What If Everyone Drove 8 MPH?
The Dorset/Daily Echo (via the wife):
DRIVERS in the BH postcode district are the most likely in the country to be caught speeding, a shock survey has revealed…
…Borough of Poole councillor Phil Eades said: “This table suggests that drivers in BH are six times worse than Glasgow drivers.
“This is clearly nonsensical and the only explanation can be the number and the locations of speed cameras rather than the driving habits or abilities locally.”
The councillor says the speed camera on Castle Lane East in Iford, Bournemouth, is partially hidden behind a tree, and Poole’s Castle Hill speed camera is also placed “a bit sneakily“…
But as the Echo continues:
…The survey, carried out by Admiral Insurance, put data from 1.5million motorists under the spotlight.
Admiral managing director Sue Longthorn said: “One thing is for sure, there are certain parts of the country where people are far more likely to have a conviction for speeding and there are parts where hardly anyone has.”
A Dorset Safety Camera Partnership spokesman refused to comment because he felt the survey was commercially driven and argued the results were not a true representation of the national picture…
Of course, raising money by speed camera is not the goal. Revenue coming in is an incidental, well within “the spirit of the law,” and merely the end result of a desire to make the roads safer. All such is particularly well-accomplished when undertaken by what have been dubbed “Talivans” — “because of they way they are terrorising motorists.” (Examples of some Bournemouth area possible “Talivan” locations are about mid-page of this link.)
Yet how about the opposite extreme? Wouldn’t slowing people down really dramatically make for a safety improvement? After all, and as AOL UK tells us, Her Majesty’s roads belong to everyone:
A pensioner found travelling along a busy dual carriageway in his 8mph mobility buggy has been told off by police.
The 81-year-old, from Hayling Island, Hampshire, was pulled over by officers on the A27 near Portsmouth after worried motorists called 999.
What’s the big deal? If he’d been on a residential street in Portsmouth, he’d have been doing only slightly less than the new posted limit. But, suddenly, police are in this case all crazy for speed:
The man was not breaking the law driving the battery-powered scooter on the road because it is not a motorway, but police said it was not a good idea.
And he was being environmentally friendly also, using an electric powered vehicle. Geez, the mixed signals we’re getting increasingly are confusing. Wish they’d make up their minds.
