Heads up - Fifth Gear review on 14th Oct.

For the car travelling at 120 into the wall, the KE is 0.5*M*120*120 = 7200M (ignoring the units)

For two cars travelling at velocity V to have the same total KE:

2 * 0.5 * M * V * V = 7200M

V*V = 7200

V = 84.85 mph

Shows that two cars travelling at 85 mph, a closing speed of 170 mph - each 25 over the limit - is extremely dangerous. One reason why dual carriageways are so much safer than, for example, rural single A roads.

(17-10-2011 10:18am)mark_n Wrote:  Shows that two cars travelling at 85 mph, a closing speed of 170 mph - each 25 over the limit - is extremely dangerous. One reason why dual carriageways are so much safer than, for example, rural single A roads.

Which is one of the reasons rural A roads are 60mph and Dual carriageways and Motorways with central reservations are 70mph.

I certainly don't think speeds of roads without central reservations should be increased over 60!

It's not speed that kills, its merely a factor in any impact. All accidents are caused by either driver error &/or road worthiness of vehicles and this is a statistical fact!

The standard of driver training in this country leaves a lot to be desired, I find it unbelievable that the majority of new drivers haven't driven at night, nor have they driven or been tested on dual carriageways or motorways. In addition some will never have left the city they were 'trained' to pass in, so some will not have been over 30 or 40mph & yet most of us are amazed & wonder why there are such bad drivers on our roads and why so many people are also killed on our roads.

There is also an 'it'll never happen to me' culture when you watch programmes like this on TV or pass an accident on the roads, as although it is shocking, to see &/or witness at the time, it rarely sticks in ones mind afterwards.

In a previous occupation I attended many a road accident/fatality which has left a lasting impression on me, I also race cars professionally & have seen my share of track accidents & I firmly believe that all road drivers should be made to have refresher training annually & if we don't pass a driving test at the end of this our licences are revoked until we sit further training and pass another test, harsh maybe, but this will help keep the bad drivers off our roads and help improve the standard of drivers we have on them, this will also help to make people more road aware and courteous and overall that's got to be a good thing for everyone who drives on our roads!

So let's not get fixated here, it's not the speed that causes accidents, it's the lack of training, as speed is entirely safe if one has the relevant driver training & applies it correctly!

That penultimate paragraph must win the prize for the longest single sentence ever posted on this forum.

We all know that bad driving causes accidents but the thought of retesting every one of the 30 million drivers in this country annually is completely ludicrous. That would be more than 100,000 every working day. It wouldn't keep bad drivers off the roads because they will simply "behave" for the test and then go back to their dangerous ways.

I'd do it for motorcyclists though who have an especially high accident rate.

Far better to police the roads and clamp down on such bad practices as tail-gating, phoning and texting at the wheel and so on.

No level of road fatalities is acceptable but the UK has one of the best track records.

(18-10-2011 05:46am)mark_n Wrote:  That penultimate paragraph must win the prize for the longest single sentence ever posted on this forum.

We all know that bad driving causes accidents but the thought of retesting every one of the 30 million drivers in this country annually is completely ludicrous. That would be more than 100,000 every working day. It wouldn't keep bad drivers off the roads because they will simply "behave" for the test and then go back to their dangerous ways.

I'd do it for motorcyclists though who have an especially high accident rate.

Far better to police the roads and clamp down on such bad practices as tail-gating, phoning and texting at the wheel and so on.

No level of road fatalities is acceptable but the UK has one of the best track records.

Mark, I'm sure there's a school teacher in you somewhere so I'll try to be careful with my use of grammar, spelling and sentence construction.

Your proposal is hypocritical. The fact that it might be feasible doesn't make it reasonable. I don't know (and hope not to be proved wrong) but I would doubt that the ratio of accidents per motorbike licence holder is no worse than that for car drivers. They would all behave in the same way as you described car drivers would for the test.

Hope the spillchucker worked OK? 2 edits later.........

No hypocrisy here, nor any schoolteacher ambitions. Anyone is free to go through life not understanding the difference between "there", "their" and "they're" and between "principle" and "principal". Not me.

Do the research and you'll find that motorcyclists are 25-28 times as likely to die or be seriously injured on the roads as a car driver.

On Sunday, I was driving out of Henley-on-Thames at 30 mph and was overtaken by 3 bikes racing at well over 100 mph. 2 miles further on, one of them must have run wide and hit a car and both rider and bike were on the road. It's exactly these type of antics which need to be brought into check.

I'm no speed limit evangelist, I was happily driving at 160 mph in Germany last month. There's a time and place.

I try to stay out of threads that make brash statements on the biking community, but it does grate... 'All bikers need to retest each year'.... get real... yes there are a propotion of idiots on bikes, speeding in ridiculas circumstances and making a nusnece of themselves..so I truely believe in Marks comment 'there's a time and a place'... But before everyone decides to think that everybiker has a 'death wish', stop and think.. there is also something to be educated on while riding a bike... it makes you very aware of your surroundings, every corner could be your last as there is no 'metal cage', airbags etc to save you so you have to concentrait or it will get messy

The driving standard I see while commuting (on a bike) to work is crazy... people on the phone, texting, doing makup, watching tv's, drinking coffee.. the list goes on... they all look very 'safe' in there little box with not a care in the world... they have no concept of the danger they are in and fully believe that a) it will not happen to them and b) if it does the multiple airbags and crumple zones will keep them safe...

I say before anyone can get a car licence they spend 12 months on a bike, in all weathers, they will then gain a new respect for the road and understand how vunrable they are as a road user. Hopefully they would take the observation habits that keep them alive on a bike and use them in their cars... it would also help with congestion

Mart

(18-10-2011 07:58am)mark_n Wrote:  Do the research and you'll find that motorcyclists are 25-28 times as likely to die or be seriously injured on the roads as a car driver.

I'd hazard a guess (and it is just a guess) that this is more a factor of their relative lack of protection than their likelihood to have an accident.