How can we reduce road accidents?

[TWR]

[another-view]

Ban cars

[cherrychapstick]

take the idiots off the road ,i know that's harder than it sounds but get rid of the idiots with the sports cars 1st and the others can follow ,i was on the m74 last Wednesday night when a lorry overturned about 200 yards from where i stopped ,on the way back up the next day at the very same spot a sports car had came right off the road,and was nearly on the north bound lane he was travelling south !!! think how many people he could have killed ,2 people had died at the same bit the Saturday before through speeding in the treacherous weather some people have no sense what-so ever

[jake-the-peg]

Actually the UK has one of the worlds best road safety records - if not *the* best.

But still there are about 10 people a day killed on the roads.

Probably one of the things we could do is to impose a 1 or 2 year probation period duriing which time newly qualified drivers could not drive between 7pm and 6 am.

Young drivers can already get reduced insurance by agreeing to this -if the insurance companies think this reduces the risk enough to offer a discount, I suspect they'd reduce accidents applied across the board

[cherrychapstick]

lol ,i'm not that bad some guy's are good drivers just like some women wish they would respect us enough to see that!!!

[cherrychapstick]

That's a good idea Jake ,but the problem there is that they wouldn't stick to it ,many young drivers the now don't even have insurance because at 17 who can afford to pay out over a grand for insurance when there motors are usually not worth half of that ,and some that do its there parents who are insuring the cars so it ends up when these young GUYS have accidents they ususally do a bunk and when the parents find out the phone the police and say the motor has been stolen (this is from experince )when my ex and i were run off the road by a car coming down the wrong side !! an ex police was driving a lorry and took the boys descriptions and they were known to the police but because they phoned there dad right after he phoned to say the car had been stolen there was nothing they could do found the motor totally burnt out so no evidence

[jake-the-peg]

You don't think they just take their word for it do you?

They have a small box fitted to the car - they get a refund if they've obeyed the rule.

People don't stick to drink driving either - that's why we have breath tests, the fact that some people will break the law is no reason not to pass it.

[jake-the-peg]

Here's another idea that's been knocking around a while.

Cars number plates are read whilst they are getting fuel. If the numberplate flags up as stolen or wanted in connection with something the fuel pump will not operate.

Makes stolen, uninsured, untaxed cars an awful lot of trouble to run

[cherrychapstick]

i quite like that idea actually jake,but do you think the government would put that into practice ,i know id feel a lot safer on the road if they did

[jake-the-peg]

There are complications - like buy in from petrol companies who's minimum wage staff are not being paid to enforce the law.

I think it came from the government a couple of years back - it's probably knocking around in a feasibility study - after all - if it wen't wrong you could have an awful lot of pi$$ed off motorists!

[cherrychapstick]

There is that but they have to start somewhere,young drivers should be on probation for longer drink drivers should get their licences took off them for a minimum of 5 years with a retest to sit ,cars that are there to basically break the speed limit should be removed ,there is no need for sports cars when the speed limit is 70 :s

[Panic Button]

Replace all steering wheel airbags with vicious lokking spikes.

[Panic Button]

Looking, not lokking, sorry

[flip_flop]

Raise the drving age to 21, if not for all, then definitely for young men. They don't possess the maturity to drive a car.

Mandatory re-tests for anybody over the age of 70.

[jake-the-peg]

Mqandatory tests for the over 70s would be impractical there are just too many - mandatory eye sight tests for the over 70s would be workable.

I don't think you could raise the driving age to 21 lots of reasons but a big one is that 18-21 year olds vote!

You could get away with a hike to 18 I think

[vulcan]

Until the driving/testing system is overhauled accidents will continue to happen, irrespective of age. A Learner is not taught to drive but to pass the driving test, which in itself is totally inadequate.
Night driving,motorway,speed and skid pad skills are not taught but once the learner has passed the test they are legally allowed to to drive on the motorway, up to seventy miles an hour,in freezing fog,at night time.
everybody should be re- tested 1 year after passing the test and every five years after that.
Before anybody says this will be too expensive, how many millions are spent each year dealing with death and destruction ?

[mollykins]

I thought they were changing the driving age. If you were born in 1994 you had to be 18.

[mollykins]

Or was this just an idea that hasnt been put into place yet?

[Hymie]

What jake-the-peg says is true, up to around 5 years ago.

Over the last 10-15 years in the UK, the authorities (police, government etc), have stuck to the mantra that speed cameras reduce road accidents. Their proliferation continues a pace, with no reduction in the numbers killed on the UK’s roads.

In other parts of the world, they have been looking at and implementing measures to reduce road traffic accidents. Other countries in Europe now have lower death rates on their roads – a trend that will continue while we stick to collecting tax from speed cameras under false pretences.