Caught Speeding

[Biff600]

... unless you drive an automatic?

Exactly, mine has a whopping 9 gears and apart from first I don't think about it !!

 

[smutchin]

Who can say?

@Drago can. In fact he already did, before you asked this inane question.

 

[swee'pea99]

@Drago can. In fact he already did, before you asked this inane question.

It wasn't an inane question; it was a rhetorical question, which is to say, not actually a question at all. It was, rather, a snort at the notion that the system is halfway competent. My problem being that, as mooted in my first post, the incompetence of the system leads it into disrepute. It's precisely because the flashing signs so often flash for no reason that people pretty much disregard them. It's the boy crying wolf; it's hobbling a vital system; and it's a significant factor in "mass pile ups like on the Sheppey bridge in the fog" and the like.

 

[swee'pea99]

You blame the signs, and not the drivers?

Absolutely. People disregard them because they've learned they're disregardable. That's dangerous.

 

[swee'pea99]

Except they are not, if you want the smoothest journey. Disregard them if you want to be breaking and accelerating but overall traveling slower.

Except they are. I know that's the theory, but it's not born out by my experience. If that was the case (as it sometimes is - it generally seems to work pretty well on the M25, eg) I'd have no problem with it. In my experience, 9 times out of ten, drivers pretty much entirely disregard them, and carry on at 70 to find the road ahead as clear as if there'd been no flashers at all. No braking & accelerating, no travelling slower.

 

[TwickenhamCyclist]

Except they are. I know that's the theory, but it's not born out by my experience. If that was the case (as it sometimes is - it generally seems to work pretty well on the M25, eg) I'd have no problem with it. In my experience, 9 times out of ten, drivers pretty much entirely disregard them, and carry on at 70 to find the road ahead as clear as if there'd been no flashers at all. No braking & accelerating, no travelling slower.

Aren't the one's on 'smart motorways' like the M25 connected to the speed cameras? i.e you carry on at 70 when the gantries are displaying 50 and you'll get a ticket.

Its the old 'stand alone' ones in the middle of than carriage way that are more often than not, useless... too far spaced out... and for how long do they apply? I'm sure I've passed one on the M3? that has nothing after it for another 40 miles - if that one says 30 are you supposed to stick at 30 for the next hour and twenty?

 

[swee'pea99]

Roll on self driving cars

Amen to that.

 

[swee'pea99]

That is interesting, and certainly tallies with thoughts I've mused over, typically while stuck in traffic, that ultimately (by which I mean within my kids' lifetime, or at least within theirs') all traffic will consist of driverless cars coordinated centrally by a mega-computer. Drivers will not be allowed. Instead, the mega-computer will organise everything, nationwide, so's to optimise journeys for everyone.

You get in your car, say you want to go to 13 Acacia Avenue Luton, and away you go. The computer calculates how best to incorporate your journey into the overall 'journey matrix' currently in progress, optimising your journey so as to maximise your progress while minimising your impact on others', updating this journey plan in real time as other cars join/leave routes that intersect with yours, slowing you down and speeding you up as necessary to minimise or even eradicate stops, and getting everyone to their destination as quickly as (overall) possible, given the ultimate limiting parameter: the total road network.

Of course in reality, the system won't optimise travel for everyone. It'll prioritise, depending on ability/willingness to pay. Well, someone has to pay for the mega-computer...

 

[slowmotion]

Roll on self driving cars.

A cyber attack could be interesting perhaps?

 

[raleighnut]

Not the case as it happens. My old banger can run at thirty in third with the engine somewhere around 2500rpm, it's neither laouring nor over revving. Most drivers gear too high at lower speeds under the mistaken impression it saves fuel. It doesn't if the engine is having to work harder to push the higher gear. It is all about knowing where the sweet spot begins and ends on your car.

I'd agree that most car drivers don't change gears enough but if you see the 'antics' some of the drivers round here get up to around roads with speed humps on them. I mean if you go over one and see another one 100yds away why accelerate then brake again.

 

[Drago]

Many many moons ago I witnessed a lad hooning round in his boy racer'd up car. It was a Chrysler Alpine, which tells you how long ago it was. Anyway, he hit a speed hump at a very dicey speed, got a few inches of air, and as the car crashed to the ground the front suspension gave up and both front wheels splayed outwards.

I laughed so much I almost needed an ambulance.

 

[swee'pea99]

[QUOTE 4801243, member: 45"]It's not for no reason. Drivers don't understand what's going on and think they know better.[/QUOTE]
But all too often it clearly is. The result being to vindicate and thereby encourage the 'think they know better' mindset.

 

[ufkacbln]

Except they are not, if you want the smoothest journey. Disregard them if you want to be breaking and accelerating but overall traveling slower.

I though the point was that people are doing this because they disregard the signs?

 

[winjim]

Except they are not, if you want the smoothest journey. Disregard them if you want to be breaking and accelerating but overall traveling slower.

Doesn't this rely on everybody's cooperation though? If everybody slows down it's faster for all, even though it's still quicker for a speeding individual. I'm not convinced people are that community minded.

 

[gavroche]

Bear in mind that there are two types of signs over the gantry. If they round with the red circle on the outside then it is a compulsory speed limit. On the other hand, if it is only the yellow sign, then it is only advisory.