{"id":238,"date":"2006-09-19T21:56:48","date_gmt":"2006-09-19T21:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/applecrumble.wordpress.com\/2006\/09\/19\/speeding-idiots\/"},"modified":"2017-10-01T20:31:03","modified_gmt":"2017-10-01T20:31:03","slug":"speeding-idiots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2006\/09\/19\/speeding-idiots\/","title":{"rendered":"Speeding idiots"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"SpeedI’m always completely baffled when I hear of motoring groups being ‘outraged’ at the amount of money that is generated by speed cameras, such as in this article<\/a> that appeared in the Guardian a couple of weeks ago. In my mind it’s pretty simple – if you’re going too fast, you’re breaking the law. How can it be any simpler than that? How can you even think about protesting a fine unless you know you weren’t speeding? Yes, we all speed a little – we’ve all gone a bit faster than we should do as we haven’t perhaps checked the speedo in a while, but wasn’t this covered when we were having driving lessons? I thought that the skill of driving involved being aware of what’s ahead of you, what’s behind you (yes, can you believe it – you have to look behind you<\/em> for a bit!), who is indicating that they are intending to make a turn, what the conditions are and what speed you’re doing.<\/p>\n

The paragraph that really made me mad was this:<\/p>\n

‘Paul Smith, the founder of anti-speed camera group Safe Speed, said the haul was the latest example of “innocent” drivers being targeted. “I’m so angry to hear about this camera raking in so much money for the government, when scientific evidence shows us that fixed cameras like this one can increase accidents by up to 55%”.’<\/p>\n

Scientific evidence, indeed. I had a look at the Safe Speed<\/a> website and found it to be something of a joke. I mean, come on – “Road safety is complex, subtle and sensitive like a precision built clock” whereas “A speed camera is a blunt and heavy instrument, like a hammer”. In what way? They don’t really say. The strapline is fantastic – “You can’t measure safe driving in miles per hour.” Well, I have to disagree there and so do the research statistics – according to the Government THINK! Road Safety website<\/a>. for the time period 2000 to 2004, excessive speed was a contributory factor in about 13 per cent of all injury collisions, 19 per cent of serious injury collisions and 29 per cent of fatal collisions.<\/p>\n

George Monbiot gives an excellent opinion of this group on his blog – ‘Paul Smith and Safe Speed – the Self-Exposure of a Crank<\/a>‘ which pretty much sums it all up for me.<\/div>\n

I’m always completely baffled when I hear of motoring groups being ‘outraged’ at the amount of money that is generated by speed cameras, such as in this article that appeared in the Guardian a couple of weeks ago. In my mind it’s pretty simple – if you’re going too fast, you’re breaking the law. How […]<\/div>\n<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-238","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-news","7":"h-entry","9":"hentry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3806,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2017\/10\/27\/f1-truly-astonishing\/","url_meta":{"origin":238,"position":0},"title":"F1: Truly astonishing","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"27 October 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Started reading Total Competition by Ross Brawn and Adam Parr. Early on in the book he gives an explanation of why Formula One cars are so incredible; it's not just outright speed, it's also how quickly they accelerate, brake and the extreme downforce and drag the aerodynamics generate. Fascinating. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3905,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2018\/01\/20\/jenson-button-life-to-the-limit\/","url_meta":{"origin":238,"position":1},"title":"Jenson Button \u2014 Life To The Limit","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"20 January 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Finished reading Jenson Button\u2019s autobiography this week. It\u2019s very well-written, honest, and he has a great \u2018voice\u2019. I remember watching his first season in F1 with Williams where he seemed to come from nowhere and now here we are, all of a sudden at the other end of his career.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/173679177.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/173679177.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/173679177.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/173679177.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4734,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2018\/09\/01\/its-all-relative\/","url_meta":{"origin":238,"position":2},"title":"It\u2019s all relative","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"1 September 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"On my walk with the boys on Monday night we had a great \u2018ramble chat\u2019 that covered a vast range of topics. It was so lovely to hear them ask questions and respond to each other on how they interpreted the world. We got to talking about my work and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Science"","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/science\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10067,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2023\/05\/02\/10067\/","url_meta":{"origin":238,"position":3},"title":"The speed at which a\u2026","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"2 May 2023","format":"status","excerpt":"The speed at which a myriad of little AI utilities are appearing is breathtaking. Whether you're figuring out Excel formulas or trying to go from a blank page to a first draft in seconds, there seems to be a tool for it. How can anyone (or anything) keep up?","rel":"","context":"In "Snippets"","block_context":{"text":"Snippets","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/snippets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":112,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2005\/05\/21\/solar-panels-on-wind-turbines\/","url_meta":{"origin":238,"position":4},"title":"Solar panels on wind turbines","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"21 May 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Driving back from Stansted Airport the other week after one of the stag weekends I spotted the wind turbine at King's Langley. 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Having spent the previous weekend working and having a couple of very difficult turbo sessions I was keen to get out on the road again. I wasn't disappointed. 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