Speeding

[daffy]

Perhaps we should expand this thread and maybe rename it 'Speeding and road safety'.

Good points well made @acko22 .   I agree about standards, perceptions of the right to drive, and the need for a periodic retest for all.

This also caught me eye in the news this morning about Graduated driving licences for new drivers:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-45627115

And at the risk of starting a war, let's have more of those average speed camera zones. Seem to work well in my experience, and at least unlike individual speed cameras the person in front of me doesn't suddenly slow to about 10mph below the legal limit to pass the camera, only to accelerate back to whatever speed they were formerly doing.

[njee20]

The US has graduated licences, although drivers start younger and often drive far larger, more powerful cars than our conventional new drivers.

Seems to make sense to me, quite odd that having undertaken that single test you can go out and buy a huge, fast 4x4 and fill it with all your mates. I'm not sure how it would have helped in the instance there though, surely she'd still have been there, I guess it may have been one fatality and a serious injury instead of 2 and 2, but that seems to be splitting hairs somewhat.

[littlegs]

Guys
Let me give a professional HGV driver with30 years experience's view:
Driving standards in the uk are getting worse and now you have to treat everyone else as a complete idiot and have to second guess what they are going to do.They do not know the meaning of lane discipline and carve everyone up that gets in their way Everybody drives around like they haven't got a second to spit and have no regard for other road users
A few years ago they changed the limits that HGVs are allowed to drive at in England and Wales but NOT in Scotland.
40 mph on single carriageways are now 50 mph
50mph dual carriageways are now 60 mph
Motorways are 60 mph .
Most UK trucks have their speeds limited to 53 to 56mph but will go faster (Downhill with a following wind !!!).
In Scotland (Apart from the A9 between Perth and Inverness which is a mix of single and dual carriageways set at an experimental 50mph straight through) they have stuck to the original limits i.e. 40 mph on single carriageways and 50 mph on dual carriageways.

By the way, I got caught and fined for doing 32 mph in a 30 limit(in a car)by a mobile speed camera van which was sighted on a blind bend so once you came around the corner FLASH FLASH you're caught
I did the speed awareness course and the tutor said that they were targeting drivers who were just over the speed limit so the 10% discretion is just a myth.
Regards Chris

[bob lawrence]

Just been caught doing 35 in a 30 zone. Second time in can't remember how long the first was, hope it's more than 3 years as I did the speed awareness course the first time, won't be able to do it again if less.
I know there are some Advanced Drivers on this forum so just wondered if there are any 'tips' on how to drive within the speed limit.
Out of interest have any Advanced Drivers been caught speeding? Would they admit to it?

[port perran]

Hi Bob

Sorry to hear that you were caught slightly over the speed limit recently.
Yes, I can help but it'll need to be a fairly lengthy reply which can either be on here or as a PM.

I'm now retired but used to teach on driver awareness courses, speed awareness, fleet driver training courses courses and teach people to become driving instructors (as well as teaching people to drive). That was all after a 30 year career in FE.
I've passed all of the advanced driving qualifications (well beyond Inst of Adv Motorist level) and taken a great interest in the psychology of driving.

So.....would people be interested in a brief (ish) précis of my General thoughts on avoiding speeding?

Oh and by the way. No, I've never been caught speeding.
Do I exceed the speed limit?   Yes, certainly but not intentionally and anyone who says otherwise is certainly bending the truth.

Martin

[Buffin]

So.....would people be interested in a brief (ish) précis of my General thoughts on avoiding speeding?

Yes, please.

There's a lot of hypocrisy around speed limits. They are broken millions of times every day and hardly anyone is any worse off.

[woodbury22uk]

 Sorry to hear  you were detected over the limit. I first past my advanced test 52 years ago and had a speeding fine 30 years ago for driving at 70mph in a 60mph limit on a road I travelled everyday at 60mph. Lapse of concentration and a telling off from the IAM.

One tip for speed control particularly in 30mph limits is to drop down at least one gear. You will sense the higher engine speed and be more conscious of your actual speed. I also have a speed limiter on my car which I find very useful.

We had a bit of correspondence in our local paper a few years back from someone who had been caught on camera doing 40mph in a 30mph limit. He had been driving that road for 15 years and thought the limit was 40mph. He also claimed that there was no camera along the stretch of road so how was the photo taken. Obviously did not spot the white van with a big camera image on it.

We had a speeding offence recorded against one of our company vans, and none of the three occupants would accept he was the driver. The Teeside police kindly supplied an image of the front of the vehicle which showed clearly who was driving. The image was so clear that all three were disciplined for having cans of beer in the cab.

[dannyboy]

Having been taught to drive by the Police and been on the advanced Police driving course, I would be interested in your thoughts Martin.

[Train Waiting]

Having been taught to drive by the Police and been on the advanced Police driving course, I would be interested in your thoughts Martin.

Yes please; so would I.  I've never been caught breaking the speed limit either in a car or on a motorcycle.  I suppose it's about keeping aware, which is much easier on two wheels.  I gave myself a fright one day driving east past Ratho, carefully not exceeding 40 mph.  Then I noticed that the speed limit had been changed to 30 mph since I last drove along there!  No 'new speed limit' signs that I saw.  Don't think that would have impressed the sheriff, though.

My pet peeve is badly sighted and confusing traffic signals.  Some of these would give a Railway Signal Sighting Committee the vapours.  There is a classic 'read through' on the way to Mrs Poppingham's place of work.

Best wishes.

John

[woodbury22uk]

My pet peeve is badly sighted and confusing traffic signals.  Some of these would give a Railway Signal Sighting Committee the vapours.  There is a classic 'read through' on the way to Mrs Poppingham's place of work.

Best wishes.

John

I agree about badly sited signs or the complete absence of signs where limits change. The feeder road to our village is 30mph and marked correctly when you enter the road from the main 40mph route. In the other direction there is no 40mph sign when leaving the 30mph area, and the first evidence is the repeater signs after about 200yards both ways, one of which is concealed by tree foliage for half the year. The highways person says it is a fail safe situation - but she could not recognise the risk of people joining the 40mph road and driving at 30mph until they find a visible 40mph repeater. Risk equals someone distracted by a phone, children, dog, etc. The 40mph road is single carriageway with wide but overgrown verges, but no buildings.

[The Q]

And at the risk of starting a war, let's have more of those average speed camera zones. Seem to work well in my experience, and at least unlike individual speed cameras the person in front of me doesn't suddenly slow to about 10mph below the legal limit to pass the camera, only to accelerate back to whatever speed they were formerly doing.

Round here they are already doing 10mph below the limit and then Brake to even slower, and that's with the average cameras, many just don't understand how they operate..

[chrism]

And at the risk of starting a war, let's have more of those average speed camera zones. Seem to work well in my experience, and at least unlike individual speed cameras the person in front of me doesn't suddenly slow to about 10mph below the legal limit to pass the camera, only to accelerate back to whatever speed they were formerly doing.

Round here they are already doing 10mph below the limit and then Brake to even slower, and that's with the average cameras, many just don't understand how they operate..

I don't do much motorway driving now, since it's the best part of an hour's drive to my nearest motorway, but I used to really like the contraflows with average speed cameras. Setting the cruise control to the precise speed limit, with confirmation of my speed on the satnav, it was amazing how many people I could pass - legally 

[Newportnobby]

I've never been caught breaking the speed limit either in a car or on a motorcycle.

Likewise. Having been a Sales Manager for much of my working life and having driven at least ½ a million miles, much of it motorway, I don't boast about not having been caught as it's been more luck than judgement. For example, for many years doing 70mph on a motorway makes you a hazard it seems, and an indicated 80mph seems more apt to what's going on around you (dependent on weather conditions of course). My Siesta is not happy doing 30mph in 4th gear so I tend to knock it down to 3rd rather than slog the motor.
Cruise control is fine in roadworks and on empty roads but is no excuse if you are still caught speeding.
On many of our local roads the speed signs have been removed so it can be difficult to know what speed to use in which case either read the lamp post spacing or default to 30mph. What does annoy me is where there are huge amounts of speed camera signs but no actual posting of the limits. To me that's just councils trying to rake in money fraudulently.

[Steven B]

The highways person says it is a fail safe situation - but she could not recognise the risk of people joining the 40mph road and driving at 30mph until they find a visible 40mph repeater. Risk equals someone distracted by a phone, children, dog, etc. The 40mph road is single carriageway with wide but overgrown verges, but no buildings.

This Highways person is correct. It's a speed limit, not a target.

Just because the sign says "40" doesn't mean you have to do it, that every other road user will be doing it, or that it's safe to do so. Who's to say that whilst you're wizzing along at 40 there isn't a tractor struggling, quite legally, to do 20mph around the next bend?

The only risk to doing less than the speed limit is from other road users not paying attention or being impatient.

Steven B.

[woodbury22uk]

This Highways person is correct. It's a speed limit, not a target.

Just because the sign says "40" doesn't mean you have to do it, that every other road user will be doing it, or that it's safe to do so. Who's to say that whilst you're wizzing along at 40 there isn't a tractor struggling, quite legally, to do 20mph around the next bend?

The only risk to doing less than the speed limit is from other road users not paying attention or being impatient.

Steven B.

Of course you are right in theory, but it is sensible to analyse risk in the real world where drivers do treat the speed limit as a target, and allow themselves to be distracted when they should be concentrating on driving. Wilfully indicating a different speed limit to drivers on a road from the limit seen by people joining that road strikes me as unwise.