50Mph Proposed National Speed Limit - Online Petition

[Tom87]

Read my last paragraph again. I have clearly said that I accept it is not right how people drive huge amounts under the speed limit on a clear fast road.

 

The driving test system is the one that encourages bad driving by drilling it into your head that you must go at the absolute maximum. No wonder there are so many accidents involving young drivers who push their cars too hard if this is what they are taught in their tests. I passed my test 3 years ago and I would not have lasted long on the roads if I had carried on driving the way I had to drive to pass my test.

 

Luckily I had a fantastic ADI who taught me to drive properly as well as to pass my test. Once he had taught me as well as he could to drive properly and safely, he then taught me the skills I needed to pass my test, as the driving skills to pass your test are a whole lot different from the safe driving skills that you need and use on a daily basis. E.g. when I am driving, I won't pull out at a roundabout or junction if I'm not 100% sure it is safe. Normal, huh? But not on the test: they use the impatient approach where if you don't pull out quickly enough you are failed for hesitation/failure to make progress.

 

In my previous post I was merely stating how the insurer would view it if there was an accident involving an impatient driver trying to overtake a slow driver. It would be 100% the impatient driver's fault if he has a head-on or something. NB I'm not condoning the unnecessarily slow driver, driving far too slowly can be just as dangerous as driving far too fast, I'm just saying it would not be their fault if someone behind him tried a stupid overtaking manoeuvre and failed.

 

There is no place for dangerously stupidly slow driving, but at the same time there is equally no place on our roads for impatient driving, this is the one that causes most accidents. The driving test encourages people to rush and be impatient, and so is a direct cause for this increase in impatient driving and roadrage when someone doesn't move off from a red light within 0.1 seconds.

Edited May 27, 2009 by Tom87

[mojo8]

Heres one for you, my nephew passed his driving test about 6 months ago....he was pulled over by the police on a duel carriageway for not driving fast enough...how ridiculous is that...being forced to drive faster than he feels confident enough to do, thats the sort of thing that leads to accidents. I agree that its not only speed that kills because if you look at road accident statistics on the continent where there are no limits the accident and casualty rate is less than here. I think anything over 70mph on the motorway should carry an instant 6 month ban and a huge fine and if you are caught driving recklesley through a built up area the same should apply. The government and police are far to lenient and so others think that they can drive like idiots because they know that there is every chance they will get away with it. Again, reducing the limit is not the answer, its making people responsible for there actions and dealing with offenders more harshly.

[JonCris]

Young drivers don't have accidents because they have been taught to observe speed limits They have accidents because when they lose the restraint of a learner they take risks usually by failing to handle the car with skill