I nearly got chucked out of a speed awareness course for arguing over a picture they showed. There was this Vauxhall Corsa totally obliterated in the picture, apparently the driver hit a kid while doing 35mph. Absolute bollocks; unless the kid was 30 stone and running towards the car it could never have sustained that much damage. Speed does kill, in the wrong environment. But we're being fed a load of bollocks by the authorities along the way, just so they can make some money. Don't bother arguing with me, I've got my fingers in my ears now.
Or hiding in a bush just down the road from my local bike café. The road is open with good vision and no junctions or schools etc about and not a accident black spot either.Am I being cynical thinking it was a nice little revenue maker and more ticks in the boxes for performance ratings of the police.
But if you know where they are going to be why don't you ride accordingly? When I lived up north and used to regularly do the North Yorks TT run (Stokesley to Helmsley and back) I knew where the police would be hidden and would adjust my speed accordingly. Those that didn't adjust their speed, at best, got caught and complained of it being over policed. At worst they crashed and hurt or killed themselves.
Don't be so sure, the science is a little complicated but crumple zones leave modern vehicles exceptionally vulnerable in some areas. A small localised impact of a 50 kg object at 35 mph localised bang in the middle of the front of the car will completely devastate the car - it's exactly what it's designed to do - the more damage the car sustains, the less damage the pedestrian sustains - its all about exchange of energy. Hitting something bigger like another car (which also has a crumple zone) will distribute the impact across the whole front and leave a very different impact signature. I've seen cars with bumpers ripped completely off from hitting a dog or pheasant at that sort of speed.
This is not there usual spot.I just found it strange as they seemed out to nick a few bikers on a open road. Luckily all the bikers for about a mile before warned me and I warned all the bikers I saw to. Don't get me wrong I don't think you should go flat out everywhere but I repeat banning people for minor offenses after they have commited a few but endangered no one seems over the top to me.Same goes for hiding in bushes on open roads with no hazards just outside a bikers cafe. So why 12 points.Im surprised it hasn't been lowered by latest government safety bods.
so you freely and openly committed yet more offences then?? how the fukk do you sleep at night scum? x
no they won't!.......because you will of slowed down for the bend so they really wont be able to stitch you up as well as the hero jockey going flat out on the straight bit..........
if there is that much view there how come you didnt see the speed camera operative who would of been in hi viz.......
Yes they were in hi vis yes I did spot them but was looking out for them after being warned.But this is not a accident hotspot of hazardous part of the road.And yes they were in a spot obscured from view not stood out in the open. So as a serving officer perhaps you could shed some light on why road junctions are not targeted.Im not having a go by the way just want to understand the thinking behind these camera safety partnership things. In your experience is speed the factor that leads to road deaths and if not why do the police target this area so much instead of other factors.
As you put it so nicely ill try................excess speed is not the problem its the user thats doing inappropriate speed to the circumstances that is..........so the only way (or easiest) is to apply and enforce speed limits ..i wouldnt just pick on junctions.....its any decision making area where collisions generally occur, junctions, overtaking, bends etc etc, slow the speed at least means it doesnt hurt as much.
Thanks for the reply and if you see me over the limit is there any chance you can turn a blind eye lol. Seriously although I speed (who doesn't) I like staying in one piece so only do it on open road with clear vision and no hazards about.I like to get a move on but always use caution around junctions and garden centre,pub entrance /exit etc on my favourite roads.If I don't know the road I take it easy as lost a couple of friends yrs ago due to bike crashes at junctions. I guess we all make mistakes and I did when I missed a new speed limit change on another favourite road.The SPS looked good on the photos though.
Speed is a proxy. Catching people doing complicated things like driving carelessly, and proving it in court, is extremely expensive; there will never be enough resources to bring more than a few cases like that. Nobody imagines that simply driving along a road at a certain arbitrary velocity is in itself dangerous, or relevant to anything. But speed is easy to prove conclusively, and lends itself to enforcement by a cheap automated system. Thus it serves as a proxy indicator. The person who drives/rides along roads at high speeds failing to notice the yellow boxes, repeatedly, is probably not concentrating hard enough, and possibly driving carelessly. Since it is not feasible to catch them for the carelessness, the authorities settle for speeding tickets. QED
Cheers for the heads up. Well round here they have switched off those bright yellow boxes .Never really could understand the point of them as everyone would slow down and then speed up once past the markings on the road.Some of them were placed in very odd spots in wolves and don't see how they reduced road deaths.I can think of only one set that was placed just before a well known junction for bad accidents on a rural route just outside the city that saw many bad accidents and a few bikers killed.That made more sense. Surely they could put a covert van with camera on junctions that are accident blackspots and have car or bike round the corner out of sight.If they pull out on other motorists and cause them to take evasive action cant they be prosecuted easily for careless driving or driving without due care(forgive me as im no legal expert for sure) or given on the spot points and fine. Im aware some folks go to fast and crash on there own or pulling a stupid overtake at the wrong time but the vast majority of my friends involved in accidents especialy bikers have been at a blackspot junction.Hense it make more sense to me to focus on those. I think a lot of bad feeling from motorists comes from focusing on speeding as they feel like a cash cows filling government coffers.
