The worst thing IMHO is speed cameras. 99% of the population breaks the speed limit regularly. Catching a random part of those on speed cameras and fining adding points to license etc is a really bad way to go about things.
> 99% of the population breaks the speed limit regularly.
They really don't, though of course those who do speed routinely like to think that "everyone does it".
I'm no fan of our often arbitrary speed limits, nor of automated enforcement of them, nor of the penalty system our laws provide to deal with motoring offences in general. But seriously, spewing silly numbers does nothing to advance the legitimate arguments in favour of improving these things, so please don't do that.
> They really don't, though of course those who do speed routinely like to think that "everyone does it".
I can't speak for my friends across the pond, but where I live (Atlanta), driving at or below the speed limit on any road where they'd have a speed camera (so, interstates) would pose a serious safety risk.
The exception to this is highway onramps. Apparently, in the minds of this city's population, the appropriate speed to enter a crowded eight-lane interstate with a mean speed of 70mph is about 40-45. Drives me crazy.
"On motorways in the UK, the 85th percentile speed for cars is approximately 85 mph, i.e. 15 mph above the current limit."
"speed surveys show that 56% of car drivers exceed the 70 mph limit on motorways in this country and a significant proportion regard 80-85 mph as a normal cruising speed."
Don't get me wrong, I think that 30mph limits should mean 30 - as long as they are placed as they should be - But motorway driving is completely different. Driving 80 or 90 on a motorway when there is no real risk should not be a crime IMHO. Cars are safer and the vast majority of car accidents happen on smaller roads at slow speeds.
Having speed cameras on motorways is just an alternative to toll booths.
That gets on my nerves. I couldn't afford the fine (and, as a 23-year-old male, a hike in the already punitive insurance premium) if I was to be caught speeding.
But driving at 70 on a busy motorway is quite difficult - the slow lane is full of trucks crawling along at 55-60 and both other lanes tend to move along at 80 or so. Going at 70 in the middle lane leaves you open to being cast as one of those annoying middle lane hoggers, so I tend to end up having to keep changing lanes, which is surely more dangerous...
While I agree with you that a blanket 70 limit on motorways is an anachronism, many of the arguments put by groups like the ABD, and opposing groups like Brake for that matter, are excellent examples of lying with selective statistics and outright conjecture.
For example, the latest official statistics[1] in fact say that "On motorways in 2008, 49 per cent of cars exceeded the 70 mph speed limit. In addition, 15 per cent of cars were recorded as travelling at 80 mph or faster."
While nearly 7 in 10 drivers exceeded 30mph limits ten years earlier, just under half do so now. These roads and motorways are by far the most common road types for speeding.
In other words, your "the majority speed" claim and your claim of the 85% level are both some way off.
The worst thing IMHO is speed cameras. 99% of the population breaks the speed limit regularly. Catching a random part of those on speed cameras and fining adding points to license etc is a really bad way to go about things.