By Robert Farago
May 8, 2008 - 1,683 Views
Pistonheads reports that Suffolk police are leading the charge to ensure that all UK motorists are banned from driving. OK, that's not the goal– even if it isn't entirely unimaginable. As befits the British Nanny State, the police are trying to ticket as many speeders as possible to stop them from killing themselves. Or others. Yes, we've been down this road (at the posted speed limit) before. But I think it's important for TTAC's Best and Brightest to appreciate the Suffolk Po-po's full commitment to public safety. Pistonheads reports that the constabulary nailed 94 percent more mobile scofflaws between April 21 and 27 than they'd collared during their previous six-day high water mark. We're talking 854 selfish bastards vs. 264 'scrotes. Assuming the absolute minimum possible fine for all [who bloody well should be] concerned– £44 or $86.2749– The Suffolk Old Bill added £37,576 ($73,668.63) to the county coffers. If they could maintain that pace (£6,262.66667 per day), they'd raise £2,285,873.33 ($4,481,316.10) in a year. But that's not the point, is it mate? Speaking on behalf of "you should see what I've scaped off the pavement" police everywhere, Sgt Steve Knight said a "significant" number of motorists have "failed to grasp the concept" that speed kills. "Motorists really have no excuse," he said.
Subscribe to Newsletter53 Responses to “ “We are aware that there are those who say police should have better things to do, but this ignores the role speed plays in fatal and serious road traffic collisions” ”
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May 8th, 2008 at 10:08 am
I’ve never been a fan of parental governments.. if i wanna be on the pavement then that should be okay. I got $400k in life insurance and that more than pays my debts to society and gives them some stimulus moneys
May 8th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Apparently German motorists aren’t getting the message. There are still large portions of the Autobahn with no posted speed limits, and everyone seems to be doing just fine. Maybe we need to send Sgt. Knight on a German holiday.
Back in Pennsylvania, most fatal accidents are caused by drunk driving and making turns in front of oncoming traffic, not speeding.
When speeding is a contributing factor, it’s usually because a bunch of teenagers were speeding on a country road, where 60 mph is too fast. It’s not people driving 80 mph on a limited access highway.
And a fair number of drunk drivers don’t bother with seat belts, either, which further increases the chance of a fatality.
But targeting those drivers probably won’t generate sufficient revenue, so we’ll just continue saying the same old thing and hope that enough of the gullible accept it as true.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Left the UK about 16 years ago to move back home to the USA, then went back on vacation 8 years ago and was absolutely gob-smacked that drivers had actually reduced their speeds from 80-90 on motorways, to the speed limit of 70 on motorways. That was because of the speed cameras. By the time we went back on vacation again in 2005, speeds had crept back up. There are now devices that you can buy (kind of like GPS I think) to warn you to slow down before speed cameras.
Britain is such a nanny state, it’s awful. But the United States is rapidly following the UK (and Canada and most of the European nations too) down the same rocky road.
In one sense, I’m glad that at least in Michigan, speed cameras are illegal. On the other hand, for me personally, it doesn’t make much difference because I actually try to obey the rules of the road.
Yeah I know, I’m part of a “peculiar people.”
May 8th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Yet they don’t have time for actual crimes against society like theft, vandalism, etc. I guess the difference is those crimes don’t pay (the police that is).
May 8th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Does ’speeding’ mean driving too fast ?
Or does ’speeding’ mean merely driving faster than posted limits ?
That drivers everywhere should be somehow penalized if they drive too fast seems beyond question.
That drivers should be penalized for driving faster than legislators might happen to prefer is an outrage.
Many speed limits are so low that speeds in excess of the limit are not harmful, in which case, to drive at speeds in excess of the limit (but within the threshold of safety) is an innocent activity.
Police agencies, almost everywhere, however, are more than willing to harrass, delay, detain, fine and imprison drivers for merely exceeding posted limits.
This is what they call ‘prima facie’. The police don’t have to make a case against you, before a jury of your peers, that you were driving too fast. They merely have to show (through technical means: radar, laser, etc) that you were driving faster than the posted limit.
Yet, someone engaged in an innocent activity is an innocent person.
No individual, and no quantity of individuals has the right to punish innocent persons.
Your rights do not depend on the kindness of strangers, but, in the words of the Declaration, are inalienable.
Yes, your rights can be violated.
If, say, your fellow citizens somehow voted slavery back in, and you were required to report for duty, but declined to appear, they would most certainly issue a warrant for you as a ‘violator.’
But even though you ‘broke the law’, it is they, not you, who would be the ‘violator’.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Speed kills, we’ve heard it all before.
Lots of officers I’ve spoken with have told me that the vast majority of fatal accidents they’ve seen were cause by alcohol, drugs, lack of sleep, or distraction - not excessive speed.
My cousin was killed in a car accident when she fell asleep behind the wheel and her car crossed over a median and hit an on-coming car. No excessive speed was attributed to the fatality.
If the law-enforcement community really cared about preventing highway carnage, there would be random checks of sobriety and alertness on these roads instead of the radar toting gestapo.
-ted
May 8th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Yet they don’t have time for actual crimes against society like theft, vandalism, etc. I guess the difference is those crimes don’t pay (the police that is).
Once again I will say that, in many cases, other, more serious crimes are solved due to leads from traffic stops. Tim McVeigh was stopped for a license plate issue. My brother is a narcotics officer who will tell you that many of their leads came from traffic stops (not all speeding, but quite a few). We have had conversations about this topic before.
To say that they don’t have time for “actual crimes” is just silly and shows what little that person knows about law enforcement.
I have a really novel idea - obey the posted speed limit and you will not get a ticket.
Do I agree with all the speed limits I see? No; some are too low and some are actually too high. Do I believe that “speed kills”? No, bad driving kills. Speed does increase the severity of a crash, but speed, in and of itself, does not kill.
However, given the skill of the typical American driver and the amount of attention they pay to what is going on, I think the speed limits are, generally speaking, about right. Like I said, some are too low and some are too high, but there are too many people who don’t need to be driving 40, much less 70+ mph.
I think it is too easy and too cheap to get and keep a license in this country. I think the training should be more intense and it should cost more than $16 for a four year license. Of course, no one in positions of power would abdicate such policies since they would be deemed a “burden” to many people.
I just don’t understand the reason people are so up in arms about this. I do just fine at 70 mph on the highway. I used to commute about 70 miles one way to work. If I want to go out and drive faster, I know I may be caught and ticketed. That’s the way it works.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:19 am
This is the sort of shit you get when you continualy bow down to tyrants.
As for the residents of Suffolk County, if God didn’t want them to be fleeced, he wouldn’t have made them sheep.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:30 am
you can’t blame the police for helping to balance their budget by enforcing the law, can you ;)
just a thought:
maybe, if the masses were better, less distracted drivers, there wouldn’t nearly as many accidents (at any ‘reasonable’ speed)… - then, there wouldn’t be the need for putting as much money into traffic enforcement and thus less speeding tickets…
May 8th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Absolutely shocking how quickly the UK is accelerating down the steep, slippery slope of big-brother, police state nannyism. God help the British citizens/taxpayers who foot the bill for this instrusive surveillance and the very salaries of the police and the bureacrats who are foisting this travesty of freedom and justice on its citizens. And God help us in the U.S. from going down the same dark path.