Speed camera

[PlasmaParticipant @plasma]

Michael, isn’t it sobering when you drive in a skid pan!

I remember my advanced course and the cadence braking wead to practice.

 

[Clive SteerParticipant @clivesteer55943]

I believe that anticipation is the only thing that allows us to drive at speed as human reactions are totally inadequate. It was once explained to me that when you first learn to drive your head is inside the car trying to figure out where the gear lever should be etc. When you have mastered this your head can start to consider being outside the car but usually only a few feet directly in front. With more practice your head begins to move even further ahead and eventually your head can cope with 360 degree around the car and as far as the eyes can see. A really experienced driver will recognise dangerous situations developing well ahead and take appropriate action to mitigate the risk and allows a driver to drive at speed without risk to themselves or others.

However I suspect many drivers can get bored with the whole issue of driving and traffic when it is getting in the way of what they would rather be doing and their head moves back into the car.

Vehicle drivers should always make allowances for other peoples stupidity such as the pedestrian crossing the road with earbuds and a mobile phone as they are the ones in charge of a machine capable of killing. A person may be stupid but they don’t deserve to die because of it although some may say that Darwins theory should apply. In which case most of us should pay the price at some times in our lives.

I think 20 mph speed limits could be counter productive as they generate frustration and less situational awareness. However they are likely to generate local councils considerable income as maintaining 20 mph on a road with a slight downward slope without continually using the brakes is difficult and a slight millimetre movement of the throttle pedal will have you well above the limit in the blink of and eye.

We all have a duty of care but it is obvious that some people just don’t care and can get away with it.

I’m always amazed that when there is an aeroplane crash there is media reporting frenzy and an in depth analysis of the causal factors with detailed reports put in the public domain. For road traffic deaths virtually nothing yet I think something like the equivalent of jumbo jet’s worth of passengers get killed or injured on the UK’s roads every month. No reports on how a road junction layout may contribute, or confusing signage or prolific offending drivers still allowed to drive. The best info we get are the YouTube videos of some atrocious driving. I’m glad to see that some police forces are using peoples dash cam footage to prosecute offenders.

Clive S

 

[PlasmaParticipant @plasma]

I did the skid pan during my advanced driving course. So scary when there is no grip at all. Cadence braking was the order of the day, pre anti lock brakes.

[PlasmaParticipant @plasma]

Clive S you make some very valid points, you are right that a pedestrian does not deserve to die for being stupid. But there is no legal duty on a pedestrian like there are for other road users. Maybe if there was then thise on foot might think twice before stepping into the road.

I remember the Tufty club, Green Cross code man, the spirit of deep water, Charlie the cat and it to mention Clunk click.  These days there are no public information films, they say they had no impact. Well if that’s so why can I still remember them, and why have I never suffered the fate of the clueless foils on each advert.  Maybe they did work but were too expensive to broadcast when tv air time became so costly.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Clive wrote:

I<i> think 20 mph speed limits could be counter productive as they generate frustration and less situational awareness. However they are likely to generate local councils considerable income as maintaining 20 mph on a road with a slight downward slope without continually using the brakes is difficult and a slight millimetre movement of the throttle pedal will have you well above the limit in the blink of and eye.</i>

There’s a recent youtoob by the Brown Car Guy on 1million driers fined for exceeding the 20mph limit.  Amazing, the comments the speedsters have added.  The dash cam records everything if there is an issue.

If everyone abides by the limit, there should be no problem. Vehicles going 50% above the limit close the available gap in only 2/3 of the expected time frame.

Even a steep slope poses no problem for me – foot off the loud pedal and the car simply maintains the cruise speed.🙂  Putting pennies back in my pocket at the same time, too.🙂  If not in cruise mode, an occasional tug on the left steering wheel paddle easily retards the car.  It can halt the car – and then it remains stationary until the accelerator is touched.  Modern-day cars are so easy to drive cf older ones.

I started driving at about eight years old, rode m/cycles (500cc Ariel among others) round the fields by about 11, a Caterpillar D8 with Eucid scraper behind at age 12, m/cycles on the road at 16, cars from 19 years of age, bought a 7.5 tonne lorry in about 2002 (occasionally with a 3/4 tonne trailer, to).  At 76 years of age, I’ve seen enough motoring in my life.  Coming off Hangar Straight, at Silverstone, with car on its rev limiter was an interesting experience.  My present car is a revelation as a driving experience.

[PlasmaParticipant @plasma]

BBC News – ‘Our dad was killed by a driver using her phone’ – BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy8krpz89xeo

Speed does not have to be a factor. The horrendous effect that mobile phones have had on our society will end up going down in history as the most catastrophic innovation bar none. People will beckoning compensation from apple and Samsung for destroying their mental and physical health.

Coming home on the train at 5pm recently my wife and I were the only people in a crowded carriage who were not glued to a smart phone screen. There was one lad using the camera to squeeze his spots for God’s sake! Everyone in their own tiny world and the same is true in a car, must update my profile or let so and so I’m going to be late.

 

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I see the ‘convergence’  [or do I mean ‘conflation’ ?] of user-interfaces as being a big problem in the present context.

Until a few years ago driving was a genuine physical/intellectual/emotional experience … now it’s just another page on a screen !

MichaelG.

[PlasmaParticipant @plasma]

Michael you’re right, we are progressing way too fast and far than we can comprehend.

AI is being unleashed and we really do not know what it will do.

Like the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer had no idea if the atmosphere would ignite, but they exploded it anyway.

I recall being on nights on millennium eve and everyone else being on pins for if the bug did its worst and crashed the world.

 

[Another JohnSParticipant @anotherjohns]

Clive; (I’m using you simply because you wrote your post well, thx)

We internalize things; as infants, we learn to walk; as adults we learn to drive. When we tuck things like that into our heads, it is energy efficient. Reasoning, however, is not tucked away, it is forefront, and takes a lot of brain power (energy) to process.

it also takes time.

Way back, 25+ years ago now, I was doing some computer research (Shared Virtual Reality) and asked some colleagues who knew this stuff – 1.3 seconds was the minimum time to react to an unanticipated event and decide what to do about it. The RCMP, it seems, used 1.4 seconds, at least at that time. Some texts state up to 2.5 seconds. I don’t have my doctorate in Psychology, so I took them at their word.

Mistakes happen. The transfer of kinetic energy happens.

About a year ago, I did calculations on “what it felt like” to be hit by a vehicle. The first vehicle was my evil twin cycling my bicycle at various speeds. The second was my evil twin driving a Tesla Model Y, at various speeds.

Did the math using 1D elastic collision calculations. Then took the resulting kinetic energy transfer, and equated it to stepping off a box or wall, and how high you’d have to be to gain the same kinetic energy as getting hit.

Getting hit by a bicycle hurt both me and my evil twin. The Tesla, at something like 50km/hr, felt like me stepping off a 10 story building and falling onto a concrete pad. The Tesla driver didn’t really feel it.

Sobering. At least for me.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jul/05/the-vehicle-suddenly-accelerated-with-our-baby-in-it-the-terrifying-truth-about-why-teslas-cars-keep-crashing?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

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