Speed cameras Oxfordshire

[Custom24]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10762590

This article makes for interesting reading. I've posted a comment on the article about the over-representation of Brake in BBC articles. Hopefully they will publish it.

[fungus]

The reaction from BRAKE was hardly surprising.

If drivers knew the speed limit for the road they are driving on it might help. On Sunday I was driving eastwards on the A30 between Oakhampton and Exeter. A Ford Fiesta overtook me at a speed above the 70mph limit. The driver moved back to the inside lane and braked, reducing his speed to just below 60mph. This caused me to slow as I could not move out to the outside lane to pass him due to drivers in the outside lane. As we rounded a shallow bend, there on the left was a speed camera. The Fiesta driver obviously thought that the speed limit was 60mph on a de-restricted dual carriageway

[jcochrane]

"de-restricted" now those were the day.

[TripleS]

For 'were' read 'are'.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[Custom24]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-ox ... e-10929488

[jont]

Pretty clear from that article that even if speeds have increased, accidents haven't - because I'm sure if they had Brake would be screaming from the rooftops. Nice to see the police following the straw man argument without having any evidence to support their claims too

[Gareth]

One of the roads mentioned, Watlington Road in Cowley, is non-residential from the A142, of a reasonable width with wide footpaths both sides. In a number of places the road has been artificially narrowed by using white paint, and much of it has a cycle lane in each direction. The single speed camera is in this section.

As you head further south-west there is the start of housing on the right but none of the houses are close to the road, and where the houses have vehicular access on the road side it is via a separate access road that runs alongside Watlington Road. Continuing on the road narrows and there is a footpath only on the residential side. The houses are set further back with a well established head hedge between the backs of the houses and the road.

It is the sort of road that probably used to have a 40mph (or greater) limit but currently the limit is 30mph. It's not surprising that drivers habitually travel faster than the prevailing speed limit.

[michael769]

Pretty clear from that article that even if speeds have increased, accidents haven't - because I'm sure if they had Brake would be screaming from the rooftops. Nice to see the police following the straw man argument without having any evidence to support their claims too

It is not clear that speeds actually have increased. They quote an increase of 88% in the number of vehicles speeding to 62. But they don't say how that relates to the total number of vehicles using the road. I would be interested in knowing how traffic volumes had changed between the two measurement periods, to rule out any increase due to an increase in overall traffic numbers.

While an 88% increase sounds quite spectacular, 28 extra vehicles is probably a fairly small number relative to the overall traffic volume(Looking in Google maps the roads have the look of being quite busy.), and I seriously doubt that the change is statistically significant.

[martine]

...The Fiesta driver obviously thought that the speed limit was 60mph on a de-restricted dual carriageway

In my experience there is a large number of drivers who do think the standard limit for cars/bikes on a DC is 60...including many IAM associates - who you'd think would be more aware due to their interest.

Anyone hear the Radio 5 phone in on Monday morning on speed limits?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00tcnqx/5_live_Breakfast_Phonein_09_08_2010/

Very interesting contributions from the IAM's Kevin Delanney also the Chair of the Association of British Drivers (ABD) and many 'joe public'. The majority (apart from the BRAKE spokewomen ) thought speed limits are artificial and driving at an appropriate speed with sensible following distances much more important...quite heartening really . My wife was urging me to phone up but over the hour all my points were put across by others.

The lead letter in yesterday's TImes also said much the same thing.

I'm quite encouraged we may be seeing a sea-change in the use of speed cameras and the arguments many have put before, including the late Paul Smith, are coming to the fore.

[TripleS]

...The Fiesta driver obviously thought that the speed limit was 60mph on a de-restricted dual carriageway

In my experience there is a large number of drivers who do think the standard limit for cars/bikes on a DC is 60...including many IAM associates - who you'd think would be more aware due to their interest.

Anyone hear the Radio 5 phone in on Monday morning on speed limits?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00tcnqx/5_live_Breakfast_Phonein_09_08_2010/

Very interesting contributions from the IAM's Kevin Delanney also the Chair of the Association of British Drivers (ABD) and many 'joe public'. The majority (apart from the BRAKE spokewomen ) thought speed limits are artificial and driving at an appropriate speed with sensible following distances much more important...quite heartening really . My wife was urging me to phone up but over the hour all my points were put across by others.

The lead letter in yesterday's TImes also said much the same thing.

I'm quite encouraged we may be seeing a sea-change in the use of speed cameras and the arguments many have put before, including the late Paul Smith, are coming to the fore.

Let us hope so. It's just a shame that Paul hasn't lived to see it, but I think he was right.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[Gareth]

The other road mentioned in the report, the A44 through Woodstock, has two speed cameras. The positioning is interesting in that both are located in the single 30 mph zone that passes through Woodstock, but near the outskirts of built up area. Both areas don't have the hazard density that one would expect for a 30 mph limit, unlike most of Woodstock. I would have expected both these areas to be signed as having a 40 mph limit, but it looks as if the 30 mph limit has been extended in both directions.

[michael769]

=I would have expected both these areas to be signed as having a 40 mph limit, but it looks as if the 30 mph limit has been extended in both directions.

I am being to cynical in suggesting that the partnership may have selected the two sites were drivers were most likely to exceed the limit to monitor?

[Gareth]

I thought the same.