A few comments/questions on the article by a top police officer proposing that drivers should stop 'whingeing' and expect fines and points for being just 1mph over the limit:
1. Is technology - both on cars and every form of speed measuring device - so accurate that you can say with 100% confidence that a speed camera reading of 71 on a motorway won't:
a) have a normal car speedometer showing 70 and being 1mph out, and/or
b) A 1mph error on the measuring device?
b) A 1mph error on the measuring device?
2. Does he take a similar zero-tolerance approach to offences of actual dishonesty (i.e. non-strict liability offences for which the mens rea as well as the actus reus must be proven) like shoplifting?
3. He says speed limits were introduced for a reason. In which decade were these speed limits set, and what level of safety (car braking systems, EBS, airbags, etc.) were common at the time they were set?
4. Similarly, does he recognise that other countries with higher speed limits often have similar road safety records to ours?
5. Does he accept that signage is often inadequate in real driving conditions, and that a huge increase in the number of signs would be required to ensure that all reasonable drivers are always aware of the precise speed limit?
6. Has he ever driven through an average speed check area with a reduced speed limit late at night? Does he understand the constant need to check speedometer every couple of seconds to maintain an unnaturally low speed for the conditions leads to some drivers being distracted from the road?
7. How often is excess speed, above the speed limit but close to it, actually the sole cause of road traffic accidents? (Statistics which include driving too fast for snowy conditions, below the speed limit, or drunk drivers who also happen to be speeding, present an intentionally distorted picture to drivers - and people driving at 130mph in a 70mph zone are plainly far more likely to cause accidents than those driving at 73 say)
8. Why is a top traffic police officer focusing on only this tiny minority (if indeed it exists at all) of accidents rather than the far larger problems of drink-driving, drug-driving, drivers without a licence, uninsured drivers, drivers of dangerously unsafe vehicles, drivers of stolen vehicles, and so on? Is it simply that someone driving at 71mph on a motorway is easier to catch and will make his statistics look better?
9. Is he for real?
