Speeders vs Slow Drivers.

[J_D]

Time to set the cat among the pigeons!

Excerpt from this report.


Too little speed and accidents
When we come to the analysis of the relationship between 'speeding' (rather than 'speed' or 'excessive speed') and accidents, the evidence in Britain and Australia is remarkably thin on the ground. Indeed, US research on speeding has established that those who speed moderately tend to be the safest drivers. It is those who travel well above and well below the posted speed limit who are the biggest risk.

Most research agrees that it is those who drive at around the 85th percentile of the speed on a particular road who tend to be the safest drivers.13 On British motorways for example, this equates to those who drive at about 85 mph or 15mph above the speed limit. Conversely, it is the slowest drivers who are the most risky drivers: 'The accident involvement rates on streets and highways in urban areas was highest for the slowest 5 percent of traffic, lowest for traffic in the 30 to 95 percentile range and increased for the fastest 5 percent of traffic.'

The problem is that British speed cameras are often set to catch those who are travelling around 10 mph or more above the speed limit. This means that the law bears down heavily on the safest drivers who are travelling at about the 85th percentile of the traffic speed but above the speed at which the cameras operate, while some of the most dangerous drivers, who drive slowly, are not caught.

[J_D]

Which explains why the speed cameras arent working. Because the top 5% dont care and the bottom 5% arent targeted.

[Shortstuff]

Having lived in the UK until recently I would say the roads there are very different to the roads out here, and the way people drive is different too. Attitudes to speed are not the same either. IMO there is little point trying to make any comparison between the two countries as there are so many other points to consider before speed limits and speeding even gets touched on.

[J_D]

The study was actually done in the US because they wont study that aspect here or in the UK because it runs counter to the speed kills philosophy. But surely the same type of situation must happen here to a certain extent. If anything it would be worse here as the cameras over there only target those doing 10mph or about 15kmh over whereas here they ping you for as little as 3kph over.

[semi]

thread closed. if you are thinking of starting a speeders vs slow drivers thread... dont.

random too short message

[Garth]

this thread will be like religion and politics, it may start of civil, but will turn sour very very quickly

ill close it