Road safety and speed

Speeding is bad driving.  Drivers shouls always be capable of driving within the speed limit.

The speed limit is the absolute maximum you should drive.  It does not mean it’s safe to drive at that speed regardless of conditions.  Driving too fast for the road and traffic conditions can be dangerous.

You should always reduce your speed when:

• The road layout or condition presents hazards, such as bends
• You’re sharing the road with pedestrians and cyclists (particularly children) and motorcyclists
• Weather conditions mean that it’s safer to slow down
• You’re driving at night – as it’s harder to see other road users.

It doesn’t matter how good a driver you think you are, or how good a car’s engineering and brakes are, you can't contradict the laws of physics.  The faster you drive the longer it will take you to stop.

The distance it takes your vehicle to stop is affected by a number of things including load, tyres, brakes, road surface, driving ability and design and type of vehicle.

Details of current national speed limits and stopping distances can be found in rules 117-126 (Control of the Vehicle) of the highway code at www.highwaycode.gov.uk

Around ten people die every day on Britain’s roads.  At least a third of deaths and injuries on the road are due to people driving too fast for the conditions.  Two thirds of accidents where people are killed or seriously injured happen on roads with 30mph speed limits.  

Yet 70% of drivers regularly break the speed limit on these roads, usually by about 5mph.  Those few miles per hour may not seem like much to you when you’re inside the car, but for pedestrians or cyclists it makes a huge difference.

In order to reduce the number of casualties caused by speeding drivers and riders, Nottinghamshire County Council undertakes a variety of activities.  These activities can be classed under the following headings:

Engineering

Ways of reducing casualties, caused by inappropriate or excessive speed, have included:

•Traffic calming – through the use of humps, cushions and plateaux

•Road width reduction – through the use of build-outs etc

•Warning signs – particularly used at the location of bends

•Interactive speed signs – which give information on vehicle speeds

•Safety Cameras – located at casualty sites

For details of safety camera locations in Nottinghamshire visit www.nottspeed.co.uk

Education

Education, training and publicity are used to complement other road casualty reduction measures and to stand alone.

Activities undertaken include:

•Bus back, radio and other media advertising

•Educational activities in schools and colleges

•Promotional materials – e.g. pens carrying ‘Slow Down’ messages

•Multi-agency events for 6th form students and the public in general

•Use of the Safety Camera web-site, visit www.nottspeed.co.uk

Enforcement

Enforcement of speeding laws is undertaken by the Police or through the Safety Camera Partnership.

For more details about the use of safety cameras visit www.nottspeed.co.uk