"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
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"Clive George" wrote in message
o.uk...
"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
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"Clive George" wrote in message
o.uk...
"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
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But my point is that a friend of mine got nicked there a few days
back. He was coasting down from the preceding 40mph limit, to the
30mph one he was entering.

Why wasn't he coasting down to hit 30 at the sign, rather than later?

Because for the 35 years that we have both lived here, the 30mph limit
started at a sensible place just outside the village limits, and where
there was no habitation. Then, a few weeks ago, they decided to revise
all the limits, and their positioning, and have now moved this limit
back a ludicrous distance until it starts probably a quarter mile
outside the village on a piece of road that was formerly limited at
50mph. When you've been used to driving on a particular piece of road in
a particular way, for 35 years, it's actually quite difficult to adjust
without having to think about it all the time.

So, he was driving on autopilot rather than thinking about what he was
doing? You're not selling this too well.

New speed limit a few weeks ago - are you at all surprised they're
checking a bit more vigorously than normal? It should be a clue to take
special care, not do what he's done for the past 35 years. If he can't
adjust, he shouldn't have a licence - how on earth will he cope with a
strange road?

Plus of course, we all live in the real world, where theory is fine, but
often not quite so realistic in practice ...

All that means is "Bugger, got caught due paying insufficient attention".
Real world - keep an eye out, or accept the fines which can result if you
don't.

Note at no point in this post do I make any justification for the limit
or the copper being there. The fact is they were both there, and he
didn't take the appropriate action to avoid getting nicked.


Ah. I see that you're one of the people who doesn't live in the real
world, and never does anything wrong. Of course he was in the wrong by
strict letter of the law, but any reasonable person would understand how
it happened, and have a degree of sympathy, rather than indulge in pious
preaching about "driving on autopilot". We all do that at some time, and
if you claim that you don't, then I'm afraid that I am not going to
believe you

Actually I tend not to speed on autopilot. I try my darndest to not drive on
autopilot either. I'm _very_ keen on people actually concentrating on their
driving, and I'll give short shrift to people say "we all drive on
autopilot". I know it takes effort, but it's important that people actually
do put that effort in.

Looking at this from a different angle, do you believe that having to
drive whilst continuously monitoring your speedo, due to the nonsense
speed limits and moneymaking cameras that are being introduced all over
the place, is making driving safer ?

Look at the paragraph I wrote beginning with "Note". I'm not interested in
that argument.

IMHO, anything that causes your attention to be divided whilst driving, is
dangerous. Having to drive with one eye on the speedo all the time, for
fear of being nicked at a couple of mph over the (often arbitrary) speed
limit is, in my belief, actually negating any perceived improvement in
safety on any stretch of road, that strictly enforcing these speed limits
is intended to do.

I could point out that I don't actually have a problem with speed limits
changing - I look for the road signs, I don't stare at the speedo all the
time, yet manage to keep in the limits if I want to. It's just practice.

My friend was clearly not a boy racer, and was clearly not 'speeding'. It
was a totally pointless exercise nicking him. If he was near a school or
actually even in the village, fair enough, but this was at a place where a
long standing sensible limit, had been arbitrarily moved to satisfy some
traffic calming directive that some university dropout had come up with to
justify his job, and not for any practical or demonstrable safety or
accident prevention reasons.

The guy was in a new speed limit, where there's obviously an increased
chance of being nicked. By your account he was on autopilot. He ****ed up.
Apparently he accepted this, but you don't appear to be doing so.