Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => On The Road => Topic started by: toontra on 23 January, 2018, 09:55:33 am
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Analysis of the first few months of their operation on a 51 mile stretch of the A90 in Scotland suggests they virtually eliminate speeding (down to less than 1% from a previous 20%).
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/angus-mearns/584845/a90-average-cameras-between-dundee-and-stonehaven-bring-startling-reversal-in-speeding-drivers/ (https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/angus-mearns/584845/a90-average-cameras-between-dundee-and-stonehaven-bring-startling-reversal-in-speeding-drivers/)
I've thought for years this is the only way to stop speeding and these figures would seem to bear this out, so why is it so sparingly used?
Presumably it's only a matter of time before all vehicles are fitted with tracking devices (whether for safety or insurance purposes) that could also make speeding punitive, and driverless vehicles will obviously stick the limits, so are we on the cusp of an end to speeding?
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The A9 is way, way better since they put in Average cameras. The quality of driving has improved dramatically and the number of crashes is significantly reduced.
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I have no hard evidence but on the one stretch of road that I know well and on which the bright yellow boxes have been replaced by average speed cameras there has (in my experience) definitely been a massive reduction in speeding (it is a 50mph dual carriageway on which it was hard to do 70 without being tailgated by someone who wanted to go faster).
It's also deterred the idiots who would race up towards the cameras, brake hard for a couple of hundred yards and then accelerate again.
On the other point, I'm not sure we will see all vehicles fitted with tracking devices in the foreseeable future. In any case, without enforcement, they will be as effective as speed limit signs and, I imagine, disabled by the more determined.
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On the other point, I'm not sure we will see all vehicles fitted with tracking devices in the foreseeable future. In any case, without enforcement, they will be as effective as speed limit signs and, I imagine, disabled by the more determined.
If they are involved in an 'incident' the fact that a vehicle modification has taken place will give their insurer a neat get-out from making a pay-out.
They will then have a black mark against them on the insurance database.
Obviously this will then be an incentive to drive uninsured, a practice that could also be made more difficult as tech advances.
The day will come when driving really is the privilege it is in theory.
1st offence, your car is crushed
2nd offence you are in it. :demon:
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You just want to fleece the poor misunderstood motorist, don't you? dincha know that speeding when nobody is looking is an inalienable RIGHT??
More seriously, over this side of town a lot of the North Circular has gone average speed, along with the A13 with similar beneficial results.
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I have no hard evidence but on the one stretch of road that I know well and on which the bright yellow boxes have been replaced by average speed cameras there has (in my experience) definitely been a massive reduction in speeding...
The A77 Average Speed Camera system covers some 32 miles from Bogend Toll near Symington to Ardwell Bay, south of Girvan. The reduction in accidents and fatalities delivered by Average Speed Camera systems speak for themselves. With the A77 scheme now running for over 10 years there is a considerable amount of data available and the latest figures covering the last three years to July 2015 indicate that there has been a 77% reduction in fatal casualties and a 74% reduction in serious casualties compared with the original baseline published in 2005.
from here (http://www.safetycameras.gov.scot/news-publications/news/a77-average-speed-camera-upgrade/)
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Having watched the M3 system being put in place (albeit with carriageway upgrades), it appears to be a significant undertaking, with huge new gantries at regular intervals. But yes, it does work.
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Having watched the M3 system being put in place (albeit with carriageway upgrades), it appears to be a significant undertaking, with huge new gantries at regular intervals. But yes, it does work.
Presumably a lot less infrastructure is required for single/dual carriageways. The A104 Epping Road (the direct cycle route north-east out of London) would appear to be an eminent candidate. Long fairly straight road with few side turnings and the majority of motorists speeding.
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I remember when they appeared on the A610 in Nottingham. Suddenly everyone was keeping to 30mph and leaving a decent gap. It was lovely.
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Average speed cameras would seem to be a 'no-brainer' for roads with a high incidence of collisions. I can think of a number of roads in Oxfordshire that would benefit.
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It's also deterred the idiots who would race up towards the cameras, brake hard for a couple of hundred yards and then accelerate again.
Though not all of them. It appears that some drivers think that average speed cameras work by taking an average of the speeds that you pass each one at. :D
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When instaaled on the A14 a number of years ago, they made a significant improvement.
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When instaaled on the A14 a number of years ago, they made a significant improvement.
Though you still get the odd pillock shooting down the outside lane at 90+; I'm never sure whether they're people who don't understand the concept of averages, or whether they've just got cloned plates or what have you.
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A couple of years ago I was regularly driving some Somerset to Hull and back. This was when the 'smart motorway' around Nottingham was being constructed. For most of my journeys there were three major sets of road works. Two, on the M5 and the aforementioned Nottingham area, had average speed cameras. The third, on the M18, didn't. Where there was an average speed camera you could set the cruise control to 50 and sit there, moving along with all the traffic. On the M18 it was as if there was no restriction at all.
People will respond if they feel there is a reasonable chance of being caught. Otherwise...
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Having watched the M3 system being put in place (albeit with carriageway upgrades), it appears to be a significant undertaking, with huge new gantries at regular intervals. But yes, it does work.
Presumably a lot less infrastructure is required for single/dual carriageways.
The huge gantries are primarily there for the smart motorway / variable limit signs. Average speed cameras (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.3350293,-0.7207052,3a,75y,15.42h,107.32t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sVcRDTfYldZYprmAk_R058w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) were there throughout the roadworks and could cover all three reduced width lanes from poles at the left side of the road. The permanent speed cameras are now on the gantries but that doesn't say anything about their type.
Those on the M25 (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.3884083,-0.5262762,3a,75y,111.77h,95.85t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sf3c0osU4K1_xEnNRKzCh1g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) and M42 (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.3660618,-1.7998892,3a,75y,241.66h,109.64t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sdhXZ1VlbWJHDNYByBskEUw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) variable speed sections are not average. The permanent ones on the M3 could be average but I don't drive it daily any more and have only been on it a few times since the works ended so I haven't had the chance to look.
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The A90 and A9 are so much better for driving on now :thumbsup:
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So, here they tackled speeding and tailgating by making it illegal to drive (at the speed limit) in the outer lane if someone faster comes up behind you.
Claimed it caused dangerous driving because people couldn't speed and and would make risky maneuvers.
Previous provincial gov't removed speedcameras and every body speeds here. Including the police. Been here almost 10 years now and have seen speed controls 3 times...2 of them on the same day.
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Now I have a work van with cruise control I'm not fussed by them. Unfortunately they don't seem to work for really slowing people down and apparently don't apply to hgv's as when I drop into inside lane and set it for 50kph if that's the speed limit I end up getting overtaken or tailgated by the lorry's.
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When instaaled on the A14 a number of years ago, they made a significant improvement.
+1 to that, now they need to put it along more of it, it's really made a difference around Cambridge/Huntingdon
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Now I have a work van with cruise control I'm not fussed by them. Unfortunately they don't seem to work for really slowing people down and apparently don't apply to hgv's as when I drop into inside lane and set it for 50kph if that's the speed limit I end up getting overtaken or tailgated by the lorry's.
Check your actual speed with a GPS. If I set my cruise at 52mph I don’t get tailgated and the car is going at 50
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Wonder what Paul Smith would've made of it all?
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The A14 between Huntingdon and Cambridge was another classic case where accident numbers were slashed by the use of these cameras
I do love the warning systems though ......traffic calming made easy.
A lot tend to rely on public input, so if you want to traffic calm then simply post a speed camera and the speed merchants either avoid or slow down because their StNav etc told them it was there
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Wonder what Paul Smith would've made of it all?
on his legacy site they say stuff like "The av cams cause horrendous overtaking manoeuvres and mass frustration as all the traffic is bunched up."
Which is utter BS. That's what used to happen, it doesn't now. It really doesn't.
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Wonder what Paul Smith would've made of it all?
on his legacy site they say stuff like "The av cams cause horrendous overtaking manoeuvres and mass frustration as all the traffic is bunched up."
Which is utter BS. That's what used to happen, it doesn't now. It really doesn't.
Like most of the site's ramblings.
Had that been the case then there would have been increases, not decreases
Mind you at times his site was more rational than the Alliance of British Bad Drivers:
"We think that this gives the lie to the idea that they are used at accident black-spots - measuring someone's speed over a long distance is completely irrelevant to safety.
"It's even worse in an urban area where people are going along with their eye on the speedometer and not on the prevailing road conditions.
"The whole thing goes against arguments that people used to justify speed cameras in the past.
"The whole thing is a nonsense."
Average speed cameras will just make drivers switch off their brains and turn them into cruise control missiles
"Overall, average speed cameras are a terrible nightmare for motorists, who hate travelling on roads equipped with them,they are the ultimate embodiment of the late Auberon Waugh's great quotation that "speed cameras are fatuous instruments of oppression designed to exercise power for its own sake and impose subservience" and their use should be confined to motorway roadworks where they have a marginal benefit and do little harm."
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A6097 (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.9831585,-0.9852592,3a,75y,152h,99.95t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sk2aC7opkk3sQb4XP49-d3A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en) NE Of Nottm was the first non smart motorway roadworks average sp cam route I've driven on, last yr. I can't see any disadvantages.
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I find it outrageously laughable that if there's a threat of a speeding ticket you have to stare at your speedometer.
Part of the basic skill of driving is managing how fast you drive.
Since SafeSpod and the ABD can't do that without behaving dangerously, maybe they should take the bus. Or cycle.
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Those average speed zones are even easier when the car one is driving has adaptive cruise control - ie the system that maintains a certain distance to the vehicle in front based on radar. Simply set the cruise control to the required speed and just steer without having to even worry about slowing catching up with the vehicle in front.
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Reckon is should try 50mph rather then 50kph. According to sat Nav my Speedo is 1 to 2 miles slow so indicated 60 is 58 on sat Nav. It's whether I can trust the sat Nav to be accurate.
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Speedos are not allowed to read slower than true speed, but can be up to 10% fast. Satnav generally gives a more accurate reading, but can fluctuate at times.
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Sat Nav is also always historic - the speed you were traveling between two past points.
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Sat Nav is also always historic - the speed you were traveling between two past points.
GPS receivers usually measure speed by doppler shift, not distance/time, so the speed reading is instantaneous (and impressively accurate). But yes, the high-level processor only usually gets a sample from the GPS chipset every second or more, and it can go wibbly in poor reception conditions.
Not that wheel rotation sensors are any more responsive, given the low-pass filtering (mechanical or electronic) involved. And their calibration is deliberately sloppy (because of the legal requirement not to under-read) and prone to drift with things like tyre wear/pressure.
In general, I'd trust a GPS to give a more accurate measure of crusiing speed, but it's the speedo I'd keep an eye on to avoid speeding.
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How do these cameras catch drivers that are inattentive?
Used to drive down the A13 quite alot and the times you could excide the speed limit were usually were during non rush hour times. Also the speed limit has been reduced over time. I get the feeling, from using the north circ that speed isnt an issue.
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I was very pleased when the A127, which is the dual carriageway serving Southend, was reduced to 50mph and average speed cameras installed. I used to use it several times a week as my route out of Southend and it was quite often jammed up after some crash or other. that became very infrequent after the speed cameras were introduced.
Shortly after this introduction, I recall a discussion at my brother's dining table. Both my brother and sister were up in arms about their "ability" to drive at 70mph along a dual carriageway that was scarcely any different from its state when it was opened in the 1930s. (Even Clement Attlee complained about it when he was PM.) The discussion became quite heated when I said how much better I thought it was that the 50 limit had been introduced. For much of the day the sheer volume of traffic made it impossible to drive safely at a higher speed, and I remain convinced it was drivers trying to exercise their inalienable right to drive at just over the 70mph speed limit that caused all the problems.
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The capacity of a road is greatest at speeds of between 35 and 50mph, as faster traffic has longer gaps between vehicles.
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Speedos are not allowed to read slower than true speed, but can be up to 10% fast. Satnav generally gives a more accurate reading, but can fluctuate at times.
The one in my holiday hire car last year read 3 mph less than Emily the SatNav's figure, which I found curious. Unless she's got Droid Rot.
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Speedos are not allowed to read slower than true speed, but can be up to 10% fast. Satnav generally gives a more accurate reading, but can fluctuate at times.
The one in my holiday hire car last year read 3 mph less than Emily the SatNav's figure, which I found curious. Unless she's got Droid Rot.
'tis a Conspirusy, I tell you
The exil anti-speeding Elite have got to the SatNav companies and forced them to reduce the speed - hence depriving motorists even further of teh right to drive like muppets
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A6097 (https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.9831585,-0.9852592,3a,75y,152h,99.95t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sk2aC7opkk3sQb4XP49-d3A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en) NE Of Nottm was the first non smart motorway roadworks average sp cam route I've driven on, last yr. I can't see any disadvantages.
The nearby A614 which also has them, is fairly straight but undulating with lots of blind summits. There used to be a lot of dangerous overtaking but with the average cams there is hardly any overtaking now.
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The capacity of a road is greatest at speeds of between 35 and 50mph, as faster traffic has longer gaps between vehicles.
When I calculated these things as a 6th former, using stopping distances from the Highway Code, flow was best at something under 20mph....
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18mph is the speed usually quoted, I think.
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Can cycle faster than that.
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The capacity of a road is greatest at speeds of between 35 and 50mph, as faster traffic has longer gaps between vehicles.
Supposed to have longer gaps.
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Well yes, that's the point! The traffic flow 'sweet spot' is between 15 and 20mph, a speed many cyclists will use.
Most petrolheads won't accept the simple mathematical truth!
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The capacity of a road is greatest at speeds of between 35 and 50mph, as faster traffic has longer gaps between vehicles.
These are the figures for motorways, and would think dual carriageways are similar.
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I don't think the maths or physics vary with the type of road!
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I don't think the maths or physics vary with the type of road!
The conditions do, though. Dual cabbageways often have features that motorways don't - traffic lights, roundabouts, junctions without sliproads, etc. which are likely to affect the sweet spot for traffic throughput. Probably in the downwards direction.
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I don't think the maths or physics vary with the type of road!
The conditions do, though. Dual cabbageways often have features that motorways don't - traffic lights, roundabouts, junctions without sliproads, etc. which are likely to affect the sweet spot for traffic throughput. Probably in the downwards direction.
Indeed, it just gets you to the next stopping point (or traffic) sooner, when the slower vehicles catch up. While using far more fuel and putting far more stress on your car. But no, there's convincing many drivers of this, despite the fact they experience it every time they get in their car.
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https://web.engr.uky.edu/~rsouley/CE%20331/Part%20III%20F13/Traffic-4-TrafficFlowFundamentals.ppt (https://web.engr.uky.edu/~rsouley/CE%20331/Part%20III%20F13/Traffic-4-TrafficFlowFundamentals.ppt)
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Well yes, that's the point! The traffic flow 'sweet spot' is between 15 and 20mph, a speed many cyclists will use.
Most petrolheads won't accept the simple mathematical truth!
So that means that to make best use of our roadspace we should time traffic lights etc for traffic speeds of 15-20mph. I'm not sure what that will do to bus speeds, mind.
And demand that vehicles are most efficient/quiet and least polluting at those speeds.
And restore the element of axle weight to the vehicle excise duty and link payment thereof to mileage completed so that as the vehicle produces emissions and causes wear to the roads, so shall it be charged theretofore.
Just have to encourage the proto-cyclists until they can match vehicular speed. Maybe that mamil film ...
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Back in the 1970s I read an interview with a chauffeur from Victor Britain, which was basically a mega-posh minicab outfit run by Avis, who reckoned that if you timed it just right you could cruise down the A4 from the Chiswick roundabout to Piccadilly Circus at a steady 20 mph and not have to touch the brakes. His company car was a Rolls-Royce Phantom VI weighing about three tons so as well as being more comfortable for the posho in the back the fuel savings were considerable.
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I don't think the maths or physics vary with the type of road!
The conditions do, though. Dual cabbageways often have features that motorways don't - traffic lights, roundabouts, junctions without sliproads, etc. which are likely to affect the sweet spot for traffic throughput. Probably in the downwards direction.
Indeed, it just gets you to the next stopping point (or traffic) sooner, when the slower vehicles catch up. While using far more fuel and putting far more stress on your car. But no, there's convincing many drivers of this, despite the fact they experience it every time they get in their car.
Years of driving long distance have made me slow down long before I reach the roundabout. The idea being to reach it when there is no queue and the car in front of me is just entering the roundabout. Because my speed is low and I am in the right gear I have plenty of time to observe traffic and can frequently enter the roundabout without needing to brake (I don't brake a lot - it puzzles my garage when they check the pads). It is far less tiring doing it that way.
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I don't think the maths or physics vary with the type of road!
The conditions do, though. Dual cabbageways often have features that motorways don't - traffic lights, roundabouts, junctions without sliproads, etc. which are likely to affect the sweet spot for traffic throughput. Probably in the downwards direction.
Indeed, it just gets you to the next stopping point (or traffic) sooner, when the slower vehicles catch up. While using far more fuel and putting far more stress on your car. But no, there's convincing many drivers of this, despite the fact they experience it every time they get in their car.
Years of driving long distance have made me slow down long before I reach the roundabout. The idea being to reach it when there is no queue and the car in front of me is just entering the roundabout. Because my speed is low and I am in the right gear I have plenty of time to observe traffic and can frequently enter the roundabout without needing to brake (I don't brake a lot - it puzzles my garage when they check the pads). It is far less tiring doing it that way.
Completely agree, i never brake either, find it far better to simply steam round roundabouts at full chat as well.
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I don't think the maths or physics vary with the type of road!
The conditions do, though. Dual cabbageways often have features that motorways don't - traffic lights, roundabouts, junctions without sliproads, etc. which are likely to affect the sweet spot for traffic throughput. Probably in the downwards direction.
Indeed, it just gets you to the next stopping point (or traffic) sooner, when the slower vehicles catch up. While using far more fuel and putting far more stress on your car. But no, there's convincing many drivers of this, despite the fact they experience it every time they get in their car.
Years of driving long distance have made me slow down long before I reach the roundabout. The idea being to reach it when there is no queue and the car in front of me is just entering the roundabout. Because my speed is low and I am in the right gear I have plenty of time to observe traffic and can frequently enter the roundabout without needing to brake (I don't brake a lot - it puzzles my garage when they check the pads). It is far less tiring doing it that way.
Completely agree, i never brake either, find it far better to simply steam round roundabouts at full chat as well.
Yeah, because easing off well in advance and coasting or engine braking up to the roundabout means you're charging on at full road speed.
(The good Dr Martin can testify to the Motorway Minibus game - admittedly no roundabouts, but it's certainly possible to get from J12 of the M6 (for the Hollies, q.v passim) to the slip for Newport Pagnell services without touching the brake.)
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It's funny when I learnt to ride motorbikes there was an emphasis on forward thinking, using the gears and engine braking which can be a lot more forceful on a bike to the degree I've met advanced trained riders who rest a foot in the rear brake pedal so they have brake lights on. When I later learnt to drive I was told I used to much engine braking and should use the foot brake more.
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The use of engine braking has been Strongly Deprecated by driving instructors for many a long year; I suspect this correlates with front disc brakes becoming near-universal on ordinary cars. I blame Sir Sir Jackie Stewart for this "gears to go, brakes to slow" nonsense.
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(The good Dr Martin can testify to the Motorway Minibus game - admittedly no roundabouts, but it's certainly possible to get from J12 of the M6 (for the Hollies, q.v passim) to the slip for Newport Pagnell services without touching the brake.)
(As any other adaptive cruise user will know it's possible to get from anywhere to anywhere else without touching the brake , in any amount of traffic - as long as it hasn't got roundabouts/traffic lights that are on red... :smug:)
Not only possible, easy and pleasant.
I think when I drove to dorset I probably didn't touch the brake from M1 J24 to somerset.
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Giraffe has hired a car and used surprisingly little fuel to transport us places by smooth driving.
Smooth driving is MUCH more comfortable than the pedal-dancing used by rat-running minicab drivers!
The perpetual passenger.
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I would expect cyclists to be smoother drivers than non-cyclists. We are more aware of how to conserve momentum and not waste energy.
When in stop-start traffic, particularly on the M25, I play a little game of not quite coming to a full stop as far as possible by observing traffic movement further ahead.
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I certainly drive like a cyclist, and when I get behind the wheel of an EV/hybrid, that only encourages me.
My perpetual passenger certainly appreciates it, even if the driver behind doesn't.
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I would expect cyclists to be smoother drivers than non-cyclists. We are more aware of how to conserve momentum and not waste energy.
When in stop-start traffic, particularly on the M25, I play a little game of not quite coming to a full stop as far as possible by observing traffic movement further ahead.
Yes I do that ,it's quite an art because if you leave too big a gap, somebody will fill it.
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Two issues with average speed cameras are:
1. Lane discipline goes out the window as all the BMW and Merc drivers who used to sit at 90 in the third lane are forced to sit with everyone else, and there is a lot of undertaking and switching lanes to try and get past the guy doing 1mph slower than them.
2. 50mph average speed cameras prove what complete bastards HGV drivers are; they finally achieve their life's ambition to keep up with the cars, so they sit 3 feet from your rear bumper to shit you up, or overtake you if they think they can get away with doing 52mph. This is rather unnerving if you're in a low-slung car, because you never know if they can actually see you once they're alongside. A relative learned the hard way not to sit alongside a lorry for any longer than is absolutely necessary - she was sideswiped by a foreign HGV and the police weren't interested because they said you can't expect the driver of an LHD lorry to see you ??? :facepalm:
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Back in the 1970s I read an interview with a chauffeur from Victor Britain, which was basically a mega-posh minicab outfit run by Avis, who reckoned that if you timed it just right you could cruise down the A4 from the Chiswick roundabout to Piccadilly Circus at a steady 20 mph and not have to touch the brakes. His company car was a Rolls-Royce Phantom VI weighing about three tons so as well as being more comfortable for the posho in the back the fuel savings were considerable.
We have a family challenge to get through Thatcham on the A4 without stopping, a Herculean task with the vast number of traffic lights. I've done it twice in 30 years, most recently about four years ago. As long as your wheels keep moving, it doesn't count as a stop. I have really crawled the last ten yards to the lights sometimes, blowing frantically (does anyone else try to blow lights to green?).
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Is it a myth that you can do Slough on the A4 at a steady 28mph?
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blowing frantically (does anyone else try to blow lights to green?).
No, but barakta has a Buddhist chant for it.
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(The good Dr Martin can testify to the Motorway Minibus game - admittedly no roundabouts, but it's certainly possible to get from J12 of the M6 (for the Hollies, q.v passim) to the slip for Newport Pagnell services without touching the brake.)
(As any other adaptive cruise user will know it's possible to get from anywhere to anywhere else without touching the brake , in any amount of traffic - as long as it hasn't got roundabouts/traffic lights that are on red... :smug:)
Not only possible, easy and pleasant.
I think when I drove to dorset I probably didn't touch the brake from M1 J24 to somerset.
This was *well* before adaptive cruise control.
(Mind you, I find ACC a bit disconcerting. I suppose I've only had it on hire cars, and too infrequently to get used to it.)
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It's a bit weird at first but you get used to it. Once you know what it can and can't do and how long it takes to lock on and lock off it's pretty good. It's not so much a complete auto pilot but a tool to use in appropriate situations.
For instance sometimes when the vehicle ahead turns off and you're not, it slows down with them till about a second after they're completely out the way, but to conserve momentum you can just click it off for a second and back on again. Also just learning to recognise when resuming will result in pointless acceleration.
And before anybody asks yes it does lock onto cyclists, I've tested it.
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It isn't an option on the Mazda 6 unless you have a diesel engine AND a slushbox. So mine will have normal cruise.
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Is it a myth that you can do Slough on the A4 at a steady 28mph?
Slough had the first linked traffic lights alongside the trading estate in the 1950s, I remember them in my father's car!
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Two issues with average speed cameras are:
1. Lane discipline goes out the window as all the BMW and Merc drivers who used to sit at 90 in the third lane are forced to sit with everyone else, and there is a lot of undertaking and switching lanes to try and get past the guy doing 1mph slower than them.
2. 50mph average speed cameras prove what complete bastards HGV drivers are; they finally achieve their life's ambition to keep up with the cars, so they sit 3 feet from your rear bumper to shit you up, or overtake you if they think they can get away with doing 52mph. This is rather unnerving if you're in a low-slung car, because you never know if they can actually see you once they're alongside. A relative learned the hard way not to sit alongside a lorry for any longer than is absolutely necessary - she was sideswiped by a foreign HGV and the police weren't interested because they said you can't expect the driver of an LHD lorry to see you ??? :facepalm:
You simply adopt an inability to drive at a constant speed. Drivers stay further away from unpredictable vehicles.
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It isn't an option on the Mazda 6 unless you have a diesel engine AND a slushbox. So mine will have normal cruise.
Having to be a slushbox is understandable as it needs to be able to vary the speed of its own accord from crawling to cruising speeds, but not sure why it has to be a diesel.
I personally think it's an advantage of having an automatic.
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It isn't an option on the Mazda 6 unless you have a diesel engine AND a slushbox. So mine will have normal cruise.
Having to be a slushbox is understandable as it needs to be able to vary the speed of its own accord from crawling to cruising speeds, but not sure why it has to be a diesel.
Petrol engine throttle not fly-by-wire?
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Is it a myth that you can do Slough on the A4 at a steady 28mph?
I heard something similar about the Euston Road years ago - apparently you could get from the end of the Westway to Kings Cross station without stopping if you drove at exactly 30mph (provided the traffic was not backed up). I've never deliberately tried but I did get a 'green wave' most of the way along once driving at just under 30.
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Most cities now control lights centrally to smooth the traffic flow. For example, the inward and outward flows in the morning and evening peaks can be optimised.
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I did once draft a four-axle tipper lorry down the Edgware Road from Staples Corner to the Marylebone Road without touching the brakes ;D
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blowing frantically (does anyone else try to blow lights to green?).
No, but barakta has a Buddhist chant for it.
Om mani padme vroom.
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It isn't an option on the Mazda 6 unless you have a diesel engine AND a slushbox. So mine will have normal cruise.
Having to be a slushbox is understandable as it needs to be able to vary the speed of its own accord from crawling to cruising speeds, but not sure why it has to be a diesel.
Petrol engine throttle not fly-by-wire?
My Skoda is a diesel with a stick shift. It has ACC, which is v good.
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It isn't an option on the Mazda 6 unless you have a diesel engine AND a slushbox. So mine will have normal cruise.
Having to be a slushbox is understandable as it needs to be able to vary the speed of its own accord from crawling to cruising speeds, but not sure why it has to be a diesel.
Petrol engine throttle not fly-by-wire?
My Skoda is a diesel with a stick shift. It has ACC, which is v good.
So what does it do if you are doing 70 in 5th/6th, and it comes up to traffic doing say 20, does it just start hunting and eventually stall, if you don't change down?
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It isn't an option on the Mazda 6 unless you have a diesel engine AND a slushbox. So mine will have normal cruise.
Having to be a slushbox is understandable as it needs to be able to vary the speed of its own accord from crawling to cruising speeds, but not sure why it has to be a diesel.
Petrol engine throttle not fly-by-wire?
It might just be a sales volume thing. Allegedly fewer than 5% of them are petrol. At the moment.
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Two issues with average speed cameras are:
1. Lane discipline goes out the window as all the BMW and Merc drivers who used to sit at 90 in the third lane are forced to sit with everyone else, and there is a lot of undertaking and switching lanes to try and get past the guy doing 1mph slower than them.
2. 50mph average speed cameras prove what complete bastards HGV drivers are; they finally achieve their life's ambition to keep up with the cars, so they sit 3 feet from your rear bumper to shit you up, or overtake you if they think they can get away with doing 52mph. This is rather unnerving if you're in a low-slung car, because you never know if they can actually see you once they're alongside. A relative learned the hard way not to sit alongside a lorry for any longer than is absolutely necessary - she was sideswiped by a foreign HGV and the police weren't interested because they said you can't expect the driver of an LHD lorry to see you ??? :facepalm:
You simply adopt an inability to drive at a constant speed. Drivers stay further away from unpredictable vehicles.
Much easier just to ignore tailgaters of any kind! No HGV has adequate vision anyway but they can hear a good horn.
Don't try this at home (http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/8186734.Clitheroe_HGV_driver_who_pushed_car_along_A1_keeps_licence/):
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Two issues with average speed cameras are:
1. Lane discipline goes out the window as all the BMW and Merc drivers who used to sit at 90 in the third lane are forced to sit with everyone else, and there is a lot of undertaking and switching lanes to try and get past the guy doing 1mph slower than them.
2. 50mph average speed cameras prove what complete bastards HGV drivers are; they finally achieve their life's ambition to keep up with the cars, so they sit 3 feet from your rear bumper to shit you up, or overtake you if they think they can get away with doing 52mph. This is rather unnerving if you're in a low-slung car, because you never know if they can actually see you once they're alongside. A relative learned the hard way not to sit alongside a lorry for any longer than is absolutely necessary - she was sideswiped by a foreign HGV and the police weren't interested because they said you can't expect the driver of an LHD lorry to see you ??? :facepalm:
Applying to motor vehicles the behaviour expected of cyclists. Perhaps those "Cyclists stay back" stickers should be expanded in their audience. Unless we're going to expect drivers to use their mirrors.
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It isn't an option on the Mazda 6 unless you have a diesel engine AND a slushbox. So mine will have normal cruise.
Having to be a slushbox is understandable as it needs to be able to vary the speed of its own accord from crawling to cruising speeds, but not sure why it has to be a diesel.
Petrol engine throttle not fly-by-wire?
My Skoda is a diesel with a stick shift. It has ACC, which is v good.
So what does it do if you are doing 70 in 5th/6th, and it comes up to traffic doing say 20, does it just start hunting and eventually stall, if you don't change down?
I haven't had that situation yet. I know it can jam on the anchors automagically, with a beeping noise and blinken lights to tell me, should traffic conditions demand.
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There has been something circulating on Facebook so may or may not be true saying that the average speed cameras on the A12 on the Essex and North Essex or Suffolk as some folk call it border are linked to DVLA so know what vehicle it is and therefore the speed limits for said vehicle so 60mph for van rather then 70.
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There has been something circulating on Facebook so may or may not be true...
May not be true _yet_ but technically quite straight-forward. About the only things I can think of that might be stopping it would be inter-dept'l politics and a lack of cash.