M3RBMW

I think there is a bunch of problems with your desire to do the ‘speed of comfort’.

It would mean that drivers would be doing all manner of different speeds, which really doesn’t work very well on a single-lane road where overtaking is difficult, or even on a double-lane road where the traffic is reasonably dense.

Those who would wish to drive fast would be forever flustered about slower drivers. For a large portion of drivers, this would lead directly to following too closely and overtaking when it is not fully safe to do so. In other words, it would lead to an increased risk for everybody concerned.

There is a great deal of merit in making all vehicles travel at about the same speed.

We would be placing the onus of care and the perceptions of risk firmly in the hands of drivers, with no mitigation by the law, which as Omnipotent voice has so eloquently demonstrated, is an absolute no-no, because many drivers simply don’t have a reasonable perception of the risks. You just need to listen to the number of hoons on our roads, especially every Friday and Saturday night, everywhere, in every town and suburb. Just imagine the situation if they were allowed to do their speed of comfort whenever they liked.

We simply MUST have speed limits, and those limits simply MUST be implemented well on the side of caution in ideal conditions, to take into account the less astute and less considerate drivers, and also the fact that it would be impractical to change speed limits in less than ideal conditions, eg at night, in rain or fog, etc.

Then, we simply MUST have adequate policing of those limits to the extent that the vast majority of drivers observe them.

Hold on, I’ll just pinch myself. Yes, you really are suggesting that we do away with speed limits altogether aren’t you. O dear. I don’t believe I am entertaining this line of discussion. That’s just crazy stuff!!

I could write many pages on this topic but it really is yesterday's problem. Modern computer technology is already advanced enough so that cheaply available hardware could prevent all accidents currently attributed to "driver error".
Cheap computers and communications hardware could save 99% of lives lost on the roads. Unfortunately for drivers such hardware would also cost politicians 100% of fine revenue, so it is unlikely to happen just yet.

On a related topic, I often hear complaints about how unfair speed camera are, but the numbers of these devices increase under Liberal and Labor govts. I vote for neither major party so I am not to blame.
If you don't like what they do STOP VOTING THEM IN.

Make a check list of everything you want them to do (eg drop speed cameras) and if any party does not meet your entire check list then DON'T VOTE FOR THEM.

Hey funksters,
I disagree with Hamlet on equating speed cameras and red light cameras. The other week, someone flashed me for a booze bus and it offended me. Some things like booze busses are for safety rather than revenue and should be respected. Yes I am a hoon, lets not muck around.
Red light cameras are for safety also, theres a story in that, I got one of them as well but I was in front so I reckon he triggered it. Oh well wear it on the chin. They are activated as you cross the line so little room for ambiguity there.
Booze busses are for the protection of innocent motorists, though I disagree with the antiquated and ambiguous drink driving laws. How many people know about riding a horse or using a ride-on mower on privately owned property?
Speed cameras take the cream off driving offences and ignore much more serious problems. A percentage of my concentration is spent on keeping watch for the b#s%t*ards, which is too much. Report a stolen car and see how long it takes for a result.
Wouldnt it be an awesome episode of the Bill if it showed the intricacies of hiding in the bushes, listening to the races etc. whilst waiting for some poor bugger in a hurry.
Go in peace and live wholesome existences fellow whingers.

Ludwig,

Can you please point out just where I have advocated the removal of all speed limits?

Speed limits are absolutely necessary in most situations, not all situations. (The open roads in the Northern Territory don't have any.) It is the enforcement and the setting of those speed limits that I am unhappy with.

Speed limits are often set ridiculously low and then often enforced with absolutely no discretion.

For most of the Hume highway speeds of 140-150 would be absolutely safe but as Australian drivers have not been allowed to travel at those speeds for at least 2 generations I would not advocate setting the limit that high. I would advocate a gradual increase in the speed limits to allow drivers to gain experience.

I would also advocate that exceeding the speed limit should only be used to book someone if the speed was inappropriate for the conditions and the only way that can happen is if a human being is the one doing the booking.

Speed limits will always be with us but why should a driver in Victoria be fined over $200 and lose 3 points for driving at 55kph past a school at 2am. Oh, of course, we don't want to run over the little darling that just set fire to it do we?

Last point, there is strong support for keeping all traffic at the same speed but there is equally strong support for driving at different speeds. I am for the latter because it helps me to keep alert making sure I know where all the cars around me are, including those approaching from behind.

Please read my comments as written and do not misrepresent them.

M3RBMW, your earlier reference to no-limit European roads reminds me of an experience I had in the very late eighties in Germany, just before the Wall came down, but when the East-West border had become more porous.

I was accustomed to sitting comfortably in the centre lane of the Autobahn at 190-200kph in my hired Passat, watching the BMWs and Porsches flash past me in the fast lane. But on this occasion the traffic slowed to a crawl every few kilometers, as every so often we came across a Trabi in the slow lane...

The slow lane was normally for those people who pottered along at 100-120kph, of course, and to meet a coal-burning Trabi doing its best at 50kph was very disruptive. Anyone else remember the distinctive smell as you passed one?

Much of the reason that German Autobahns are among the safest roads in the world is because if you are accustomed to drive at 200kph plus, you become a better driver than someone who is not. You are more alert, more aware of other traffic, and your reflexes are sharper as a result. And lane discipline is both exemplary and automatic - after the first couple of experiences of a Porsche bearing down upon you, lights ablaze, because you have tarried too long in the fast lane, you think much more carefully about the entire process of overtaking.

But the other major factor is of course the quality of the road itself - I can't think of a single road in NSW that is safe to drive on at anything approaching that speed.

M3RBMW

Reread your second last post and tell me how on earth I could NOT assume that you were advocating no speed limits.

150kmh on the Hume Hwy! Driving as fast as one feels comfortable wherever one sees fit to do so!

What would you expect me to have assumed?

“Speed limits are absolutely necessary in most situations”.

Of course they are. I am pleased that you agree.

Some speed limits are set low for the conditions, occasionally you might be able to say ridiculously low. But most of the time they are set at a level that reflects a reasonable degree of caution. Yes, this is often below the ‘ideal’ cruising speed in ideal conditions, but so it should be.

A speed of 140 –150kmh is ridiculous, even on the best roads. It is ridiculous because it would be too fast for many drivers who would not drive safely at such a speed, but would do it anyway if they could. 110 or perhaps 120 is as fast as we should be allowed to drive.

Advocating a gradual increase in speed limits would not allow new drivers to gain experience, before they felt compelled to drive at top speed. And new totally inexperienced drivers have the highest accident rate, all else being equal.

“I would also advocate that exceeding the speed limit should only be used to book someone if the speed was inappropriate for the conditions and the only way that can happen is if a human being is the one doing the booking.”

Continued