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PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 19:10 
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More drivers stick to 30 as number exceeding the limit drops by a third in 12 years

Drivers breaking the 30mph speed limit have dropped by a third in 12 years.

In 1998, 69 per cent of cars on 30mph roads exceeded the limit, but by 2010 the figure had fallen to 46 per cent.

The proportion of cars exceeding 35mph in a 30mph limit has fallen even more sharply, according to the report from the RAC Foundation and the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, from 32 per cent to 16 per cent.

In 2001, as many as 32% of cars on 30mph roads were travelling at more than 35mph. By 2010 the figure was 16 per cent.

The numbers came from an analysis of speeds in free-flow traffic and accident rates.

The report also showed that speeds on motorways have reduced too. The proportion of cars exceeding 70mph fell from 57 per cent in 2003 to 49 per cent in 2010.

The report also revealed that speed-limit offences (fixed penalty notices, convictions in court and written warnings) in England and Wales have declined rapidly in the past few years after a large rise in the 1990s.

It's always difficult to know whether you are really comparing like with like with these kind of figures - I could certainly point to many 30 mph roads where subjectively I would say that far more than 46% of drivers exceed 30 mph. Plus of course there has been a huge intensification of speed enforcement, so many people will be creeping around in fear of losing their licences.

There does seem, though, to have been a considerable increase in the number of drivers who seem to think that going very slowly is the sole contribution to safety required of them, and indicating, observation, awareness of surroundings etc can be completely dispensed with :x

There's also an interesting statistic further down the article that the number of speeding offences recorded dropped from a peak of 2,087,000 offences in 2005 to 1,270,000 in 2009 - presumably a result of the ending of the hypothecation scam.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 00:51 
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I heard that they were using cameras to survey 'free-flowing speeds' which is outrageous IF that is what they are really doing !!

That of course will alter motorists speeds anyway so for that reason alone the figures are wrong and meaningless. To claim anything from them is 'cherry picking'.
Then if they have also NOT taken into account of any traffic volume and density prior to and after the period then the figures are also meaningless, as it is not comparing like for like - as you have already stated. :ol:

Sadly this skewing of figures is all too common and yet it 'sounds good' and helps to potentially promote to concept that slower must therefore be safer!

So what if we entertain the idea that greater numbers of vehicles are travelling nearer to the speed limit (where they are surveying), is it any surprise when they hide camera vans and create such a paranoid motorist that they 'don't dare' go over a speed?
However, the motorist is not made 'better' nor safer for all this concentration on their rate of travel!
A sorry state of affairs when such great efforts are placed on the motorists to be legal for the sake of a technical issue than to help understanding and guiding how to help prevent damage to people and property.

We know too that there is less traffic on the roads at this time and it has been steadily reducing for a few years now, so have they allowed for this in their calculations ? There does not seem to be any hint that they have.

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 01:37 
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Smug git said
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Pacts' executive director Rob Gifford said: 'This report brings together a number of data sources that help us to understand what is happening in the real world on our roads.


The world as he thinks it real perhaps. As are the data sources ,most possibly the ones that fit in with their way of thinking
Quote:
'Research shows a proven link between speed choice and crash involvement.

No mention as to whether the speed was /was not appropriate for the road/conditions etc ,then .
Quote:
If we can encourage drivers to drive within the speed limit, through both educational and enforcement-led interventions, we can continue to make our roads safer.'


We could ,of course make the roads even safer if we educated drivers to appreciate that a set speed is not necessarily safe for the same stretch of road in all conditions.

But then this was a Daily Mail piece. Like the ones reported on -if it looks/sounds and seems good, it makes good news and sells papers. For the SCP -if it sounds good, looks good and takes in plenty of cash -it must be good ,and that will make roads safer. Pity it ain't working. But then a simple comparison - why do cars have several nuts holding wheels on - it's safer. So why base road safety on one fallacy,which has not been proven to work .

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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


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