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On a daily basis I suffer harassment or intimidation. For what reason? Because I adhere to the speed limits on the road. In my rear view mirror I watch cars, vans, lorries and buses race up to me and then generally drive too close because they are annoyed. Some car and van drivers just overtake me and zoom off into the distance. Most people support the police in catching criminals such as burglars, thieves or muggers. But when it comes to speeding drivers it seems that most people do not wish to see the law vigorously enforced - unless it is in their own neighbourhood. Surely the whole point of a democracy is that we are all free to obey the laws of the land whether we like them or not? We can not pick and choose the laws we wish to obey. It does not help when the media or politicians complain of "stealth taxes". If you don't want to pay the fine then don't do the crime. To get caught speeding on a road that has a 30mph limit one generally has to be doing 37mph or more. So the current enforcement limits are overly generous. The present government is to be praised for having introduced Safety Camera Partnerships. Unfortunately less than 5% of our road network has frequent speed enforcement. This means that most drivers are free to speed with impunity. This is despite the fact that the Department of Transport stated that the police are free to overtly or covertly use speed detection equipment anywhere on the road network. Unfortunately the same freedom is not permitted for Safety Camera Partnerships. Speeding drivers literally terrorise vulnerable road users. Empirical evidence shows that people passed closely at speed suffer raised levels of anxiety and fear. It is no fun being a pedestrian, cyclist or horse rider and sharing the road with speeding and/or inconsiderate drivers. Unfortunately I do not believe that this form of terrorism is one that the government is keen to declare war on. It seems somewhat unjust that if I were hit in the face for my mobile phone the offender would face a custodial sentence but if I am run over by a car or lorry the driver would be highly unlikely to face a custodial sentence or even a significant fine. This would be despite the fact that I may be injured for weeks, months or years - maybe even never walk again. I believe that all fines for death or personal injury should go to the victim. When cycling and suffering yet another high speed close encounter I think to myself "if I treated your child or grandchild so callously I'm sure that you would be extremely annoyed". I, like all other vulnerable road users, am somebody's child and grandchild. I can think of no other preventable crime that causes so much death and misery. |