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[andrewducker]

From the observation last night in conversation with Lilian that people complain about speed cameras all the time, but you rarely hear anyone saying that the actual limit should be raised.

Note for for'n types - speeds are in MPH.

[Poll #1257772]

Comments

[andrewducker]

The thing is that driving fast when you're not competent will be something you get away with 99% of the time. But that 100th time will kill you, and other people around you.

Also, I would imagine roads where some people are driving at 70mph and others are doing 100mph are inherently less safe. Setting a top limit at a level which is suitable for 95% fo drivers seems like a reasonable compromise.

[drainboy.livejournal.com]

I have only once had an issue with mis-judging someone's speed. When I was driving on a single carriageway, old roman road (one lane in either direction), checked my rear view mirror to see someone a quarter mile behind, indicated about 10 seconds later to pull around a slow moving car and nearly pulled out in front of a car doing about 120mph.

It's not that I think people should be able to drive at any speed they like (some speeds are intrinsically dangerous in various conditions), more that I neither want the police not to be able to give out tickets at their discretion for speed limit X, nor do I want speed limit X to be a speed where people are automatically fined no matter what the context.

The M25 works very well as a place where, despite having speed cameras everywhere, you can drive up to 90mph in most conditions without anything happening. People don't wildly pull out expecting everyone to be sticking to 70mph, but the people driving over the speed limit generally do it in a sensible manner. I can't tell if it's inherently less safe or not (I imagine it is to _some_ extent), but there is no absolute safety unless we all stop our cars...and not even then.

If we upped the top speed to 90mph because that's the point at which the cameras actually go off, then the police would have less powers to slap down the people who drive at 90mph in a dangerous manner. If we make the cameras go off at 70mph then a lot of perfectly safe driving would be punished.

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

Andy, AFAIK, you don't drive (and never have?). Not an ad hominem attack, just saying your viewpoint might be different to a driver's.

[andrewducker]

Of course not. It's _much_ more likely to be objective.