Safe Speed Forums

Does this simply mean people in Wales are more honest when it comes to this issue?
I personally have the pleasure of spending alternate weeks in England and Wales and have found road users breaking the posted speed limits to be far more rampant when in the Essex area than in the Cardiff/Newport area. I don`t think that a survey asking people "Have you ever broke the speed limit" really allows the RAC spokes person to conclude the following:



heres the link to the article on the BBC website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4241631.stm

The story is supposed to invoke shock, on the presumption that exceeding speed limits is automatically dangerous based on the propaganda messages that the general public have been fed!

This story can be countered very simply by stating that speed limits are being ignored because their meaning has been destroyed by safety messages that don't bear any relation to reality.

I regularly drive to West Wales from Kent. Its difficult to be anything other than anecdotal but I would say that average speeds drop after going over the Severn bridge, (particularly as you push further west)compared to M25, M20 & Slough & Reading M4. In the last 10 years I would also say that I am far more aware of speed enforcement in Wales than elsewhere. Lots of Talivans and unmarked cars, (and those cameras in Port Talbot..)

I think that speed enforcement is a greater part of the national driving conciousness. I also think that motorsport is a way of life for many. We always thought that the local BiB didn't have too many murders or burglaries to deal with and therefore spent more time chasing after sideways Mk 2 Escorts!

As far as the report goes, this is soundbite media culture. its meaningless and doesn't really contribute to an important debate. A link to the study itself? I couldn't find one.

The BBC have just repeated it on one of the afternoon radio news bulletins. Must be a slow news day.

I think there is far more compliance with speed limits in general these days. Ten years or so ago it was considered normal to do 40 in a 30, 50 in a 40, etc. Now most people seem to travel in built-up areas at or near the limit regardless of the presence of cameras or not.

Motorways and NSL dual carriageways have more (most, even) people exceeding the speed limit, but also have an excellent safety record which totally derails the arguement that speeding is automatically dangerous.