Horse wrote:crr003 wrote:Horse wrote:And roads of the 1980s are not what they used to be either.
Have people changed? Eyesight and reflexes etc won't have evolved in 40 years.
So what are you saying? Reduce speed limits!
Those europeans have faster motorway limits; you don't hear them complaining.
Blimey, you managed to extrapolate a lot from a few words.
Thank you!
Horse wrote:Let's take roads. Vast improvements, particularly in terms of things like the strength of barriers.
Back in my HA days our poor amount of motorway barriers was a reason given for not increasing limits I recall. Not enough barriers on the hard shoulder (those were the days) to stop errant motorists finding the tree lined scenery.
Horse wrote:However, there's been a massive increase in traffic along with a dramatic increase in development alongside roads and, subsequently, decreased speed limits and far more double white line systems.
My experience is only of central South England. One example of a road I've used regularly over the last 40 years, the A30 from Hook to Basingstoke.
It was 30 to National, 5 or 6 miles, to 30.
Now 30 40 50 60 National 40 National 30.
What's the average speed - I'll guess 40 everywhere!
It would be interesting to relate these speed limit changes to actual RTC KSIs, or will the council claim "air quality" for wasting all that money on signage!
Horse wrote:It doesn't matter how much better cars are (and the drivers' capabilities have effectively remained unchanged, unless you know otherwise), the opportunities to use those improvements is more limited.
For drivers' capabilities, eyesight hasn't improved in 40 years, neither have reactions. Arguably, there are more distractions away from the driving task now, and some argue that lower speed limits can result in reduced concentration on driving. It could also be argued that increased numbers of road users, more signs and markings, etc., etc., mean that drivers have 'busier' more cluttered, environments to drive in.
You paint a gloomy picture - thank god those self driving cars will be able to make sense of it all! Something to look forward to.
Horse wrote:Since the UK is supposed to have the second safest roads in Europe, what safety lessons can we learn about motorways? Higher speeds might not 'cause' more crashes, but they are likely to affect the outcomes.
It sounds right to say speed makes bigger nastier collisions, but maybe involves fewer bodies? I wonder what the data say. In my limited experience the nastier crashes involved stuff running into stationary stuff because the driver was distracted - and 56 limited LGVs caused carnage. I would guess autonomous emergency braking would help some. My concern with Intelligent Speed Adaptation/Assist is that "drivers" will just have their foot to the floor and expect the vehicle to sort it out; "foggy? not to worry, shirley my car won't allow me to drive too fast......"
Although some good news with global warming - I don't see fog like I used to in the good old days.