Motorists beware

they must have been switched of then, it was between christmas and new year unless there was so many people speeding its delayed coming through

 

I think you should have heard something by now,

 

is it same for them stupid mobile speed camaras? i forgot to slow down to 30 through lundwood when i saw it at last minute

that was about 2 week ago

 

Err I feel a speed awareness course coming on

 

already had one it helped alot

i would have never seen that speed camara if i hadnt been on one before

 

I do tend to stick to speed limits with the exception of motorways unless it's a variable speed limit but like I've said previously I do tend to sit around 80, I don't class that as speeding and I'd like to bet there isn't many motorway police do either....touch wood

 

if your over taking they allow you to go to 80

 

Agree with every word of this - I drive all over the country in my job and am often still on the motorway at 10pm - 11pm at night. There have been many times on the managed motorway section of the M42 near Solihull where I've driven through and they have the variable limit on 40, then 30 some 2 or 3 miles away from some minor incident like a broken down car on the hard shoulder. It is horribly difficult to try and do 30mph on a clear motorway, with very little traffic around and no obstruction or lane closure ahead of you, when all the other cars around are ignoring it and doing 60 or 70. I've often worried about how dangerous a position I seem to be in.

And then (and I've only seen this on the M42 section, none of the other managed sections of motorway), I've quite often seen, as you approach the slip road onto the motorway and the speed limits are displayed because of an issue, they have different limits in different lanes!!!. How the hell is that supposed to work, where the bloke on my right can pass me at 40mph and be in the limit, and I am doing 25mph and over the limit!. Bloody madness.

Not to mention the many times when the limit seems to change at each set of overhead gantries seemingly at random - down to 60, then down to 50, then back up to 60, down to 50, down to 40, etc etc. The record I think I saw was about 15 - 15 different consecutive gantries and the limit was different to the previous one, with no obvious obstruction or build up of traffic at any point between them all.

I quite often drive that section of motorway thinking that there is some spotty w*nker sat in a control room watching me at each set of cameras and playing with the limits as I approach just to piss me off. It certainly seems that way. At least with most managed sections the use of the displayed limits are not too intrusive, but the M42 one, I'd like to find the control room and wring the bloke's bloody neck.

There is one benefit to the managed motorway sections - fuel economy. I have driven to Brighton quite often with work, and starting at around Milton Keynes on the M1, you are then in a managed section all the way down to the M25, and right round the Heathrow stretch of the M25 almost to the turn off for the M23 to Brighton - it can sometimes amount to more than a third of the whole journey ambling along at 60mph - plays havoc with the concentration levels but does wonders for the fuel economy!

 

That's all very interesting

but fundamentally the faster you are driving, the less time you have to react to the unexpected, resulting in more accidents. Also in my experience, people who drive faster do so more aggressively and drive too close behind the car in front. I see on a daily basis, stupid people who come charging up the outside lane trying to drive at their "chosen speed" even when 200 yards ahead the traffic is slowing down with their brake lights on. On several occasions I've seen such drivers swerve into other lanes to avoid slamming into the car in front. The most common motorway accident is the rear end shunt caused by these idiots.

If, as you say, people who drive faster are more attentive, this can only be a temporary effect; as time goes by they will get used to driving at higher speeds and will eventually become just as bored and daydreaming as the guy driving at 70. I know which daydreaming ****** I wouldn't want to meet.

While we are reviewing old data, I remember a report about journey times back in the 1970s fuel crisis when the government introduced a voluntary 55 mph speed limit which the majority of people obeyed. The statistics showed that average journey times were reduced - mainly due to a massive reduction in accidents. Also people had more money in their pockets as a result.

 

So what?

 

So I'll drive a bit faster, and seemingly at a speed that I won't be a danger to anyone and the police won't bother me. Been driving since 1990, not a single accident and no points. As I said earlier, except on motorways I stick to all other speed limits.

 

All well and good but a stealth tax? Hardly, don't speed, don't have to pay!

 

What gets me is how much they pursue the latest technology in catching motorists but when I comes to crime on the street they spend sod all. The cctv of criminals is no better than the old Charlie Chaplin footage.

 

Don't agree. The majority of public space CCTV provides excellent imagery. You usually see ***** from private CCTV systems where they have been installed as cheaply as possible with no consideration to the fact that the images produced are worthless