[OldRidgeback]

This is an interesting article and suggests just why the UK approach to improving road safety through the use of speed cameras has been so ineffective – as most of us know from our road experience, SMIDSY is the biggest worry and this applies to motorcycling as much as it does to cycling:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/road-safety/8702111/How-do-accidents-happen.html

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[OldRidgeback]

People driving too close are
People driving too close are a major cause of accidents. This happens when people are in a hurry but cannot overtake. When someone tailgates me and I’m in the car I generally slow down. Some get the message and some get even more enraged. It’s interesting looking at tailgating from the perspective of a motorcyclist or cyclist – you understand then just how pointless it is.

DfT data says that innappropriate speed is only a factor and not a major cause of accidents. I still think SMIDSY is the real killer on the road and is the one thing the DfT should really be targeting.

[Campag_10]

It reads to me that
It reads to me that inappropriate (high) speed is a factor in a large proportion of accidents. Intuitively, I believe that travelling too close to the vehicle in front is a significant issue – which has the same net result as excess speed – “nowhere to go”.

[OldRidgeback]

It’s all in the
It’s all in the interpretation I suppose – I read it quite differently.

[Tony Farrelly]

Just shows you that it’s all
Just shows you that it’s all a matter of perspective just from reading that news report I’d say the report reinforces the point about speed being the biggest contributing factor – which is slightly different from “speeding” and includes not only breaking the speed limit, but also inappropriate speed for the conditions, driver reaction time – biggest limiting factor is surely going too fast.

SMIDSY is definitely important but according to the report “loss of control” accounts for 34 per cent of fatal accidents – “which, says Greig, often means leaving yourself with “nowhere to go” after entering a bend or other situation, too quickly.” And then there’s failure to judge other person’s path or speed – I’d suggest that either they or you travelling too fast might be a contibuting factor there as well.

Not surprisingly I suppose this does cover much the same ground as this report commissioned by the DfT in to collissions involving cyclsts http://www.trl.co.uk/online_store/reports_publications/trl_reports/cat_road_user_safety/report_collisions_involving_pedal_cyclists_on_britain_s_roads_establishing_the_causes_.htm

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