Maybe I shouldn’t mock National days (National Roundabout appreciation day) – I just found out that it is National Walk to Work Week (Dept of Transport) Other potential good news for road users is a government initiative to fine on the spot careless driving.
The fixed penalty notices have been designed with a view to clamping down on “boy racers”, who drive aggressively by tailgating, undertaking or cutting up fellow motorists, along with other offenders such as repeat law-breakers and those who drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol. (Guardian)
Presumably it could also include using mobile phone, passing too closely and too quickly to cyclists.
The government say it was a mistake just to rely on speed cameras. The Transport secretary Phillip Hammond says:
“The big problem under the last government was using technology. Speed cameras were installed and speed became the only focus of the road safety agenda. It ceased to be a road safety agenda and became a speed agenda,” added Hammond.
It is true that we need to focus on more than speed, but speed is still an important factor. Despite the unpopularity of speed cameras, I still feel we need to do more to reduce speed in many congested city centre areas.(20mph Zones)
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I agree, penalising such behaviour is definitely important. If only these fines were easy to implement. It doesn’t seem to have stopped people using their phones whilst driving. I doubt they will prove much of a deterrent.
“Boy Racers”? That’s a bit unfair, The Guardian. I see aggressive and inconsiderate driving every day on the road, whether I’m cycling or driving, and the offenders are pretty equal in terms of age and gender.
Fixed penalties sound great, but a policeman has to see the “crime/transgression”. How often do you see a policeman? Perhaps one in 5,000 transgressions would be recorded and acted upon, even then on route to something else a traffic cop is going to ignore them. Overall it will not make a scrap of difference to cycling commuters such as myself, but it will bring in money to the exchequer, which is probably the real reason for the exercise.
Hi Tejvan
Swindon is only down the road from you – to experience the same sort of knowledge of life and death as a bungee-jumper, parachutist or Russian roulette player, have you tried cycling various routes across the famous Magic Roundabout during the evening rush hour on a Friday?
Truly an experience – but start off at about 3am and get some practice in first!
Keep up the good work on the blog, I love reading it,
Regards
Mike