Tuesday 28 January 2014

Speed Limits and Motorised Snails


Police are thinking about cementing in the zero tolerance policy re the speed limit. Aside from there being no proven link between the 10 km an hour normal extra tolerance previously allowed (110km pr hr) compared with the present 104km limit what irritates me is that Police won't institute zero tolerance  for those preternaturally slow drivers who hold up hundreds of motorists by their desire to behave as snails. Having been on holiday and trapped in queues of up to thirty cars behind a front vehicle doing on one occasion 30km under the posted limit, it seems these drivers do more to pose a risk to traffic than a motorist doing 110 km per hour on the open road. How can it be that when the road toll goes down, Police give themselves credit, yet when it goes up they blame motorists? According to motoring expert and editor of the Dog and Lemon Guide Mr Matthew-Wilson an analysis of the statistics shows that 80% of road fatalities occur at speeds less than the speed limit. Of the 20% that occur at above the limit factors such as age, fatigue and alcohol consumption play a large part (3 News 3/1/14). If speed and road safety are intimately connected, why is it that the UK has higher speeds and better safety figures? It seems to me that the subjecting of  hundreds of mums and dads on holidays to speeding infringements is more about revenue generation than reason.