Justice was done - done for using a mobile while driving

[TripleS]

It is a shame that sarcasm all too often takes the place of a reasoned answer.

Yes, very much so.

Incidentally (BTW good morning Soren) that was a dreadful tragedy at the weekend, just up the road from you. Maybe it was outside your patch but any details known?

If this is unacceptably off topic please ignore it.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[Søren]

Hi Dave,

Thanks, good day to you too.

For those who don't know, the incident Dave is referring to is 'this incident' on the A6 north of Penrith on Sunday.

Obviously I can't say too much about such an incident as this is not the most appropriate place or time to discuss it. But it was certainly the most sombre atmosphere I've worked in for some time.

I agree with My Chief Inspector's comments - and he was close to tears when he said them to a reporter, something like;
"We (police officers) all have families, we have children, the senseless loss of so many lives, so many young lives strengthens our resolve to try to address the causes of these tragedies to try to ensure they do not happen again."

The causes as ever were straightforward and typical - and avoidable.

[martine]

Dreadful, dreadful 'accident'.

Stranglely, I have today received 2 seperate enquiries from students at Bristol Uni interested in taking an IAM course...it may not be a coincidence.

[TripleS]

Thank you for your reply Soren. I will not intrude further but I must say that incident makes me very sad indeed.

Apart from that, I feel immensely frustrated at the relative ineffectiveness of current road safety policy, whatever may have gone wrong in this tragic case.

Take care,
Dave.

[Roadcraft]

Thank you for your reply Soren. I will not intrude further but I must say that incident makes me very sad indeed.

Apart from that, I feel immensely frustrated at the relative ineffectiveness of current road safety policy, whatever may have gone wrong in this tragic case.

Take care,
Dave.

Dave...lets not use a tragedy to argue current policy or what you feel is it's failure...as there is much that's done nowadays to prevent such accidents...the positives outweigh the negatives...

[TripleS]

Thank you for your reply Soren. I will not intrude further but I must say that incident makes me very sad indeed.

Apart from that, I feel immensely frustrated at the relative ineffectiveness of current road safety policy, whatever may have gone wrong in this tragic case.

Take care,
Dave.

Dave...lets not use a tragedy to argue current policy or what you feel is it's failure...as there is much that's done nowadays to prevent such accidents...the positives outweigh the negatives...

It was not my purpose to use any individual tragic incident in an argumentative way, and I do not wish to be negative or criticise unfairly. I believe in giving credit where it is due, and no doubt some good things are being done, but I am still constantly frustrated at what I feel to be the overall stance on road safety. It just does not feel as if we are getting where we ought to be quickly enough.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[Roadcraft]

I can fully understand where you're coming from Dave...

However, I constantly hear complaints from people saying the government are making things TOO safe for people, and are nannying the motorist;

For example;

#1 lots and lots of signs and warnings on approaches to bends, accident hot spots etc etc.

#2 fencing off central reserves about 200m prior to a roundabout to ensure that drivers slow down fully...and aren't afforded a view of the roundabout until the last 30-40m...

#3 New drivers only allowed 6 penalty points in their first 2 years after passing their tests.

#4 Red markings on the roads near changes of speed to further emphasise the point....Along with electronic warning signs..SLOW DOWN etc

The list is endless....

So I don't think the governments (national and local) are exactly laid back about road safety...concentrating on speed alone..

[TripleS]

I can fully understand where you're coming from Dave...

However, I constantly hear complaints from people saying the government are making things TOO safe for people, and are nannying the motorist;

For example;

#1 lots and lots of signs and warnings on approaches to bends, accident hot spots etc etc.

#2 fencing off central reserves about 200m prior to a roundabout to ensure that drivers slow down fully...and aren't afforded a view of the roundabout until the last 30-40m...

#3 New drivers only allowed 6 penalty points in their first 2 years after passing their tests.

#4 Red markings on the roads near changes of speed to further emphasise the point....Along with electronic warning signs..SLOW DOWN etc

The list is endless....

So I don't think the governments (national and local) are exactly laid back about road safety...concentrating on speed alone..

OK good, it's nice to be understood a bit at times!

I don't think in terms of us attempting to be too safe. We all want to feel reasonably safe of course, but there does seem to be an overall feeling of being nannied, which I object to. But on your specific points, and these are of course nothing more than my personal opinion:

1. We have too many signs in general, which means that the really helpful and important ones may be overlooked amidst all the clutter.

2. I definitely do not like the policy closing off the visibility to the right on the approach to roundabouts.

3. I'm not sure how to evaluate this one.

4. As item 1. Keep painting SLOW on the road at regular intervals and people will just ignore all such messages. IMHO a good deal of this is simply a waste of time, effort and our money.

I know the government is not entirely focussed on the speed factor to the exclusion of all else, but I do think they have exaggerated the part it plays in our road safety problems. Following on from this it now appears that overtaking is increasingly being considered to be an evil act, which is leading some drivers to try and prevent overtaking, thus introducing yet more danger!

What I do wish we could have is a series of publicity campaigns that would focus on a few keys aspects of driving, with the aim of helping large numbers of drivers to think about the right things while driving. In other words talk to the driving community, and don't just dump more controls and restrictions on us, which in some quarters merely provokes the rebels, mentioning no names of course!

In general I'm sceptical about the benefits of road engineering as a solution to our problems, though I accept there will be places where this is the best answer. That process could be endless though, and immensely costly, whereas if we could focus drivers minds on developing a safe approach to driving, they will take that safe approach with them wherever they go and for the most part they will reliably deal with whatever problems they encounter.

Best wishes all,
Dave.