For February it's speeding

Solidarity said :

You drive to the conditions. Sometimes it may be acceptable to drive above the speed limit. You’ve got to think for yourself, unfortunately too many people don’t see it this way. There are several people, right now, traveling above the speed limit on this clear and sunny Wednesday on roads where there are little or no traffic. Nothing wrong with that. Anyone who argues otherwise can stick to a bus.

That’s why they’re called road laws, because essentially you can ignore them if you reckon you know better.

You drive to the conditions. Sometimes it may be acceptable to drive above the speed limit. You’ve got to think for yourself, unfortunately too many people don’t see it this way. There are several people, right now, traveling above the speed limit on this clear and sunny Wednesday on roads where there are little or no traffic. Nothing wrong with that. Anyone who argues otherwise can stick to a bus.

Mav said :

All the police have to do is is setup RADAR traps on Yamba Dve and Adelaide Ave between 05:30 and 08:00 and they would catch loads of speeding motorists.

It’s the pulling them all over bit with which they have logistical dificulties.

“The action of gravitational acceleration also most definitely involuntary, jump off a bridge and see what happens”

Here’s a handy tip: the pedal on the left is called a ‘brake’ and it slows you down.

If you cannot control your urge to exceed the marked speed limit – even if only to avoid getting caught – you cannot be trusted to adequately control your car.

Holden Caulfield said :

And yet, too many drivers think that all it takes to be a safe driver is to stick at or below an arbitrary number on a sign post.

Yes, clearly lots and lots of people believe this … because you said so, so it’s totally true.

Jono said :

Tetranitrate said :

… speed cameras are almost invariably placed at the bottom of hills …
… rode the break…
… it’s practically involuntary in the first place …

Sorry – you should look up the words “invariably” and “involuntary”, as they mean nothing even remotely similar to the way that you’re using them here. I have occasionally seen speed cameras on a slope (that’s not “invariably”), and being caught by them is entirely voluntary. A driver who’s concentrating on what they’re doing, and who intends to stay within the road laws will never have an issue with them. And the less said about “rode the break” the better.

Cut the ‘I r intellectual!” act – it is almost invariably. The vast majority of mobile speed cameras are placed in such areas.

The action of gravitational acceleration also most definitely involuntary, jump off a bridge and see what happens.

I’ve asked this question before when people have raised the issue of speed cameras at the bottom of hills before, and I’ve never received a sensible response. Clearly the marked speed limit still applies whether you’re going up a hill or down a hill, and from a safety perspective there’s a clear argument that the effect of gravity will increase stopping distances travelling down a hill, therefore, from a purely safety perspective, there should be more enforcement of speed limits on downhills, shouldn’t there? So what is, in fact, the concern?

-The amount of time in aggregate that cars are actually going to be traveling at a faster speed is fairly small. Given that the faster someone drivers over a given distance or period of time, the more likely a speed related accident, a motorist hitting 5km/hr or so above the speed limit on the way down a hill is pretty insignificant compared to people habitually speeding along the flats of major roads every freaking day, even accepting longer stopping distances going down a hill.
You only need to look at where crashes actually occur to see this.
eg:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/insurer-finds-acts-worst-crash-spots-20120822-24mzf.htm

Monaro Highway, Tuggeranong
– completely flat area, a couple of intersections and a lot of bogans who drop 20 k’s for the speed cameras, then go back to what they were doing. Never seen a van on that stretch though – obviously there’re the fixed speed cameras, but they clearly aren’t doing much good.

Canberra Avenue, Fyshwick
-pretty much as the Monaro, though I’ll concede it’s actually policed a bit.

-Commonwealth Avenue, Canberra
the only ‘hill’ here is the bridge over LBG.

-Hindmarsh Drive, Chifley
Chifley section has a couple of uncontrolled intersections, with cars coming tearing to and from the Melrose drive intersection and the Parkway well above the speed limit on a regular basis. People drive like absolute clowns along here, and in peak hour there’s a mad rush to change lanes they approach the parkway. Never seen a speed van there.

-Gundaroo Drive, Gungahlin

Nope, none of those fit the bill. If you’ve got numbers on accidents that support your case please share them, cause srsly: If people hitting 5km/h or so over the limit on the downside of hills is so dangerous, where are the accidents?

All the police have to do is is setup RADAR traps on Yamba Dve and Adelaide Ave between 05:30 and 08:00 and they would catch loads of speeding motorists.

They’re going to make an absolute motza if they set up along Majura Rd. For some reason they’ve made the 90 zone a 60 zone… There’s no roadworks there and the 60 sign is 24hours…

Tetranitrate said :

… speed cameras are almost invariably placed at the bottom of hills …
… rode the break…
… it’s practically involuntary in the first place …

Sorry – you should look up the words “invariably” and “involuntary”, as they mean nothing even remotely similar to the way that you’re using them here. I have occasionally seen speed cameras on a slope (that’s not “invariably”), and being caught by them is entirely voluntary. A driver who’s concentrating on what they’re doing, and who intends to stay within the road laws will never have an issue with them. And the less said about “rode the break” the better.

I’ve asked this question before when people have raised the issue of speed cameras at the bottom of hills before, and I’ve never received a sensible response. Clearly the marked speed limit still applies whether you’re going up a hill or down a hill, and from a safety perspective there’s a clear argument that the effect of gravity will increase stopping distances travelling down a hill, therefore, from a purely safety perspective, there should be more enforcement of speed limits on downhills, shouldn’t there? So what is, in fact, the concern?

pink little birdie said :

Tetranitrate said :

… and I have never seen a mobile speed camera on the Parkway in my life.

They are there frequently. Southbound on the area just after the Hindmarsh on ramp, in line with where the pond on Mt Taylor is, Northbound just after the slight bend going up the hill from Sulwood drive and a little after the Cotter road on ramp.

Well it’d make sense regarding between Sulwood and Hindmarsh, since I never traverse that area, but I’ve never seen anything when going between Belconnen, Woden and Western Creek. Obviously there’re the fixed cameras that everyone slows down to 90 for, but I’ve never seen a speed van between the Cotter Road and Glenloch.

Why not just say, “Police targeting: EVERYTHING!”

Conan of Cooma said :

Death Race face…

That’d be a great band name!

I find it funny that police threatening jail for speeding when in the same day there is a news article about a guy getting out of a jail term for killing a motorcyclist while speeding.

No one seems to get punished in Canberra and i there is no sense of justice. I feel for all the families of the victims of crime in Canberra that have to suffer though this.

Tetranitrate said :

… and I have never seen a mobile speed camera on the Parkway in my life.

They are there frequently. Southbound on the area just after the Hindmarsh on ramp, in line with where the pond on Mt Taylor is, Northbound just after the slight bend going up the hill from Sulwood drive and a little after the Cotter road on ramp.

johnboy said :

Speeding is generally indicative of poor driving, and easy to quantify.

Yes leadfoots. You are bad drivers.

Far too simplistic JB for some of the most incompetent clueless drivers on the road often drive below the speed limit.I back that up having amassed almost 4 million kms in 38 years of driving so i’ve seen and experienced plenty!

johnboy said :

Speeding is generally indicative of poor driving, and easy to quantify.

Yes leadfoots. You are bad drivers.

It’s the ‘easy to quantify’ bit that makes speeding an easy target.

I don’t speed, I’m very attentive and it would require some effort to do in most places given the ca, but the way they go on about “Speeding is a choice people make” annoys me a lot.

– Police and government here don’t ever target deliberate or habitual speeding, speed cameras are almost invariably placed at the bottom of hills to catch commuters who haven’t rode the break on the way down. It’s not going to change behavior because it’s practically involuntary in the first place – people get the fine, pay it, and lose that much more respect for the police and government.
They do the same rubbish with transitions between different speed zones. Those two sorts of placements, from my observation make up the vast majority of frequently used speed camera sites in the ACT. They’re not even trying to catch people habitually tearing along the flat areas of Gininderra drive or Belconnen way, the only places mobile cameras are is at the bottom of hills, at the lynham end and near the Hawker shops respectively, and I have never seen a mobile speed camera on the Parkway in my life.

In most other Australian jurisdictions this isn’t even allowed unless the area has a high frequency of accidents. eg: Victoria.
http://www.camerassavelives.vic.gov.au/resources/859ac2bb-5947-4e91-ba77-80c34305ae16/mobile-cameras-policy-manual-2010.pdf
2b, and 2c.
A site shall not be:
2b
” Descending down unsuitable gradients or within 300 metres of the bottom of
a gradient or hill UNLESS the site has a significant speed related collision
record;
Unsuitable gradient is defined as a slope that causes a vehicle in top gear
(or drive) to increase indicated speed against maximum deceleration (NO
BRAKE OR ACCELERATION) from a commencement speed at the top of
the slope at the posted limit. This must be determined by the relevant TMU.”

and 2c:
Within 200 metres of a change to a speed zone, applicable to the same length
of road, subject to the provision of the next paragraph.

Relative to other states the way speed cameras are operated is downright nasty, it will never change behavior, and will never stop catching ‘alarming numbers of people’ because it’s entirely geared toward playing “GOTCHA!” with drivers who are largely drive responsibly, rather than generally enforcing the speed limits across the board.

Holden Caulfield said :

However, nobody can deny words like this: “Speeding reduces the time drivers have to react and avoid crashes…”

I can, because I don’t sit up the arse of the car in front of me, nor do I stick to some crappy ‘2 second’ rule (apart from when I commit to the Parkway, then I put on my Death Race face). Anyone who does a reasonable amount of driving knows that 2 seconds isn’t enough, and the only way to save yourself is to watch every single action every other road user makes.

I’ve never gotten the whole “focus on speeding” thing…

From my perspective (1000ks+ per week) it’s bad driving, inexperience or lack of attention that usually kills people. If it was speed alone then every hgh speed vehicular race in the world would suffer catastrophic fatalities every time they ran it. But they don’t.

Don’t blame high speeds, blame the learning standards and law enforcement, because the cops only target fast drivers, not bad ones.

Anecdotal evidence would suggest that low level speeding (less than 10-15km/h) is very close to being as “safe” as strictly adhering to the speed limit. You see someone drive like that almost everytime you’re on the road, without the predicted death and destruction.

However, nobody can deny words like this: “Speeding reduces the time drivers have to react and avoid crashes…”

And yet, too many drivers think that all it takes to be a safe driver is to stick at or below an arbitrary number on a sign post.

Yawwwwn.

“What does it take for people to understand that speeding is extremely dangerous?”

I’d suggest one thing might be the example of the Police officers themselves demonstrating that they consider speeding as extremely dangerous – the only time I’ve ever seen them on ACT roads (not in pursuit of anyone), they’ve always been tearing around at about 20km/h above the posted limit, demonstrating that even they don’t believe it’s as dangerous as they say it is.