I used to have a clean driving licence up until a few years a go. Now I seem to be flashed at by speed cameras and traffic light cameras a fair bit now. Are other FOFFers having the same trouble and should I just except that this is the new way of taxing us? Or should I give up motoring altogether and complete my hermit existance and just close the door on the World? Or take the Bus?
By the way you don't have any points on your licence if you are caught withouit one or don't have an MOT. So it is better to knowingly cheat than commit minor offences accidently.
Come to Ireland for a holiday, exchange your UK licence for an Irish one, go back to England and speed as much as you like,jump the lights when you want,, you can't get points on your licence.
I think I read a stat somewhere about only 40% or so of speed cameras are operational. The others are empty threats. I'm sure I've set a few off, but I've never had a fine. I know people who have been done though - including my brother who got done for being clocked at 80 mph on the M4. Makes no sense...
I've only been driving for 5 years, and the current licencing system makes you look out for these things. If you get 6 points in the first two years of driving, you lose your licence. Of course, the pay-off is that people are constantly watching the pavement or their speed rather than the road. So I'm sceptical these things are actually promoting safety. Near where I live there are some very cynically sited cameras, so you've got to wonder what the agenda is when these things are practically hidden from view.
But my main problem with driving is that most licence holders are absolute idiots and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a motor vehicle. Especially BMW and Merc drivers
I subscribe to the view that I am better at 90mph than I am at 70. At 90, I am scanning the road for miles ahead, looking for cameras, policemen etc etc. At 70, there is a tendency to think "nothing can get me" and switch off a little.
Quote from: Airfix on January 17, 2011, 12:22:45 PM
I subscribe to the view that I am better at 90mph than I am at 70. At 90, I am scanning the road for miles ahead, looking for cameras, policemen etc etc. At 70, there is a tendency to think "nothing can get me" and switch off a little.
i recall reading a few years ago of some states in the USA, and Italy i think, that increased motorway speed limits, and as a result accidents reduced as people were more aware with their driving, and were more courteous to other drivers.
Why speed in the first place? To get there two minutes earlier?
Quote from: Blingo on January 17, 2011, 01:49:38 PM
Why speed in the first place? To get there two minutes earlier?
I never speed except to get out of harms way. Over a 10 metre space not to hit a car I was done for speeding. Yes you can go to court but they are unlikely to listen. Also the change of roads to bus lanes means two lanes suddenly merge into one as one is a bus lane. You can travel in a forty mile an hour road junction and then on a townhill spot it is changed to 30 with a speed camera. Traffic lights will flash if you happen to be half way across and they change, a car stalls and the car behind is fined for crossing a red light. For going 3 miles over the speed limit you can have 3 points off your licence, for going 11 miles over you have 6 points.
So it is easy to say stick to the rules and don't speed but the roads in this Country are almost set up to trap people.
I have no problem with cameras. Thing is, ask people to voluntarily slow down, obey the rules but they don't So, stick a camera up.
On my trips home, i often rent a car for a few days. Driving in UK is fine compared to Massachusetts. Drivers here tend to drive slower but they can be soooooo unpredictable. Other little things that don't help....indicator lights the same colour as brake lights, takes a bit of getting used to (that is of course, if the driver in front even thinks of giiving a warning he is going to turn).
When away from the cities and towns though, upstate NewYork, new hampshire, vermont etc....it is so pleasant. All you have to look out for is you don't hit a moose or a bear.
The police over here hide so they can catch you. Hardly prevention! Tax collection is what it is.
So what is the problem in sticking to going 2mph UNDER the speed limit? sorry m8 but the simple fact is that if you were going slow enough to be able to read the road and its speed limits, then you would not get nicked for speeding. I have seen so many idiots rushing past me, only to catch them up at the next set of lights. I am NOT a slow driver either LH just sensible with speed limits.
Quote from: Blingo on January 17, 2011, 02:14:40 PM
So what is the problem in sticking to going 2mph UNDER the speed limit? sorry m8 but the simple fact is that if you were going slow enough to be able to read the road and its speed limits, then you would not get nicked for speeding. I have seen so many idiots rushing past me, only to catch them up at the next set of lights. I am NOT a slow driver either LH just sensible with speed limits.
Now if only you were crossing in front of me it would be worth a ban. :015:
Quote from: Blingo on January 17, 2011, 01:49:38 PM
Why speed in the first place? To get there two minutes earlier?
depends on how fast and how long the trip is, one could arrive 2 hours early if you do it right
Does anyone remember the power cuts at the time of the miner's strike? The early 70s.
I drove my old ford anglia to work in Chiswick from Surrey. No traffic lights? No problem! OK, I probably did not adhere to speed limits but my commute was cut by about 8 minutes when there were no traffic lights! I had to go through places like Kingston, Richmond, not easy even back then.
So, how about some new traffic rules....
Quote from: jarv on January 17, 2011, 02:54:46 PM
Does anyone remember the power cuts at the time of the miner's strike? The early 70s.
I drove my old ford anglia to work in Chiswick from Surrey. No traffic lights? No problem! OK, I probably did not adhere to speed limits but my commute was cut by about 8 minutes when there were no traffic lights! I had to go through places like Kingston, Richmond, not easy even back then.
So, how about some new traffic rules....
I do indeed, Mr. Jarv. I especially remember meeting with about 850 of "my closest friends" at a Tuesday Luton v. Notts County match that was moved from a 2000 kickoff to one at 1100. I can't remember the result, but I do remember suggesting to a Brit fairly close to me that we should do an "introduce the crowd" feature at halftime.
Quote from: King_Crud on January 17, 2011, 02:28:35 PM
Quote from: Blingo on January 17, 2011, 01:49:38 PM
Why speed in the first place? To get there two minutes earlier?
depends on how fast and how long the trip is, one could arrive 2 hours early if you do it right
Yes if you are on a three day trip :002: :002:
They've beaten me. After my third endorsement and a compulsory trip to speed school (a rather nice day at Northampton Cricket Club actually) I just keep my speed down.
I drive much slower than necessary (IMO) but I haven't had a fine in about 5 years.
Last fine I had was for driving in a bus lane, which considering I was coming out of a side road on to a main road and drove a maximum of 2 feet in the said bus lane was a bit much.
Unfortunately "thinking it was a bit much" didn't succeed when I appealed.
Quote from: TonyGilroy on January 17, 2011, 06:01:08 PM
They've beaten me. After my third endorsement and a compulsory trip to speed school (a rather nice day at Northampton Cricket Club actually) I just keep my speed down.
I drive much slower than necessary (IMO) but I haven't had a fine in about 5 years.
What happens at speed school?
Quote from: King_Crud on January 18, 2011, 09:31:17 AM
Quote from: TonyGilroy on January 17, 2011, 06:01:08 PM
They've beaten me. After my third endorsement and a compulsory trip to speed school (a rather nice day at Northampton Cricket Club actually) I just keep my speed down.
I drive much slower than necessary (IMO) but I haven't had a fine in about 5 years.
What happens at speed school?
You stay awake for hours talking gibberish and you have a rather unfortunate shrinkage :022:
Quote from: King_Crud on January 18, 2011, 09:31:17 AM
Quote from: TonyGilroy on January 17, 2011, 06:01:08 PM
They've beaten me. After my third endorsement and a compulsory trip to speed school (a rather nice day at Northampton Cricket Club actually) I just keep my speed down.
I drive much slower than necessary (IMO) but I haven't had a fine in about 5 years.
What happens at speed school?
I was offered the choice of a £60 fine + 3 points or paying £60 to go on the course with no points. No brainer.
It was held at Northants Cricket Ground. In the winter - no match unfortunately. There were about 30 of us and we had 3 hours or so of presentations, lectures, discussions etc about road safety, the danger of speeding, why speed limits were what they were, the effect of speed on collisions with other cars and pedestrians.
The session was all good natured. They were happy to deal with questions including those that were critical of speed cameras etc. They had answers.
In truth it was not uninteresting.
Some things were obvious if you thought about them. How to stay below 30 without constantly checking your speed? Answer - stay in 3rd gear.
We were all people who'd been caught doing 35 or so in 30mph zones. We were deemed to be people who just needed a little educating rather than punishment. It was OK.
If you see the congestion that builds up behind any learner drivers as they are obeying the limit to the letter shows what would happen if everybody did the same, I rest my case
Then give yourself some extra "journey time" Whatever way you look at it speeding is wrong. That's not to say I have never done it, but it is wrong.
Could you ever forgive yourself if you killed a child because you were speeding?
Quote from: epsomraver on January 18, 2011, 09:56:57 AM
If you see the congestion that builds up behind any learner drivers as they are obeying the limit to the letter shows what would happen if everybody did the same, I rest my case
To be fair, I stick to the limit most of the time (the times I don't is not me rushing, just accidently creeping above the limit). Despite yesterday's rant, people speeding does wind me up - especially so when they're tailgating me and flashing/honking (are you an emergency vehicle? No. So sit there and shut the **** up!). I see it as another symptom of terrible driving standards.
But the authorities have done quite a job in setting up an "us v them" policy. My route to work is peppered with various speed control devices, some of which are intended to force you below the posted limit. In some places this is overkill because so many people get needlessly caught speeding when the police do their 6-monthly check. These are presumably the same people who moan when council tax goes up to cover the road "improvements". As I said before, the only way is to stop thickos from driving. The most obvious way would be a re-test every 5/10 years (I'd happily do that), but I appreciate the DSA infrastructure isn't geared towards that in its current form.
I do like the idea of the "education" aspect though. A housemate of mine went to one of those speed schools a few months ago and, like Tony, she thought it a worthwhile exercise. There was one brilliant question apparently. "What does a grey sign on a motorway mean?". Answer: "You're going the wrong way"
The point really is we now feel that cameras are there to punish the innocent. Was i breaking the law. Yes. But if I didn't I would have caused an accident. Bus lanes suddenly emerging and then going off somewhere else. Pedestrian traffic light crossings a cars length before a junction traffic light. Alot of the problems are poor road layouts.
I am the dullest, keeping to the limit driver there is. But does my consentration get taken from the road in front if I am constantly checking I am not 3 miles above the speed limit, how many red lights are on and what roads are they supposed to be manning. Where the bus lane is or isn't. One just outside the cemetery you turn into and snap. Three points please.
I will pay fines but for a safety first driver I will be banned for six months if I am not careful for the next how ever many years. Whereas I could knock that kid down and be drunk and still not receive a worse punishment.
