Advanced Driving Hub

I like the Fens. On a good day the sky comes down so far it is under the horizon.

Why, when the Politicians want more efficiency and therefore speed, in other areas?

Although it pains me to admit...reducing average speed has been shown time and again to reduce the number and severity of RTCs. Of course the problem is where do you stop the reductions? I suspect there are also unintended consequences of lack of attention, fuel efficiency and reduction in the desire to treat it as a serious activity.

Reducing the speed limit is a cheap way of improving the stats...encouraging drivers to be more skilful is hard, really hard (and expensive) but ultimately, would I believe, result in much better road safety.

If you agree, how should the government encourage or legislate to improve driver education and skill?

martine wrote: ...encouraging drivers to be more skilful is hard, really hard (and expensive) but ultimately, would I believe, result in much better road safety.

If you agree, how should the government encourage or legislate to improve driver education and skill?

Which is 'safer':
A 'good' driver continuously driving at their limits
A 'poor' driver staying within their limits

On another forum I use someone posted about how worried they were, a friend was a terrible rider. What could be done? Ignoring that, somehow, this terrible rider had happily continued riding without crashing - a feat many skilled riders fail to achieve!

IMVHO, safety improvements will come from:
Internal locus of control
Greater self-awareness & reflection
Improved hazard perception (or the concept of "situation of vulnerability", as I heard it described)

But, there is a proven link between general 'lawlessness' and driving offences to contend with, plus for some people the car is an 'appliance' to get them from A to B (and also a creche/office/boudoir/taxi/cafe . . . etc.). How could you encourage people to change all this?

martine wrote:Although it pains me to admit...reducing average speed has been shown time and again to reduce the number and severity of RTCs. Of course the problem is where do you stop the reductions? I suspect there are also unintended consequences of lack of attention, fuel efficiency and reduction in the desire to treat it as a serious activity.

Reducing the speed limit is a cheap way of improving the stats...encouraging drivers to be more skilful is hard, really hard (and expensive) but ultimately, would I believe, result in much better road safety.

If you agree, how should the government encourage or legislate to improve driver education and skill?

At very least by making people have proper eye tests before being given a licence; to be repeated at regular intervals whilst they hold the licence.
I and a few of my veteran colleagues are firmly convinced that this single measure could help a lot.

martine wrote:Although it pains me to admit...reducing average speed has been shown time and again to reduce the number and severity of RTCs.

True, it does, but in some cases (~15% If I recall correctly) reducing the limit does not achieve an effect, and increasing it doesn't increse the amount of collisions. So there is a "sweespot" where the limit and actual average speed correlate well enough with the speed appropriate to the circumstances.

A few years ago in Barcelona in an attempt to reduce collisions and pollution the speed limit on the city's many multi lane ring roads was reduced to 80kph.
It soon became apparent that it wasn't working as collisions (especially fatal ones) increased and pollution hardly changed.
The system was replaced with variable speed limits up to the maximum limit of 120kph.
As a result traffic flowed more smoothly and collisions were reduced.

sussex2 wrote:At very least by making people have proper eye tests before being given a licence; to be repeated at regular intervals whilst they hold the licence.
I and a few of my veteran colleagues are firmly convinced that this single measure could help a lot.

Why?

martine wrote:

sussex2 wrote:At very least by making people have proper eye tests before being given a licence; to be repeated at regular intervals whilst they hold the licence.
I and a few of my veteran colleagues are firmly convinced that this single measure could help a lot.

Why?

If you mean my last sentence it is because we/I think that poor eyesight, and in particular tunnel vision, is widespread and often not diagnosed.

Horse wrote:
Which is 'safer':
A 'good' driver continuously driving at their limits
A 'poor' driver staying within their limits

In my view there are
a couple of outcomes of improving driving / AD
- raise the level at which you drive with the same contingency margin
- maintain the level at which you drive with an increased contingency margin
- raise the level at which you drive, but not as high as you could - and therefore also increase the contingency margin
- raise the level beyond where you should and reduce the contingency margin!

I would hope that most of us aim for the third, but in theory any of the first three are fine...
the first won't improve accident stats
the second two will
the fourth makes it worse

Alasdair