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?
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..
There are many country lanes where the default 60MPH speed limit is far too high. But adding speed limits would require someone to inspect every road. That would mean thousands of Traffic Regulation Orders being raised. Many more thousands of speed limit signs would need to be installed, if you allow for all the reminders that have to be installed at regular intervals.
And nobody would enforce the new speed limits anyway.
"There were 31,800 miles of major road in Great Britain in 2019, consisting of: • 2,300 miles of motorway (99% trunk, 1% principal) • 29,500 miles of ‘A’ road (18% trunk, 82% principal) There were 215,200 miles of minor road in Great Britain in 2019, consisting of: • 18,800 miles of ‘B’ road • 196,400 miles of ‘C’ and ‘U’ roads"
Despite my posts below, I'm sure any analysis would show that it would be grossly disproportionate to evaluate and manage the speed limits on these B and below roads given the number of fatalities on them. I still think a vehicle mounted solution, to evaluate the road as the car is driving along it, would be practical though...
There is a slightly sore point here, I live on a road with a 30 limit, but within sight of the speed delimiting sign where the road enters open country. A number of our neighbours have tried very vocally to get the speed limit enforced due to the number of incidents caused by people not slowing down (including someone writing off my much loved car while it was parked outside my house...) Basically because we have not yet had a major injury or fatality there is no route for action to be taken (as readers might imagine, I went into this in great detail!). Because, in turn, as Simon suggests the resources are limited and have to be targeted at the biggest risks.
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..
There are many country lanes where the default 60MPH speed limit is far too high. But adding speed limits would require someone to inspect every road. That would mean thousands of Traffic Regulation Orders being raised. Many more thousands of speed limit signs would need to be installed, if you allow for all the reminders that have to be installed at regular intervals.
And nobody would enforce the new speed limits anyway.
"There were 31,800 miles of major road in Great Britain in 2019, consisting of: • 2,300 miles of motorway (99% trunk, 1% principal) • 29,500 miles of ‘A’ road (18% trunk, 82% principal) There were 215,200 miles of minor road in Great Britain in 2019, consisting of: • 18,800 miles of ‘B’ road • 196,400 miles of ‘C’ and ‘U’ roads"
Despite my posts below, I'm sure any analysis would show that it would be grossly disproportionate to evaluate and manage the speed limits on these B and below roads given the number of fatalities on them. I still think a vehicle mounted solution, to evaluate the road as the car is driving along it, would be practical though...
There is a slightly sore point here, I live on a road with a 30 limit, but within sight of the speed delimiting sign where the road enters open country. A number of our neighbours have tried very vocally to get the speed limit enforced due to the number of incidents caused by people not slowing down (including someone writing off my much loved car while it was parked outside my house...) Basically because we have not yet had a major injury or fatality there is no route for action to be taken (as readers might imagine, I went into this in great detail!). Because, in turn, as Simon suggests the resources are limited and have to be targeted at the biggest risks.
