The best way to stop most road deaths

[henryandlesley]

Who aggrees with me that if this goverment pays more attention to reducing the speed down to 70 mph in cars by fitting a speed limiter.

[carbore]

Totally disagree.

Why is someone doing 80 who is looking where they are going in a well maintained car more likely to have a crash than someone paying no attention to anything smoking a fag in a clapped out car.
The person who cut me up an the roadabout today was not speeding, if I had not guessed he was an idiiot then maybe me 6 week old child would be in hospital tonight.
Why did I see to old people step out in front of cars today without looking
Why did I see a fat old woman strep out in front of a car so she could get to he parked car, she was only 10 feet from a crossing but it was too much effort.
Why do people drive 10 feet from my bumper on the middle lane instead of over taking me.

Id put a metal spike in front of everyones setting wheel and have national run soemone over days. There would be a lot more care shown by people.

[SteveGoodz]

Nope. Speed does not kill - poor driving (which includes the inappropriate use of speed) kills and it's mostly (i.e. 90+%) the driver that is the cause of crashes. When a car crashes into kids on a crossing at 40mph it's not the speed's fault - it's the driver!

IF any government was truly concerned about reducing road deaths they would make professional tuition compulsory for learners, make the L-test FAR harder than it currently is, include motorway training at learner stage and have re-tests every 10 years. Oh yes, they'd also increase the number of traffic police by about 100% to the levels they were at 10 years ago.

Damn, where did that soap box come from  :lol:

[Llanigraham]

No, totally not.
Firstly, how would you do it?
Who would pay for the limitier to be fitted to EVERY vehicle?
Secondly, most road deaths actually occur in urban areas where the speed is often less than 40mph. Logically therefore you should limit speeds to that.
Thirdly, most road fatalities are actually caused by pedestrians being hit by cars, so it doesn't matter what speed they are doing.

What we actually need is Policemen back on road patrols, stopping and warning bad/poor drivers, plus better education and tuition.

And if you are thinking of the RTC last night, I have to ask what were 6 young people doing in a Sierra/Mondeo? That has invalidated the insurance automatically.

[crazymac]

And on top of all that..................better education for pedestrians, and realistic interpretation of health and safety laws.

That way you would not have to ban bull bars et al, the idiot jumping into the road in front of you would know that cars hurt when they hit you!!

[freelanderpx54]

The best way to stop most road deaths is to actually look before you cross the road. Surprisingly, if you wait for that tonne of metal and plastic on wheels to pass you before you cross then you won't get run over.

It is rather ironic that the local spotty scrotes will walk out into the road when I am driving Kim's Jazz expecting me to stop (little do they know) but IF I am in the Disco they suddenly observe the the green cross code.

Speed is a factor but if I hit someone whilst observing the speed limit - be it 20, 30 or higher whilst I am in the Disco then it is going to upset their day to some degree. By fitting limiters, you will end up with lanes one and two of the motorway driving at 58 (ish) mph and lane three at 70 mph. If you haven't got the acceleration (due to the limiter), can you imagine the accidents caused by vehicles leaving lane two in order to overtake.

Better lane discipline would lead to less problems on the motorway. There is nothing more frustrating than having to cross 3 lanes of empty motorway to overtake the idiot driving at 60mph in the middle lane. The self righteous idiots that sit at 68mph in lane 3 also deserve to be shunted into the afterlife

[Wireless]

Well I wouldn't care if they introduced a speed limiter that was activated by satellite, and the maximum speed automatically limited by what road I'm on, the weather conditions, road works, or the Police.  I never go over the speed limit, and never drive over 60 mph on any road, and touch wood, I've never had points on my licence.
1. I can't afford to waste the fuel
2. I've done all the blasting around public roads at 135 mph+ it's old news
3. I don't see the point in rushing around
4. I generally don't give a sherbert

[Drift]

There are two sides to ever vehicle/pedestrian incident

Please dont surmise that you know all the permutations that could happen believe me you dont, even the Police are shocked sometimes, speeding in urban areas does and will kill, doing below the speed limit in urban areas will kill, fact, just be aware and look.

Motorway speed are  another story, but my peneth worth is 80mph is plenty, though the minimum speed should be raised.   

[Tommo]

If every motor on the motorway was at 70 it would be disaterous. because people would just switch off. jam the foot to the floor and fall asleep.

Try driving at night when the motorway is dead, its hard driving at 70mph because it requires no concentration (when conditions are good) thats when cranking it up to 90-100mph keeps you alert. wouldnt reccomend it but its true.

[tenpolequint]

With all the 4x4 going 70mph as oppose to 60mph is a huge increase in fuel for that little extra speed as already stated.

[Disco Matt]

As I've said before, the main cause of death amongst drivers is inexperience. That can lead to them driving too fast for the conditions, their vehicle, or their capabilities, but it's inexperience that killed them. However, parroting the mantra "speed kills" seems far more popular with this government - anything to do with the way that excess speed is easy to detect and prosecute, with a high conviction rate and steady income from fines?

Bring back the Green Cross Code. Let's see some adverts saying "If you step in front of a car and get hit, it's your fault". It seems to have been completely forgotten about in real life too judging by the mob who I saw standing in the middle of the main road through town yesterday. They were more than old enough to know better. Road safety is everyone's responsibility, not just the car driver's.

We've seen what limiters do with lorries already - they're the cause of trucks taking half an hour to pass each other and causing the dual carriageway to back up.

[Skibum346]

As a few people have mentioned... education is the key.

Whoever we are, average joe, safety minded person or uncaring scroat... we all make decisions while driving and it's the underlying knowledge that allows us to make these decisions. Some people can make the right decision in a situation (i.e. checking yer blind spot!) while others need more underlying knowledge.

Also, the way people learn differs for each of us. For some of us, an instructor (be it uncle dave or Mr BSM) syaing, "Check yer blind spot for other cars" is enough... for some of us... this needs to be experienced (though pulling out in front of an arctic and smelling the adrenilin might not be the safest way to learn). Some of us will need extensive explanation, demonstration, and incentivising to learn that lesson.

Until a driving course exists in this country and people are retested regularly, and much better monitoring systems are in place, nothing will improve.

I'd much rather see "Black Boxes" that can be used to rebuild an accident or to highlight poor driving decisions.

As someone mentioned ealrier speed itself is not the issue, or as I have been putting it for years...

'taint speed that kills... it's the idiot behind the wheel!

Skibum

[Thrasher]

It's sad.

Pedestrians don't seem to have to read the HIGHWAY CODE, or for that matter cyclists now. We had to do a proficiency test, which involved learning the highway code. Where's that gone, oh yes government cuts.

I bet they think the highway code is just for cars :(

Oh and limiting cars to 70? Madness. Why do it? Many performance cars are already limited (granted to 140mph etc), sit a car on the limiter and see just how boring it is. Might as well drive trains - because no-one will catch up with anyone, gaps will get dangerously close, and the minute something odd happens to car 10 in front, 20 cars are piled up wondering what happened.

[Boddle]

 Personally, I think better education is required.
 Firstly a much more stringent test system
1) Highway Code
2) Pass a Medical
3) Learning car control off the road (Test to a standard) (including skid control and basic machanics)
4) Leaning to drive in Urban and country roads (tested to a standard)
5) Learning to use Motorway (and in Coventry the Ring Road)

After every 5 year having passed your test
1) Eye test
2) Repeat of highway code (failure to pass requires you to pass will require a complete retest)
3) Pass a medical to prove you are safe to drive.

 I have spent 20 years in automotive design and fair amount of that involve development information on points impact for the human occupants of cars. As a result I've heard lots of stories from the various litigations claims made against the industry. Less than 0.5% are manufacturer related the rest is human stupidity (Me included there).

 Mobile Phones (even with hands free system) should require a 2 year ban and a complete retest, This now a bigger problem than drink driving and causes the highest rate of death on the road.

Better Education of pedestrians particularly those between the age of 10 and 20

 If you design a car for safety you don't inform the person buying it how safe the car is. it a fact the safer the driver feels the dangerously they drive.

[Disco Matt]

I've long felt the driving test should be more like the PPL. As I understand it you get that by flying hours with an instructor and demonstrating competence in various fields. This would make it easier to spot people who lack the right attitude or even any mechanical aptitude, plus ensuring that they notch up some experience before going out solo.

I believe that those "1 week intensive courses" are a bad idea. Yes people still have to pass a test but I don't think a week is anything like long enough. The fact that someone with no previous experience could (legally) take one of those courses and buy a new Porsche the following Monday is disturbing. Yes I know insurance would be fearsome but there are clueless people with money out there!

[mike142sl]

I have a limiter on mine - Cruise Control.

Ideal for those camera limited bits of road.

However I'm finding, since getting the caravan, that 60mph in the inside lane is quite liberating - everyone just bobbies off into the distance to leave the road clear for me and I'm getting 25% more mpg than the same journey at 80mph.

[Rich_P]

If you design a car for safety you don't inform the person buying it how safe the car is. it a fact the safer the driver feels the dangerously they drive.

Volvo managed to get away with it, seemed to cause the opposite for quite a few years.  :doh: :lol:

[lambert]

Here's a thought.
 
As we are all aware speed and momentum are linked. At equal speed a heavier vehicle will do more damage than a light one to the same object.
 
So given that hgv's are roughly 40 times heavier than cars lets have them travel at one fortieth of the speed.
 
That would work for the environment too as goods would need to go by train to get anywhere on time and as we know one train 5 times a week is equivalent to 800 truck journeys.
 
Alternativly cars could go forty times as fast, yay!

[discowoman]

Here's a thought.
 
As we are all aware speed and momentum are linked. At equal speed a heavier vehicle will do more damage than a light one to the same object.
 
So given that hgv's are roughly 40 times heavier than cars lets have them travel at one fortieth of the speed.
 
That would work for the environment too as goods would need to go by train to get anywhere on time and as we know one train 5 times a week is equivalent to 800 truck journeys.
 
Alternativly cars could go forty times as fast, yay!

This is Disco womans Hubby...the government actually considered a bill that would ban vehicles over 25 tonnes off the UK roads - until somebright spark actually pointed out that 1 x HGV carrying 44 tonnes is a lot better than 44 x Transit vans carrying 1 tonne each...Thats the brains of the people, as for speed limiters - im an EX hgv driver so used to them, but I still sit at 56 when im in the car, saves fuel and the average 15-20 minutes it adds on to a journey is more than made up for by the fuel saving - and also less stress (also notice that when the traffic is snarled up - the inside lane is usually still movin )

[redhand]

I have read al the posts on this thread and I'm amazed at the sweeping generalisations in it. No one one this thread has had to do any of the draconian measures suggested on here, and yet they seem to think that the comments they've made would never apply to them. In fact if they got a letter through the post saying that the government was introducing these measures and retrospectively applying them to every driver in the country. They would probably be up in arms and ranting about the unfairness of it all. Have they forgotten that they were once learner drivers who had a handfull of lessons and then took their test. And managed to stay alive this long. If they can manage it then so can millions of other drivers/learners.

[bravo669]

my sportraks lucky to get past 55 with the wind behind it going downhill! :dance:

[V8MoneyPit]

I've always maintained, and said on here many times before, that speed does not kill. 'Speed' is not an object. The 'object', in this case a vehicle with it's driver, is what does the damage. Therefore, it is the misuse of that vehicle that is the trouble. That misuse might be using inappropriate speed for the circumstances. But speed in itself is not a problem.

If you are on a totally empty motorway with no junctions and clear visibility and good weather, what is wrong with 80mph? Or 100mph? On the other hand, if it is congested 70mph is often too much simply because of speed differentials between vehicles.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people drive at 30mph in a 30mph limit even when the circumstances mean it's more appropriate to be doing way less. My wife was with her brother when he visited and had to have a go at him for his driving. She asked him to slow down on the single track lanes around here. His answer was it wasn't a 30mph limit! he seemed to think he had a right to drive at the speed limit regardless of road conditions  :shock:

[bravo669]

completely agree V8moneypit. i live in deepest darkest Wiltshire and am surrounded by country single track lanes. proper ones with grass growing in the middle!!it never ceases to amaze me that when city slickers see the 60mph sign they start hammering it whatever the conditions or weather. and the fact that theres lots of blind bends ahead doesn't seem to deter them either! its a limit not a target in the words of the wife!(never thought i'd say that)!

[lambert]

how to get products to consumers?

easy. reinstate the missing rail links such that every population center has a connection and then use these as distribution nodes. seem to think that system worked very well for rather a long time as little as 50 years ago.

would do wonders for congestion too as people could use it for traveling between places too. i know i would.

[redhand]

how to get products to consumers?

easy. reinstate the missing rail links such that every population center has a connection and then use these as distribution nodes. seem to think that system worked very well for rather a long time as little as 50 years ago.

would do wonders for congestion too as people could use it for traveling between places too. i know i would.

Invest money in a cheap sustainable reasonbly environmentaly friendly transport system. Are you MAD??? What government in it's right mind would do that?

[V8MoneyPit]

Well of course this is the problem with any government policy. There will always be a conflict of interests over taxation income vs. vote winning. They have little interest in the environment or public transport unless it has an effect on getting more tax or votes at the next election. It's simply not in their interests to do anything like this as Redhand quite rightly points out.

[frosty]

   I dont know about road deaths, but the best way to stop acccidents is to go on a rabbit cull.... youd be amazed how many people tell me that the reason there cars in a ditch, upside down or spread in a dozen pieces accross the road is because a cute, lovable fluffy bunny was in the road way and they couldnt possibly run over it! Cats are almost as bad!

  Me personally, i think its all to do with speed, there either going to fast for the road, the conditions, the environment, there own limited abilities or the cars got 3 bald tyres and cant achieve any grip at any speed.

  How to fix it? hope they grow up before they kill someone... it doesnt matter how much you tell someone, what the penalties are they will only slow down when theyve figured out there going to end up in a wheelchair or worse!

[JumboBeef]

I had a friend and her three year old daughter killed 8 years ago by a speeding driver (driving too fast on a lesser A road, too fast for a bend and ran wide: hit my friend's car head on).

If they (the other car) had been travelling at the speed limit (50mph), my friend would still be alive, her daughter would be 11 now and her husband and son would still have a wife and mother.

Don't tell me speed doesn't kill.

[biggerlandy]

it amazing thou when you are out and about and you see such lazy or stupid things that peaple do like, zebra crossing on road and about 10 feet away old granny or mum with push chair is barging on road to cross. and numptys like kids standing in roads and you turn a corner and they look at you like its your fault

[Boddle]

 No Speed itself doesn't kill it's Irresponsible behavior of the driver behind of the wheel driving at stupid speeds, You can not remove there responsibility. Yes speed makes it more likely but it itself is a small problem relatively.
 1mph can kill, You can fall over when walking and die as a result (you would have to be unfortunate I guess).
 Most accident that kill don't involve speed just poor judgement on the behalf of the driver. In fact the highest kill if the information I have received is people using mobile phone and Sat -Nav (watching the Sat Nav not where they are going), Both of which could be solve by people pulling over to the side of the road it a safe location.