Friday, August 24, 2012
Speeding on the decrease
There are often reports on the news about car accidents, and some of those collisions have occurred because of speeding. It always makes me sad to think that if the individual had just stuck to the limit, the incident probably wouldn’t have taken place. However, I have some good news. The number of people breaking the speed limit has decreased!
According to a report by the RAC Foundation and the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, only 46% of people were breaking 30mph limits in 2010 compared to 69% in 1998.
Moreover, only 49% of drivers in 2010 were going over 70mph on the motorways, while this figure stood at 57% in 2003. Perhaps we don’t need the limit to go up to 80mph after all?
Want some more good news? Generally, throughout England and Wales, the number of fixed penalty notices, convictions, and written warnings being handed to road users for speeding offences has lowered significantly since a big increase in the 1990s.
When I read about these statistics I was really pleased, and I hope you are as well, reader. After all, fewer speeding motorists on the roads make them safer for all those drivers who stick to the rules and navigate the highways in a considerate manner.
Photo © amandabhslater via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: 30mph, 70mph, car accident, driver, motorway, Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, RAC Foundation, speed limit, speeding
Monday, July 9, 2012
Former racer against speed increase
A race driver bemoaning a possible increase in the speed limit for the UK’s highways? That’s odd.
Well, Damon Hill, a former world champion race driver who has won the Grand Prix 22 times, has said that he thinks an increase from 70mph to 80mph on motorways would be a disaster. The ex-racer, who retired in 1999, explains, "Most people aren't safe to drive over 55. The speed limit going up to 80mph makes me shudder.
"People mostly drive too fast on the motorway and too close to the car in front. They think they know what they're doing and they don't."
This might sound like a big insult to a large number of this country’s motorists, but in comparison to him we must all be pretty unskilled behind the wheel.
Unfortunately, whereas Mr Hill states that he doesn’t like driving over 70mph because he finds it stressful, it’s usually the most unskilled and inconsiderate road users among us who decide to ignore the speed limit regulations.
Talking about his ‘boy racer’ days, Hill says, “I escaped by the skin of my teeth when I was younger because I was a good driver, but that didn't make it OK."
It’s a shame we can’t give reckless road users some hindsight, so that they could see how dangerously they are behaving. Sadly some of these motorists might not learn how important being safe behind the wheel is until it’s too late.
Photo © Supermac1961 via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car, Damon Hill, drive, driving, Grand Prix, highway, motorway, race driver, road users, speed limit
Friday, January 20, 2012
High-tech glasses and road safety
We’ve all seen people driving while chatting on their mobiles and been thoroughly disgusted at their reckless behaviour, but some new technology might give us yet another hazard on the road.
A company called Lumus has developed a pair of glasses which can project images onto its own lenses, making email, film, TV and games available to the wearer, centimetres from their eyeballs. It’s a very clever piece of tech but imagine how many reckless drivers might choose to watch a film while on the motorway. They’d probably have some popcorn on their lap too, knowing the ridiculous things they get up to on the road to the detriment of car insurance prices and motorist safety nationwide.
The company’s website tag-line is “Seeing through. Seeing beyond. A vision ahead,” but the problem is that although the images are transparent to allow people to get on with their day while being entertained, if you focus on them the real world behind will probably just become a blur.
Fingers crossed that no-one wears these glasses behind the wheel and that pedestrians don’t get too swept up in the film they’re watching to pay attention to traffic.
Photo © runekrem via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: behind the wheel, car insurance, driving, glasses, hazard, Lumus, mobiles, motorway, road, technology, traffic
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
A holiday with a difference
Fancy a holiday in the new year? How about a trip round the M25, the motorway which has been voted in various polls as the most hated place in Britain?
Well, one bus company from Brighton & Hove Bus will be happy to oblige. For only a small fee it is willing to take paying tourists on a 117-mile round-trip of the M25 for a spot of sightseeing.It all sounds very post-modern – a trip round the London Orbital to satiate the leanings of "lovers of modern coach travel".
Although you could be forgiven for thinking that the tour sounds like a sure-fire commercial disaster, it is actually proven very successful in the past – hence the decision to take bookings once again.
Gaze out your window and enjoy the wonders of Heathrow Airport's Terminal Five, Lakeside Shopping Centre and row upon row of angst-ridden car insurance customers trapped behind the wheels of their vehicles.
Wow, forget Paris, I’ve got a real surprise in store for my girlfriend this coming Valentine’s Day.
Image © timo_w2s via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, coach, M25, motorway, sightseeing, tourist
Friday, December 30, 2011
When the motorway becomes a 30-hour maze
We all know what it’s like to get lost on the motorway – the way one wrong turn can lead us inexorably into a darkening vortex of frustration and disorientation.
So spare a thought for one 82-year-old man who was recently found by police after 30 hours lost on the motorway.The retired carpenter said that he had at first been “a little lost”, but that little wormhole of lostness had eventually led him to an abysmal blackhole of deepening displacement.
The police commented, “He had been driving around the south of the country, predominately on the M25 motorway but had also gone onto some A roads in the area.
“He had stopped to catch up on some much needed sleep – we think in a motorway service area, before setting off again.
“He is after all 82-years-old. Presumably he put fuel in the car during the service stops over the two days.”
The lost man had initially set off on a short and familiar trip to see family.
After his family reported him missing, his car was spotted by police using an automatic number plate recognition camera, the same as the kind used to identify those driving without car insurance.
We think he might have received a sat-nav from relieved family members this Christmas.
Image © Gene Hunt via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: 30 hours, car insurance, lost, motorway
Friday, December 9, 2011
Getting onto the motorway
When I was taking my driving lessons I found ‘A’ roads frightening enough to tackle with my instructor next to me, so I can well imagine that there is some merit in the new scheme coming into effect next year.
Apparently, road safety minister Mike Penning has stated that soon learner drivers will be allowed to go onto motorways as long as they have a qualified instructor with them. The aim of this initiative is to familiarise learners with the 70mph (perhaps eventually 80mph) speed limit and the motorway layouts, so that their risk of suffering an accident on these roads once they pass their practical test is reduced.
The head of road safety at the AA stated, “This is good news. It will end the ludicrous situation where people can live near a network of motorways and pass their test without ever having been on one.”
I have to say I agree. The first time I went onto the motorway I had to take my dad with me for support and almost missed my exit because I suddenly forgot how to change lanes through fear of the high speed I was traveling at.
Exactly when this scheme will begin hasn’t been reported, but I have a feeling learner drivers will really appreciate the experience. I know I would have.
Photo © Firing up the quattro… via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: 70mph, AA, accident, driving lessons, learner drivers, motorway, road, road safety, speed
Monday, December 5, 2011
A Marmity mess
Whether you hate Marmite or you love it – no one likes having to take a detour because there’s been a Marmite spill all over the road.
However, recently some poor motorists who had been travelling along the M1 had to take alternative routes when a lorry crashed and spilled sticky goop all over the highway.
Ok – it wasn’t actually Marmite – it was waste brewers yeast – but it was first reported to be Marmite and as a Marmite hater I personally can’t see the difference between the disgusting brown spread and waste yeast encrusted with tarmac anyway.
The motorway had to be closed in both directions between junctions 32 and 33, the lorry driver was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries, and The Environment Agency was called to help clean up and check that waterways hadn’t been polluted.
What a mess! It proves how evil Marmite is once and for all!
Ok, yes, it wasn’t Marmite…
Photo © Jacob Rickard via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: detour, highway, junction, lorry, M1, Marmite, motorist, motorway, road, tarmac, yeast