I’ve been taking a break from Radio 4 for the last few days. This morning, though, I made the mistake of putting the radio on.
So now I’m going to get all Daily Mail-angry about the government’s plans to intefere with rural speed limits. Rural roads are the last proof that speed limits are not necessary to make drivers use the roads safely.
Many people resent the government’s apparent inability to leave people to live their lives and to try and ‘fix’ everything. Well here’s a prime example. I call on the Countryside Alliance to resist further state interference.
If the government wants to correct some speed limits, why doesn’t it start by increasing all those urban roads that everyone drives on at 40mph and that are used by the police/councils as revenue collection points.
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#1 by dan on August 8th, 2006 - 11:25 am
hmm, i hear what your saying about the nanny state, but i grew up in the countryside and know many many people who have had very serious accidents on country roads, including myself. Infact i have had three serious car accidents (serious in this case meaning not being able to drive away) and they have all been on country roads.
Some of the roads in Devon where i grew up need restricting, in my opinion, but i agree with your wider comment about the government ‘fixing’ things on the publics behalf and just because some of the country roads in devon are dangerous it does not mean they all are, and does not reflect on the entire counrtyside.
#2 by Dave on August 8th, 2006 - 5:15 pm
I don’t think Country roads are safe either, there is a hill, well steep slope outside my drive with a bit of straight road at the bottom, maniacs like to use bank to get acceleration into the straight.
Actually its not been quite so bad in recent years, but at one point we were always hearing skids as people went too fast down the narrow road and were supprised by another vehicle.
One time someone crashed into my uncle so hard that it knocked his landrover and trailer backwards, totally destroying the guys car, looking at it you would be supprise he could have got away without serious injury.
One of the reasons country roads might appear safer is because the police just pass accidents off as ‘narrow lane incidents’
#3 by Gav on August 8th, 2006 - 5:23 pm
To be honest I don’t have a problem with careful and selective speed restrictions being implemented, but there are more pressing problems with speed limits — let’s correct the revenue cameras first…
#4 by Jenn on August 8th, 2006 - 5:24 pm
In a way, I think the idiots who drive like morons and kill themselves are just part of darwinism, you know, natural selection.
But, it’s the innocent victims they take with them that are a problem.
Speed limits don’t work if you don’t enforce them anyway. I live on a very busy road, where some carload of kids kill themselves about every three months going over 100 in a 45 mile zone. Cops sit there all the time, but people don’t seem to care, and the average speed is at least 75, it’s hilly, and dangerous, but even I have to go over the speed limit or risk being rammed from behind.
#5 by Gav on August 9th, 2006 - 11:59 am
In a way, I think the idiots who drive like morons and kill themselves are just part of darwinism, you know, natural selection.
But, it’s the innocent victims they take with them that are a problem.
Absolutely agree.
On being rammed from behind, don’t Americans tend to get ‘whiplash’ when that happens?
#6 by Dave on August 9th, 2006 - 8:36 pm
I don’t think its as simple as darwinism.
I used to drive tractors, the old type that had no suspension and if you drove in a field at 10mph it ‘feels’ really quite fast but then at the end of the day when you pull out onto the smooth road to drive home that 10mph seems like absolutely nothing, it seems like you are hardly moving.
Now with the very smooth roads and the very smooth suspension on a modern car and the very quiet engines human beings are not getting the speed sensation, you can drive at 50mph while feeling as if you are driving relatively slowly.
If human perceptions are being ‘confused’ into misjudging the speed they can safely drive at is that really the humans fault? or is there not a bigger problem?