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?
What I was trying to get across, poorly, was that flashing road signs, road signs with speed and VRN feedback, and colour-coded speedometers in vehicles give instant 'cause and effect' feedback to the driver which is better than 'flat' feedback of normal signs.
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Sorry, Maurice, if I deviated slightly from your point. Yes I think flashing road signs do work well - much better than static signs because of the interaction and targeted feedback. Colour coded speedometers would need some interaction to relate to the actual speed limit on the road being driven on. It is not at present practicable with satnav technology. Many minor roads have no real speed limit and Andy has highlighted with statistics the immense number of these roads. Simon reckons that, though 60 mph is not appropriate for many of these roads, the administration and costs involved in allocating selected speed limits would be impracticable. I don't personally think this is unfeasible, but ultimately it is down to resources and priorities and the bureaucracy of our highways management, as Simon says. Hence we need to look at other ways of feeding back speed information to drivers.
I agree with Simon's point on speed limits not being enforced. This is largely the case now anyway. My point is that though in many cases you cannot enforce something, clarity of information achieves a great deal. That is why flashing speed signs are a good idea. We should be selective in where we put them, however, preferably where there are known risks due to speeding.
What I was trying to get across, poorly, was that flashing road signs, road signs with speed and VRN feedback, and colour-coded speedometers in vehicles give instant 'cause and effect' feedback to the driver which is better than 'flat' feedback of normal signs.
. . .
Sorry, Maurice, if I deviated slightly from your point. Yes I think flashing road signs do work well - much better than static signs because of the interaction and targeted feedback. Colour coded speedometers would need some interaction to relate to the actual speed limit on the road being driven on. It is not at present practicable with satnav technology. Many minor roads have no real speed limit and Andy has highlighted with statistics the immense number of these roads. Simon reckons that, though 60 mph is not appropriate for many of these roads, the administration and costs involved in allocating selected speed limits would be impracticable. I don't personally think this is unfeasible, but ultimately it is down to resources and priorities and the bureaucracy of our highways management, as Simon says. Hence we need to look at other ways of feeding back speed information to drivers.
I agree with Simon's point on speed limits not being enforced. This is largely the case now anyway. My point is that though in many cases you cannot enforce something, clarity of information achieves a great deal. That is why flashing speed signs are a good idea. We should be selective in where we put them, however, preferably where there are known risks due to speeding.
