Best way to travel 5 miles to a train station?

No. Next?

The "few" in this case is almost certainly "most" - how many drivers are
driving on false plates? Not many. Even the chavs who are uninsured are
usually on their own plates.

And it would tackle at least one emergent problem: leaving the scene.

Killing somone with a car /is/ a violent crime. I know that lawbreaking
motorists like to pretend that traffic offences are civil not criminal, but
this is not the case. Which is why they are handled by the police and the
Crown Prosecution Service.

If you don't count Harold Shipman's little blip in the figures around four
times as many people are killed by drivers as by murderers. It doesn't do
any good to pretend otherwise.

Quite the opposite. But their behaviour afterwards often is, and that's one
thing ANPR could deter.

Try again. You have a continuous input, and after however long the data
drops off the end. Most of the time nobody looks at it; if there is an
incident, the data can be reviewed to aid detection. Just like CCTV.

There certainly seem to be an increasing number of hit-and-run crimes these
days. And why not? Even if you get caught, the penalty is less than it
would be for drink-driving. Why fess up and risk losing your license?

Of course, it could be argued that meaningful penalties for motoring
offences might have a salutory deterrent effect, as they did for drink
driving...

A lot of murder victims are the result of domestic disputes - raised
tempers. Just like traffic tantrums. Carl Baxter had a previous conviction
for assult following a traffic tantrum. He have his license back before his
four-year-old victim has fully recovered from her injuries, assuming she
ever does.

In some cases realistic probability of detection /is/ prevention. Watch
people as they drive past a police cruiser on the motorway.

You seem muddled. The point is, penalties and improved chances of detection
were strongly deterrent, in a way that requiring enforcement activity to be
notified in advance and made blindingly obvious, is not.

But most.

Not all cars have seat belts. You want them removed from all cars?

Who is? I have no caring if someone wants to see if my car was on a certain
road at a certain time, or indeed if they come and interview me to eliminate
me from thier enquiries. Because, in the end, I will also benefit from that
protection.

Like dangerous drivers, you mean. Yes.

Your number plates are unreliable? Strange concept. Mine work fine.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington
University

 

If that includes not having a vehicle on the road (so it can't be detected
then I'd call that a win.

What is better, to catch a thief or deter the theft?

...d

 

On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 21:10:27 +0100, "AndrewR"

As a reductio ad absurdam, imagine cars had no brakes, and engines got
more and more more powerful.

It would be easy to get up to 100, or 150, or 200. But the drivers'
reaction times would be as slow as ever. And the drivers' reaction
distances would be going up and up and up.

The stopping distances would be huge.

Now imagine they have brakes. Remember, improvements in brakes
(discs, ventilation, ABS) improve the ability to use your brakes over
and over again, and to keep steering control of your vehicle.

They do not actually change how fast you brake.

(And there are brand new cars today that don't even meet the Highway
Code's stopping distances)

Not idiocy. See above. Over 70% of accidents have speed as a
necessary contributing cause.

Except they're not outdated. The ability of a car to accelerate
faster to higher speed is /not/ a reason to raise speed limits.

If anything, it's a reason to enforce the limits much /more/.


--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

 

Unless my speedo was broken, and many people go through faster than me.

Bill their account at the toll booth. Tick. One more entry into Oslo city
centre. When there are less than 5 or so clicks (depends on the level you
have signed up to) a little yellow light in the shape of a cross shows to
remind you that you need to top up your credit.

Yes it works sufficiently fast that it can do the check at 100+km/h, return
indications to the driver on their credit level and take pictures of those
with no credit for subsequent fines to be sent through the post.

A friend had their car stolen and it was tracked down by the same technology
as it didn't have credit for one of the other towns and the thieves drove
straight through the electronic lane rather than pay the man in the booth.
So the car was rapidly located in a town 100 miles away.

This isn't pipe dream technology, it actually works. A lot better than
queueing for manual toll booths or having to register every time you want to
pay the congestion charge in London.

No problems with obscured number plates etc.

...d

 

On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 21:10:27 +0100, "AndrewR"

Exceeding the limit per se doesn't /necessarily/ cause an accident in
any one occasion, of course. That's not the same as not putting
people in more danger.

But given that limits, especially the lower limits are associated with
areas of higher risk, it's /highly correlated/ with putting people in
more danger.

There are situations, such as travelling on a long empty road with
plenty of 'avoiding action' space, and long, long lines of sight, no
possiblity of unspotted changes in road slipperiness (film of diesel
on a damp patch, etc) no way for anyone to enter onto the road,
perfect attention by the driver, in a car which has been recently
checked for tyre condition, etc, where the additional risk is
miniscule.

Let me know when you find thes conditions. I don't ever encounter
them in the UK.

(Except at 4am on less busy stretches of the motorway system).

--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
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Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

 

Gawnsoft () gurgled
happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Actually, yes, they do. Vastly so. Especially from higher speeds.

Very few of 'em.

 

David Martin () gurgled happily, sounding much
like they were saying :

Fair enough. I'd part-forgotten, part-not-associated the auto-toll
technology with RFID.

Of course, you still haven't answered what you do with the photo of the
car on false/cloned plates? Presumably a large, rapidly emerging steel
barrier wouldn't be well received by the general public...?

 

You're saying that if I build another hospital, people will actively
injure themselves in order to make use of it? Are you sure about this?

Buckden (Where my parents live) is desperately in need of a bypass.
Principly because it now constitutes the first roundabout south of
Grantham. The increased capacity of the A14 + A1(M) means that there is
now a greatly increased flow of traffic hitting the roundabout.

The entire area has suffered however. The increased capacity roads do
not lead to similar capacity ones all the way, thus major bottlenecks
occur. Additionally, the high quantity of badly driven (Too fast, too
close) vehicles on the A14 means that there is a serious accident on it
several times a week. The high capacity road then sheds its load into
the surrounding road network, which then suffers more than it did
originally since there is a greater volume of vehicles.

Actually, it's the motorists using the facilities that we all paid for
since road tax is not earmarked for road maintenance / construction.

And to help you out, since you appear to have missed the point. Building
a bypass is good for the town, but they frequently become congested as
they open up a practical inter-city route. When this occurs, expanding
the bypass to accomodate more traffic rarely succeeds in removing
congestion since the quantity of traffic on the road increases.

Jon

 

And they become less careful because they know there is a good hospital.
Is this an example of your personal behaviour, or an observation of any
group of people. I don't know anyone who takes greater chances because
they are close to a hospital.

In the case of the A14, they see an increase in traffic at least three
times a week as the expanded use of the A14 spills over during accident-
related traffic jams.

"Artifical"? With regard to free travel and trade, by using trains,
planes, bicycles and my feet, I have yet to encounter anywhere I cannot
reach, or anything I cannot buy. There are more ways to travel than by
car!

And given the damage caused to the roads by trucks, the best place for
the majority of freight would be on the rails.

Jon

 

I think he's referring to reaction times.

Out of interest: which?

 

You believe that _most_ motorists committ crimes each time they drive?

Yet, maybe. But as soon as there is a good reason too...

Are you sure?

I still think you believe catching someone after an event is better than
preventing the event.

_Only_ if it is deliberate in some way.

Do you know what proportion or motoring accidents involve a crime being
committed?

Mostly accidents though. If you count all accidents too, you'll see that
motoring accidents are a small proportion.

Running away from an accident doesn't make the actual accident any more of a
crime. Shouldn't we rather be catching muggers running away from deliberate
muggings?

But it _is_ there, that is the point.

So _do_ you think they are more significant than the number of planned
crimes?

Because running away from an accident does _not_ cause an accident probably.

What? How many road victims have been killed _deliberately_ do you think?
How many are killed in hit-and-runs?

The point is that the criminals only need to find a car that doesn't.

Those that propose monitoring all motorists.

_Not_ your car, a simiar _number plate_ to yours.

What protection? If you have been run over how does catching the
perpetrator alter anything? Revenge is what you are after?

Amongst other more significant ones, yes.

You'll be getting more and more late night calls then ;-)

Matt
--

 

Are you suggesting that a realistic probaility of detection might deter
drivers from breaking the law? Heretic!

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington
University

 

[23 lines snipped]

Garbage.

 

None, more like.

 

Amusing strawman, if nothing whatsoever to do with the point.

[16 lines snipped]

Hmmm. I'm not sure which logical fallacy this is, but it surely is
fallacious.

Oh, no. I'm well aware of your point. I simply don't believe you.

 

Eddie () gurgled happily, sounding much like they were
saying :

Which is only a part of the process of braking.

A Ford Focus will stop from 70mph FAR faster than the Mk 1 Zephyr next to
it doing the same speed.

Probably some of the more incompetent big lardy 4x4s.

 

Matt B () gurgled happily, sounding much like
they were saying :

If you include "due care and attention" and similar offences, probably
most. Shame they're the ones that aren't being policed any more.

 

Yet you were the one to compare hospitals to roads, not I.

Actually it's true. Please do your research first.

So go look at the facts.

I noticed an interesting switch in your argumentative style here. You've
not actually tried to defend your arguments, but are (incorrectly)
attacking my style. Go on... call me a Nazi! ;-)

Jon

 

IOW, you don't know.

 

Jon Senior (jon@restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk.remove) gurgled happily,
sounding much like they were saying :

A challenge for you :-

Go to my mother's house in the middle of Derbyshire, and repeat her daily
commute to the edge of Manchester. I won't ask you to do the commute she
did immediately before she retired, to Liverpool.

If you don't fancy that much, go to her house and fetch me a couple of
boxes of my stuff that are still up there.

It's actually relatively easy, since she's in a largish village and there
is a bus service to her village. She's lucky. It'd still take you many
hours longer than going by car and cost a lot more - increasing
exponentially if there's more than one person travelling.