Almost... Xantiæ = n-1

[addo]

Due to one of those people who STOP DEAD and THEN PUT ON THE BLINKER in the fast lane because they realise they want an upcoming exit, I had an interesting experience.

A vehicle some way behind them, and ahead of myself (in the adjacent lane) took this as a cue to slow and then attempt to merge into my car without indicating... Luckily I try to preserve a safe gap around me and could readily move over; albeit at 85km/h (I'd started slowing once the first numpty showed his cards).

Still, it was a fair old twitch on the wheel for the estate, skated a good bit until the understeer stopped.

Sometimes I wish it did snow here! These halfwits would write themselves out of the picture before even reaching the motorways.

[evilally]

I understand your frustration addo. I had some clown during the week cross a solid stop line at speed (with big letters that said "STOP"), straight across the main road into oncoming traffic. He nearly drove his car straight through my driver's door, but managed to stop with 2" of it. He then proceeded to wave his fist and shout at me Just as well he was stopped so close that I couldn't have opened my door, I would have been tempted to get out and clock him one.

We don't encourage people to take responsibility, pay attention and be aware of what's around them. It seems the only offence you can commit these days is speeding. If you aren't speeding, you are deemed safe. Instead of having cops out in cars taking licenses off the loonies, they opt instead for forests of speed cameras.

[CitroJim]

Ally, I agree wit every word you say there...

Thing is that despite the mantra of "Speed Kills" being well and truly debunked, the fact of the matter is that maintaining a horde of speed cameras is a very cheap option compared to having a team of coppers doing same.

Speed Cameras don't demand a salary, don't need time off, don't need training, don't take holiday or sick leave and don't need paying a pension on retirement. They also don't need a high-performance car to do their work.

So, it all comes down to cost in the end. I doubt that if all the cameras in the kingdom were dug up and sold to another country that the savings/revenue gained would pay the lifetime cost of even one police officer and the kit needed to discharge his/her duties.

Speed cameras do serve a useful function in that it does go some way to keeping the average motorist a little wary and thus a little more cautious. Dummy cameras and speed indicator displays do this just as well as live revenue-generating cameras.

many accidents these days happen at relatively slow speeds and is invariably due to inattention and being in such a frightful rush and panic all the time. Only yesterday I saw a neighbour reversing out of her drive straight into the patch of an oncoming car. How they missed each other is one of those unfathomable questions.

I sometimes think the message about driving with care generally could better be expressed by stating how much more greenhouse gas is caused by bad driving. People generally seem to take much more heed these days when the environment hand is played.

[evilally]

I would agree to a certain extent Jim, however I can think of another reason. I work for the health service, and I have relatives in the council and police. The fact is everything in the public sector is driven to give some politician a statistic that they can brandish come election time. Speeding is easily quantifiable, you are either speeding or you aren't. It's easy to "clamp down" on road safety by nabbing a few folk inadvertently doing 34mph. Genuinely trying to improve driving standards would be very tricky to measure, and impossible to turn into a pie chart for an election leaflet.

Also bear in mind we have armies of police officers out hiding behind hedges as we speak. I'm sure their time would be much better served in unmarked police cars stopping drunks, drugged up youths, people in un-roadworthy cars and people who lack general discipline at the wheel. Why can I feel calm and safe on a German autobhan where much of the traffic is moving in excess of 100mph, but my daily commute along a 40mph dual carriage way in this country can often be a white knuckle ride?

For the record, I've never had a speeding ticket in my life

[CitroJim]

That's a good point Ally, I work in the public sector and even in my job we have countless targets to hit. We spend more time buggering about with Microsoft Project, writing and discussing project plans and attending meetings about project progress that precious little time is left for doing the actual job The whole of the public sector is totally obsessed with things like this. More people work on statistics and reports than the people doing any sort of productive work.

My working life is not far removed from a "Dilbert" strip cartoon much of the time I read Dilbert and despair; whoever writes Dilbert really understands his subject.

Commuting: I live six miles away from my place of work that is truly out in the sticks. Every day I have to journey there and back in the company of fellow workers who use the narrow country lanes as "rat-runs" on their commute from gawd knows where away and invariably they seem late, tense and driving like lunatics. All so they can hit Milton Keynes and get stuck in massive queues. Luckily I'm going against that particular flow but they present all sorts of dangers like cutting corners, exess speed for the prevailing conditions and overtaking where they shouldn't. As you say, a white knuckle ride.

You're luckier than me then. In 33 years driving, I've copped for two speeding offences. One in the UK on a motorbike in 1988 and one in Australia doing 105KM/h in a 50Km/h limit. The road in question was a wide and deserted dual-carriageway and lost in listening to Mott the Hoople on a tape, thought I was still in good old Blighty and drove accordingly.

[MikeT]

I've not seen one police officer manning a speedgun here, it's given over to contractors who are sneaky, underhand so-and-so's.

And don't shoot the messenger but...

As for the "speed kills" mantra, that's apparently going to change as they're testing a new type of camera that is designed to catch tailgaters. Now I'm not saying they're stepping on the bandwagon but an AA spokesman, in relation to this new device, is now telling us that tailgating is a major contributor to road accidents. Does that mean speeding has now been relegated?

I for one, applaud the enforcement of the two-second rule but fear this camera system will catch people that have been cut up while still leaving the real dangers of the road free to delude themselves.

[CitroJim]

That has to be good Mike, that's as long as it doesn't nick everybody in a traffic queue for apparent tailgating.

Likewise, Red Light Cameras at traffic lights are a good idea. The number of drivers I see jumping red lights is alarming and that IS dangerous...

[myglaren]

That has to be good Mike, that's as long as it doesn't nick everybody in a traffic queue for apparent tailgating.

Likewise, Red Light Cameras at traffic lights are a good idea. The number of drivers I see jumping red lights is alarming and that IS dangerous...

The tailgating enforcement was mooted a few years ago now but with the advent of the ubiquitous camera network that will calculate average speeds everywhere they can implement it fairly easily.

Apart from Mike's proviso I see this as a step forward as it is certainly something that needs limiting. Few drivers bother to look beyond the car ahead which naturally contributes to multi-vehicle collisions, wholly avoidable with a little distance between cars and contrary to popular belief does not slow you down; just the opposite as it allows cars to slip easily and safely from one lane to another with no disruption to the traffic flow - therefore greener!


One problem I have become very aware of over the past few months is the interval between traffic flow changes at local traffic lights.

One set at the end of the road where I work I find that when I get the green light, several - up to half a dozen, cars will carry on from the left hand junction.

I did see first hand part of the cause on Friday.
As I passed the lights, they went amber. Before I had cleared the junction the oncoming traffic had green and was under way

There is insufficient dwell built into the sequencing when the pedestrian option is not invoked. Stupid and dangerous as I am a relatively fast moving vehicle, most stuff coming up there is double artics loaded to the gills with bricks from the brickworks at the bottom of the hill.

They can take 15 seconds to clear the junction.

The set prior to that, at the Komatsu factory, will sometimes change after only one car has had the chance to move. This seems to be temperature dependent as last week in the snow there was a queue two miles long waiting to pass through - one or at the most two cars at a time

[addo]

As EA says, sadly all "enforcement" is aimed at political grabs.

No camera is a good substitute for intelligent police on the roads; better driver training or sensibly applied speed limits.

It's 9½ years since I set off a speed camera; in my opinion the ping was deserved not because I was speeding but because I'd failed to notice the rather obvious camera. Inattentiveness is more dangerous than speed.

Been pulled over a good few times, but as Plod know, they might smell bad attitude yet there's no fine for it. People like those who caused me (and others) stress and inconvenience yesterday, are likely the ones who come over all saintly "I've not had a ticket in forty years of driving"...

If the Xantia were written off, I'd be furious. Finding a replacement would take several weeks, if it were possible at all.