Discussion
The ABD have published a comprehensive analysis of "road safety" groups' continued claim that "a third of accidents are caused by speed":
www.abd.org.uk/one_third.htm
www.abd.org.uk/one_third.htm
quote:
Agreed - bare facts are simply not adequate for persuading the public fo anything - apparently, what you need is shiny presentation and lots of oily words...
Or perhaps we could have a nonegreen reworking...?
Like this
The biggest lie of all
"A third of accidents are caused by speed"*
*One third equals 0.000001%
The road safety industry** have long asserted that speed causes a third of accidents, and this has become a fundamental plank of their road safety thinking, such as it is.
However, they admit that proper research into accident causation has never been carried out. [PACTS 1997]
The Transport Research Laboratory was commissioned to investigate a new type of form for police officers to report on road traffic accidents they attend. This form was designed to produce more accurate data on causal factors.
The results of this investigation, published in report TRL323, showed that excess speed was a factor (but not necessarily the only factor) in 7.3% of accidents.
Of course, this small problem did not divert the DLTR, who were by this time politically welded to the great 'one third' lie.
They got around their little problem by defining all sorts of other accident causes as "speed related" until they managed to get them to add up to a third.
Here the ABD exposes this and demonstrates the complete bankruptcy of thought prevalent in the road safety industry today.
Below is the table from TRL323 report (Page 9, Table 2) upon which the 'one third' lie is based.
The accident causes were originally highlighted in green (very apt) are those which the government claims are 'speed related'. They are no longer highlighted in green because "Nonegreen" finds the colour now hurts his eyes It is not very easy to post a table on Pistonheads so the figurres are taken out of the table
Nonegreens comments are absolute fact on his home planet which is several million light years from most of the British civil service and media types.
Accident cause
1. Failure to judge other persons path or speed? (10.7%) This particular phenomenon applies to people who suffer from a disease which restricts them to the 40th dimension. This is pretty complex but it means they almost always drive at 40mph and cannot recognise any other speed. As a consequence they frequently pull out onto dual carriageways and get wiped out by oncoming vehicles travelling at more than 40. Side impact protection systems have ensured the genetic pool subject to the disease continues as a side effect is their love of cars ending in "o" Ie Volvo.
2. Excessive speed (7.3%) This of course relates to speed limits which as everyone knows are set for complete numpties in crap cars. The main cause of excessive speed however is Stephen Byers (Homo Wankus) 7.3 % of motorists are now officially late for appointments due to traffic management methods which are specifically designed to cause gridlock. Once the motorist gets out of gridlock they then have to at least double the speed limit in order to arrive late and not ludicrously late. As a consequence they shit themselves and it is these little accidents that are grouped here. Any collisions that occur are as a consequence of the smell and not the speed.
3. Following too close (4.1%) These people like to shag sheep which is why this sort of accident usually happens on motorways in rural areas in sight of sheep. Psychologists have concluded that as the accepted way to shag sheep is from behind, this type of driver sees sheep and starts creeping up the arse of the vehicle in front. Research tells us that at least 25% of these cases wear wellingtons and drive 4 wheel drive vehicles.
4. Slippery road (3%) These accidents are almost entirely due to horse pooh and general farm activity. The newly announced subsidy from the EU which pays farmers to simply drive around all day in tractors pulling trailers full of pooh dribbling the stuff all over the road is likely to increase this as a cause of accidents to 20% by 2005 (EU Objective).
5. Behaviour - in a hurry (2.7%) This type of accident is entirely due to the introduction of Vindaloo into the UK. The research indicates that accident blackspots occur around places like Bradford, Birmingham and Rusholme particularly on Friday and Saturday night. It is also the cause of 98% of accidents involving Taxis. The term within the road safety industry is "ring of fire accidents".
6. Aggressive driving (1.4%) Yes its amazing what the pill has achieved isn't it?
7. Weather (eg mist or sleet) (0.8%) This is flawed as most of the mist lies in flat places where the roads are covered in pooh due to farmers and horses. What is sleet?
8. Other (Local conditions) (0.4%) Yes 0.4% of accidents occur in the car park at B&Q on Sundays. This is due to poor loading of trollies with bits of wood which invariably end up as firewood. The entire causal factor is Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen, hence the description "other"
The Truth
The government are so addicted to the cocaine as the major cause of elections that they are prepared to go to any lengths to make the public believe it. Even when their blatant homosexuality is exposed, they still continue to hang around in lavatories.
You can fool some of the people all of the time,
and all of the people some of the time,
but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
Abraham Lincoln 1809-1865
Why do they lie about speed?
So they can:
Become the new aristocracy keeping the masses under control.
justify their purchase of shares in virgin trains
force drivers to travel at increasingly lethargic speeds so that the economy will decline and they can clean up on their currency speculation
literally force drivers onto public transport so their investments in head lice cures will make them millions
** A group of ****wits who don't actually drive as appearing on Green Radio 4 almost every day.
All greens are bastards
Nonegreen
100% of accidents are caused by excessive speed!
... I was still moving when I hit something therefore I was driving too fast as zero would have been a good speed immediately before impact ...
Something missing here ...
Incidentally what about "95% of accidents are due to driver error"? That suggests that 5% - one in 20 - are casued by something completely unavoidable and unforseeable, such as sudden mechanical failure on a car that has been correctly maintained, or a heart attack ... no way that's 1 in 20, one in 20,000 more like it. Virtually all accidents are one or more driver's error.
Conclusion: improve driver ability - better training and regular retesting.
Speed doesn't kill, crap driving does.
... I was still moving when I hit something therefore I was driving too fast as zero would have been a good speed immediately before impact ...
Something missing here ...
Incidentally what about "95% of accidents are due to driver error"? That suggests that 5% - one in 20 - are casued by something completely unavoidable and unforseeable, such as sudden mechanical failure on a car that has been correctly maintained, or a heart attack ... no way that's 1 in 20, one in 20,000 more like it. Virtually all accidents are one or more driver's error.
Conclusion: improve driver ability - better training and regular retesting.
Speed doesn't kill, crap driving does.
quote:
lads, the only problem is that the spin is working all too well. A lot of people I know don't like gatsos, but many of them think "they are a neccessary evil". Derrrrrrrr! I am trying to educate them, but some I fear are a lost cause.
Carl,
Not wishing to pick an argument here, but there are rare occassions that a speed camera is a good idea. For example there is a village that is split by the A1 in Lincs. Pub on one side and a shop / garage on the other. You just know that it is an invitation for something major. I know that I used to fly through there at 80 - 90 several years ago without a care in the world...
Now there is a speed camera you just cant do that. And in that case it makes sense - though I will admit that hitting someone at 70 is just as deadly as 80 - 90!!!!
It is widely understood that most cameras are placed in areas for maximum revenue generation - hiding them, straight roads and other such places. Now in my experience all most no-one believes that they are useful, sensible or a good expendititure of a tax money.... thats the difference.....
I cant wait until some journo investigates this whole thing carefully and gets the proof that the councils / police are actually putting the cameras in places for maximum revenue - I cant wait until the TV programme on that.
Cheers,
Paul
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