YP Letters: Speed is not the only cause of fatalities on roads

From: Hugh Rogers, Messingham Road, Ashby.
Do more drivers need to have better speed awareness?Do more drivers need to have better speed awareness?
Do more drivers need to have better speed awareness?

What does “speeding” actually mean? Is it driving around like a maniac?

Or, as the police seem to believe, simply exceeding a statutory speed limit?

I ask because they are two very different situations.

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Official figures make it clear that speed, by itself, whether in excess of the limit or not, rarely kills.

More important factors are the major cause of accidents. Like impatience, inattention, ignorance and arrogance.

And that is true of pedestrians and cyclists as well as motorists.

So getting local residents to do the job of police by giving them speed guns to use against vehicles they think are speeding won’t cut death on the roads.

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What is needed is a holistic approach by us all. Vehicles shouldn’t be driven unsafely. Drivers should learn the basic rules of the road and 
exercise patience and forethought.

Cyclists should ride responsibly in ways which do not inconvenience or irritate other road users. Pedestrians should look before they cross the road.

The authorities should stop pretending that speed is the only cause of fatalities, because it simply isn’t true.

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