Thread: Does anyone ever obey the speed limit

Originally Posted by Eevo

yes
but that would cost money

I pay to speed - (pay to play, that's the way life works).

I'd rather my tax money go to driver education and hence reduce my CTP, allowing more cash injection into training (use the money saved by people not crashing, to train people to not crash!).

Better than giving it to bloody dole bludgers!

Originally Posted by mudmouse

Yes, but driver training is not compulsory.

Racking up hours in a log book following mum or dad's example is.

If 'we' started driver training as compulsory, then standards should improve. The best/highly skilled drivers still kill themselves, as do pilots, builders, electrician and so on....because we get complacent and possibly lazy.

I guess the chances of a serious crash diminish with the right attitude and skills and a way of keeping us in check is a big stick (fine).

Works for me

Matt

Interestingly, I know a fellow who is involved in a group that advises a state government on roads policy.
He told me their group advises the government advanced driving courses should be made available to reduce the road toll. The government is against the idea as they think it would encourage drivers to take more risks and increase the road toll.

Nothing like a bureaucracy to avoid intelligent ideas

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

Interestingly, I know a fellow who is involved in a group that advises a state government on roads policy.
He told me their group advises the government advanced driving courses should be made available to reduce the road toll. The government is against the idea as they think it would encourage drivers to take more risks and increase the road toll.

Made available?....I assuming government funded? Money is a bit tight at the moment.

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

The government is against the idea as they think it would encourage drivers to take more risks and increase the road toll.

there is actually some merit in this.
tested using go-carts, people had a slower average laptime when not wearing a seatbelt.

eitherway, increased training rarely hurts

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

Interestingly, I know a fellow who is involved in a group that advises a state government on roads policy.
He told me their group advises the government advanced driving courses should be made available to reduce the road toll. The government is against the idea as they think it would encourage drivers to take more risks and increase the road toll.

If you think back to history, the same argument was used against the introduction of seat belts, and probably (although I can't go back that far myself) the introduction of four wheel brakes.

In reality, if you look at the statistics, the roads are safer than they have ever been, and road fatalities are now well below those from other causes, and have been dropping on a per vehicle basis ever since collection of data started. (My guess is mainly due to road improvements, seat belts and the change in culture around drink driving)

This hard data makes it a bit difficult to agree with the fairly general sentiment that driving standards are so low, and that driver education is needed. While certainly there are some bad drivers, I suspect that the impression of overall bad driving standards is given by a very small proportion of drivers, with most being an acceptable standard. And I also suspect that the problem with these is not their driver education, but their driving attitude - and I am not sure that education is going to change that.

John

Originally Posted by JDNSW

I suspect that the impression of overall bad driving standards is given by a very small proportion of drivers, with most being an acceptable standard.

i dont agree.
fortunately, most bad driving results in near misses, not fatalities.

Originally Posted by Eevo

i dont agree.
fortunately, most bad driving results in near misses, not fatalities.

Agreed - but there are no statistics on near misses, and that does not change my view that you (and everybody else) notice the bad drivers and fail to notice the vast majority who are not bad drivers.

If the majority of drivers are bad, as you seem to be saying, how do you explain the steadily improving outcomes? Surely the definition of good driving is driving that does not result in accidents.

John