On Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:23:57 -0000, "dennis@home"
wrote:



"T i m" wrote in message
.. .

Speed limits and then cameras are primarily there to manage trap
those who can't make decisions on their own (and in that process also
trap those spending more time actually driving attentively and not
staring at their speedo or circles on sticks). I'm not saying most of
us can't do both of course but speed and safe driving can be two
different things.

I would say that if you can't control your vehicles speed correctly then you
are not driving safely.

Agreed ... or you are being punted up the arse by a lorry ... ;-)

The excuse used by poor drivers that they spend all their time looking for
hazards and can't see the speed limit signs or the speedo is just plain
cr@p.

Yup. Not sure anyone here has said that though?

If you can't keep an eye on your speed and know what the signs say then you
are already driving too fast for your abilities.

For most of the time and circumstances I'd agree. But consider how
long it might take to miss a repeater sign when turning onto a main
road and 'concentrating' on the parked car you are overtaking and the
kids feet you have seen on the road underneath. Or the sign hidden
behind a parked lorry or buried in the undergrowth [1].


ie, They have speed limits in the pits on race tracks but not on the
track yet not everyone dies?

Put them all in normal cars without safety cages, harnesses, crash helmets,
etc. and a lot more would die, they have far more accidents than most
drivers but survive them through engineering.

Well maybe but whilst doing far more miles 'on the edge' in a few
minutes than most drivers will do in a lifetime. But we weren't really
talking about crash survival. ;-(

A 30 mph GATSO will trigger when you go past it on an otherwise empty
road at 2am and at 40 mph if you saw the speed limit or camera or not.
It won't trigger as you knock a school kid off their bike when doing
30 mph.

I'm not defending poor 'care' here, just that it is possible to be
driving carefully and still miss 'information'.

FWIW, part of why I like and have used a GPS for many years before
they became 'cool' was because I can ignore the general mess of
confusing road signs and therefore try to focus on those signs that
are important (like hazard warning and speed changes).

Cheers, T i m

[1] Dad was stopped years ago for 'speeding', similar to the OP story,
just inside a 40 after a 60.

Plod: You know the speed limit is along here?
Dad: Yes, it's 60 mph.
Plod: No, it's 40 mph.
Dad: Oh where does it say that?
Plod: Back there (points to the back of a circle on a stick)
Dad: Oh, that said 40 did it Officer?
Plod: Yes.
Dad: Well I couldn't see it, let's look.

Plod and Dad walk back up the road and they both look at the circle on
a stick. Dad walks back to his car and drives off leaving plod trying
to clean black circle with his hanky.