What could be done to combat speeding on our roads?

Hello again, Benyamin. I was just about to quote this line from the original post, but Lisa beat me to it. So can you tell us a bit more about Israeli roads? How are speed limits indicated. Is it a simple system like North America or a complicated one like the UK? Are speed limits well observed there? Are there any official guides about stopping distances or timed separation from the vehicle ahead? Are there any other measures there to try to persuade drivers to slow down, e.g. speed humps?

Oh Thanks for that memory Mike, Drum brakes they were great , the asbestos lining !!!

I will answer all your questions with one answer:

The safety and caution rule is almost the same worldwide and I will explain: 

Sharing examples from other countries is an absolute advantage to apply and learn from other countries since it is about safety and caution around roads, cars and traffic signs. 

I am glad that Ms. Lisa justified me because I saw a kind of aggressiveness around my forum response. It is no longer important to give respect to every person who will have a different opinion.

I am glad that an issue has been made clear that a people will not help each other so where we came from.

I live in a small village and see quite a bit of speeding as drivers cut through. There is quite a substantial 'by pass' but there are a number of roundabouts on that route which causes traffic to build up and queue. Therefore many of the locals or those who frequent the area are more likely to use the village as a cut through to 'by pass' the queues on the by pass... ?


Even though we have speed humps and a 20mph limit on certain sections through the village, once the speed humps have ended, drivers speed up to beyond the 30mph limit. We also have a 60mph section just before you reach the village and invariably drivers continue at that speed even though they're now within the village boundary and in a 30mph limit... With some of the houses along my street with no front garden and their door opening up directly onto the pavement, you're taking your life in your hands every time you step outside your front door. The 'smiley/frown' faces and the flashing speed signs just don't work and in fact sometimes have the opposite effect where drivers are actively trying to set them off. 


I’ve always thought it would be great if you could automatically reduce a cars speed to comply with the road’s limit with only the emergency services vehicles being able to override that.  Given that modern cars are now becoming very ‘connected’ I wouldn’t be surprised if we see that soon!


Although most of my driving is done in the UK, I also drive through France on occasion too. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered anyone driving above the speed limit there even though the roads are much quieter than they are in the UK. 


I’ve also seen in France these strange little cars sometimes used by new and elderly drivers that are speed restricted and therefore are cheaper to insure. Again I’ve wondered if that is an answer? If you’re a new driver or have been prosecuted for speeding, then you’re only allowed to drive a low powered and speed restricted car?  

mmm my only experience of driving in France was in coach trip to Paris , and I wouldn't describe it as quiet , the roundabout issue is most interesting and no doubt if we decided to give that a try we would have months of incidents .

The automatic reduction of speed by automatic restriction is quite interesting , but the technology would also enable your monitoring device to give data and also potentially issue penalty notices instantly , unless it just never lets you exceed the speed limit of the zone you may be in , but I can see all sorts of problems as to what sort of control you could have , could you drive slower than the speed limit , how intelligent do you want it to be ? and there is no protection from some sort of cyber hack that could literally cause a mass pile up .

There is talk of speed-restriction devices being fitted to new cars in the next few years. And there is the predictable opposition and excuse. "It is often safer to accelerate out of a dangerous situation, even if this means going over the speed limit."  But this does not really excuse those that exceed the speed limit for prolonged periods, does it! And big trucks have had speed limiters for years. There does not seem to be a problem with them being unable to accelerate out of dangerous situations

Yeah I have changed my view on this from being a great idea , to thinking about the real life vulnerabilities of the system and I can see that anything that allows for external control of the car/vehicle other than the driver has so much disaster possibilities , maybe at a large scale if you controlled a lot of vehicles , Imagine if a hack just overrides your controls .

My experience is essentially in two countries: France and Czechia.

In France, it's very easy to lose your licence (Brits too!). On the spot with a "visible" manned speed check, 30kph over and you need to walk home. Everyone knows the rules. +5kph up to 100 then 5+0.5/10kph. That means a maximum of 136kph on the autoroute where cameras can be visible or hidden.

Then there are the privatised speed checks with unmarked cars and equipment hidden behind the licence plate. You don't even know you've been flashed until you receive the letter. French police can "work in twos" for a hand held phone, particularly in towns. One (in civvies) does the spotting and radios to the other (in uniform) to do the stopping.

In Czechia, cameras are very much smaller than in France and, on motorways, most police cars are unmarked. They will switch on their blue lights and guide you to the next exit if you're naughty. On motorways 130kph means 130kph. During the lockdown, roads were empty. One evening a police spokesman declared on TV that receipts from speeding fines were at an all time high because people took advantage of the empty roads. Almost all Czech villages have at least two radars which can have cameras or not. To find out you have to get close and it's too late to slow down. In villages I drive at strictly 50kph and nobody has ever flashed their headlights at me to "get a move on". Overtaking in villages is prohibited. I drive on a French licence which has no "eat by date". If I lose just one point I have to change it for a Czech licence which means a frequent medical.

To travel between these countries, I drive through Germany. Germans can be very imaginative in disguising radars. Driving at high speed (180-220kph) needs to be learned but at least the Germans do learn this, not like the youngsters in other countries where there are lower speed limits and no learning situation. Germans (and the Dutch) often install radars near schools where the limit is 30kph. Sounds good to me.

A good few years ago my (French) insurance company offered my wife and me a morning's driving lesson.

Essentially two exercises.

One was emergency stopping on a wet road without and with ABS. With ABS we also had to use an coned "slip road". Without ABS it was a straight road and we just blew the cones away.

Second was figures of eight on a wet road. The turns were so tight that one lady stopped her car and vomited.

Afterwards, in the "wash-up" we were told that what we had done was a basic requirement to get a drivers licence in Sweden.

This training is available throughout France, normally it's your employer that pays as it goes on a mandatory training budget. Haven't ever seen it in UK though.