The light finally dawns - speeding isn't the major cause of most crashes

[minux]

The problem with speeding in accident statistics is that even if it is found that the person int he accident was doing 1 km/h over the limit a contributing factor is put down as speed...it could be someone was doing 70 in a 60 zone and they crash because their front wheels fell off due to not having wheel nuts...yet in the accident report it is stated that speed was a contributing factor, so when it comes to long weekends we see advertising blitzes on slow down etc etc.

I wonder how many accidents on freeways like the Hume etc are caused due to lack of speed and subsequent lack of concentration falling into fatigue? I know for me I sit on 120-130 on these roads as I find i feel less fatigued spending 1-2 hours less on the road.

 

[WazzaV8]

I'm a locomotive engineman, you would be surprised how many cars just ignore level crossing warning lights if they think they can get across, yes they save 2 minutes but if caught its not a cheap fine, probably $350 and 5 points. When I can get a rego number I dob them in.

Your right, there are worse dangers on the road than speeding, like failing to keep left, failing to indicate, failing to give way etc which doesn't get picked up as much as speeding.

 

[hi_ryder]

its all politics. reminds me of whats happening in the US, 96% of firearm murders are with hand guns. so whats the logical thing to do? ban rifles... if speed kills everyone in germany would be dead already...

 

[Immortality]

If you are paying attention you would NOT be exceeding the speed limit. The "everyone does it" defense only goes so far before every Catholic Priest is allowed to...........cause everyone does it.

I disagree, if you spend that much time watching the speedo than your not watching the road enough, of course you could drive like a grandpa and go 10-15km/h under the speed limit and then you actually become the biggest hazard on the road.

Unless your travelling on a completely straight and level bit of road your speed is going to vary (hills, bends your going to have to brake/accelerate at some stage), momentarily going over the posted speed limit is going to occur occasionally, getting fined for such a minor indiscretion is total BS. Excessive/consistent speeding is a totally different kettle of fish and you take the risk, do the crime, pay the fine.

I find getting stuck in traffic very monotonous, however when driving enthusiastically I pay a lot more attention. Thank christ for cruise control for those long boring stretches of road.

 

[Reaper]

its all politics. reminds me of whats happening in the US, 96% of firearm murders are with hand guns. so whats the logical thing to do? ban rifles... if speed kills everyone in germany would be dead already...

Well the other side seem to think the answer to firearm massacres in NA is more guns :s.

 

[Immortality]

I'm a locomotive engineman, you would be surprised how many cars just ignore level crossing warning lights if they think they can get across, yes they save 2 minutes but if caught its not a cheap fine, probably $350 and 5 points. When I can get a rego number I dob them in.

Your right, there are worse dangers on the road than speeding, like failing to keep left, failing to indicate, failing to give way etc which doesn't get picked up as much as speeding.

Mate, you need one of those dash type cameras

 

[Astranomical]

I'd actually be surprised if he (WazzaV8) doesn't already have one, I would've thought that trains would have cameras installed for incidents such as that.

 

[yxyx64]

only 2 reasons people speed.

1. they choose to speed (allow speeding to occur by foot on gas or no foot on brake),
or
2. they do not realise they are speeding (not paying attention while driving)

 

[c2105026]

Valid point but in observing what is going on around you you cannot watch everything at once. Humans only have about a 10cm focal point that we can see and concentrate on. You need to prioritise. Everything else is peripheral. Now, what is more important - watching that guy about to lane change in front of you whilst you have a b-double on your arse - or make sure you stick to a predetermined, lazily enforced speed limit that was put there 15 yrs ago when some guy in your capital city put in some values into an old outdated computer program, and that is what spat out?

I prefer to drive by the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorist - long running UK charity endorsed by the UK police, members of which have really low crash rates) system of driving - in the following order you always think about

your observation of hazards >position on the road>speed of vehicle to negotiate hazard safely>gear is correct to negotiate hazard>accelerate away from hazard. RTA/Vicroads system of driving is

wear your belt> don't drink and drive> obey the speed limit> stop every two hours> you will never ever have a crash.

Yes some people choose to speed, and 99.999% of the time nothing at all happens. Lets look at the probability of accident in certain situations....

Lets say the average motorist will have 0.016 crashes/yr (based on nsw figures). Taking this as a Poisson distribution this equates to (after some maths) an 11,000/1 chance you will have a crash on a 100km trip. If you drove at a speed that mathematically doubled your chance of a crash, that is still 'only' a 5500/1 risk of having a crash, whilst driving like a maniac. (mathematically, crash risk goes up with a 3rd to 4th power relationship). Mathematically, increasing your speed to 22% faster than average traffic speed doubles the risk of crash (i.e. doing 122 in a 100 zone) - this can be worked out via calculus (won't bore y'all with that...). So that is when the 'radar trap' is 100km long. For a typical point-to-point setup of say 25km, driving like a 'hoon' your crash risk is only 1/25,000. Now the average radar trap may only be 1km (visibility from cop car to you - at the most!) - crash risk, even with 'doubled crash risk' is about 570,000/1. So how is behaviour in which there is a 570,000/1 chance of a negative outcome (i.e. a towaway crash at least) worth a $300 ticket???.

Fair suck of the sauce bottle......

However this is a gross overgeneralisation. 'True' risk comes from your ability, your vehicle's ability, presence of hazards etc. If you are going 10km under the speed limit and you go through a red light just as a car has green priority and the timing is right, crash risk is 100%.

 

[yxyx64]

went through a red light eh?

only 2 reasons people go through red lights.

1. they choose to go through (no foot on brake),
or
2. they do not realise they are going through red light (not paying attention while driving)