Why do I hear this so many times. Speed doesn't kill, excessive speed at the wrong time in the wrong place (like outside schools,etc), driving under the influence of drink/ drugs, can and does kill.

 

The cause of 90% of the accidents today are due to poor driving standards and lack of driving appreciation.

 

Most people pass the very easy driving test, start driving without any appreciation of handling, braking, speed and have no knowledge of the vehicle they drive at all. Some people barely know where to put the petrol, oil, water etc let alone which grade of fuel to use, it's worrying.

 

How many accidents pro-rata do they have on the Autobahns. Well about 75% less than what we have on our motorways, so it can't just be about speed!!

 

Speed humps only serve to piss everybody off, only slow down emergency vehicles and wreck the underside of nice low slung sports cars.

 

Speed limits should be increased on motorways to 100mph and a fine given to those who sit at 50-60mph cause they are not confident and should stick to A roads. Also, those that sit in the 2 (yes 2!!) overtaking lanes on the motorway again should be fined £100 each and every time. Mostly women and coffin-dodgers!!

 

Don't even get me started on lorry drivers!! Scourge of the roads and the most rude and inconsiderate people ever!! Then there's caravans....!!!!!!!

 

What has happened to the pleasure of driving?????

 

:tongue:

Too right - I think the obsession with lane 2 is that so many people are crap at changing lanes in the first place, so to avoid having to pull out all the time to overtake trucks they install themselves in one lane :xxx:

 

All probably to do with not learning to do it properly in driving tests/lessons... but then would a learner be safe on a motorway? Dunno...

 

Pete

BAD driving is far worse than fast driving.........end of. And you can't say that all 'fast' driving IS bad driving, because that just isn't true.

 

Unless of course you are a bad, fast driver, LOL.

 

Which is why better driving standards are required, particularly for new and younger drivers. Everyone has their opinions and these are mine. I agree not every car can get up to 100mph currently, but that it a LIMIT. Other vehicles who don't want to drive at 100mph can happily sit in the normal moving traffic lane with the lorries and the coffin-dodgers. I want to be able to get to my destination, quickly AND safely. I don't take unnecessary risks and I have never had an SP30 or maimed a child. This will always be controversial subject and I can see both side of the arguement. But there are too many anti-speed campaigners out there already who jump on the bandwagon and try and totally reduce our driving pleasure to ZERO, just because we choose to drive high powered sportcars. We get taxed enough already, the least we should be able to do is to enjoy what we drive, even it seems to upset the minority of do-gooders in this country!!

 

Even if a pedestrian was drunk, not watching what they were doing, acting irresponsible, or like recent headlines was playing "chicken" with cars, then I'm sorry but why does the car driver always have to be the bad guy!!

 

:mad:

 

 

I agree that speed people are jumping on the band wagon, but I noticed you want to get to a destination quickly before safely. If you left earlier you would get there on time.

I also agree that some old people should not be driving and personally I think when you reach a certain age you should take your test again.

So what do you recommend for young drivers? They are taught how to speed round at high speeds? Now you are just living in a dream world.

Congratulations you have never had a SP30 or maimed a child, but with you speeding round I think that is down to luck rather than your apparent self confessed good driving.

 

Drivers always seem to be the target when some one is run over but with people with your attituide around its not surprising.

 

Because you are saying,

 

Old people should not drive,

Women drivers are a menice,

Motorway limit should be 100mph,

any one driving at a speed when the car does the most MPG should be illegal on the motorway,

Young drivers should be taught to drive faster,

Speeding is OK when the conditions are right,

Lorries should stay off the motorways and drive through towns past schools and houses,

 

No wonder there are so many anti driving attitudes in this country when there are people like you with your selfish ideas, because you are the self confessed greatest and safest driver and you speed on purpose.

 

Stuart

 

No wonder there are so many anti driving attitudes in this country when there are people like you with your selfish ideas, because you are the self confessed greatest and safest driver and you speed on purpose.

 

Stuart

 

 

Stu,we all have differant veiws on everything in life,your idea of a selfish idea is not everyones,as DaveW would say CALM DOWN CALM DOWN :eek:

 

this is my 10p worth...................

 

1 People that speed past school gates at 9am and 330pm should be put infront of a firing squad.

 

2 When you reach 60 you should resit your test every 12 months until you die

 

3 17 yearolds should only be allowed up to a 1 litre and made to resit their test until they reach 25

 

4 70mph on our motorways is a JOKE!

 

5 Cyclists should ride in singlefile.

 

 

Don't give a shite what anyone else thinks those are my veiws;)

Moving on from this, I think that all cyclists and animals (fekkin horses) that intend to use the roads should also have 3rd party insurance. That way if you hit a cyclist etc and they are at fault, you can make a claim from them for damage caused to your car.

 

The times I've almost rammed cyclists who have jumped red lights at cross-road junctions...... :nono:

 

AND the other day I was driving at 70 on a dual carriageway when this dozy selfish bint on HORSEBACK rode onto the carriageway and expected me to stop so that her horsey chums could ride accross :slap: I normally do slow down for horses, but at 70mph FFS :confused:

 

Now that's dangerous.....I had to use the horn to warn her there was no way I could stop safely and luckily she got off the carriageway. Not without several hand gestures to me though..... ;)

 

I think it is unfair that the motorist is always to blame for collisions with pedestrians, I mean it's easier for a 11 stone man on foot to stop or change direction than it is for a 1.5 tonne car travelling at 30mph :confused:

 

Just my 2p's worth.....

 

Richard :smw:

gworilla, i agree with your views ,except some lorry drivers are ok.

The thing that really makes me mad are the ever increasing numbers of

scamera vans "keeping an eye on your safety" but give us your money

partnership grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! .

Wiltshire have announced they're recruiting civilians to man their new vans,

(currently they have 5 coppers doin it). This may not even be legal, a bit like when civilians operate radar guns, but they cant fine you , just a 'friendly' warning letter.

Speeding in built up areas is dangerous, thats obvious, but these bas***ds

target wide open dual carriageways where their presence is more likely to cause not prevent accidents, with drivers hitting their brakes on spotting the c***s.

And the m-way speed limit is a joke yes, it gets tricky concentrating on the road when youre constantly looking for coppers, are they - on the next bridge? - coming up behind you? - hidng infront a lorry in an unmarked car? - sat watching at a service station or roundabout? etc etc. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

speeding drivers caught this week - 12987

burglars caught - 7

Now lets see, me on my 23lb mountain bike vs a 1500+kg Z car. I think I know who comes off worse if they come together.

If a cyclist doesn't look over their shoulder when going around cars and gets hit, that's the fault of the cyclist is it? Not the Tw*t in the car behind who a) didn't see the parked car b) see the cyclist and c) put 1 and 1 together that the cyclist may have to go AROUND the car and not wait for high and mighty car driver to pass.

If cars passed cyclists with more than 2 inches between the handlebars and their wing mirror, going around a pot hole wouldn't be such an issue.

Not all car drivers are bad. I know I'm not :D , but a lot are. Very much the "I pay my road tax to own this here stretch of tarmac, so you cyclist f*ck off 'cos you delayed my trip to the little chef by 2.37 seconds." variety.

I have 2 cars, pay 2x road tax, cycle to work because I don't want to die of heart failure at 47. When I do drive to work I, luckily for me, don't feel it necessary to be an impatient as*hole.

 

Matt.

 

Ok so I take it when your riding to work, you take no notice of cars coming up behind you then???????? NO of course you DO take note, but are you trying to tell me that you dont have to, because you as a bike rider are just as bound by the highway code as is the driver, and for that matter so is the pedestrian. Cyclist are just as responsible for their actions as the car driver - FACT

 

At the end of the day, there are crap car drivers, crap Motor cyclists, crap peddle cyclists and stupid pedestrians, and we'll never change that, you've just gota have your witts about you. Comtempt seems to be bread into people these days, they are the only ones that are important, no-one else matters.

 

Dave

Stu,we all have differant veiws on everything in life,your idea of a selfish idea is not everyones,as DaveW would say CALM DOWN CALM DOWN :eek:

 

this is my 10p worth...................

 

1 People that speed past school gates at 9am and 330pm should be put infront of a firing squad.

 

2 When you reach 60 you should resit your test every 12 months until you die

 

3 17 yearolds should only be allowed up to a 1 litre and made to resit their test until they reach 25

 

4 70mph on our motorways is a JOKE!

 

5 Cyclists should ride in singlefile.

 

 

Don't give a shite what anyone else thinks those are my veiws;)

 

1. But its not just at school gates where children will be at begining and end of school. So just imposing speed limits near school gates is not enough.

 

2. I think that is a little excessive, but I think they should take their test when they are older and have to take it every few years.

 

3. Again it is excessive. I agree that something has to be done because you can pass your test in a Corsa and jump in a Ferrari. Something has to be done but 1 litre until you are 25 is excessive.

 

4. 70mph is still one of the fastest speed limits in the world on a highway/motor way. The problem is, increase the limit to 80 and people will do 90, increase it to 100 and people will do 110, 120. Don't say they wont because they will and you know they will. From what you say you dont drive at 70 so that rest the case.

Also having a 24 year old driver trying to accelerate on to a motorway in his 1 litre small car with their wife/husband and 2 small children and have some one hit them from behind at 100mph will kill the people in the small car. A 1 litre car with that much wieght would struggle to reach 70.

 

5. It is illegal to ride side by side unfortunatly there are no cameras which will catch them.

Why would the 24 year old in a 1litre car accelerating on to the m-way get hit by someone doin 100??? This is nonsense scare-mongering. When u see something ahead coming down the slip road u pull out a lane and give it room dont u? its called reading the road. And if the 3 lanes are buzy u wont be doing that speed anyway.

Hmm, I don't think its the young driver necesserily, just the immature one, I drove up the a127 last Friday night going home, I was nearly hit 3 times by younguns pulling out, I was doing 70mph because I know what its like, however I would be classified as a youngun and was driving sensibly for the conditions.

 

Driving a scooter/bike/cycle does make you more aware, it also makes you know how a bike reacts to the roads which is often different to a car, its harder to look around in a helmet and holding on over poorly maintained roads is also difficult, sometimes a bike will lurch out, in the highway code it says when passing a cycle to give one door widths space to it I believe.

 

The law is a bit of a joke, my run down by a driver going through a red light racing, he only got reckless driving and a 6 month ban, my dad got epilepsy, broken jaw, dislocated shoulder, severe head trauma (including a section of skull removed). Now if we were caught doing 120mph on an empty m25 we would be lucky not to see the inside of a prison cell.

 

Sometimes I'd like to be left to do what I want really, I've doubled the national limit on a few occasions, been reckless, regretted my actions, but there needs to be rules that need to be followed otherwise the roads will be a LOT slower as the police scrape you off a tree.

1. But its not just at school gates where children will be at begining and end of school. So just imposing speed limits near school gates is not enough.

 

2. I think that is a little excessive, but I think they should take their test when they are older and have to take it every few years.

 

3. Again it is excessive. I agree that something has to be done because you can pass your test in a Corsa and jump in a Ferrari. Something has to be done but 1 litre until you are 25 is excessive.

 

4. 70mph is still one of the fastest speed limits in the world on a highway/motor way. The problem is, increase the limit to 80 and people will do 90, increase it to 100 and people will do 110, 120. Don't say they wont because they will and you know they will. From what you say you dont drive at 70 so that rest the case.

Also having a 24 year old driver trying to accelerate on to a motorway in his 1 litre small car with their wife/husband and 2 small children and have some one hit them from behind at 100mph will kill the people in the small car. A 1 litre car with that much wieght would struggle to reach 70.

 

5. It is illegal to ride side by side unfortunatly there are no cameras which will catch them.

 

LOL Stu,Don't give a shite what anyone else thinks those are my veiwsam not having a debate :rolleyes:

Why would the 24 year old in a 1litre car accelerating on to the m-way get hit by someone doin 100??? This is nonsense scare-mongering. When u see something ahead coming down the slip road u pull out a lane and give it room dont u? its called reading the road. And if the 3 lanes are buzy u wont be doing that speed anyway.

 

Read MAC's post. Its what he feels. I am just pointing out possible problems with his views.

 

People have suggested 100mph speed limit. Has any one been in an accident on the motor way? I have and at 60mph the car was totaled and the boot of the car was pushed through the back seats. At 100mph we all would have been dead. I just wanted to point that out because there seems to be a lot of BS going on.

 

People just think because they have a fast car they have the right, and what seems to be the most disturbing thing, think they have the skill to drive over the speed limit.

 

I have lost count of the number of people who have lost the back end and thrown the car into a tree, bush or kurb. I bet those people would have said they where not bad drivers, and virtually all have confessed to having a little fun or flooring it when it happend.

I think we are very lucky that we haven't lost a forum member because of this.

LOL Stu,Don't give a shite what anyone else thinks those are my veiwsam not having a debate :rolleyes:

 

 

Typical LOL ;)

All im saying is speed doesnt automatically make you dangerous.

Srrae, when u were hit doin 60 , what was the cause of the accident?

The biggest cause of motorway accidents is tailgateing and this is caused by ppl

driving too slow and bunching up, you dont often get tailgated when your doin 100.

Also driving at 60-70 is very monotonous and turns u into a zombie driver , drowzy and falling asleep on m-ways.

Theres an A road near me (A38) where the great powers that be have reduced the limit from 60 to 30, now 90% of cars using that road are totally pissed off and drive on the rear bumper of the car infront, and perform frustrated dangerous overtaking manouvres. There's been 2 big accidents since this happened.

There seems to be a myth that slow = safe! amongst the car haters.

Stuart - if the motorway limit was 100mph - people would not all drive at 110,120 etc.

 

I for one usually drive between 75 and 85, occasionally touching 90, because I feel safe at those speeds, traffic permitting etc....

 

I would not feel safe at all travelling 110mph for long stretches, passing other motorists etc.

 

I hate this "argument" that some people come out with claiming you can simply add 10 or 20mph to the speed limit and thats what people will do. What percentage of cars can actually do 120mph??

 

Maybe people drive 20mph over the m'way limit because 90mph is an acceptable speed to them, not too fast, not too slow.

Spot on Pete!

With the roads getting more congested, i'd like to see dual carriageways

built alongside all motorways for the use of HGV/ PSV only, freeing up m-ways

for cars / LGV only. All paid for by the existing taxes on the motorist, with change to spare.

Hehe the greens would be out in force .

Maybe that's it then. I am just an ignorant, selfish, pig headed driver that thinks they own the road (thanks Stuart!!).

 

Well I am not. I am just a genuinely pissed off driver who is sick of being made a scapegoat for most of the problems experienced on Britains roads because I choose to drive a high powered sportscar. I never EVER sped in a built up area and where there are children present I drive like a nun, cause I not only care about my life, but other peoples. I have a real passion for life!!

 

I have always driven with care, consideration and thought for other road users (except lorries and caravans...sorry!!), and yes I am a bloody good driver and proud of it. The open roads and racetracks are the ONLY place for real speed. My unblemished licence and police record are not merely by chance, they are as they are because I am not a maniac.

 

I already pay a small fortune to insure, fuel, tax and maintain this superb machine and with so many morons on the road, my driving pleasure is diminishing fast. What with 90%+ of the speed cameras NOT in accident blackspots and increases in the number (and height) of those blasted speed humps, where will it end.

 

I have been driven by a lot of women over the years both socially and professionally and I can hand on heart say that they are the WORST drivers by far. They understand little about the cars they drive and they just don't, and never will, have a passion for driving. A car is just something that gets them from A-B and if they are bothered B-A. Old people DO need to re-take their test every year from the age of 60 onwards.

 

The driving test and more importantly, driving lessons should include track days. This is where you really get a feel for and "drive" a car properly. The person finds out how to drive the car at pace, how to maneouvre, how to park properly and more importantly how to anticipate and deal with most situations, given the right tuition. I could write a whole book on what improvements need to be made to driving standards, but I'll leave that to more high profile people like the Jeremy Clarksons and Quentin Wilson's of this world, who constantly dictate that SPEED ALONE IS NOT A KILLER!!!

 

:x:

I so agree with all this. How many times could u nearly have had an accident cos uve been checking your mirror 2 c if the car behind u in the dark is a copper who's about to pull u over 4 doing 32 instead of 30? Are we supposed to stare at our speedos all day instead of concentrate on the road? I got 3 points for doing 84 in the countryside on a dry bright day with NO cars or anything around on a straight downhill road. Yet some idiot reverses into a bus queue or drives through a garden wall at 20mph. Oh it makes me sick. :mad:

Least theres rumour of an 80-limit on the m/ways. :bow:

My 2p:

 

TOP speed limit should be 100mph on motorways, in the 'fast' lane (overtaking, whatever) only.

 

the other lanes should stay at 70mph. Pretty simple I think.

 

Dual carriage ways maybe 80mph where there arent right hand turnings?

 

Urban areas should drop to 25mph imo, and urban main roads stay at 30.

 

I guess we can all speculate about speed limits, but I think the only real reason it is talked about alot is because of the amount of enforcement. 10 years ago it was fine, and your Z's were just as fast - but you could more or less drive how you wanted where the roads allowed without too much fear of getting caught. Now - you run the risk of a gun being on every corner ready to get you. People are getting caught and punished for doing 33mph in a 30 at 2 in the morning. It's the enforcement that needs to be revised not the speed limits! (in my opinion!)

~RE: old people retaking test every year

 

Probably a bit harsh, perhaps just a 'refresher course' (which I think is needed for everyone anyway, perhaps every 5 years). If the test bloke thinks the old fella is ok at driving, he keeps his licence, if he thinks the old fella is dangerous, he can say so and recommend/require to the old fella that he takes a full test. Same again with everyone.

 

I wouldnt have a problem with doing a 'refresher' every 5 years, perhaps highlighting some changes in the law/highway code, and corrections to your driving, but by no means a test.

Ok some people say don't increase the limit cos people will just go even faster and stay the same speed over the limit - old or new. It should be a matter of if ur in a 30 zone and followed by coppers and ur doin 32, no problem. 35, no problem, 40 u get a warning flash, 45 u get pulled over and slap-wristed, 55 and ur starting to take the piss.

Many thanks to the sensible copper who stopped me doing 50 in a quiet 30 at 2am and gave me a producer. Now that's brains.

The following link makes very interesting reading with regard to the number of accidents cuased by speed???

 

http://www.onethirdlie.org.uk/

What about speed camras they are so dangerous mount times i go past at almost hit the dick jamming his brakes on in front even though there is ample distance, but i must admit i do the same and you just concentrate on your speedo so much your not paying much attention on whats going on around you, there completely pointless as people speed up faster afterwards.

Blimey. Busiest thread for months, this! But this seems to be one of those "religious" things... it's very rare anyone changes their views as a result of one of these discussions. (Which is why I don't read uk.rec.driving any more - it just goes in circles!)

 

I think vehicle standards and enforcement of them are a disgrace. The gf was given a car for nowt and I asked her not to drive it again until she got the brakes sorted first time I got in it - AFTER an MOT. It turns out it needed new pads, shoes, drums, disks, and cylinders - yet it passed an MOT one week previously. (The oil also resembled watery porridge...)

 

Speed should be appropriate to the road, the conditions, the vehicle, and the driver. Fixed speed limits and camera enforcement is bugger all use for any of these. There are plenty of unsigned motorway intersections where the limit of 70 is not safe on the approach - due to limited visibility and/or bend radius. That limit of 70 is the same for ramrod straight flat sections of empty 4-lane motorway. How can that be correct?

 

Some drivers just do not have the anticipation skills, the reactions, and grasp of basic handling characteristics to drive over 40 mph ever, full stop. Some of them happen to be pensioners but I can think of plenty who are not. In fact, there are probably more road users in their twenties than their seventies that fall into this category.Yet these drivers tailgate at 100mph in an old-shape Astra, in the rain - which breaks all four of the guidelines in the last paragraph. The risk would not be much lower at 70mph - it's still raining, the driver is still clueless, and the car is still unstable and will suffer brake fade - and yet the camera will catch one situation and not the other.

 

The main problem with motorways is speed differentials in neighbouring lanes - the inside lane will often run at 56mph because of the level of HGV traffic in this country. Therefore, it's rare to safely exceed 80mph let alone 100.

 

Fixed speed limits and camera enforcement don't actually address any of these problems, do they?

 

Cycling does get you used to doing other road users' thinking for them - and you should do the same in a car. That's mostly what advanced road driving is all about.

 

Bike users aren't allowed powerful bikes until they prove they can handle lesser machines, and if the same were true for cars we'd all have lower insurance premiums. Althought the way the car market works, quicker cars are usually safer too - better brakes, better handling, smoother power delivery, and more electronic toys.

 

Both my SP30s were acquired in the daily driver, at two figure speeds. Ironic, isn't it?

 

I notice discussion always centres around "years" - refresher courses, even the points system... surely hours / miles in the cockpit is more relevant? The safest transport industry in the world relies on that system, after all.

 

Anyway, my tuppence!

Yes it would I agree, however if we all drove around at 10mph surely the roads would be a safer place ;)

 

The actual cause of the crash is being missed, ie faulty/unserviced/whatever tyres - its easier to blame "speed"

 

Pete

 

The hole point of the speed argument is all about covert Taxation and fook all else. If someone gets kill because they're not looking what they're doing in a place of work yet all the safey mechanisms are in place. They don't fine the business because the person actions where fool hardy and business that make proffits pay Taxes.

 

Buy blaming speed they can increase revenue by all mannor of fines, insurance taxes, VAT on suspension damage, council Tax to pay for all the extra road bumps, speed cameras etc.

 

You really don't think the authorities give a shit adout the victims, do you. The motorist is seen as a cash cow at the mo.