Friday 26 November 2010

We Must Drive At 20MPH…For The Chiilllldreeeennnn!

Campaigners say research which suggests children cannot accurately judge the speed of cars travelling faster than 20mph has added weight to their efforts to reduce speed limits in York.
Bet you didn't see that one coming, eh?
The study measured more than 100 children’s ability to detect approaching cars in a road-crossing scenario.

It found adult pedestrians could make accurate judgments for vehicles travelling up to 50mph, but primary school-age children’s judgements became unreliable once the approach speed went above 20mph.
Maybe the adults are just the ones who survived to pass on their genes by not running out in front of cars, but rather using the crossings?

Nah. Too sensible...
Anna Semlyen, York’s 20’s Plenty campaign manager, said the research was “conclusive” evidence that speed limits needed to be lowered in York.
Well, yes, she would, wouldn't she...

I mean, if we just used this information to try to impress upon children how important it was to use the crossing, or on their parents to impress upon them how important it was to teach safe road skills, where would her hectoring little pressure group be then?
She said: “It’s no surprise to me that this is true. We cannot address child road safety by simply teaching them to pay more attention.”
No, indeed. That wouldn't satisfy your inner control-freak, would it?
“Child pedestrians can’t judge approach speeds as well as adults. It’s simplistic to blame children and suggest they ‘run out’ without checking.”
And it's pretty simplistic to assume there's only one possible way to use this information...
“But this study suggests it’s drivers going too fast that create errors, as it is then impossible for children to make correct judgments. It’s up to adult society to protect families through 20mph limits where people live and for drivers to obey the signs.”
We must all agree to a cut in our speed. It's for the children! Only a monster would disagree, surely?
Professor John Wann, who led the research, said the simplest solution was in traffic regulation.
Of course it was. It always is...
“This is not a matter of children not paying attention, but a problem related to low-level visual detection mechanisms, so even when children are paying very close attention they may fail to detect a fast-approaching vehicle. The vehicles that they are more likely to step in front of are the faster vehicles that are more likely to result in a fatality. Travelling one mile though a residential area at 20mph as opposed to 30mph will only add 60 seconds to journey time.”
So do it! Do it for the children!

And when they still get run over, albeit at a reduced rate? Well, there's always 15MPH to try. Then 10MPH. Remember, the ratchet only ever goes one way with these loons....

27 comments:

Smoking Hot said...

They have no comprehension of anything. Where are such things as the Green Cross Code? Putting the onus on drivers to avoid pedestrians who are not paying attention is ridiculous. Pedstrians have to do someting too ... like learning to cross roads safely.

Any accident involving a person and a vehicle will always result in the person coming off worse. Big heavy moving metal thing v fragile human body!

l unfortunately hit a young teen in my Merc. She ran out from behind a van giving me no chance. lt was down a narrow street and l was doing 10mph max. l still broke her leg.

The weight of the Merc is 2 tons and at 10mph that equates to 2 tons travelling 14.66 ft per second!

Street of shame said...

Pretty easy to fix this problem if we all try. Cars will not only be made to go slower over more road bumps but must continually sound their horn and flash their lights as they drive. That should create so much utter loathing for cars no one wants to use them ever again, and global warming will be reduced at a stroke.

A world safer for children on two counts, plus extra work for councils to put on more road hazards and thus forcing council tax up. No one will travel anywhere ever again, except by bicycle on pavements as per usual.

Gimme, gimme, gimme will trumpet the left.

Of course it isn't all good news. The downside is the arab countries will lose valuable oil revenue in their bid to impose sharia on everyone, so our lefty friends will feel pretty unhappy about that.

(PS on the subject of kids running into the road, I once saw a kid who repeatedly crossed a busy street by the simple expedient of putting his head down and running full pelt in the hope nothing was coming. No need to look if you are lucky, hey?)

Clarissa said...

It is a craze that seems to be gaining momentum AP as I'm sure you've seen the signs in London advertising the fact that all side-roads in Islington are now 20 rather than 30.

Unsurprisingly the idiots at Break! are happy.

NickM said...

traffic calming is evil. You seen those partial width ones designed not to impede buses. You seen drivers serve round 'em? You know why? Both my wife and my Dad have in the last couple of years needed new front shocks because of speed bumps. In both cases the mechanics (different ones in different parts of the country) have said it happens all the time and it's speed bumps. Oh, that and the ever (and arbitrarily) varying speed limits which mean you have to watch the clock more than the road.

Anonymous said...

Putting the onus on drivers to avoid pedestrians who are not paying attention is ridiculous.

Putting the onus on gun pointers to avoid shooting any one not paying attention is ridiculous.

Cars really bring out the selfish don't they. Get out of the way everybody, I'm coming through at 100mph.

microdave said...

I've got a better idea - why not require all vehicles to be limited to 4mph, and be proceeded by a man carrying a red flag? That should get the unemployment figures down, if nothing else.....

Alternatively how about parents taking some responsibility for their offspring.

Spartan said...

Anon 15.28 ... you're an arse. Cars and their drivers don't target people like a gunman would but in your case l'd make an exception.

Lynne said...

Back in the 60s, when I was a kid, we were born with suitable equipment for coping with the problem of crossing roads - eyes and a brain to analyse the visual information.

My eyes and brain tended to tell me that if a car was approaching, no matter what the speed, you didn't cross until it had gone past. This method had a name - the Green Cross Code as promoted by Tufty the Squirrel and later Darth Vader.

Bollocks to the bansturbators. Time to dust off the squirrel?

Anonymous said...

"Drivers going too fast that create errors"? What you mean the eeevil car projects a magical moron field that causes children to spontaneously run out into the road! Sorry but children and parents need to learn a degree of responsibility. I nearly killed one such adult moron who walked straight out in front of me oblivious to anything while his phone was clamped to his ear. Sometimes accidents happen and it is not always the car to blame. And don't get me started on "Stealth Cyclists" without lights in the morning and at night... If they carried an organ donor card it would save time!
TTFN :)

RAB said...

Shall we imagine the scene whereby the hot one hundred toddlers with spacial impairment syndrome were tested?

Now then Johnny, here we are on the pavement besides the busy A38, there's a cyclist coming, can you tell me how fast he's going?

About 5 mph Miss.

Very good Johnny! My teachers sonic screwdriver says 6.

Now here comes a Citeron 2CV, how fast do you think that is going?

Oh about 15mph tops miss. They are all bought by veggies see miss, cant do more than 20 so they cant kill nuffink.

Be that as it may Johnny, finally here comes the last one, a Jag SJ6, so again, how fast?

Dunno Miss, but a bugger of a lot more than 50!

I wouldn't want to be stepping into the road just now miss...

And it is that final word of wisdom that is lost in such ludicrous surveys. Any kid who is actually watching the road knows fast from slow and acts accordingly.

The ones who get run over are chasing balls, puppies etc and frankly just not paying attention.

And all the drivers I know, are fully aware of their speed in built up areas and are constantly alert for the stupidity of others, driver and pedestrian alike.

Speed bumps etc have turned suburbia into an enforced children's playground ride, infantilising us all.

jd said...

But think of all the jobs we can create for people walking ahead of cars with red flags!

Brian, follower of Deornoth said...

It's the modern way, isn't it? Rather than teaching children that the world isn't universally benign, and training them to cope with its hazards, these pederasts would sooner they relied on the Government Acting.

nominedeus said...

They (pedesstrians ) of all ages should be fenced off from the roads completely only allowed to cross roads on footbrigges and any found setting foot on the road for any reason apart from leaving/entering a parked car should be forced into wearing a 60 lb ball and chain for 5 years to make sure they didnt dash anywhere, where dangerously hard objects were travelling at perfectly reasonable speeds according to individual driver preference, and there should be a points system for cyclists with the largest accrued total winning a pot of not less than 10 million each week!

Anonymous said...

I hardly drive these days, but would generally approve of a bounty to be awarded to drivers who rid us of the plague of modern children. I believe they should be forced to travel in a separate carriage on trains and only on approved school buses.

Anonymous said...

The thing that's always missed out when these twats peddle their nanny shit is the numbers - last time I looked (UK TRRL) 80% of the incidents involving pedestrians and motor vehicles were down to the pedestrian - if that doesn't make a case for a jaywalking law I don't know what will....

However, there should also be a punishment for being a divisive, PC, clueless busybody piece of shit.

banned said...

The distinction between 30 and 50mph is spurious, no matter what speed I do the little scamps always seem to escape with little, if any, injury.

JuliaM said...

"Where are such things as the Green Cross Code?"

Where indeed?

"Any accident involving a person and a vehicle will always result in the person coming off worse."

But financially secure for the rest of their life, if they have it.

I remember a young boy of about ten who used to live just down the road from me before I moved here. He and his friend liked to play chicken, running out from rows of parked cars.

Yes, the parents knew. They didn't care. One day, the inevitable happened, and an elderly driver was unable to stop. The boy ended up in a wheelchair, and the parents appeared to hit the jackpot - new car, new (adapted) house, therapy sessions, the works.

All paid for by the driver's insurance, because who wants to go to court to prove that the accident wasn't your fault, when there's a (now cleaned up, smartly-dressed, silent) moppet in a wheelchair across the courtroom, staring reproachfully at you?

The man never drove again.

"No need to look if you are lucky, hey?"

And if you aren't, it's still OK! In some instances.

JuliaM said...

"It is a craze that seems to be gaining momentum.."

Indeed, even children would be able to judge the approach speed of this particular diktat!

"Oh, that and the ever (and arbitrarily) varying speed limits which mean you have to watch the clock more than the road."

Bring on the fighter-plane style head up display!

"Cars really bring out the selfish don't they."

Not sure about that, but they DO seem to be bait for the smugly self-righteous...

JuliaM said...

"Alternatively how about parents taking some responsibility for their offspring."

I can see the red flag idea gaining traction long before this...

"What you mean the eeevil car projects a magical moron field that causes children to spontaneously run out into the road!"

It seems to happen a lot around my local Sainsbury, but always with adults. I must have my field generator recalibrated... ;)

"It's the modern way, isn't it?"

Sadly, yes...

JuliaM said...

"They (pedesstrians ) of all ages should be fenced off from the roads completely only allowed to cross roads on footbrigges and any found setting foot on the road for any reason apart from leaving/entering a parked car should be forced into wearing a 60 lb ball and chain..."

Sounds a bit complicated. I'll settle for 'If you crossed the road at anything other than a crossing, tough!' clauses on lawsuits.

"I believe they should be forced to travel in a separate carriage on trains..."

I'd go along with that. Better make it soundproof though! :)

"However, there should also be a punishment for being a divisive, PC, clueless busybody piece of shit."

Make it a fine, and we'll have solved the budget deficit.

Anonymous said...

Chill out guys. Kids have to cope with much heavier traffic than you did when you were young. Lynne, back in the sixties when you were a kid you could wait until the car was gone. Today, it's a continuous stream. Ironically it's the more independent 'chilllldrreeen' that need us to look out and slow the hell down. If julia had chilllldreeenn of her own we would know all about that.

Anonymous said...

guns don't kill people, people kill people, equaly cars fast or not don't kill people. people incapable of driving and pedestrians young and old incapable of crossing a road safely come together.

people can't be bothered to be in control of thier car and don't care about the concequnces of thier lack of control. modern cars can stop from high speeds on a dime but only if you are in control, bieng drunk, distracted with a phone call or the kidz is not going to help.

pedestrians walk around routinely concentrating on anything but what is going on in front of them. they walk into stationary objects and guess who's fault it is, thiers, noooooooo, it always the stationary object's fault.

we could make cars safer in the event of car hitting pedestrian with external air bags but who cares? if people want to walk into brick walls and people think cars already drive themselves i simply laugh at thier collective stupidity

JuliaM said...

"Chill out guys. Kids have to cope with much heavier traffic than you did when you were young. Lynne, back in the sixties when you were a kid you could wait until the car was gone. Today, it's a continuous stream. "

Indeed. In which case, all the more reason to teach the road sense and to use a crossing, yes?

But ooooooh, no, that'll never do! Now, each little mini-me DEMANDS that the world shape itself around him or her, and the dim, doting parent indulges such an attitude, nay, encourages it by their own behaviour...

Angry Exile said...

For "car drivers" read "road users". All road users have a responsibility for their own safety and that of other road users around them, but remember you are a road user from the time you are able to walk without a parent holding your hand. You are no less responsible on your own two legs than you are on four or any number of wheels, with or without a motor, or even riding an animal. In the UK this is made clear by the first few dozen or so rules in the Highway Code. In fact the very first section of the HC is for pedestrians, so why the hell do so few people see it before they're 17+ and learning to drive?

Angry Exile said...

Thought following on from the above: Compulsory Third Party insurance for all road users, rather than just the motorised ones? Actually I wouldn't really support this idea (the dreaded c-word) but one thing in its favour is it would wake people up to the point that not being in a driving seat does not absolve you of your responsibilities as a road user. What would be fairer than any compulsion is to see more cases of insurance companies pursuing civil claims against uninsured road users who have caused collisions, and if they happen to be pedestrians or cyclists who suffered physical injuries themselves too bad.

Anonymous said...

This pandering to pedestrians has got to stop.

Lynne said...

Anon @ 7.39

Back in the 60s I lived in Birmingham and the traffic was a real bastard even then. Which is why we kids were taught to cross the road safely.

As you can see, I'm still here...