There have been many reports of motorists using the lack of traffic on the roads during the Covid19 lockdown to flout the speed limits and now with more traffic back on the roads there is a danger that some may continue to drive at excessive speeds even after things are back to ‘normal’.
Behavioural Science in transportation (understanding the behaviour and motivations of transport users such as motorists and rail commuters etc) is a fascinating subject which plays a big part in the engineering and design of roads and their ‘furniture’ in an attempt to gently persuade drivers to modify their driving behaviour to something more appropriate.
There are many such psychological tactics in place to combat speeding but could we be doing more? What other engineering solutions could be implemented to stop excessive speeding? How do different countries tackle speeding on their roads? What could we learn from them?
I think we are still on topic, Andy, though this discussion is becoming rather long and any "splinter" topic would warrant a new discussion. Let me tell you a short story.
I once arrived at the scene of a road accident. A car had knocked over an elderly man. An off-duty policeman happened to be on the scene and took charge of the situation. He radioed the police station for uniformed back-up, and started to direct the traffic. It was clear, from the way he did this, that he was properly trained in traffic management. His directions were so clear, precise and assertive that nobody was arguing with him, even though he was not in uniform. He told the car driver that he could not drive away, because this was an elderly man, who might be injured even if apparently OK. The driver had to wait until paramedics arrived to assess the elderly man.
This is an example of how clear and assertive directions work.
In an earlier post in this thread, I compared the complicated ways of indicating speed limits in the UK with the very simple and clear approach in the USA. You say that you have observed much better compliance with speed limits in the USA, and I entirely agree. This is even though until fairly recently the maximum speed anywhere in this huge country was 55 mph. This is still a common speed limit on many major highways, though in some places speed limits can now be up to 75 mph. Speed humps are fairly rare in the USA - on public roads anyway - and those few that do exist are there for very good and obvious reasons.
As you say, the laws in general are clear enough but the way in which they are indicated leaves room for improvement. The public in general know that the speed limit on a motorway is 70 mph (usually) and the speed limit in a built-up area is 30 mph (usually). Lack of clarity occurs in roads in between these types. I could take you to places where you turn off a respectable wide road, with a speed limit of 40 or 50 mph, onto a narrow, winding single-track road where the speed limit is clearly indicated as 60 mph. In the residential road where I live there is no street lighting and no 30 mph repeater signs. According to the Highway code, this means that the speed limit is 60 mph. Would you really believe that?
I think many of us would like the police to enforce laws more firmly. The police in the USA, like the police in the UK, cannot be everywhere all the time. I cannot ignore the fact that in the USA the signage gives a clear and simple message, and speed limits make sense; they don't increase as one moves from a main road to a lesser road. To bring our antiquated laws up to date would greatly assist in the laws being better observed.
I think we are still on topic, Andy, though this discussion is becoming rather long and any "splinter" topic would warrant a new discussion. Let me tell you a short story.
I once arrived at the scene of a road accident. A car had knocked over an elderly man. An off-duty policeman happened to be on the scene and took charge of the situation. He radioed the police station for uniformed back-up, and started to direct the traffic. It was clear, from the way he did this, that he was properly trained in traffic management. His directions were so clear, precise and assertive that nobody was arguing with him, even though he was not in uniform. He told the car driver that he could not drive away, because this was an elderly man, who might be injured even if apparently OK. The driver had to wait until paramedics arrived to assess the elderly man.
This is an example of how clear and assertive directions work.
In an earlier post in this thread, I compared the complicated ways of indicating speed limits in the UK with the very simple and clear approach in the USA. You say that you have observed much better compliance with speed limits in the USA, and I entirely agree. This is even though until fairly recently the maximum speed anywhere in this huge country was 55 mph. This is still a common speed limit on many major highways, though in some places speed limits can now be up to 75 mph. Speed humps are fairly rare in the USA - on public roads anyway - and those few that do exist are there for very good and obvious reasons.
As you say, the laws in general are clear enough but the way in which they are indicated leaves room for improvement. The public in general know that the speed limit on a motorway is 70 mph (usually) and the speed limit in a built-up area is 30 mph (usually). Lack of clarity occurs in roads in between these types. I could take you to places where you turn off a respectable wide road, with a speed limit of 40 or 50 mph, onto a narrow, winding single-track road where the speed limit is clearly indicated as 60 mph. In the residential road where I live there is no street lighting and no 30 mph repeater signs. According to the Highway code, this means that the speed limit is 60 mph. Would you really believe that?
I think many of us would like the police to enforce laws more firmly. The police in the USA, like the police in the UK, cannot be everywhere all the time. I cannot ignore the fact that in the USA the signage gives a clear and simple message, and speed limits make sense; they don't increase as one moves from a main road to a lesser road. To bring our antiquated laws up to date would greatly assist in the laws being better observed.
