CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
"Speeding is OK, say young drivers"
(11 posts)-
Posted 12 years ago #
-
young drivers always will say that, the best detterent I ever saw as a young driver was a crashed car. a fatal crash, on a trailer, next to a police car and officer in the car park of B+Q on a sunday morning ! The police explained exactly what happened to the car and graphically explained how the occupants had died. I used to be a real petrol junkie and used to do stock car racing ! what you think of that is not important, but, it taught me how much a car can bend even at low speeds ! You can only move your feet so fast when the floor and pedals are coming towards you. Apparently the police arnt allowed to shock people any more cuase of health and safety !!!!!!The seatbelt sled is also unuseable because of the same thing ! Gran tourismo on the playstation xbox thingies are great fun . but no one gets hurt when you crash. ! be safe !
Posted 12 years ago # -
When we lived in Asmara, the police just left vehicles in the square in front of the station. so when we went into town, you could often see the latest wrecks. the one that stayed with me was where the windscreen bore the imprint of the face of the person who had slammed into it. horrible. With roads like this
we saw a lot of crashes.Of course, that's outside the city. try googling 'asmara bicycles' for some cool pics (use google image).
Posted 12 years ago # -
"Two out of five young drivers think it is all right to break the 30mph limit by 10mph or more, according to a survey."
This is an unbelievably low figure, unless speeding is far less endemic in NI than it is here. Or unless speeding becomes even more acceptable as drivers get older.
Posted 12 years ago # -
"Are Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button the right people to persuade boy racers to drive safely?"
Posted 12 years ago # -
When I was a driving instructor I used to try and teach my learners why there were speed limits. Basically
- Hit by a car at 20 mph, 3% of pedestrians will be killed – 97% will survive
- Hit by a car at 30 mph, 20% of pedestrians will be killed – 80% will survive
- Hit by a car at 35 mph, 50% of pedestrians will be killed – 50% will survive
- Hit by a car at 40 mph, 90% of pedestrians will be killed – 10% will survive.
That was 20 years ago, and the message is still not getting through. Speed is know to be a major factor in many road "accidents", but the enforcement of speed limit is constantly being reduced.
If our politicians really wanted to save money on the NHS they would strictly enforce the speed limits. Death and injury are expensive to deal with.
In 2009 (the latest figures available) There were a total of 222,146 reported casualties of all severities, 2,222 people were killed, 24,690 were seriously injured and 195,234 were slightly injured.
Why do we tolerate this??
Posted 12 years ago # -
"If our politicians really wanted to save money on the NHS they would strictly enforce the speed limits"
And charge insurance companies for costs of 'accidents'.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I have said this before many times many places. speed enforcement is about income. If politicians reallywanted to make our roads safer they would introduce already available technology that can limit vehicle speed. I dont agree with it, but its the obvious answer. I think people should WANT to be more responsible and understanding road users.
Posted 12 years ago # -
In this country traffic offences are just not take seriously enough, in the Netherlands a driver getting 3 points in 5 years will lose the driving licence and has to pass a driving test again in order to be regain the licence. Now that is more like it, no wonder it is a much safer place to be a pedestrian or a cyclist.
In the UK there are hundreds of drivers on roads with 12 penalty points or more! There is one driver in Cheshire was still driving after gaining 27 points!! How can that happen?
If people endanger others by breaking the laws they should have the privilege of driving taken away.
Posted 12 years ago # -
In what seems to be becoming the British way, the main back pressure against bad driving seems to be insurance costs. As a result, if you have the money, you can keep paying the fines, legal fees and insurance premiums ad nauseam.
Splitshift has hit the nail for me though, it's about attitude.
Posted 12 years ago # -
You don't change attitudes by continuously letting people off. If people were banned more frequently attitudes would change. Sure it might cause they some inconvenience, but not as much as the 25,000 people seriously injured on the roads every year, not to mention the family's of the 2,500 people killed every year.
All to often people get off with the excuse that that a ban would effect their job, this is nonsense, we would accept that from someone charged with shoplifting. I only person I can think of who I know to have lost his job due to a driving offence, did so because he tried to hid the fact that he had be caught speeding. If he had been honest about it and told his employer, he would still have his job. However, his employer only found out when their insurance company ran a licence check.
There should be a strict ban (of a one year minimum) for any driver who accrues more than say five points on their licence and the should not be returned after a ban until they have re-passed the driving test. After all the standard driving test is only testing to a safe minimum level, if they can't pass they shouldn't be driving on the road.
Posted 12 years ago #
Reply
You must log in to post.
posts
