Safe Speed Forums

Browsing the Downing Street web site I came across:



Now I think the idea is spot on, but some of the content is rubbish - for example, number 2, I'd rather - and frequently do - time my arrival at a roundabout (where possible) to find it clear and use all the available tarmac.

But I'd love to derive a Top Ten of Safe Speed campaign road safety / better driving messages. Here are a few quick notes to get the ball rolling...

1) Learn from your mistakes
2) Passing the driving test is just the start of learning to drive
3) Get further training when you can to protect yourself, your familiy and those sharing the roads with you
4) Take responsibility for <mumble> everything?
5) Surprises are usually your own observation failure
6) ...

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Incidents and near misses are not always the other driver's fault

Driving on the highway is neither a competition nor a battle of perceived rights and wrongs

If another driver does something you think is wrong, you are highly unlikley to teach them a lesson that will improve their behaviour, so don't try

Do not involve yourself in someone else's error

Forget the first rule of Italian driving - what's behind you does matter.

Pure gold, Riggers.

- A pillar blind spot coping strategies
- Shoulder checks before lane changes (and elsewhere?)
- The importance of Safe Speed (not the campaign... )


And some driving practicalities...

- Leave a 2 second 'time to rect' gap
- give priority to faster traffic when you can (a brainstorming topic in itself!)
- be predictable (courtesy of Steve Haley, just brilliantly simple)

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

- On dual-carriageway restrictions, use both lanes and merge in turn.

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It's tricky doing nothing - you never know when you're finished

- Courtesy begets courtesy.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

I find this petition fascinating in many ways. The idea is good but, strangely, the originator has failed to compile a half-decent list, in fact, the list peters-out at a mere 9 points. Most of us could argue for days trying to limit the list to the most relevant 10.

Also, I feel the whole petition has an air of finger wagging and tut-tutting about it.

But, for me, by far the most interesting bit is the reference to ‘etiquette’. Having failed twice to spell the word correctly, none of the 9 points refer to any issues of etiquette, (except perhaps point 9, but that’s covered by HC rule 145 anyway, so it’s more of ‘a rule’ rather than manners).

I love the idea of ‘manners’ being added to a list of safe-driving requirements. I love it because of its very definition:-



How applicable is that to driving?

I’m now building a tiered requirement for safe driving.

- Knowing how to handle a vehicle
- Knowing what to do (Roadcraft)
- Knowing how to think (Mind Driving)
- Knowing the law (Highway Code etc)
- Knowing your manners

The beauty of manners is it has never been defined, as far as I know, but I bet it would be difficult to list 10 items of etiquette.

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It's tricky doing nothing - you never know when you're finished

Can i modify that slightly( well massively) ?- " admitting and realising that Passing the driving test and other driver training is just the start of learning to drive and learning to drive is a life long process", because without the admission and realisation there is no incentive to question one's ability and seek to improve it , and then realise that the quest for knowledge/skill is a never ending one.


And to the tiered requirement -
-- knowing limitations of knowledge and skill ( because good drivers know how far their limits)
--seeking to minimise those limitations

or have you covered those ??

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I like it a lot. Where does experience learning fit in? It looks like a slice of another pie to me, which is a shame because it's a cornerstone.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

G-O-B gices us know how / know what, perhaps what experience learning gives us is know when. Just like music hall comedy, the difference between good driving and inspired driving is timing; knowing when to make progress, when to back off; when to arrive at a roundabout to find a miraculously free space to allow you to use all the lanes etc.

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

I would definitely say that ‘experience’ encompasses the whole package.
Experience of putting all the right bits in the right places will embed many actions into the subconscious – which is the ONLY way we can truly drive well.

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It's tricky doing nothing - you never know when you're finished

Which does make it a slice of a different pie. Or maybe your excellent list is a slice of a bigger pie?

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Yeah that's good, and that skill can't be learnt from books. Can it even be learnt from experience? Perhaps to a good, thinking driver it can.
Maybe it's mainly learnt from one experienced individual passing on his craft to another.

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It's tricky doing nothing - you never know when you're finished

Look after your car and fix everything at the first opportunity.
keep it tidy, inside and out.
Plan your path and look out for the unexpected.

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

I’d love to keep this ball rolling, but where do we start? And, perhaps more of a problem, how do we stop at 10?

Maybe the task would be less daunting if we tried to compile several categories of Top-Tens.

- Top Tips to improve your driving
- Top Tips to being a safer driver
- Top Tips on avoiding the most common driver errors
- Top Tips on how to compile Top Tips

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It's tricky doing nothing - you never know when you're finished

I agree and I share the same problems. But I'm going to make it worse by complicating and adding to the categories.

List one: essentials to experience learning. This is the list of ten that should be printed on the back of the Highway Code and that every new driver should learn by rote. They are the real 'big big' principles that skilled and experienced drivers use every day, but new drivers have yet to acquire.

- Learn from your mistakes - don't repeat them.
- Be predictable
- Experience is essential yet comes only slowly (you're just learning to walk - DON'T RUN!)
- Observation is difficult (but gets easier) - make sure it's clear then look again.
- NOTHING is EVER more important than not crashing.
- You're responsible for every situation you find yourself in. When you drive you are responsible for your safety and the safety of those around you.
- Don't react - learn to anticipate instead
- Concentration is difficult (but gets easier). Experienced drivers don't look away from the road for more than about 1 second at a time.
- Driving is a serious business - get it wrong and someone may die.

Needs work, obviously. But the right list that guides folk though experience learning might just be the greatest road safety innovation of all time.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Love it – except your list of 10 only has 9
But don’t worry – GOB to the rescue… 10 points now and a few tweaks for consideration.

Observation – Don’t just look, train yourself to see.
Anticipate – Don’t just react, anticipate what is likely to happen.
Plan – Think ahead and plan your moves.
Mistakes – Recognise them, understand them and learn from them
Learn – Never stop learning. No one knows enough.
Concentrate – Maintain concentration at all times. It gets easier.
Be predictable - Never leave anyone in doubt as to your intentions.
Knowledge – Know, at all times, everything that’s going on around you.
Experience – Experience is essential. Passing your test is only the start.
Safety - Driving is a serious business - get it wrong and someone may die.

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It's tricky doing nothing - you never know when you're finished

Great stuff Grumpy, thanks. It still needs work, of course.

I may not have previously explained the theory of this list. It's supposed to work as a learning trigger, because every time something goes wrong it should be there in the list.

We can't do without the 'responsibility' one or the 'nothing is more important' one. I think we can do without the 'knowledge' one.

We probably need one for 'margin for error', 'risk management', or space/pace/surprise management.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Take 2… (Sorry I missed out some before – I rushed it)

Observation – Don’t just look, train yourself to see.
Anticipate – Don’t just react to events, anticipate what is likely to happen.
Plan – Think ahead, plan your moves and give yourself time/space.
Mistakes – Recognise them, understand them and learn from them.
Concentrate – Maintain concentration at all times. It gets easier.
Be Predictable - Never leave anyone in doubt as to your intentions.
Prioritise - NOTHING is EVER more important than not crashing.
Responsibility - You're responsible for every situation you find yourself in. When you drive you are responsible for your safety and the safety of those around you.
Experience – Experience is essential to learning. You can never know enough and passing your test is only the start.
Safety - Driving is a serious business - get it wrong and someone may die.

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It's tricky doing nothing - you never know when you're finished

Now we're definitely cooking. Great job. I'm going to have a fuss later and see what I can tweak.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Here's my short list of things that didn't get included:

Safe Speed, speed surprise and space
Attitude - everything else follows
Hazard recognition
margin for error
raise your vision!
Team game
avoid the mistakes of others
courtesy and consideration
don't take chances
look - see - understand - predict - adapt

Some of this is going to need to be worked in. There has to be something to describe the closed loop system we use to adapt to circumstances and manage risk. Quite a few of these are in that area. It's the biggest hole presently, followed by 'attitude' stuff and courtesy and consideration. I'm continuing to fiddle...

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety