**sigh**

Looks like all the antoi speed advertising got to someone.

In this context I class a moidern car as having ABS, as the vast majority of cars on the road now have.

Just check the facts instead of listening to the rubbish put out by the government.

What makes a driver able to decide on the correct speed? i.e. if not 30 then what and why that speed?

Plain old driving experience I guess.

The speed limit on Trotters Bottom (the road between the roundabout on the St Alans Road and the A1) is 60mph. If I drove at 60mph on this road I would be driving within the speed limit, but IMHO that is an inappropate speed due to the width, bends and condition of the road, 40-45 is the speed I travel at on that road.

Approach Baker St from the South and you come from a 60 zone into a 30, have Santers Lane on your left and a primary school on your right. IMHO the reduction in speed limit should be further back (and in fact I understand this is actually under review)

I also happen to think that as long as you leave a sensible gap that driving at 90 on a motorway (3 lanes) is perfectly safe also (and before anyone says, no I don't drive that fast.... anymore)

Anyone who thinks safety cameras are anything other than revenue generators is IMHO sadly mistaken and obviously happy to live in this increasingly police state

You feel this, but what qualifies you to know that is a safe limit for you and for any and every other driver? Most drivers think they are better than average, which means there are a large chunk of drivers over estimating their ability.

jaf Wrote:but what qualifies you to know that is a safe limit for you and for any and every other driver?

I counted three IMHO's in my post, so that kinda sums it up.

What qualifies me to know what a safe limit for me is?

• Far too many years of driving experience!!
• Having a keen interest in cars, so I tend to know the limits of them
• Done a bit of motorsport, so I leave the racing for the track
• My last at fault accident was in 1990 which actually taught me an awful lot
  

I'm not talking about safe speeds, I'm talking about appropiate speeds. What is appropiate for me, maybe not for you. We're all responsible for our own actions

Smiler Wrote:

jaf Wrote:but what qualifies you to know that is a safe limit for you and for any and every other driver?

I counted three IMHO's in my post, so that kinda sums it up.

What qualifies me to know what a safe limit for me is?

• Far too many years of driving experience!!
• Having a keen interest in cars, so I tend to know the limits of them
• Done a bit of motorsport, so I leave the racing for the track
• My last at fault accident was in 1990 which actually taught me an awful lot
  

I'm not talking about safe speeds, I'm talking about appropiate speeds. What is appropiate for me, maybe not for you. We're all responsible for our own actions

I agree with you, and in an ideal world we would all drive within out own limits, but as with most things that involve a large number of people a limit has to be settled on which will apply to everyone, and 30mph is a good limit to have when you look at how many fatalities are caused at this speed compared with 35 or 40.

And speed cameras only fine you if you go above the limit - if you drive at 30 you won't get fined and the government won't make money from them (I myself got flashed by the new digital camera doing 34mph and I can't argue against that because at the end of the day I was speeding).

I have no problem with getting fined for speeding, just the way the government have gone about it.

Cameras in revenue generating sites, nothing to do with safety, just raising cash.

Also they would let us believe that speeding kills. It doesn't. What does kill is inappropiate use of speed.

A recent example of this is the banning of using a mobile whilst driving. £30 fine. Again, revenue generation.

If it was about safety then they would ban smoking, eating, drinking etc whilst driving.

Smiler, you sound like you are a better driver than me and you have the evidence to back it up. Most drivers think they are better than average, so clearly a large chunk are deluding themselves. Even the ones who average or better don't have the experience or expertise to know what the safe appropriate speed is. Then there is the other drivers and pedestrians, who pull or step out into a cars' path because they wrongly expect it to travelling at a certain speed. The speed limit has to cover all of this.

Speed limits make very little difference to our speed about town, as we tend to get stopped by red lights, junctions and other traffic. They undoubtedly make the road safer. That is why i think they should be enforced and enforced more i.e. with more cameras and heavier fines. Out of town and on motorways I have little doubt the limits could be raised, but even then they need to be enforced.