAYS given priority. What I cannot stand, is people who don't do this and use there cars to bully people. See it a lot when I'm out and about on foot. I'm talking about those speeding in busy built up areas, those revving to shoot off from the lights at a pedestrian crossing when I'm half way across "THE LIGHT CHANGED I HAVE RIGHT OF WAY!", those who park on the pavement blocking access etc...
Like all laws, they are for the guidance of the wise, and the obedience of the fool.
Edit: and I don't/won't moan if/when I get a ticket. What will be, will be. Only ever had one ticket for speeding, and I speed pretty much all the time (when appropriate) which just shows that my speeding is (mostly) appropriate.
They should bring back all those public information films
I'll happily speed on open roads so as to overtake all of those morons who are dead from the neck up and travel at a constant 40 mph regardless of the speed limits.
Given the inability of so many motorists to be able to maintain road speed I suspect all road will be 40 mph max within 10 years.
Takes me 45 mins to travel 19 miles here in rural Dorset,
Like all laws, they are for the guidance of the wise, and the obedience of the fool.
Eh?
I've not read the thread as life is to short, but in my opinion things that should of been said by now are (in order of importance )
1, Where is surf matt?
2, My car is NCAP 1 billion so it won't affect me or my victims
3, We live in a nanny state
4, I am better than the majority of drivers on the road
5, All motorised road users are killers.
May I also say that I have absolutely no respect for the posted limits of the road, sometimes I drive faster, sometimes slower, I refer you to point 4 😉
I treat 30 and 40 limits as sacrosanct but empty open country roads have places where I'm quite happy to go over the national.
I'm going to start advanced driver training soon so I can feel superior, I mean be a better, safer driver.
Off topic a bit but one of the types of driver that get me are the ones you overtake between villages because they're rolling along at 45. Then at the next village you slow to the 30 but they catch up and get right up your chuff because they want to do 45 through the village as well. Fools.
+1 Come to Dorset. It's full of them!Off topic a bit but one of the types of driver that get me are the ones you overtake between villages because they're rolling along at 45. Then at the next village you slow to the 30 but they catch up and get right up your chuff because they want to do 45 through the village as well. Fools.
While we're having an off-thread moan about driving habits...
Those people who really make a meal of turning off a main road into a side road causing you to unnecessarily slow to a halt and wait for them to complete the whole tedious manoeuvre. Watching them slowly feed the wheel through their hands whilst cars are screeching to a stop behind you in a tailback on the dual carriageway ring-road. Just fuggingeddinthere! Slow down one you're in and off the main drag!
The worst type are the bastards who travel at 30 on a national speed limit road and then speed up when they reach a 30. I swear to god that there are a small number of drivers that think signs work in reverse. You are now leaving a 30 limit 🙄
Some really disappointing stuff on this thread from people who spend time on the roads on bicycles and might not get killed/injured if more people drove according to the highway code. I know someone who killed a pedestrian who wouldn't have done with a little more care and respect for the law. You don't want to have to live with that, or do you?
Just a couple of thoughts:
Use your limiter rather than cruise control. If you start to doze off you'll slow down which might bring you to your senses and if you do crash you'll be going slower. If you have to brake you'll find the pedal faster from the accelerator than from wherever you're resting your foot. A Swiss study concluded cruise controls to be a significant contributor to motorway accidents.
Engine braking is still very useful, especially in the mountains. A British coach driver was hailed as a hero for the way he crashed his coach to save lives. A driver familiar with driving in the mountains wouldn't have cooked the brakes to failure in the first place.
To support countzero, a road I use was until fairly recently was a NSL of 60 as it was rural, it then went to 40/30/60, it then further went 40/30/20/60, I still drive the road the same as I always did, just because a few idiots thought they could take a blind 100degree plus bend at 60mph in the snow doesn't mean I should adjust the way I drive.
For funkmasterp, those are the ****s that can't see well enough to go fast on unlit roads that then try to make ground when they can see in a lit (urban ) area 🙁
Use your limiter rather than cruise control. If you start to doze off you'll slow down which might bring you to your senses and if you do crash you'll be going slower. If you have to brake you'll find the pedal faster from the accelerator than from wherever you're resting your foot. A Swiss study concluded cruise controls to be a significant contributor to motorway accidents.Engine braking is still very useful, especially in the mountains. A British coach driver was hailed as a hero for the way he crashed his coach to save lives. A driver familiar with driving in the mountains wouldn't have cooked the brakes to failure in the first place.
Apparently this is all BS... even the moderator says so!
(For the record, nail on the head)
I was going to post something balanced, conciliatory and thoughtful.
And then I thought better of it and had another biscuit.
Dark chocolate digestive, proper McVities one.
What else did you do then when not driving? Play Mindcraft on yer phone ?
Didnt know you can get Minecraft on a phone, so no. Finished the "Fiendish" level Sudoku in The Times though.
I'm awesome and a great driver is basically what some seem to think. The thing is, you can be the best driver of all time, but you can't control or account fort the behaviour of other motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, horses, dogs etc. Hence the awesome skillz are worth two things, jack and shit.
Exactly this. The law is to protect the vulnerable from the incompetent and/or idiotic. You awesome drivers out there are clearly no problem, but the law is written to protect us from those less competent. There is a certain amount of irony there.
Top and bottom of it is if you want to drive at competitive speeds, go and compete in something. get it out of your system.
You can [think ahead], but I don't think a lot of people do.
I don't disagree, that was kind of my point TBH.
you don't come across as having no empathy.
That's kind of you to say. Mostly I was preempting a mauling from the great unwashed. (-:
Off topic a bit but one of the types of driver that get me are the ones you overtake between villages because they're rolling along at 45. Then at the next village you slow to the 30 but they catch up and get right up your chuff because they want to do 45 through the village as well. Fools.
Monospeeders. Surely one of the greatest menaces on the roads today.
Apparently this is all BS... even [s]the moderator[/s] [b]another forum user[/b] says so!
FTFY.
One of the most useful views of the road ahead is underneath the car
My apologies, I didn't realise you drove scalextrix.
It's when you are on some random B road and being forced to do 40 when there's no hazards other than the odd pheasant that would warrant doing a lower speed than 75.
You're obviously not a road cyclist then
I treat 30 and 40 limits as sacrosanct but empty open country roads have places where I'm quite happy to go over the national.
Another one who apparently never rides a bike on the road
My apologies, I didn't realise you drove scalextrix.
If you're a safe distance from the car in front, you can see daylight underneath and - at times - get a very useful view of the road ahead.
The fact that this seems ridiculous to you reaffirms the value of Advanced Driver training as it is second nature for me to use this and many other techniques to gather as much information as possible.
ADT isn't about driving fast, it's about driving safe and in a way that makes your vehicle last longer. Speed is [i]sometimes[/i] a byproduct of safe driving.
After our torrential downpours yesterday it's an absolutely stunning Autumn morning.
Make Progress everyone, and don't forget the hoot and flick the bird at every other road user that annoys you !!
Stay safe.
😆
If you're a safe distance from the car in front, you can see daylight underneath and - at times - get a very useful view of the road ahead.
You said "one of the most useful views...", which is a bit different to saying it can sometimes be useful. "Sometimes useful" I can agree with.
The fact that this seems ridiculous to you reaffirms the value of Advanced Driver training as it is second nature for me to use this and many other techniques to gather as much information as possible.
What does my opinion on the value of looking underneath the vehicle in front have to do with your own opinion on the quality of your training? You can't even correctly assess what my opinion is.
I like nothing more than the epic turn-in I get from my T4 when I left foot brake coming into a roundabout. If you can't left foot brake then don't tell me you're an advanced driver.
Oh, and My nan did ADT, it used to reduce the insurance premium, now it just marks you as a bell end.
There's no earthly reason for left foot braking in a manual car, most modern cars lack the torque needed to make the technique of any use whatsoever.
Heel-and-toeing has [i]some[/i] uses, particularly in wet conditions, but left foot braking just marks you out as a bellend.
You're obviously not a road cyclist then
I am. Whether someone drives by me at 40, 45, or 50 makes no difference to me. As long as they overtake safely. Not into oncoming cars, go to opposite side of road, not before a corner etc,.
My word....
There are some extreme Lewis Hamilton wannabe bell-ends on this thread...
I treat 30 and 40 limits as sacrosanct but empty open country roads have places where I'm quite happy to go over the national.Another one who apparently never rides a bike on the road
No I don't now but I did and I've been knocked off my bike a couple of times, none were because the car/truck was speeding.
This blinkered view that under the limit=safe and over=unsafe is ridiculous and dangerous.
I go no faster than I can see and stop in and never assume that the road is clear. So whatever the hazard, I'm prepared. Knowing what's going on around you and driving appropriately is crucial to safety for all road users, to say that speed is bad period is nonsense.
Road safety material often quotes "it takes X metres to stop from Xmph" but I've never found it very relatable until I recently carried out an emergency stop from 100mph on vehicle proving ground training. Genuinely scary how far we travelled before stopping.
It hasn't altered my driving habits as I always have left an enormous gap if I want to go above 70, but I think a lot of people on the roads need the shock factor of the above.
But it can work - in Germany I feel entirely safe above 100 as on the whole appropriate gaps are left and drivers are more aware.
Not long back from Sicily and driving there is VERY different to here - but because everyone's on pretty much the same wavelength, it's not a problem.
have you considered though that this attitude by individuals and therefore by society as a whole makes "everyone" think speeding is OK and a little bit over the limit is normal, and perhaps not everyone on the roads has the same ability to differentiate when it's good speeding and bad speeding. As a result does your desire to get somewhere a few minutes quicker sends a message to everyone that it is ok.cougar - Doing 75 on an empty motorway, not so much
I go no faster than I can see and stop in and never assume that the road is clear.
You need to be able to stop in about half the distance you can see to be clear. If you don't, one day you'll be confronted with a vehicle traveling on the wrong side of the road because it's going round a cyclist/horse/parked car, overtaking or whatever.
As for left-foot braking, to be effective the brake balance needs setting up with a sufficient rear bias even with forward weight transfer and it needs hours of practice on closed roads with plenty of run off before it makes you any quicker. The car it was most use in was my group N Samba rally on very loose stages. It had very little torque and was kept at 4500 - 7000 rpm. On tarmac I used the technique sparingly as it made marginal brakes even more marginal. I never drive fast enough on public roads for the technique to be of any use whatsoever, it's used for changing the attitude of a car that's already drifting - incompatible with sharing the road with others.
[img] 
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From the attitude of the car I was left-foot braking in this pic - Circuit of Ireland = closed road.
Some of you might need to watch this:
Good point about Sicilian driving, in fact other countries and cultures attitudes to driving in general.
Niece in New Zealand says most drive bumper to bumper, and fast as due to roads being crap and it takes an age to get anywhere... but they all do it and traffic flows "quite" well... she says.
Anyone driven in Dheli ?? 😯
The balance and poise achieved through correct use of left foot braking is sublime, and yes it's a technique that takes time to learn but it use when 'pressing on' cannot be ignored.
Edukator- it looks like you're under steering into a ditch