IT'S A LIMIT NOT A TARGET *
I just read Red's post about exceeding the speed limit.
I'm obsessed by a fear of exceeding the speed limit. It's something that has been with me almost ever since I started to drive on the roads at the age of 16 when I had a 50cc Vespa called The Hippogryph.
When I was in my late teens or early 20s I went on a police driving course for civilian drivers. It was incredibly instructive and I still have my copy of 'Roadcraft' the Police Driver's Manual although many of the techniques from those days are no longer relevant. Who, for example, can still double de-clutch (my car now is an automatic anyway) or uses hand signals?
However the thing that stuck in my mind more than anything else were the images of the damage to a child being hit by a vehicle at different speeds. It was gruesome and those images have lived with me for ever.
If I killed a child who ran out into the road I'd not be able to live with myself. The idea of going to prison is, however, very real deterrent too.
The "It can never happen to me" principle is not one that I have ever subscribed to. Too many things that 'could never happen to me' have happened to me!
Another thing many people fail to realise is that they must declare all speeding penalties to their insurance company and failure to do so could nullify their policy. It can also lead to an increase in premiums.
* this was the slogan of an anti-speeding television campaign in New Zealand which has stuck with me.
In this modern era you don’t even need to declare your tickets, a computer search finds them for the insurance company. I know. I got a speeding ticket in New Brunswick last year, and even though it was out of province it showed up when my policy renewed and my premium increased fifteen percent. Seems a tad unreasonable to me. Fifty years with the same company and never a claim, so they have done well by me. I think that they leap at any chance to line their greedy pockets.
ReplyDeleteGosh, David, 50 years with the same company! That must be somewhere near a record.
DeleteSpeed limits are sometimes quite illogical. Along one short stretch of road passing through a wooded area near me there are 3 different speed signs. Like you, I am of the 'it definitely could happen to me' cast of mind and proceed accordingly.
ReplyDeleteJabblog, I agree that there is a great deal of randomness about speed limits and the criteria in the Uk are, in theory, universal but in practice can be completely random at the whim of local politicians. I know because I used to be responsible for the legal work for making traffic regulation orders in various local authorities.
DeleteIt ha been so long since I have needed to drive I am sure that I would be ultra cautious the first time that I get behind the wheel again.
ReplyDeleteJayCee, I can't imagine they day when I no longer drive.
DeleteI'm a careful driver and just can't believe how often people recklessly speed. I always wish there was a police car nearby to nab them but it doesn't happen often enough!
ReplyDeleteEllen, many roads in Scotland are covered by automated systems now.
DeleteWhen I was in the Army, I was driving through the military housing area on a winter day following a school bus, and, to be honest, a bit impatient, because the bus was stopping, and going, and stopping, and going as it let off kids. I was trying to make the best of it, eating a sandwich. At one of the stops, a small child was riding a big wheel in his driveway, riding to the road, circling around and pedaling back up the driveway, and I thought to myself, "It is too cold and he is too little to be out pedaling around unsupervised..." in a judgemental sort of way. Just then he shot out in front of the school bus at exactly the same time that bus began to move forward. Later, you spend hours, dissecting the moment, and it always felt to me as if I had all the time in the world to do something. I should have gotten out of my car and stood at the end of the driveway. I should have flashed my head lights. There were a lot of things that I should have done, but I spent the last seconds of a three year old's life judging his parents.
ReplyDeleteDebby, I cannot even begin to imagine the effect that must have had on you and your driving life ever after.
DeletePeople don't seem to comprehend the real consequences of speeding.
ReplyDeleteThat is so true, Red.
DeleteI liked Red's idea of rewards for safe driving.
ReplyDeleteIf you are caught speeding only just over the limit and get sent on an awareness course, you do not have to tell your insurer.
Thanks, Tasker, that's a factoid I didn't know.
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ReplyDeleteI saw your comment when it was published but, unfortunately, I didn't read it. Your comments are always so pertinent.
DeleteOops, sorry Graham. After rereading my post, I realized it was a silly little tale of a young girl getting a speeding ticket on her way to church one Sunday morning ... the moral of the story is that scared her, so she never got another ticket in all her driving years from age 16 to 89!
DeleteJill, in many ways that's similar to my story except that I never got the speeding ticket. It's little incidences like that which can influence the rest of our lives. Thanks for telling us.
DeleteSadly we don't see many slogans like that here anymore, there use to be tv commercials screened regularly about the dangers of drink driving and speeding, we need more of them because people just aren't getting it. they think it will never happen to them. It's not about me on the road that I have to look out for, it's other people.
ReplyDeleteThat's true Amy. It doesn't matter how careful thousands of us are it only takes one person to cause an accident that may be life-changing or, worse still, life-removing..
DeleteI'm always keeping a close eye on my speedometer when I'm driving to and from my local supermarket. It's so easy to sneak over the limit if one isn't careful. My little manual car isn't new, but it still has a lot of pep. If I don't show it who is the boss, it thinks it is!!
ReplyDeleteTake care...enjoy the week ahead. :)
Lee, I love the way you express that. My car definitely tries to be boss if I'm not very masterful.
DeleteFor some reason here a huge number of people are caught not wearing seat belts. Given the alarm system that goes off if you are not buckled down inside a modern car, the offenders must all drive quite old cars.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, I can't say that I've ever been aware of that being a problem in the UK. No seat belt means a much greater potential for life-changing injury or death and I think most people are essentially aware of that and are not keen on the idea.
DeleteLuckily I am NEVER in a hurry, but it's amazing to witness how many people are!
ReplyDeleteCro, I try to be like that but occasionally I really have to take a firm hold because another of my absolute hates is being late.
DeleteAs you know, I have never even attempted to learn to drive, but of course I have been a passenger when others were driving many many times. Most speed limits do make sense to my inexpert eyes, but some appear really random.
ReplyDeleteIn towns and villages, so much can happen, especially along densely parked up roads - small children, cats or dogs can appear all of a sudden from between cars, and a responsible driver will want to make sure he or she is able to stop before inflicting damage.
Meike, what you say about apparently random speed limits. I'm certainly aware of cases where the police said there was no need for a 'low' speed limit but the politicians succumbed to people in the vicinity who often wanted quite unrealistically low limit which met none of the Government's advisory criteria. The problem in such cases is that drivers ignore it.
DeleteI have the same approach to NOT exceeding the speed limit as you, and have observed many times that the extra 5 or 10 mph doesn't get you to the destination any sooner.
ReplyDeleteMy recent experience in Ullapool is a case for driving slower - it was a 30mph area but thanks to traffic and congestion because of roadside parking I was probably only doing 15-20mph and was able to stop almost instantly when someone seemed to intentionally step out in front of the van. Horrible experience.
Exactly, Jayne, it's a limit and NOT a target so your actions were perfect for the conditions as it happens.
DeleteMy brother Paul did kill a fifteen year old boy in Ireland but he wasn't speeding. He was overtaking a stationary bus and the boy ran in front of the bus straight into Paul's path. There wasn't anything he could do. The boy didn't look. Tragic.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that Neil. On separate occasions decades apart on Lewis churghgoing ladies dressed completely in black on winter nights with no or poor lighting have been killed by non-speeding cars. They suffered the ultimate fate but the drivers (one of whom is a very close friend) will never (after nearly 50 years) get over it.
DeleteGood message. Thank you
ReplyDeleteIf there is a safe place to pull over for a vehicle to pass me, then I pull over.
I am in no hurry to be anywhere. The death of my younger sister by a vehicle when I was 8 years is always with me.
Here in Vermont, I read too many deaths on the road for people not wearing seat belts. It boggles the mind why anyone today doesn't without fail buckle up right away.
Maywyn, Andrew (above - from Australia) has made a point about people not wearing seat belts. It'\s beyond my comprehension and isn't, I don't think an issue in the UK.
DeleteThat book is, or was, the bible for the Institute of Advanced Motorists and as members thirty years ago we would often refer to it. Now I would quite like to get 'updated ' with the IAM, but think that I will never really understand the Limit Point ! Lesley
ReplyDeleteIt was indeed, Lesley. I applied when I was very young but was told to go and get more experience and then re-apply. I never bothered. I rather wish I had. I suppose if we all drove to the conditions we wouldn't in theory need legal limits but people - probably the majority of us - believe that we know what the limit should be and most of us would often want a higher limit.
DeleteA lot of our speed limits are being reduced around here lately. That doesn't bother me much as I drive slower than I used to anyway but my memory isn't as sharp as it used to be either and I have not yet memorised what the new limits are in certain places. I've never been pulled over for speeding but have to admit to a couple of camera tickets many years ago. Actually, the most recent was in the Hokianga with a visitor from Scotland in the passenger seat. I don't often have passengers on board now so am less likely to be distracted and better able to keep an eye on the speedo. I know it could happen to me.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, Pauline, Scottish people can talk so much that they can be very distracting. Especially when pointing out flocks of unusual creatures on the other side of fields.
DeleteI took Driver's Education in high school which was a requirement in the 1970's. We had a tough Georgia State Patrolman who gave a speech about safe driving. He then showed us a film of real accidents and they were truly gruesome. We were told that driving was serious business and to never drink and drive. What's more, to never let anyone distract us from our jobs as drivers. Folks were more serious and straightforward back then.
ReplyDeleteKay, it's good to hear that you had driver education at school. I wish they would introduce that here too.
DeleteI've had a number of speeding tickets throughout my driving career. I'm not outright reckless but I can go into "cruise" mode with my concentration and drift up over the limit. It's interesting how many times people suggest to me that I should write in to try to get out of it. I like to think that if I've been too fast through lack of attention, I will at the very least cop it on the chin when caught.
ReplyDeleteKylie, I agree that if one errs then one takes the punishment. For me any punishment in the form of a fine would be irrelevant: I would be so upset with myself for doing something I have tried all my life to avoid.
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