LSWR Cavalier
Established Member
Two people killed in 'accidents' caused by going too slow. All the rest killed by excess speed.
They used to hide behind a hedge on my drive home. It was entertaining to stay in low gear and gun the engine then grin at their disappointed faces as I trundled by at 30.
The problem with speeding is it's easy to measure, automate and prosecute, especially cars (it's harder to trigger a camera specifically for a hgv so limits are set to the maximum (car/bike) limit, and nobody enforces vans doing 65mph on a dual carriageway, or lorries doing 50 up a single carriageway).
Motorways really are the safest roads.
All the rest of what?Two people killed in 'accidents' caused by going too slow. All the rest killed by excess speed.
Two people killed in 'accidents' caused by going too slow. All the rest killed by excess speed.
Two people killed in 'accidents' caused by going too slow. All the rest killed by excess speed.
Nice try - but somebody has to programme a computer. So all you're doing is moving *which* human controls the vehicle and I'm not sure I'd trust the Musk-rat or the likes of Apple with that.
I do voluntary work too, in a quite different field. I should not like to do police work for them, without pay!The people who participate in things like "Community Speed Watch" schemes are the ultimate 'shop thy neighbour' meddlers - the kind of people who write complaint letters to their MP and local papers in green ink.
Possibly for the same reason that coronavirus rules are different in Scotland? Though they have sort of realised how foolish the decision not to increase the limit was, by allowing 50mph on the A9... (Yes I'm aware that on many Scottish roads, even 30mph in a lorry would be somewhat risky.)In England lorries are now able to do 50 on a single. The safety benefit of reduced overtaking was seen as better than the disbenefit from faster moving lorries.
For some reason Scotland didn't follow suit.
It's fairly rare for excess speed to be the cause of an accident on a motorway. It is normally a factor that makes the outcome more severe.
There's a whole load of data around contributory factors, and the number of accidents (I couldn't find the data set that does individual K/SI by contributory factor - only numbers of incidents RAS50002) and "excess speed" was a contributory factor in 136 fatal incidents, whilst exceeding speed limit was factor in 203.
Depends what one means by speed.
I should include: following too close, driving while intoxicated, eating, drinking, telephoning, driving while tired (max speed zero). Failure to yield, many times there is a crash at 5 mph where the right speed would be zero.
Etc etc
I do voluntary work too, in a quite different field. I should not like to do police work for them, without pay!
Where I live delivery vans are often parked with the engine running, one can imagine what might happen if a vehicle rolled away. Seems a very good case for vigilante cooperation: stop the engine, sieze the keys and wait for the cops to arrive to give the driver a good talking to!
The one thing that I don't understand is why vans still have a lower speed limit than cars. Modern vans are just as safe as cars, and just as capable of braking well. Why is it acceptable for a van to do 70mph on the M50 (with its narrow lanes in places), but only 60mph on the brand new A14 near Huntingdon (a road which is built to far higher standards)? Similarly with most high-quality non-motorway dual carriageways in this country (A34, A14, A42*, A50, A13, A2 etc, most of which would be motorways in any other country).
A vehicle would only roll away if left in neutral with no handbrake on - irrespective of whether it's engine is running, so that's a pretty daft comment.
And if you're doing regular drop deliveries you're in and out the van all the time, the regular start / stop of the engine can actually cause more problems than leaving it running.
This is not true of modern vehicles. If it was, they wouldn't be provided with "start-stop" facilities for use in stop-start traffic and at traffic lights.
It's very unlikely to be Musk himself (I'd be frankly terrified if it was his own coding on live vehicles), and I'd also much rather have a "legacy" automotive industry group tackle it than a "big tech" firm.
The use profile of commercial vehicles is quite different to private cars - the regularity of stop / start would put much more strain on the engine and electrics in a commercial environment than for the usual use of a car by a private motorist.
I have to say I *hated* the stop / start my last car had, infuriating. Ended up switching it off.
No, it wouldn't. Modern engines are fine with it, the stop won't be for long enough to significantly affect the temperature of the engine, and vehicles so fitted are generally fitted with beefier starter motors and batteries to take account of the more frequent use.
No bias there at all then
I don't see what's not to like about it. It saves you fuel and saves pollution with no significant adverse consequence. And when you drop the clutch to engage a gear, it has restarted before you can even push the lever into gear.
And it's debateable whether or not it actually *saves* fuel - because again, more fuel is used starting the engine than if the engine had been left idling for a short time.
If the handbrake is used a lot the cable could break at any time, it might not even be pulled tight. Maybe one time in a thousand the van might roll away, with consequences suitable for a disaster movie.A vehicle would only roll away if left in neutral with no handbrake on - irrespective of whether it's engine is running, so that's a pretty daft comment.
And if you're doing regular drop deliveries you're in and out the van all the time, the regular start / stop of the engine can actually cause more problems than leaving it running.
If the handbrake is used a lot the cable could break at any time, it might not even be pulled tight. Maybe one time in a thousand the van might roll away, with consequences suitable for a disaster movie.
Leaving a vehicle with the engine running could entice someone to steal the vehicle. Besides, it is illegal, or should be.
I would think that vans are often running around at their maximum loading weight (and sometimes in excess of that) so their suspension, tyres and brakes are much nearer to their limits than their car equivalents. There are also many vans with drum brakes where drums are pretty rare on passenger cars these days. Many smaller vans are effectively just cars with the rear seat removed and a reinforced load floor fitted. Take the Ford Fiesta van, a very popular vehicle which according to Ford's own publicity is as I said above, the three-door fiesta hatchback with the mods to make a loadspace. In it's spec. though it's payload, is much higher:I would agree that this differential is out of date and harks back to vans being far poorer to handle and with far poorer brakes than cars. That the exact same van with windows and seats in the back (I'm thinking Berlingos, Tourneo Connects etc) get the car limits just proves it's silly. They really should be brought into line.
Maybe one time in a thousand the van might roll away
No no no no no! In modern cars that is far too slow.thus:
- Single carriageway 50mph (that would eliminate all overtaking except of very slow vehicles and so be a huge safety benefit, and many are now signed 50 anyway)
- Dual carriageway without a central reservation crash barrier (e.g. most of MK) 60mph
That the exact same van with windows and seats in the back (I'm thinking Berlingos, Tourneo Connects etc) get the car limits just proves it's silly.
? It's not normal practice to park in gear without the handbrake in 2021
Haven't looked into it in depth as I don't drive one, but my understanding is car derived vans like that would have car limits. It's only things like transits which have van limits.
I get the feeling some drivers on the road still think double-de-clutching is still best practice.
I did have a terrible rental once with an electronic handbrake, and a Microsoft logo right next to it. Made double sure when I parked on a hill to point the wheels into the hedge and leave it in an appropiate gear
Anyone who has lived in a hilly place may have heard horror stories of vehicles running away. Best to park in gear, apply the handbrake, turn the wheels so that the kerb stops the vehicle if it tries to run away.
No shows 40 when when doing 37. The actually speed is under the indicated speed.Do you actually mean under-reads, e.g. showing 40mph if doing 43? If so it is not roadworthy and so needs calibrating or replacing. (The chance of being caught is fairly low but I'm pretty sure it is a Construction and Use offence).
Over-reading, e.g. showing 43 if doing 40, is very common to avoid this.
That is because speed is easy to measureThis is exactly the problem. Like with Covid where things degenerated to an obsession with toilet rolls and masks, with roads the cause of all evils seems to be speed.