slipshot

I see your point - but if a pedestrian was in the middle of nowhere and walked in front of a car then I feel sorry for the driver... and the pedestrian - well, they are just a nutter.

As for an animal - there's little to stop it happening on freeways as well, as some have barriers but certainly not all do, and yet this seems to be acceptable?

I agree a pedestrian life is valuable - which is why in an open road miles from anywhere it is perfectly fine as there should not be any pedestrians there. But animals - that's just bad luck. And guess what - hitting them at 100kph is not going to do you or them much good so why are speed limits not all at 20kph - just to be on the safe side?

You cannot cater for everything, which is why this ridiculous notion that speed kills is so ridiculous. Roads with far higher speed limits than Aus are statistically safer - how does speed kill then?

ABCDiamond

The Northern Territory did not have speed limits until recently.

200kph was legal.


Road deaths per 100 million vehicle kilometres travelled in 2006

2.6 Northern Territory (NO SPEED LIMITS or demerit points)

and the States with Speed limits and active points and fines sytems..
0.4 Australian Capital Territory
0.6 Victoria
0.7 Queensland


Yes, just statistics... but dead statistics.

ABCDiamond

Except for the people who may have broken down, and are walking for help, or the farmer crossing to another field....

asprilla

At the end of the day though, every country has speed limits that get progressively higher as you move out of built up areas. It's just common sense. If you break these limits, you risk being caught and punished.

Not sure why so many people feel they are hard done by when caught speeding. Would they feel similarly aggrieved if they were caught stealing a carton of milk from the 7-11? I doubt it....they'd probably throw their hands up and say "its a fair cop guv". But many people have the mentality that speeding is a law that is ok to be broken.

DunRoaminTheUK

I think A380's rotate at that speed?

ABCDiamond

This thread has brought back some memories of mine, and I think they are worth sharing, as, if I have to remember it, I think you should picture it to.

I was young, and thought I knew better. The road was clear, it was safe to drive fast, I knew that, and anyway, no-one was around so who could I hurt ?

So there I was, 125mph and enjoying the run, then, out of a side road just before the road narrowed under a bridge, came this older car, and it was slow.
Within no time at all, I was right behind him, and I saw this little girl looking through the back window at me .... I recall thinking.... kill her, or swerve and hit the brick wall.... I began to turn to the wall, but he must have seen what was happening, and he moved right over, to near enough scrape the bridge wall, allowing just enough room for me to fly past. I was still slowing down, but not enough to stop in time.

I pulled up on the other side of the bridge and just sat there for 10-15 minutes. Thinking of what could have been.

I blamed him at first for joining the road, he should not have done that, he should not have been there, he should have know how fast I was going... but... he would have had time if I was driving safely.


One of my friends later blew a tyre at a very high speed. He's dead... But at least his car didn't hit anyone else.

slipshot

I completely agree with you - and if I get caught for speeding then it's no-one fault but my own. I may not like it but I accept it. Never said I do not approve of speed limits or what happens if you break them - just that the whole zero tolerance and cash revenue is wrong.

The fact is I choose to break the limit when safe to do so and I take the risk when relevant as do many others. That is a fair cop.

Deancm

All the coppers need is a rego number and they can send a ticket to you in the post. With the new laser speed cameras, they automatically take photos of each car when they check the speed.

Hutch

Might have that technology in Sydney - but round these parts the traffic cops have to write you the ticket.

slipshot

Sure - so that fact that you are going at any speed means they will still be doing this act of crossing the road regardless. At a speed of 100kph you will still kill them. Then there's the argument that if you were going faster you would have reached that point earlier and missed them (I say tongue in cheek).

If they 'thought' you were doing a certain speed and got it wrong because they did not look and assess, then that is also their fault. Who suffers - the motorist for someone else's mistake.

If they are stupid enough to cross a road without looking, or cross at a place they cannot see the traffic, speed is irrelevant. Their own stupidity got them killed...

I'm not glorifying speed at all, but all I say is there are times when speeding is perfectly acceptable (in my book and not the law) and perfectly safe.

And ABCDiamond, your story is very apt and relevant. We've all been there with near misses and heck, I drive very differently now to when I did when a kid. And I learnt my lesson. I also have driver training, racing education and got taught how to handle a car far better than I could, and probably better than most on the road (in comparison to those who have not). But I'm far from a good driver, I still make stupid mistakes, although mostly good driving is common sense and anticipation.

Sadly lacking from the driver education programmes both in Australia and the UK.

Deancm

In Victoria the revenue raised in 2007 was $147mil from mobile speed cameras alone. Couldn't find the revenue for the fixed speed cameras but I could imagine it would be a similar figure.

renth

+1

moneypenny20

Agreed. I never understand why people start justifying their speed with their 'speed doesn't kill, I know what I'm doing routine. If the law says a certain speed then that's what you do or you get a fine and points. Pay up, shut up and deal with it You may say the law is an ass but hey, it's still the law.

If all these people doing 150 in a 100 stretch of 'long, clear, straight, roads in the middle of the night' didn't speed, there would be no need for these nasty coppers in dark suits hiding in the bushes would there? There would be no cash revenue that you all seem to object to.

ABCDiamond

+2

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Pretty standard arguement to excuse yourself whilst breaking the law... you may know your limits and that of your car... do you know mine?. How about the 80 year old you are coming up on at 140kph.. do you know theirs as well?