{"id":354,"date":"2019-09-19T16:03:36","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T16:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.andyrussellmedia.co.uk\/?p=354"},"modified":"2019-09-19T16:03:36","modified_gmt":"2019-09-19T16:03:36","slug":"putting-a-brake-on-speeding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andyrussellmedia.co.uk\/blog\/putting-a-brake-on-speeding\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting a brake on speeding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>After 42 years of driving, and what must be nearly one\nmillion miles of motoring on two and four wheels, I have notched up my first\nspeeding offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have always been speed aware, particularly in built-up\nareas with low speed limits, so to be pictured by a camera at 37mph in a 30mph\nzone came as a surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A momentary lapse of concentration and my brain telling\nme it was a 40mph limit \u2013 it switches back to 40mph further along the road \u2013\nsaw me passing the camera at 40mph on the button only to receive the bad news\nin the post a couple of days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I opted to attend a national speed awareness course for\n\u00a390, rather than pay a \u00a3100 fine and take three points on my unblemished\nlicence. It was money well spent!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andyrussellmedia.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/30mph-sign-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-359\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.andyrussellmedia.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/30mph-sign-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.andyrussellmedia.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/30mph-sign-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.andyrussellmedia.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/30mph-sign-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.andyrussellmedia.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/30mph-sign.jpg 579w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption>The speed limit was 30mph when I passed the camera &#8211; I thought it was 40mph!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I was expecting four dull hours of being lectured about\nbeing a naughty speeder but it was enjoyable, entertaining and educational,\ndelivered in a serious, but fun, way that really helped get the message across.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It started with a photo quiz in which we had to work out\nthe speed limit for various stretches of road and speed limits are for different\ntypes of highway, bearing in mind they vary if you are driving a van, lorry or\ntowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I didn\u2019t realise smart motorways reduce the speed limit\nto 40, 50 or 60mph to keeping traffic flowing miles further on by avoiding the\ntraffic bunching. So when the speed limit drops to 50mph don\u2019t question the\nfact there are no roadworks, accidents or such like. There is a genuine reason\nthat\u2019s out of sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pay extra attention to signs<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Speed limits often change near junctions so pay extra\nattention there and look for the \u2018gateway\u2019 limit signs each side of the road to\nshow the speed change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think a couple of miles per hour over the speed\nlimit doesn\u2019t really make a difference, you would have been amazed at a\nhard-hitting video\u2026 in every sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>A modern family car stopped from 30mph in 23 metres under emergency braking. A cardboard box, representing a pedestrian, was then placed where it had stopped.<\/li><li> At 31mph the car hit the box at 8mph &#8211; at 35mph it was still travelling at 18mph.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>From 20mph, the car needed 12 metres to stop &#8211; at 25mph it hit the box at 15mph.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Travelling at 50mph, the stopping distance was 70 metres &#8211; at 55mph it was travelling at 23mph when it hit the box.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>At 70mph, it took 90 metres to complete an emergency stop &#8211; at 80mph it was still travelling at 39mph.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Between 30 and 40mph the risk of killing a person you hit soars from 7% to 31%.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Speed affects stopping, not arrival time!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Speed doesn\u2019t really affect arrival time but it does\nimpact on a car\u2019s ability to stop. Double your speed and you quadruple your\nstopping distance\u2026 and that\u2019s on a dry road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nationally, around 5% of accidents happen on motorways,\nabout 33% on rural roads and some 63% on urban roads. In Norfolk, 70% are on\nrural roads. And 93% of accidents are down to driver or rider error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the message is very much know the limit, why it\nmatters, how to stay in control and select a safe speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This educational speed awareness course also included\nknowing why speed creeps up, such a going downhill, and how to use second gear\nin a 20mph zone and third in a 30mph limit to help keep the speed down. You\ncould use a speed limiter or cruise control, if fitted, but technology is just an\naid to help control speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8216;Funnel vision&#8217; not &#8216;tunnel vision&#8217;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We also learned about the need for \u2018funnel vision\u2019 rather\nthan \u2018tunnel vision\u2019 \u2013 being more aware of what is each side of the road,\nincluding road signs, and dropping back from the car in front when being\n\u2018tailgated\u2019 to increase your \u2018safety bubble\u2019. It means you don\u2019t have to brake\nso hard to stop which could prevent the vehicle tailgating you shunting into\nyour rear end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of you will be saying I now sound like an\nanti-speeding zealot. So be it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I paid the price of speeding but it was only \u00a390 and four\nhours of my time. If I\u2019d hit someone while speeding it could have cost them\ntheir life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The prospect of having to live with that \u2013 for the\nvictim\u2019s and my own family and friends, as well as me \u2013 would be too high a\nprice to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next time you\u2019re following a car or motorcycle sticking to the speed limit, don\u2019t get impatient and tailgate. Just consider that it could be me, or someone like me, who has done a speed awareness course and realises the value of their driving licence and the safety of other road-users.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After 42 years of driving, and what must be nearly one million miles of motoring on two and four wheels, I have notched up my first speeding offence. I have always been speed aware, particularly in built-up areas with low speed limits, so to be pictured by a camera at 37mph in a 30mph zone &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.andyrussellmedia.co.uk\/blog\/putting-a-brake-on-speeding\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Putting a brake on speeding&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[27,30,23,25,29,28,24,26],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Putting a brake on speeding - Andy Russell Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.andyrussellmedia.co.uk\/blog\/putting-a-brake-on-speeding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Putting a brake on speeding - Andy Russell Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After 42 years of driving, and what must be nearly one million miles of motoring on two and four wheels, I have notched up my first speeding offence. 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