Speeding motorists – why?

Does anyone think speeding is actually good?

There’s an A road near me that goes through a small hamlet and the speed drops to 40mph. I can’t see any sensible reason why anyone would think that’s not sensible with there being a couple of side roads, house driveways, etc. Yet cars continually speed down there, I’ve been overtaken several times when I’m sticking to the limit.

I came through today and there is a police speed trap pulling cars in and presumably bollocking them and/or giving tickets out. Why are cars coming past and warning other drivers to slow down? That won’t amend their driving in future, they’ll carry on speeding and so it continues. Or are the police really universally loathed?

I hope they catch dozens and fine and point them all.

And while at it – why not have a few ‘plain clothes’ coppers in town at traffic lights and catch a few on their mobiles. Anyone seeing a policeman / car has plenty of time to drop the phone usually, start a crackdown on that too.

Because it’s fun.

To get to their destination one or two minutes earlier.

It’s fun driving a shopping/family car fast through an probably straight semi-urban road? You must have a dull life.

If I speed to and from work ever day, I save about 10mins each way. That’s an hour a week, 2 days a year, or an extra 2 months by the time I retire. 2 Months is a lot. I’ll keep going thanks.

It’s fun driving a shopping/family car fast through an probably straight semi-urban road? You must have a dull life.

That’s a lot of assumptions to be making based on the OP.

Populated area with side roads and house driveways directly on to it. Perfectly rational to be a 40mph zone, but you go ahead, you know better.

I know there are always a-holes who put their own enjoyment, time, etc above the safety of others. That wasn’t the point – the police are out to catch them. I don’t get why a significant proportion of the other motorists think it’s a good idea to warn them so they don’t get caught. Not getting caught won’t make them rethink.

You must have a dull life.

Plenty of other thing to excite that don’t put others at risk from it.

In fairness i tend to speed probably more than i should, but i never have an issue with people doing the speed limit. Its the people who trundle along at 20-30mph in 40-50 zones that are my biggest bugbear. If there’s no reason not to do the speed limit then why don’t they do it?! That’s what leads to stupid overtakes in my experience and that’s when the danger element kicks in.

Awaits angry mob and pitchforks 😀

I have no issue with it on motorways – but rural roads and urban areas deserve respect. Kids play outside , folk are out walking /cycling /cars are obstructing views , cars are joining from minor roads etc etc.

My biggest bugbare atm is the farmers son recently passing his test and thinking that the long singletrack straight past my house is a good place to do 100+ mph in his old is300 as if he is in the rac lombard ( the roads actualy part of the granite city rally occasionally) …. Hes nearly come a cropper more than once by expecting me to pull into the ditch to allow him to continue …. I dont 🙂 ill be visiting his father shortly.

ekul : it’s a speed limit, not a speed target

I’ve been nicked a couple of times, both on motorways. I do not speed through built up areas, 20/30/40/50 limits. I might ‘push on’ a bit on a twisty (60 limit) road in the middle of nowhere (for fun! yes fun!), but never silly.

I believe the motorway limit to be a bit of a farce with current cars in mind, and both times I was nicked I was keeping up with the general flow of traffic, and got done (no doubt along with hundreds of others)by camera vans.

Is it not analogous to being in a shop and seeing someone shoplifting? Wouldn’t you tell the shopkeeper? I’m pretty sure most wouldn’t warn the shoplifter that there was store detective watching them in the next aisle? So why do people tell the speeders that there’s a copper waiting round the bend?

ekul : it’s a speed limit, not a speed target

Yes it is, but doing significantly less than it, is dangerous. That’s why coppers will pull over people doing 40 on the motorway.

Like most I probably speed more than I should and I enjoy a good blast down a country lane. However speeding past houses really winds me up. It’s not big, and t’s not fun in the slightest. I also understand that some country lanes aren’t suitable for driving down quickly or even at the speed limit due to traffic, narrowness etc.

I like cars and drive something with a bit of poke but there’s a time and a place to drive quickly and outside someone’s house isn’t it. Nor is a busy road with badly sighted corners.

Part of the issue is modern cars are so fast and insulate you from the sensation that it just doesn’t seem fast the RS6 that I drove hit silly speeds without breaking sweat. It didn’t even feel like you were going fast.

I think peole warn others because it’s actually very easy to creep over the speed limit unintentionally, we’re only human, and even a few mph over will get you nicked.

I do see that point, and that’s where the shoplifting analogy breaks down, but i still lack sympathy – I find the big clock thing on my dashboard usually enables me to judge my speed fairly well 😉

If only they’d put big red and white signs alongside the road at regular intervals that I could check the clock against.

i’m the other sort, if i see someone flashing me after a speed trap i’ll pass their reg number on to the police. its no different to any other crime, helping someone else get away with it is just as bad. i hope they all get points and lose their licenses. why do otherwise law abiding people think its not a crime?

If it was a crime to warn people of speed traps then the local newspapers and radio stations would have been closed down years ago. The purpose of a speed trap is to reduce speeding. Drivers warning other drivers achieves the same end with a lot less paperwork.

doing significantly less than it, is dangerous. That’s why coppers will pull over people doing 40 on the motorway.

You’ll also fair your test for it, “failure to make progress.”

I have a heavy right foot sometimes, but there’s a time and a place for it. As a random example, there’s a stretch of road on my commute that goes from 30 to 60 to 30 to 50. The first half of the 30mph stretch is part residential and part concealed openings into industrial estates and such. It absolutely needs to be a 30mph limit. The second half, all of that runs out and it’s a wide, straight stretch of road with nothing adjoining it. I have no qualms about getting up to speed early for the approaching 50 zone, but will always obey the limit in the built up bit. It’s a silly bit of signage, I can only think that the planners expect people to start accelerating as soon as they see the signs and so have put them further down to stop people doing it too early.

It’s all moot anyway, because regular away I’ll follow someone doing 40mph all the way through all of it; so they’re under my feet doing half the limit in the NSL bit, disappear off into the distance when I slow for the 30 zone and are then under my feet again when I catch them up in the quicker bit. WHY?!

Not in this case. A camera would. This might make a difference for an hour or two while in operation, but the speeders won’t change a bit. Maybe getting caught and getting a fine and points might.

I find the big clock thing on my dashboard usually enables me to judge my speed fairly well

I guess if you were entering a 30mph with 2 screaming kids beating each other to a pulp on the back seat, you may be a little distracted and creep up a few mph, despite your best intentions?? Silly example, but you know what i mean.

I guess all I’m saying is that very occasionally, we all find ourselves inadvertently a few mph over, despite our usual impeccable respect for the speed limit.

If it was a crime to warn people of speed traps then the local newspapers and radio stations would have been closed down years ago

It is though, people have been done for it. I forget the exact charge, interfering with the course of justice or something. Failing to see how encouraging someone to stop breaking the law is a a bad thing myself.

Cougar – stop talking pish. The police are legally obliged to advertise where the cameras will be sited

I guess if you were entering a 30mph with 2 screaming kids beating each other to a pulp on the back seat, you may be a little distracted and creep up a few mph, despite your best intentions?? Silly example, but you know what i mean.
I guess all I’m saying is that very occasionally, we all find ourselves inadvertently a few mph over, despite our usual impeccable respect for the speed limit.
[/quote]But isn’t this mainly because we treat the limit as a target? If it’s a 60 limit and you’re determined not to be doing less than 59 then of course you might “creep” over a little – especially due to contours on the road. If you were maintaining 55, then that “creep” would keep you less than 60. In any case, you don’t get done for being “a few mph over” the speed limit.

spchantler – Member
i’m the other sort, if i see someone flashing me after a speed trap i’ll pass their reg number on to the police. its no different to any other crime, helping someone else get away with it is just as bad. i hope they all get points and lose their licenses. why do otherwise law abiding people think its not a crime?

You should be done for wasting police time. How do you know that the people they are flashing are speeding?? It’s not a crime. There’s case law regarding this.

The only offence the police could try and nick a ‘warner’ for is perverting the course of justice, but they would need proof that a crime had been committed, so therefore can’t.

I guess if you were entering a 30mph with 2 screaming kids beating each other to a pulp on the back seat, you may be a little distracted and creep up a few mph, despite your best intentions?? Silly example, but you know what i mean.

So you’re driving without care and attention as well as speeding are you, sir? You need to be careful with excuses like that.

I guess all I’m saying is that very occasionally, we all find ourselves inadvertently a few mph over, despite our usual impeccable respect for the speed limit.

It’s easy done. I got caught where a road goes from 50 to 30; I slowed to 30, but not quite soon enough and got caught doing something in the region of 35mph just past the sign. (I appreciate the irony of this given my previous post…)

If it was a crime to warn people of speed traps

If they are really there as ‘safety cameras’ to slow people down then warning of them does that job.

If on the other hand they are a revenue generating excercise obviously you don’t want people to get warning.

Been there, done that 😳

(though the place in question now has “count down” signs in place as the 30 sign was immediately after a bend)

But isn’t this mainly because we treat the limit as a target? If it’s a 60 limit and you’re determined not to be doing less than 59 then of course you might “creep” over a little – especially due to contours on the road. If you were maintaining 55, then that “creep” would keep you less than 60.

Granted.

In any case, you don’t get done for being “a few mph over” the speed limit.

Depends on the person doing the nicking. ACPO guidelines recommend 10% +2mph so 35 in a 30 for example as a cut off, but I know people who have been nicked at 33 for example. Zero tolerance anti speeding initiatives do happen.

So you’re driving without care and attention as well as speeding are you, sir? You need to be careful with excuses like that.

Erm, I’m not using it as an excuse. I’m innocent. It was just an example of how you can be distracted.

Like others I’m not whiter than white and have been known to exceed the limit on motorways or open country roads. Like others I also am hypercritically scathing of others’ speeding habits but specifically in built up areas. I live in a village that is frequently used as a rat run by otherwise urban dwellers and I’d break the speeders into 3 groups.

1. The statement makers – Those that speed for the thrill or to show off to passengers or just those around them.
2. The selfish – Those that speed because their need/want to get from A to B without delay overrides any concern for anyone else and a built up area is just an inconvenience best ignored.
3. The singlespeeders – Less capable drivers (dare I say it, often older) who have a fixed speed of circa 40mph that they drive everywhere at irrespective of if the speed limit is 20, 30 or 60mph.

I’m not sure if any of those groups is any more dangerous than another but group 3 seem the most oblivious – my mother being a prime case in point. Groups 1 & 2 are probably aware that what they are doing is wrong but just don’t care.

Cougar – stop talking pish.

LMGTFY.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-12115179

Michael Thompson, 64, was pulled over by officers in Grimsby in July after warning several oncoming cars.

He was fined £175 and ordered to pay £250 costs after being found guilty of wilfully obstructing a police officer in the course of her duties.

The police are legally obliged to advertise where the cameras will be sited

My understanding that this was ACPO guidelines rather than a legal requirement. I can’t immediately lay my hands on evidence either way though.

If it’s a 60 limit and you’re determined not to be doing less than 59 then of course you might “creep” over a little

Except, if you’re driving at what your speedo says is 59, you’re probably doing something in the mid 50s anyway. You’d have to ‘creep’ a good 10mph to register on a speed camera.

Erm, I’m not using it as an excuse. I’m innocent. It was just an example of how you can be distracted.

No, I understood that; I was extending your example to explain that telling a traffic offer that you weren’t paying attention might not be the smartest counterargument to speeding. (-:

Yep. I was assuming that those determined to “press on” already took that into account, i.e. were already driving at an indicated 64-65.

To expose yourself to possible fatal danger is your own affair, however to expose others to a fatal danger that you yourself have created is crassly stupid and criminally selfish and should be dealt with harshly.

You only have to travel the m6 north of the current 50mph roadworks to witness a bizarre ritual of automobileexcess/peniledeficient displays by the white german car, shiny tie, bellend squad, I despise these arrogant selfish tossers with as much bile as my body can produce.

Slow down, relax……..you are nowhere near as important as you think !!!!!!!

I hate this obsession with speed! Especially on country lanes – drivers thoughts are only about how fast they can go round the bends. How the flipping heck do they know what’s just round that bend? People do actually walk on country lanes, and I can tell you it’s pretty scary!
Next time you drive on a country lane, try imagining a pedestrian, or a horse rider, or a cyclist round the bend and think about how slowly you’d actually need to be going to not plough into them.
Don’t tell how much of a driving god you are – just think about what I’ve said at the next bend!

trail_rat – Member
Cougar – stop talking pish. The police are legally obliged to advertise where the cameras will be sited

POSTED 9 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1463472/Motorist-is-banned-over-speed-trap-alert.html

A pensioner who warned motorists of a police speed trap was convicted of wilfully obstructing a constable in the execution of his duty, banned from driving and ordered to pay £364 costs yesterday.
Stuart Harding, 71, was attempting to slow motorists down as they approached a Sunday morning car boot sale where many people were crossing the road.

This particular speed trap in Farnborough, Hants was a 30mph on a dual carriageway and up a small hill after a roundabout. It was very easy to edge over 30mph, the police would regularly target the stretch of road, much to the annoyance of the locals.

scotroutes – Member

ekul : it’s a speed limit, not a speed target

Congratulations!
You’ve just failed your basic driving test. 😆

, if i see someone flashing me after a speed trap i’ll pass their reg number on to the police. its no different to any other crime

Should you not be concentrating on the road? Anything could happen in that second or two it takes you to note their reg.

Does anyone think speeding is actually good?

You’ve never rode a motorbike have you OP?

Some people can drive safely well above the limit (perhaps have good spacial awareness/hand-eye coordination/ability to process info fast/practice etc) and others are dangerous at any speed and would struggle to clap their hands. Problem is it’s very easy to think you belong to one group when the opposite is the case.

I drive at at speed i feel is appropriate for the conditions. Sometimes that is less than the limit, sometimes on the limit/slightly over and on occasions, well above. I’m selective when and where i speed and don’t do if anyone else is in the car (but have with a pillion on the bike – with their consent of course). If i get caught (and i have) then i’ve only myself to blame. I don’t flash other car drivers for this very reason but will alert bikers – it’s a tribal thing 😉

As a side note, it really used to piss me off when some do-gooder in a car would flash when i was out on the bike, not to worn me of a police presence but because they thought i was traveling too fast! How very dare they! If i want to fling myself into a field 3,000mph it’s none of your bloody business.