UK to adopt speed limiting tech: do you support it?

This whole business of speed is a mixture of many, many elements churning round. Not least of these is the variable nature of the human population here who range from laid back and tolerant to impatient and always in a hurry. Then there is the government and local councils who believe that they have to cater for the lowest common ability in order to avoid accidents. Add to that the increasing desire to reduce speeds in order to reduce road pollution and the general trend is to hinder the progress on the road by any number of devices and make driving less pleasurable and more restrictive. Motorists are constantly being told what they can not do when it has appeared safe to do it before and, crucially, all this is imposed by those in charge without any consultation with those on the roads. The motorist feels disenfranchised and unwelcome. Another problem that we have to face is that our roads are not fit for purpose. There are many more of us on them and they can not cope with the demand. Queues are a regular nightmare. This has been the case for some while and there has always been an argument (for and against) about spending on roads in order to fill them up and create a demand for more spending on roads.

So the road system is a hostile environment and that breeds impatience and misunderstanding. Some look at a clear stretch of motorway and see no reason why they shouldn’t proceed at 80plus mph. Most cars are quiet and refined at that speed. No one is being killed and they get there, where ever that is, quicker. Miles of empty cones and a fifty limit means that, more than once I have suffered, with lorries, inches from my back window, and at seventy on the motorway I am one of the slowest there and have to slow down behind a slower vehicle while things speed past me next door. No explanation is given for pollution control, so a fifty limit is ignored and some “don’t drive responsibly.” The 20 limit is now becoming fashionable and that means a second gear crawl through urban areas. Most ignore that and, once again I get tailgated ad-nauseum. Not recognising an unobvious hazard, without any signage, creates the feeling of being restricted unnecessarily, especially when there are times that something is signed and doesn’t appear.
There are two lots of us on the road. I simply do what I’m told because that’s what I’ve been told to do. The other lot decide for themselves what’s safe and drive to the perceived road conditions ahead rather than the instructions on the signs. Not many get caught doing it so they carry on.

Since the radio has broadcast road traffic reports, very, very few end without a collision to avoid and tailbacks associated with it. That means a lot bent metal on the road every day. Perhaps it was always thus, and we didn’t hear about it, but I am amazed at that there are so many crashes these days. Who is right; those who project the nanny state or those who think we are being hard done by? Is there happy medium? Probably not, since only one set of people control the road usage and the rest of us drive under their dictatorship. Climate change and vehicle use will alter dramatically as will our ability to do what we do now. Enjoy motoring while you can it is under threat and can only decrease in future.

As we have seen from the two crashes of Boeing 737-800s, electronic “safety” measures are not necessarily a good idea. I have a device on my car which warns me when I exceed a speed that I have to set manually. I don’t often use it because the setting button has been put in a very awkward place, behind the steering wheel (It must have been done by an arts and design graduate rather than an engineer!). I would welcome technology that warns me if I exceed the speed limit, but I do not want it controlling the car. Similarly, something that tells me that I am getting too close to the car in front is useful, but I don’t want it actually applying the brakes. However, I would like to be able to set it to keep a safe distance from the car in front, cancelled by touching the brakes or accelerator. There are times when a burst of speed is necessary to avoid an accident.

I agree with the gentleman who said that drivers should take responsibility to take into account the conditions. Sometimes, it is only safe to travel at 15 – 20 mph in a 30 mph area, particularly in rural areas. I also agree that speed limits are proliferating. We don’t need a 50mph stretch, followed by a 40mph stretch before a 30mph area. We just need a sign that says “30mph in 300 yards”

Totally opposed to another “big brother” take over. They decide who does what? Slowly but assuredly our individual rights are being eroded. This is just another patent example. If you break the law, you should pay the price but NOT at the cost of civil liberty.