Speeding Fines !

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shaunthesheep
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Post by shaunthesheep »

i know of a problem that happened in the usa. it involved a junction with a pedestrian crossing & on one of the roads leading up to this crossing crossed a railway line. it was highlight that when the lights changed & the barriers came down on the crossing that the rear of the cars were still on the crossing, hence then the cars were getting hit by a train. they found out what had happen, someone kind traffic light engineer, had changed the timing on the lights to give the pedestrians more time to cross the road, the result of this was then delaying the lights changing on the road that went over the railway line. its not quite in the same topic.
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Post by uhn113x »

Hi Stu
I should have added that the crossing death was not due to a fault in the controls, but a permanent feature of the phasing, that was present for at least nine months!
I am sure that if the designers 'walked through' the sequence, as us software desighers do, this sort of thing could not happen, nor something as fundamental as the left filter on a lane marked for straight-on and left turn. But what do I know? On the subject of standardised sequences, I was thinking on the lines of a library of, say, 30 or so 'standard' phasings, with modifications to filters and timing dependent on the factors you mention. If we can design software to play chess, where each move generates many possible outcomes, then surely this sort of thing is not beyond the wit of man? Or am I being naive?
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Post by lhm_leak »

Mike,
It was probably a fault in the site setup( a PROM/NVRAM unique to a particular junction ) - that's a pretty involved piece of work too! It would also have involved a wiring error on the hardware-based green conflict monitor circuit. But yes, someone should have actually stood and looked at the things before signing off the installation...
If you want a simple, not *too* technical overview of just one of the methods used to control junctions, have a look at:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/d ... 504748.pdf
It describes the TRL MOVA system, which has been active on many junctions for a number of years, and give you a glimpse of the complexity of these systems!
Stu.
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Post by James.UK »

To revert to the original topic.
I have always found the traffic police to be polite and friendly, even when they had to phone ahead to have me stopped for doing 125 mph the officer concerned stood up in court and stated he felt my driving was perfectly safe under the circumstances. i.e. 2 am on an empty M5.. Cost me £150 thou!! but as I was a sports-exec car buyer for a large company at the time I did not lose my licence, in spite of having 6 currant endorsements and another 4 out of date on my licence, all for speeding [:I] the magistrate said that was reflected in the size of the fine! Year was 1980, that was a heavy fine in those days.. The car I was driving was a black Jaguar V12 "E" type auto. registration number... EGO 6 [:I] lmho... [:o)] [:D] not an easy one to forget. [:D]
philhoward

Post by philhoward »

I thought I got off lightly; probably for the same reasons..
M40, Sunday morning, 8.00am...99.51 mph (close...!), result was 6 points and £150 fine (I was a student at the time as well). This was a bit more recent; 1994
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Post by mark_sp »

Hello Paulee
I am astounded at your arrogance.
95 in a 70 limit, thats 40% over.
I urge you to reflect on your blase attitude toward driving.
Mark
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Post by Paulee »

To Mark sp
I do not have a blase attitude to driving at all.
I have been driving for 24 years both bikes and cars and have never come close to causing an accident or incident.
As stated elsewhere I drive according to the conditions. I believe I am an excellent driver with testament from anyone who has sat in a car with me.I take driving very seriously as I desire to be around a long time.
Road safety is always an emotive issue and many peoples attitudes and opinions are not based on fact.95mph on a very quiet motorway with a competant car is only excessive in the eyes of the law.
I have done regular journeys on the M5 - M6 corridor at 120mph in the middle of the night, I also have done the same journey in torrential rain at 55mph so let me be the judge of what speed to travel at.
If we were serious about road safety all cars would have to have the same roadholding and braking efficiency of a Subaru Imprezza Turbo !
Or the safety features of a Mercedes S class !,but in the real world we can't all afford such cars so we should drive accordingly.
I drive at 20 - 25 mph in built up areas not what the speed on the sign says I can do !
I have had skid pan and rally school car control training and have read extensively on the subject.
I drive at work (vans and pickups) and cover around 40,000 miles a year.
You don't know me so how can you make a judgement ?
The idea of this thread is to look into why speed alone is judged as wrong ? bad driving is the problem.....ever been on an autobahn ?........
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Post by Homer »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by mark_sp</i>

95 in a 70 limit, thats 40% over.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Do a bit of digging then come back and tell us.
1. What the speed limit on a motorway was when they first appeared in the UK?
2. What scientific method was used to come up with 70mph?
philhoward

Post by philhoward »

When motorways appeared, there wasn't any speed limit...apparently, it was the AC Cobra which dictated that there shoudl be (someting to do with the 427's doing 170mph...)
I think the 70mph was related to fuel consumption, as well as an arbitory safety factor..
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Post by Homer »

The AC Cobra story is a bit of a myth, the 70 limit was already on it's way by then.
The truth (as they say) is out there.
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