"Driver clocked at 105mph on B road in Scotland-wide crackdown"
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
"Driver clocked at 105mph on B road"
(11 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
-
"The 19-year-old was snared by Grampian police near Hopeman in Moray as part of a nationwide crackdown.
He was just one of seven teen drivers from the area who could have their licence taken away after being caught committing driving offences"
45mph over the speed limit and only could have his licence taken away, and therein lies one of the problems.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"45mph over the speed limit and only could have his licence taken away, and therein lies one of the problems."
Suspect wording is for 'innocent until proved guilty' reasons.
Apart from that, you're right!
Posted 13 years ago # -
Sort of true - although speeding is an 'absolute' offence. you could query the validity of the reading and so on if it was close to the limit, but even allowing a 10% swing either way this kid was travelling at more than 150% of the limit.
The 'could' is more likely because there will be reports on the impact on his life if he was to lose his licence (and being a rural area and so on I'd put money on him keeping his licence). What I can never quite get my head around is why driving recklessly shouldn't actually lead to the hardship of losing your licence? Would that not in turn act as more of a deterrent?
Posted 13 years ago # -
What I can never quite get my head around is why driving recklessly shouldn't actually lead to the hardship of losing your licence? Would that not in turn act as more of a deterrent?
But driving is a BASIC AND UNALIENABLE HUMAN RIGHT. What's more, drivers have the right to drive anywhere they like, at any speed, and park wherever they please. They certainly don't need any of this nanny state nonsense: a competent driver should conduct his/her own risk assessment according to the conditions......blah, blah, blah.
Okay, that's the IAM press release ready. Anyone got the e-mail addresses for the Sun, Daily Mail, Radio 4?
Posted 13 years ago # -
I haven't read the article and have only skim-read the comments but I can tell you from experience that this is the norm in the North East of Scotland. Too many young folk earning too much money from the rigs, spending it on cars they cannot handle and driving recklessly under the illusion they are pros because they have an 'audience' of the opposite sex.
Grampian has a huge problem with anti-social behaviour in cars. Circuits of towns, huge noisy exhausts, driver and car oneupmanship, speeding as though it's a god-given right. The police can't get a handle on it.
I don't have time to Google but would be fairly interested in knowing the deceleration time required to drop from 105mph to the average 15mph of a cyclist in different conditions. The driver would have either have ploughed right through any potential cyclist or managed to avoid and certainly killed themselves leaving the road at that speed.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Yes, MeepMeep, it used to be if there was an accident on the road between Peterhead and Aberdeen with a high powered car involved, it'd be a safe bet it was a young fisherman. Now, with the decline of the fishing, it's also the young lads with money to burn from the rigs.
I remember (sometimes fondly) cycling along the beach in Aberdeen and being concerned by the close passes and speeding (despite the low limits) of the souped up cars.....mind you, I preferred it to King Street and the scary buses!Posted 13 years ago # -
Not just the North East, Fife too. Also the Isles. I remember when I used to live in Orkney (mid/late 1980s) these types of (usually) young males in their souped up cars (Escort XR3i was the steed of choice back then) were called 'dyke busters' by the locals. Drink driving of course rife too: no pilce on the outer islands.
One Hogmanay I remember walking back home late at night and it was frosty out, ice on the low road near the sea. Rounding the corner there was an Escort car, on its roof, slowly spinning around. Young male driver (I knew him, he worked on a fishing boat) had staggered over to a ditch to vomit. Drunk as a lord. He was okay, but I never did find out how he got the car back the right way up!
Posted 13 years ago # -
It's not so much that it's a basic and unalienable human right but rather that, (their lawyers argue) without a car the individual's livelihood/opportunities will be severely restricted. To some extent, this is true (esp in rural areas), but a preferable response would be "tough". If you can't do the time... which takes us back to Anth's original point.
What the decision-makers in these cases really need to consider is that, unless they take the licence away from these young drivers there's a very really chance that they are sending them (and their future passengers and whatever poor sods happen to be sharing the road with them when it happens) to their death.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Yes, PS. Just look at the fatal accident hotspots on a road like the A947 that winds its way from Aberdeen to Fochabers. Then look at the age/gender demographic of the fatalities.
I seem to remember the BBC published online a map of road deaths in Scotland perhaps a year or so ago.
All the young drivers wail with despair and cry and heartache when one of their friends has a fatal accident yet they never apply the learning to their own driving. It's all the more tragic when reckless driving takes out other road users who have made no error of judgement whatsoever.
Racing is for the racetrack. Driving is to get from A to B responsibly.
Posted 13 years ago #
Reply
You must log in to post.
posts
