this just comes down to common sense , both driver and pedestrians.
Absolutely. But in the society we live in (Nanny state) there is no such thing as an accident anymore. There is always blame and there is always a claim.
Travelling at 35mph in a 30 zone when its school kick out time within 1/4 mile of a school is
not safe as kids are happy to walk about behind parked cars (X5's so housewives can drive 500meters to collect Rupert from school rather than walking the lazy cow) as they simply don't understand the risk associated with cars. This includes young teens too who are always cocking about (esp in this snow) by main roads!
I remember the Green Cross Code dude (who played Darth Vadar in SW!) coming to my school when I was 6-7 and it stayed with me to this day. Not sure what they have now. Probably some PC bullshit or some guy dressed in an animal suit who can't say anything about how cars can kill you incase of law suits about scaring the kids. Fear works!
Its true that the Highway code stopping distances are nothing short or propoganda. An EK9 can stop faster than a Metro 1.1 MOT Failure heap that are still driving around the UK roads - our MOT is too soft thats for sure! A brand new Aston can stop from 70-0 faster than a Smart car can stop from 30-0. We never hear about these facts.
Stopping distances are down to
- driver awareness
- driver skill*
- tyre tread
- tyre pressures
- road temperatures
- road conditions**
- suspension
- vehicle weight
- vehicle weight distribution
- plus much more..
* you would be surprised how many people don't know you can slow a car down using the gearbox and engine
** UK roads blow in most areas that certainly don't help stopping distances
The main point in the road awareness campaigns should be "mind your surroundings" rather than stare at your speedo as 29mph is safe and 31mph you are a child killing rapist that needs to be hung which is exactly how speeding motorists are portrayed in the media (locally as well as nationally).
On motorways a Metro 1.1 at 90mph is downhill on the rev limit and way over the limit of what is safe. My Civic 1.3 DX is scary above 85mph on motorways. Its a town car designed in 1991 FFS!
An NSX at 120mph is cruising. No wind noise, handling is safe and the car can stop faster than a Metro can from 90mph that's for sure!
Even on an empty road the Metro driver would get 3pts and a fine.
The NSX driver would be on the local news, go to court, get a huge fine and get a ban. His neighbours would look at him as if he is Harold Shipman FFS!
Yet statistically it could be proven the NSX is safer at that speed than a normal car.
Paul Smith (RIP) (
Welcome to Safe Speed) did a lot to try and change people opinions of road safety with facts and proper education/reasoning rather than the blanket messages we get in the media about speed.
I'm not saying "speeding is fine, speed everywhere" - there is a time and place for
safe increases in speed above the speed limit allocated to that road. Its never a 30/40 road as there are too many unpredictable elements in these types of roads.
Some 50's up here are safe at 70 and some nationals (60) are unsafe at 40! I would love to know the criteria they use for speed limits.
So many parts of motorway in Germany are un-restricted and travelling at 100mph means you are in the slow lane. Traffic merges fine and lane movement is easy. You don't have to keep braking as some mong is in the wrong lane, you don't have to undertake as some BMW driving idiot is in the middle lane.
You come back to the UK and some retard is in the outside lane doing 72mph and gets the arse when you want to overtake him.
One word: EDUCATION. Or in our case, lack of it. The messages we receive in the media are always based on 30mph zones (and as I said above, the wrong message at that) rather than where the accidents actually happen (50's, nationals and motorways). We are statistically one of the safest countries in Europe for road safety. Try driving on a motorway outside Milan in Italy. Scary!
