What do you reckon?

[Icey]

I think this berk got off lightly. So do other people .....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-36953439

Gary Rae, campaigns and communications director, said: “Drivers who recklessly speed put not only their own lives, but those of other road users, at severe risk.
"Breaking the speed limit by such a shocking amount shows an appalling disregard for the safety of innocent road users.
"We are disappointed to see such a lenient sentence in this case – drivers who selfishly flout the law need to be punished accordingly.
"Courts need to crack down on this dangerous behaviour to provide a stronger deterrent.”

Someone else moaned that they'd had 2 points put on their licence and were fined £100 for doing 36 mph in a 30 mph limit.

[yogi]

Driving at such high speed is not as bad as it seems, but it is lethal. It's a game of Russian Roulette. Most of the time the high speed driver is in control and can predict what is likely to happen down the highway. Those things that cannot be predicted is where the daring game of chance enters the picture. The risks of injuries do increase as the speed of the automobile increases, but every car on the road is a potential danger. As I would do, I think the judge used common sense to assess the risks of injury to others is only slightly higher with one high speed motorist verse many many legal drivers. Injuries occur at or under the speed limit way more often than they do at high speed just due to the number of vehicles in each case.

[Icey]

Yes, you could be right there Yogi.

I just thought that getting banned for 56 days for driving at 154 mph was unduly lenient. The A11 runs into Norfolk. It's a major road, but not a motorway, and depending on where he was caught driving, the speed limit goes right down to 50 mph in parts.

[pilvikki]

I used to have a car with 160 m/h on the clock. never did take it up there though...

I don't like the sentence, even though i'm not much for speed limits myself. I just figure some common sense is needed and 157 or whatever it was, isn't it.

he ought to go to Germany once in a while to let out some steam.

[Icey]

I honestly think that speed kills. A person could be involved in a fatal accident at 30 mph, but the faster a vehicle's going, the higher the chances of not surviving if your tyre blows, or you hit something head-on.

[pilvikki]

actually, the tire blowing bit is a dodgy one, if I recall correctly, the worse speed to blow out if at 80 km/hr. faster or slower and you have more chance of retaining control.

could be old info though...?

[Icey]

Well 80 kph 's about 50 mph, and that's bad enough, but from experience, I can tell you that going any faster when you have a blow-out's terrifying.

I was once in someone's car on the M1. He was driving far too fast and the tyre suddenly went. We were in the fast lane when it happened, and swerved right across onto the hard shoulder. There was no controlling where the vehicle ended up, and we were all very lucky that the driver'd overtaken everyone in front, because had he not, we'd have caused a multiple pile up across the length and breadth of the motorway. He tried to steer into the slide, but it was impossible to have any control, and we easily skidded half a mile before coming to a halt - with the car on its side. Horrible event. I don't find speeding amusing at all.

[pilvikki]

that sounds horrible! and felt like an eternity.

it also depends on which tire blows... yours must have been a back one.

[Icey]

I believe it was, yes, and everything seemed to happen in a flash, but in slow motion. Never want to be in a vehicle again when a tyre goes like that. No one in the car was hurt, even though we'd tipped over. We just rocked it back into position again and a new tyre was eventually put on, but the scary part about it was afterwards - the realisation of how close we'd come to ending up on a slab, and how bloody lucky we'd been that no one else was involved.

[pilvikki]

exactly!

[Icey]

Makes you stop and re-evaluate situations. Accidents can occur anywhere, at any time, but you don't want to be driving fast when a tyre blows - or close to other traffic! Shudder.