Sorry about this. Apparently it seems I’ve “totally lost it” by having an opinion that differs to someone else and they “cant be arsed to put comments on mosh’s blog anymore” as a result.
Hey, well, I have opinions. I jump to them frequently, step back from them often, rethink them after further input on most occasions, but eventually they solidify and them’s them. I will always listen to someone else’s comments regardless of how radically they agree or disagree from my own. I try not to jump down people’s throats in response, though confess I sometimes fail.
There now follows the reponse I mailed to Elly regarding her post. Apologies for any repetition of previous postings that are muddled up in there:
So having an opinion that differs vastly from yours classes as having lost it completely now? Isn’t the point of having opinions that you care enough about them to defend them? That’s why I have comments on the blog, it’s why I let people post what they want without editing them and it’s why I chuck my 2p’s-worth onto other people’s if I feel the urge.
Speed kills. Yes. But so does dangerous driving. Driving outside the bounds of one’s own abilities. Not taking into account the weather. Etc etc. What’s wrong is the police/authorities are relying too heavily on catching speeders on camera, reducing the number of police in cars or by the roadside and failing to catch other (yes “other” – not “the real”) dangerous road users. Why? It’s cheaper, easier and involves less paperwork. It also looks good in the statistics. Frankly, I’d rather they put some nice cameras up round my house and street to catch, or deter, burglars. But it’s less likely that would have an effect, therefore nobody would be rewarded and get a pat on the back for it.
One road he’s been caught on (twice, the muppet) is straight, flat, well-surfaced and has never been the scene of a nasty accident, fatal or otherwise. It is traversed, literally, by maybe half a dozen vehicles a day.
While I agree with you on people speeding round bends, misjudging oncoming vehicles and so forth, on a road such as that above… where’s the risk? If there is any other traffic on that road – you can *see* it. For a massive distance in front or behind you. There are no junctions of parking places for them to suddenly appear from. There are no pedestrian zones, bridges, houses, schools or *anything* for someone to jump out at you from.
Those are the areas where speed cameras are pointless. Anyone speeding along there is of no danger to anyone unless they’re mindbogglingly stupid and happen to drive daftly on a rare occasion when another car is there. Why punish someone for speeding when there’s no risk from them doing so?
There are places I *would* like to see cameras. They should be used to keep speeds down in areas where it’s daft, not to punish people for wanting to get home a bit earlier on a road where the conditions and other traffic permit them to be a bit heavier with the accelerator.
As I have mentioned time and time again, put cameras both ways on all roads around every school and playground in the country. Limit them to 20mph. Also, there are many “Red Routes” across Lincolnshire where people have done what you mentioned in your last post – misjudged speeds on bends, and the actions of other traffic. Cameras there would force people to take the corners at a safer speed.
But, hey, if you’re not prepared to join in the discussion, that’s up to you. You’re entitled to your opinion, as I am to mine. I have changed my opinions on cameras, not by a lot but by some amount, due to talking to (or arguing with!) people over the last couple of years. Where I am now is about the limit of it. I can’t see me changing my mind any further. Like it or (as it seems) lump it.
Iain (who’s entitled to lose it once in a while 😛 )
Please note as I stated above – and below and in comments elsewhere – I don’t think all speed cameras should be removed. I just think that many are in the wrong places and are used for punishing people who – at the time of the offense – are no danger to themselves, other road users or the public at large.
Great, some politician gets to wave their hands up and say “we nabbed 45,000 speeders last month”, but how many of them were 55-year-old ladies coming home from Tesco who drifted to 33mph on an empty road, or some such equivalent?
Look, waving a bloody big knife around in the kitchen is a little silly but hardly dangerous if there’s nobody around. Doing the same thing in a crowded room is an entirely different matter. A camera designed to spot people waving knives would get both and punish someone who wasn’t acting in a manner liable to harm anyone. A trained police officer would spot and convict the correct one.
*sigh* This isn’t just about speed cameras, is it? 😉
All seems rather silly really!
I agree totally with the original sentance, you pay for what you do..
If he realy cared for that kid, he’d drive sensibly
Looks like hes going to be on the bus, like me..
Think of the reaction if he’d HIT a pregnant mother at that speed
Throw the book at him I hear you cry??
Just left a post on your previous rant about speeding…
There is a well known stretch of Motorway on the M4 in Port Talbot that is a 50mph. The police (aka “tossers” where I live) decided to sit on the bridge overlooking the start of the 50mph zone, with their new fangled radar gun. 880 people done in one hour on a Monday morning between 9 and 10, and not one of them was let off. Its a similar story when the World rally is on in the area. The police need to calm down and stop using the ability to do speeders as a revenue maker, and look more sloely at how the drivers were driving when they were speeding. As you say, open clear roads should warrant a warning more then doing 60 outside a school for example. They need to get their heads screwed on straight.
No, it seems not. There’s obviously more to it, but as usual with Elly, rather than talking about it she just throws a hissy fit.
Thank you. The point I was making when Elly decided I’d “lost it” and barred me from posting comments on her blog.
It’s not the fact that people speed, it’s by how much, where and when. Sure, you should get punished for breaking the law… but in many cases, the law is a complete arse and the punishment is vastly out of scale for the “crime” committed.
85mph on an empty motorway is £60 and 3 points. This could result in losing your license, job, etc and/or an increase in your insurance charges.
The long-term effects of this, financially and socially, are more severe than some punishments I’ve seen dished out for car theft, muggings and so forth. For these crimes, younger offenders have even been let off scot free with a slap on the wrist and a “next time we might actually punish you” warning.
Ludicrous.