From the Times:
Clusters of speed cameras that will monitor drivers’ average speed on all routes across a wide area are to be deployed on hundreds of roads next year.
It will be impossible to evade detection because the digital cameras will cover every entry and exit point and, unlike the earlier speed cameras, will never run out of film.
From Roadcraft, The Essential Police Drivers’ Handbook, which is also used by all the advanced driving organisations:
Good driving depends on constructive attitudes and consideration for other road users. There is already a great deal of potential conflict on the roads without adding to it by selfish and aggressive behaviour. Such behaviour increases the stress levels of other drivers and increases the risk of accidents. Many drivers become unnecessarily angry when other road users interrupt their progress. You can reduce the risk of accidents for yourself and everyone else by being more tolerant and by avoiding actions which create unnecessary stress.
The Handbook goes on to call for driving at a speed which is safe for the conditions and quite right too. Now, how do we reconcile the proposal with the Handbook and what we witness every time we drive? Surely, extensive average speed monitoring will create stress, worsen bad attitudes and promote anger. Surely it will be perceived as constantly interrupting progress, whether or not it does.
It is indisputable that every day this country sees mass civil disobedience in one regard: the speed limit out of town, particularly on the motorways. We are not being governed by consent in this respect and we are reacting with a bad attitude to authority. Is governing through increasingly comprehensive oppression — even if it is mild — likely to improve attitudes?
This government seems determined to control our lives: see also the tags “Authoritarianism” and “Liberty”. What are you going to do about it?
Please sign here and consider how you can get this message out. You can write to your MP in a trice here.
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