"Sorry I was late for work", "I'm a government official/a doctor", "I didn't realise it was a 30mph zone", "He came from nowhere" etc.. These are all excuses/reasons that I have heard in my year or so while working as a police officer when people have been found speeding or, more seriously, involved in an accident.
I work in one small part of a built up area and yet there are several accidents on the roads every day that require police attendance. Thanks to a very effective advertising campaign and a change in social attitudes the amount of drink drivers on the roads is falling rapidly. However, I am constantly amazed at the amount of drivers out there who are totally anti drink driving, but who will merrily break the speed limit on almost a daily basis.
Speed
limits and traffic calming measures, although annoying, are there for a reason. It has nothing to do with how good a driver you are, the fact is that if you drive even 5mph over the limit in a 30mph zone then the braking distance is considerably more. Children, the elderly and other vulnerable people cannot legislate for the fact that you're late for work/are applying your make-up/changing the radio station/having a laugh with your mate on the mobile. They will still run across the road to fetch their ball, run after a ice cream van, fetch their dog or for any other reason that these people become nothing more that statistics after they're fatally run over.
I have read some opinions where people argue that if the speed limits weren't there then people would use their common sense when it came to driving at speed when, for example, children were on their way to or back from school. This is nonsense as I have been on traffic patrol specifically targeting areas near schools and the results are frightening. Often the worst offenders are the parents who are late dropping their kids off and then are late themselves for work.
The other thing about speeding is that the police always get a bad press. The first thing is that it is the council, not the police, who decide when and where they will place the cameras. The police are mere enforcers of the law when people are caught speeding; the revenue generated actually goes to the council.
Secondly, the police are very lenient towards speeding motorists, despite popular opinion. On the traffic patrol I mentioned above we were a matter of yards away from a primary school situated on a main road. Quite rightly it is designated as a 30mph zone and motorists should stick to the limit. However, we didn't go in with an 'all guns blazing approach' and instead verbally warned people who were caught speeding between 31-39 mph, even though this could be the difference between life and death. The policy was to issue £60 endorsable tickets to people speeding above 39mph and issue court summons to anyone found speeding above 49mph. Would you believe that in 2 hours between 8-10am we issues 8 £60 tickets to people travelling at least 10mph over the limit and verbally warned at least 30 more? That is why we have to enforce speed limits.
The only argument I agreen with is the fact that the motorway speed limit should be increased. 70mph is ridiculous for our motorway system unless climate and conditions dictate otherwise.
I agree that some cameras seem tactically placed to maximise revenue for the respective councils. But unless you have seen first hand the full horror and extent that a speeding motorist can cause, then I fail to see an argument against them.
It is a no win situation. If a child dies then people are up in arms wondering why traffic calming measures weren't in force to prevent the tragedy. However, if the council or police try and take proactive measures against road accidents they are accused of being heavy-handed.
I was unfortunate enough to be amongst one of the first people on the scene to an accident where a driver had been travelling in excess of 60mph in a 30mph zone. He clipped a bridge, overturned 3 times and ploughed through 4 trees before coming to a rest. He was in his 30s and died on the roadside. After I finished my shift I naturally thought about that poor driver, but I also couldn't help thinking, "What if one of those 4 trees was a member of my family?"
There is no excuse for speeding. Going over the speed limit claims, and ruins, innocent lives. Think about that next time you wonder why there are so many cameras on the road.
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Speed cameras are nothing more than a poll tax on wheels-sited to raise maximum revenue at the unwary motorists expense. I don't condone dangerous driving but speed limits, cameras and Police often work in conjunction for maximum convictions. I fight back-with the worlds best Radar Detector!
ampuk2000 18.03.2004 16:10
Very good review, with lots of useful information. I can see the need for speed cameras in accident blacksports however, often they are not located there and I think that is why people get annoyed. If I read correctly you said that people who were doing 31 or more got a 'telling off', well surely it is very easy to fluctuate by 1 mile an hour, even without allowing for a slight error in the car speedo.
Story_Weaver 28.02.2004 01:31
Great review mate. I never speed (honest) . The speed limits are the law, end of story. Unfortunately many motorists treat the speed limit as a target rather than a maximum.
Jun 24th, 2002
very helpful by (100%):
