100mph speeders nothing to smile about
Saturday 26th November 2011, 2:58PM GMT.
Centenier Malcolm Lamy with a speed sign on Victoria Avenue
THREE drivers were recently recorded speeding at more than 100 mph along Victoria Avenue, with nearly 70 per cent of all other drivers breaking the 40 mph speed limit.
A total of 69.8 per cent of drivers recorded over four days last month were breaking the 40 mph limit along the Avenue and 65 per cent broke the limit during a week in November.
The latest figures come from data recorded on a smiley face road sign, which registers a driver’s speed and the date and time.
No motorists will be prosecuted for speeding, as the road sign does not record a driver’s registration number, but the information is passed to the police so they know which roads to target and at what times.
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This show that the law is an ass. If a law is ignored by nearly everyone, then it is not a law which reflects the will of the people and it should, accordingly, be repealed. the speed limit should be raised to a more appropriate level.
Unfortunately, we are moving backwards in Jersey to a time of horses and carts and the man with the red flag so public will will, in all probability, continue to be ignored and the speed limit will, similarly continue to be ignored by all except the elderly and the weak of mind.
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The 40 mph and less in other areas is appropriate for a small island with too much traffic.
People who want to go fast should go and live in Germany and they can then do a Clarkson as fast as they want on the motorways.
The majority stick to the speed limit, get used to it.
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According to the article 69.8 per cent were breaking 40mph limit on Victoria Avenue, which means 31.2 per cent were sticking to it.
31.2 per cent is MINORITY. Get used to it.
And get used to math.
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I think you’ll find it’s “mathS”. With an “S”. We aren’t Americans…
Oh, and be polite. Road safety is no joke.
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I can’t reply under “Err, Jersey isn’t American”‘s post so I’m replying here.
1. Thanks for pointing my language errors – I’m trying to improve my English all the time and do really appreciate all comments helping me to improve.
2. How does my language error affects my logic ?
3. If ‘Get used to it’ is not considered being polite then you should probably address your comment to my predecessor. I have only borrowed this from his post. Unless there are doubles standards here for foreigners.
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The 40mph ruling *was* appropriate 60 years ago in a different age of technology.
50mph is still perfectly safe these days.
People who don’t like traffic and cars should go and live in Sark and they can live their tranquil life without the constant fear of someone doing 43mph in a 40 zone.
The majority *didn’t* stick to the unreaslistic speed limit, and we live in a democracy. The majority have spoken: get used to it.
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And the States ignore the many reports that have come out over the years (from the AA, RAC, etc) stating that the majority of drivers drive at a speed appropriate to the conditions. It would be good if dangerous driving was villified the way speeding by 4mph is, but for some reason people have their priorities all wrong. People just want someone to blame for road deaths, shame they consistently blame the wrong people.
Those that drive dangerously (i.e. the rest) will continue to do so no matter what the speed limit is.
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None of the arguments change the simple fact that the law is ignored by a large majority and is, as such bad law. It is not recognised and should be repealed.
Law is simply a reflection of the will of the people and that is all that it can ever be, unless the people are subjugated to a dictatorship. I make no comment as to whether such a thing might be deemed to apply in Jersey.
So, there it is. Most people pay no heed to the speed limits because those speeds limits are not approriate. These electronic devices have now proved that much, although the police may well have scored an “own goal” in releasing the data because it does rather prove the point that the limits should be raised. At this point, the law becomes meaningless and, devoid of dignity, the next step is that it, together with those attempting to enforce it, becomes a laughing stock.
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Save time. Use a proper speed camera.
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Thats because those things encourage people to speed! it makes you speed up rather than slow down. The other 30% would have been in traffic or dangerous drivers doing 25 in the overtaking lane.
Plus that one is more likely to cause a accident because your looking to your right at the sign instead of seeing if someone is trying to pull out the car park.
At least it proves they need to raise the limit to 50
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How many of them were taxi’s
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These speed machines do not take into account emergency vehicles on call out or motor bikes, just as the traffic counting tubes across the road cannot tell the difference.
I would suspect it cannot cope well when confronted with two vehicles hurtling towards it on two separate lanes at the same time?
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I agree how many were emergency vehicles driving over 100mph
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How many were greengrocer’s?
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The fact that 70% of the islands drivers think it is appropropriate to drive at over 40mph on Victoria Avenue probably means that it is. This ridiculous obsession of a small group of islanders who would wish the entire island drive at 20mph must be ignored. Politicians must have more inteligence to belive that the small groups of people that they talk to at the parish hall represent the rest of the island, because they don’t. They are usually people who have nothing better to do than complain about everything from planning decisions, speeding, people with more money than them etc.
I hope Gerald Baudins reassesses the 30mph limit on the coast road that has only increased accidents on this streatch of road as people find it hard to pay attention at this low speed.
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If MAJORITY of drivers break the rule it simply means the rule is WRONG.
End of.
The 40mph rule was established by single man, and accepted by few others. They are/were not goods, then are/were just humans like we are, and they simply were wrong.
Rise speed limit to 50pmh on Victoria Avenue and you will see number of ‘criminals behind the wheel’ drop dramatically.
As for those doing over 100mph – no rule can change it. Some of us are plain stupid unfortunately – well at least three of us.
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The problem is that if they raise the limit to 50, it won’t be long before people are doing 60. I say leave the law as it is, and continue to apply common sense when it comes to prosecuting speeders, i.e., those who drive significantly over the limit and show a blatant disregard for it.
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Agree, reasonable approach.
However you can see lots of comments here calling for enforcement of this 40mph with ‘proper’ speed cameras etc.
Making the speed limits low simply makes more ordinary people criminals. That’s it.
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Slawek, care to comment on those doing 100mph,, 80mph, even 70mph. what is safe on victoria avenue given one side it is beachfront/pedestrians/cycle track and the other residential, and there are many crossings used by families, children. 40mph is perfectly adequate, where are you going in such a hurry, its only an island 9 by 5 for gods sake, if the limit was increased you wouldnt exactly save much time would you, 20/30 seconds perhaps, is your life really that busy every second counts. also if you increase it to 50 or 60, then there will always be those pushing the limits again. 40mph limit, dont worry about those doing say 45mp, but come down heavy on those over say 55mph. Much more sensibble. THIS IS JERSEY for heavens sake. not a motorway in Europe
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Mike, this is one instance in which I disagree with that theory (“if they raise the limit to 50, it won’t be long before people are doing 60″). It does hold true on motorways, but Victoria Avenue is not a motorway, the lanes are not as wide, and it isn’t as far away from public areas at motorways. 50mph does actually feel perfectly okay on that road, and given the distance between traffic lights most people would feel little need to break a 50mph limit. Those that already push 60mph would continue to do so but I suspect you’d find a lot of people happily sitting at 50mph. That won’t happen with a 40mph limit because 40mph isn’t a reasonable speed for that kind of road, and two similar roads that I can think of in the UK ARE 50mph zones.
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Has it ever occurred to these numbnuts that the reason people speed is because the smiley face tells them what speed they achieve – DOH !!!
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We need a proper breakdown of the speeds involved.How many of those were recorded between 40-45,50-60 etc.I wouldn’t mind betting that the majority were only slightly over the limit.
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Sue 1 you speak much sense, if the speed limit has remained static during a period when cars have become safer, stopping distances decreased by half and real term accident figures based on car collisions have resulted in a significant reduction in fatalities and injuries then it’s time we reviewed our speed limits.
The underpass is the same everyone drives at 40 or more, when was the last serious crash?
Idiots driving at 100mph should be caught and banned, why do these devices not record vehicle details. In much the same way that airport security restrictions should be focused on those most likely to present a security threat then speed limits should be enforced in such a way as to catch those who represent a legitimate danger to us all.
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Stopping distances have not reduced by half! They remain the same as they ever were because we can not alter physics. ABS prevents lock up and skidding it does not stop you quicker. Stopping distances will always be goverened by speed, thinking distance and breaking distance with variables thrown in by condition of road surface, tyres, brake maintanance etc. This is an unsafe statement to make
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Stopping distances have definitely reduced significantly on modern vehicles. Modern braking systems are much better at stopping the car at the limit of the tyres (unlike old brake systems or drum brakes), and ABS means that drivers can slam hard on the brakes without worrying about skidding. Also, on many surfaces, maintaining tyre traction with the surface does reduce braking distances.
Additionally, modern tyres and road surfaces are better, so the physical lower bound on the stopping distance is much reduced. Modern cars often have other various braking system improvements (brake assist, better power brakes, stability control) which have significantly reduced stopping distances. You can even test this yourself by jamming on the brakes as hard as you can from 40 and seeing how quickly you stop, then compare that to the braking distance in the highway code.
You know, what’d reduce the chance of accidents would be some new kind of camera. Not a plain old speed camera, but a camera that looks for drivers driving too close to the car infront. That would also stop all these multi-car pileups you hear about on the motorways in the UK (people drive so close together over there!).
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Paul, of course stopping distances have changed, and it didn’t take altering physics to do it!
I think you’re getting confused with gravity (which is a constant). The level of force used to cause vehicles to slow varies from vehicle to vehicle and it has changed greatly since speed limits were first set.
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Come on let’s have a bit of grown up speak here….we all know 40mph is dawdling on the avenue…and that in practicality 50mph is safe….another case of boys with gadgets…and molehills being made mountains…please we are facing much bigger problems..the economy is in melt down and we are making “Designer” problems…just stop it please.
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Sue: ‘If a law is ignored by nearly everyone, then it is not a law which reflects the will of the people and it should, accordingly, be repealed’
Or, could be, it’s a law that they know isn’t being enforced consistently.
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The 40mph rule was set up when cars had drum brakes all round with skinny little tyres. ABS is pretty much standard now with tyre technology being massively improved.
A modern car at 50 or even 60mph will stop in a shorter distance than a ‘classic’ car from the times when the speed limit was set would be able to stop at 40mph.
Clearly everyone drives at ~45-50, and we’re not inundated with road deaths or cars running wildly out of control because of the extra ~8mph.
It’s time for the law to catch up and move with the times. Last I heard, we live in a democracy, and people have voted with their cars.
Up the limit to 50, already!
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Once everyone can abide by the 40pmh limit, perhaps then they could review it. Until then. Nothing should be changed, If people prove they cannot abide by our current law, then it should be changed.
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The people have spoken with their cars. Now put a smile on all our faces and raise the speed limit on this road to 50mph.
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The figures that are missing here tell a story.
70% over the 40mph limit. well yes – but by how much? Are we talking 1 or 2 mph.
What is the mean, and mode speed recorded?
Maybe somebody has created a story out of nothing.
Also I am not entirely convinced of the accuracy of the device, having driven past it and being shown a different speed to the one on the dash, on two different cars. Sure it could be that it reports your average speed, which may of course be different to your instantaneous speed.
3 drivers doing 100mph? Without video , or a witness we’ll never know – an object traveling tangentially to the transceiver could produce very odd results, wind blown debris across the face of the device for example. (I’m not saying thats what happened, I’m saying it a possibility)
Having seen the manufacturers website it seems there is a great deal of data not being presented.
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A clear indication that fixed speed cameras would only catch the genrally law abiding residents as they go about their daily business at 45 mph, while those hell bent on doing 100 would find somewhere else to go.
If the police wish to destroy public relations, as in the UK, put up cameras. Alternatively, fine those doing 50 to 60, and servelly hammer those doing 60 +
Finally, I thought the police had a very expensive Volvo equipped with the necessary kit to catch the serious speeders. I suggest they use it !
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So I get the jist of this so far……….if enough people ignore the law and break it we must adapt the law so they are within it!!!! This is a very dangerous precedent to set. There will always be the dangerous selfish speeders who smash the limit but seriously if you cannot face sticking to 40 on such a small stretch of road you really need to just catch a bus. Why anyone feels they have to travel at speed to then meet the inevitable many red lights along the avenue plus the snarl up at each end is beyond me. It is not a dual carriageway so don’t treat it in such a way, if some one is doing 40 in “the fast lane” that’s fine because it is allowed, just don’t undertake them to get to the traffic jam faster.
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“It is not a dual carriageway” ?????????
Send me your address and I’ll post you out a copy of the highway code.
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raise the spped limit to 50 and ban lorries/ mopeds and scooters from the over taking lane.
i would also like to know how many of the 70% were lorries, as i regularly follow lorries at 40 mph plus along the avenue, would these show up in this survey, as their speed limit is 30 mph on the avenue i think not.
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Where are the traffic Police?? Have we any?? Lets face it the Police dont do much.
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Can’t raise it to 50mph because 70% will end up breaking that too! simples!
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There have been several ‘police driver training excersises carried out lately on bikes and in cars, these speeds could have been done by them…and quite lawfully?
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why don’t the states set up a website where voters can petition for legislative changes? Or is “listening to the voter” something that only happens every 3 years?
Come on Deputy Baker, we know you like to loosen the throttle – how about bringing a proposition?
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Man say; law which no-one takes notice of is like great tree without roots; man say law will fall down because has no strength.
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Someone said “it’s not a dual carriageway”! Get your eyes tested, mate, or hand in your licence for the sake of road safety.
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I laughed at that comment also.
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In response to Donald Pond’s idea # 20. The U.K. has e-petitions, but our politicians rarely if ever listen to the public. In my view they should have fixed speed cameras on Victoria Avenue and civilian operators manning speed detection motor bikes and vans like they have in the U.K. Do away with Parish Hall Enquiries for speeding and issue fixed penalty notices for £60 for each offence (The black hole in the budget will soon be sorted and new jobs would be created). Oh and they should introduce a points system on driving licences and when people get 12 points their licence would be suspended (more jobs administering that). Those offenders who don’t pay their fixed penalty would have to go to court where they could get fined even more to fill up the States’ coffers.
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Fantastic….Victoria Avenue is one of the few roads with a half decent enough road surface to enable people to speed. Everywhere else in Jersey is only fit for horse and carts.
Surely more important pressing matters are the condition of the roads, the condition of half the cars on the road and the the fact that the driving test in Jersey is clearly wholly inadequate given that most people are unable to drive.
I speed tested my Porsche along Victoria Avenue at 2AM so I’m one of the ones who clocked over a ton.
People will speed so get used to it folks.
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Well then NICOLA SMITH… you should be ashamed of yourself. If you got a puncture at that speed then you would career off the road to your own death i imagine. You take the risk. you pay the price.
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Highly unlikely as I just spent £1000 on Continental N3/175mph rated tyres at Trinity Tyres.
I bet your one of the people who put their brakes on when I drive up behind them. If you or anyone else thinks that driving at 15mph along the roads and thinks that braking in front of me because I’m sitting right up behind you think its smart or funny then think again. Its people like you who really cause accidents.
Maybe if we can teach drivers in Jersey how to actually drive then we can start worrying about a few people inadvertently straying over the speed limit.
Mind you its probably quite hard to steer a car when you have hooves rather than hands……..
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Oh dear, how sad.
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These statistics do not paint the full picture. 70% of drivers over the limit may have been doing 41mph which is hardly something to be concerned about. Until the full stats are published then this information does not provide any useful insight into our driving habits other than a sensational spun headline.
Would also be interesting to know how many accidents happened along that stretch of avenue whilst the speed recorders were in place to see if there is any positive correlation between the speeding and number of accidents. My guess is there were no accidents.
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It’s the drivers doing 30mph on the avenue that are the most dangerous, it gives other drivers road rage and forces them to weave in and out of lanes, especially when these “considerate” drivers are doing 30 in the overtaking lane.
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Dead right,30mph in the outside lane all the way along to La Motte Ford to turn right,makes my blood boil.
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What’s the point of a law which is broken by so many people? It needs to be changed.
Personally I can’t see the point of whizzing along the avenue any more, since the traffic lights were introduced at First Tower and the other station cafe – the lights are red and stop me almost EVERY time, so what’s the point? I calmly roll along at 30 now, and usually catch up with all the fuel-wasting idiots who raced past me a few moments earlier!
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There are many points to consider here.
1. These boards can not differentiate between emergency vehicles answering to calls.
2. We have noticed a calibration difference between the speed according to our sat nav (we know the car speedometer is out) and suggest that these boards are over recording speed.
3. I once went through one in St. Lawrence village and it recorded my speed at 177mph. I didn’t know my Ford KA had it in it. Similarly, my husband went through one on a push bike in st. mary and also recorded a speed of 199mph.
4. Apparently no-one in Jersey understands that the outside lane is for OVERTAKING only. At anytime whilst driving on the Avenue, there will be many cars painfully driving at under the speed limit just because they are travelling west and turning right at La Motte Ford.
5. Similarly, if you choose to remain in the inside lane travelling west until the last stretch before turning right, nobody in the outside lane will let you out to change lanes anyway because they are so oblivious to other road users around them.
6. It is not speed that causes accidents in Jersey. It is the awful standard of driving and people do not pay attention to what is going on around them.
7. When an accident happens, the media has started reporting that they are due to the weather and not driver error. In the case the that roads are wet and slippy, a good driver will adjust their way of driving to suit.
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Best log the time and date of the 3 doing 100mph and compare them to Police records of when Police cars were under blue lights on that road…highly likley they will correlate and it was a Police car driving legally under blues!
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Yes, I thought that as well !!!
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Or more likely boy racers seeing the sign as a challenge? I am somewhat doubtful there are any incidents on the island where a police car needs to do those speeds
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If it was boy racers and they were not caught they would do the same more than three times.
I have not seen anyone charged with 100mph.
On that basis the Police are the most likely when responding to an incident late at night…say an assault would you not expect them to do 100mph+ on a dual carriage way with excellent visibility and light/sirens on?
If it was me being assaulted I hope they would go as fast as they can subject to the safety of other road users.
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To BR at comment 26. So people driving at 30mph on the avenue “give other people road rage forcing them to weave in and out of lanes” Are you serious? Jersey is a tiny island with far too many people and vehicles so much so that nobody can get anywhere as quickly as they may like but that hardly entitles them to drive like idiots and risk other peoples safety.Last week a very nice man who lived near to me was killed by a van driver who decided to overtake at a totally inappropriate and dangerous moment in an effort to get to his destination a few minutes earlier.I suppose he could blame someone else for “giving him road rage” and forcing him to drive stupidly and kill someone’s husband and father?People need to drive with a bit more consideration of other road users and realise that arriving a minute later than anticipated is better than not arriving at all.
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Julie @30
Yes I am deadly serious “no pun intended”
In my experience it those people driving well below the speed limit that are the most dangerous and risk other peoples safety, it forces other drivers on the road to overtake when unsafe to do so, and it is those people who drive too slowly that need to a bit more considerate of other road users.
If you don’t mind when you get to you destination then take the bus or a taxi, you’ll probably get there a lot faster anyway as both speed and drive without any regard for other drivers.
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Those who drive at ridiculous low speeds might not have accidents but they are often the cause of many. Some countries have a law which states that, if more than three cars are held up by a sloth, then the sloth must pull over and let them pass.
I can’t understand why drivers in Jersey are so selfish. Sometimes you get a 25 mph nut job in a Honda Jazz holding up a whole load of traffic and resolutely refusing to pull over for a moment. These are usually the same people who throw a little wibbly if you manage to get past them.
These slow drivers cause accidents and should be prosecuted for driving without due consideration for other road users.
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And at least in America they recognise this and you can be penalised for driving too far below the speed limit.
If people cannot drive at 40mph on the Avenue (conditions permitting of course) then we should be questioning why they still have a driving licence as clearly they lack the skill that we should be entitled to expect of someone holding a driving licence.
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Although i agree 50 would be fine for the avenue this is Jersey, where so many people stop at roundabouts for no reason. It would take a few years of serious crashes until it reaches an equilibrium where people understand the difference 10mph makes to stopping distances and handling etc, by that time though people will probably be pushing for 60mph…
Also, higher speed limits = worse crashes, plus given that most islanders only service their cars every few years (or when something goes wrong) an increase in more severe crashes from basic vehicle defects like lack of proper servicing could mean the introduction of an MOT type test, which i’m not a fan of.
I fully support the idea of 50 on the avenue, but that’s because i know how to drive, its those drivers who never check their mirrors and only look 3 feet in front of them that would worry me at 50.
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If Jersey even a small purpose built racetrack where petrolheads both on 2 wheels and four could do trackdays , a lot of these problems would diminish ,it would acheive three aims
1 what to do with old Pontins’ site at Plemont
2. the circuit could be built using the fiscal stimulus fund , i would rather see this being built than another monument to stupidity like the steam clock and it would employ a few people .
3. Many motorists including myself like to drive fast at the correct venue and environment and would pay just like you can at The Nurburgring in Germany to do a few laps and therefore would not be as likely to speed on public roads .
My work here is done
Job done
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Get lobbying
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If anything, shouldn’t these results warrant a rethink of current speed limits in area’s like the avenue? Especially since tyre and brake technology has improved tenfold since these limits were introduced.
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The technology may have improved considerably but so has the amount of traffic!
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There used to be signs on the avenue that said “get in lane”. In other words, use the right lane only for overtaking or filtering off to the right.
Put the signs back.
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Jensen Hamilton, agree a dedicated track would be great but can you imagine the NIMBY’s, it’s too noisy, it’s too smelly, it’s too near my house…
It certainly would give an outlet for frustration but they’ll never build it, and anyway can you imagine the cost. if it cost £10 million to dig up a car park and plant some grass in town what would it cost to develop Plemont.
Anyway it’s already been promised to Dandara, it’s all over bar the shouting.
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use real speed cameres then use the money raised through fines to take gst off food simples
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All these people ‘speeding’ and yet not one of them has caused an accident? Must be SO dangerous!
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I see many reactions which show that laws governing the road need to enforced despite the protests of most road users.
We have to enforce the seatbelt, no mobile phones, and vehicle standards laws despite the protests of certain road users who insist they are better without seatbelts whilst using their mobile phones.
All I see above is proof that drivers should not be able to choose how fast they can drive but should be forced to drive at a speed that is safe for all cars and driving abilities to manage.
I welcome the day when we have speed cameras speeders start losing licenses it will make our roads safer and take irresponsible drivers off the road. Driving is not a human right it is a right given under license to those able to contain their testosterone and drive safely.
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The future #38 is spot on. The island’s authorities needs to adopt fixed cameras on Victoria Avenue. Nowadays the pictures of speeders can be transmitted straight back to Police H.Q., then notices could be sent to the registered keepers of the vehicles involved to establish who was driving, then he or she should be summonsed straight to court. If found guilty, he or she should be disqualified and fined. Simples.
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We seem to be moving backwards to a vintage era. Roads are better, cars are better and much safer, yet we are being forced to drive at a snail’s pace. It will end up with the return of the man with the red flag. the rot set in when the so-called 30 zones came in just over 20 years ago. As usual, there was no consultation; it was just forced upon us.
Not surprisingly, a large number of people (with the exception of Honda Jazz flat cap drivers) take no notice of them because they are silly and they lack any form of public mandate. The odd 100 mph does pose a danger but everyone else generally drives at an appropriate speed which, on a main road, will generally be more than 30 mph.
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