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?
Thanks for joining the discussion, Maurice. There are two significant points here, relevant information and technology.
I'll deal with technology first. Undoubtedly technology can both monitor and control vehicle speeds. For many years, satnavs have been both indicating speed and warning drivers of speed limits, especially when they are exceeded. Many trucks now have speed limiters and an increasing number of cars have cruise control, making it easier for the driver to maintain a steady speed where conditions allow. To use satellite technology to control the speed of a vehicle according to the speed limit of the road it is travelling on is very feasible.
Relevant information is the source of the problem. Have you read my post of 5 June comparing the over-complicated way we indicate speed limits here with those of other countries? Even if we were to increase the involvement of technology to control vehicle speeds, I think it would be unwise not to give the driver some clear indication of the target speed. I am not sure either that we should take too much control from the drivers, otherwise they would become unaccustomed to dealing with situations where no control existed.
The real problem here is that there are still too many roads where no sensible speed limit is allocated. It is down to that outdated diagonal black bar sign, which used to mean no speed limit, and should have been phased out long ago. Instead it continues to be used as a "blanket" speed limit, and many rural roads carry this blanket speed limit even though it is totally inappropriate in many cases.
If we want to deploy technology to optimum effect, we need to ensure that EVERY road carries a SENSIBLE speed limit. I don't think this is unreasonable. My dealings with our county council suggest that it has information on pretty well every road within its area, and carries accident statistics and all kinds of statistics..
Briefly, the technology is fine but highway bureaucracy needs attention.
Thanks for joining the discussion, Maurice. There are two significant points here, relevant information and technology.
I'll deal with technology first. Undoubtedly technology can both monitor and control vehicle speeds. For many years, satnavs have been both indicating speed and warning drivers of speed limits, especially when they are exceeded. Many trucks now have speed limiters and an increasing number of cars have cruise control, making it easier for the driver to maintain a steady speed where conditions allow. To use satellite technology to control the speed of a vehicle according to the speed limit of the road it is travelling on is very feasible.
Relevant information is the source of the problem. Have you read my post of 5 June comparing the over-complicated way we indicate speed limits here with those of other countries? Even if we were to increase the involvement of technology to control vehicle speeds, I think it would be unwise not to give the driver some clear indication of the target speed. I am not sure either that we should take too much control from the drivers, otherwise they would become unaccustomed to dealing with situations where no control existed.
The real problem here is that there are still too many roads where no sensible speed limit is allocated. It is down to that outdated diagonal black bar sign, which used to mean no speed limit, and should have been phased out long ago. Instead it continues to be used as a "blanket" speed limit, and many rural roads carry this blanket speed limit even though it is totally inappropriate in many cases.
If we want to deploy technology to optimum effect, we need to ensure that EVERY road carries a SENSIBLE speed limit. I don't think this is unreasonable. My dealings with our county council suggest that it has information on pretty well every road within its area, and carries accident statistics and all kinds of statistics..
Briefly, the technology is fine but highway bureaucracy needs attention.
