Pace Drivers On The Motorway

[Fidgits]

From AutoTrader:

Pace drivers for motorway

23 January 2006 by Alex Eckford

Road chiefs are recruiting "pace" drivers to make sure motorists stick to speed limits.

The trial scheme will see volunteers employed to keep a steady speed of 70mph or less in the third lane of the motorway.

More than 30 motorists have already applied to be Community Pace Drivers in Doncaster, Yorks.

The town's metropolitan borough council claims accidents which occur at lower speeds result in less severe injuries.

However it has come under fire from road safety gear suppliers Speedsafe, who have branded the scheme foolhardy and incompetent.

Speedsafe spokesman Paul Smith said: "Imagine the chaos caused by a pace car at 70mph in lane three of a motorway."

"This level of incompetence is breathtaking - safety depends on drivers adjusting speed to the environment."

[jay dh]

hmm, if it was an unmarked car with no obvious sign inside or outside thats its to do with the police, if they didnt move over, i am sure most drivers would just undertake, which is even more dangerous

not a good idea

[sotal]

surely the "pace" car should get done for sitting in the fast lane when the next two lanes are clear??

The only way they could do it would be to get 3 cars to line up across the motorway - then all drive at a steady 70mph

I just hope they have their speedos calibrated properly it would ***** me off if I was sat behind one and there speedo was 10% out (still legal) they would actually be sat at 63mph :(

[Kev Mc]

Stupid idea, obviously some1 at the top has thought of it & no1's had the balls to point out how stupid it is to them

[Bibbs]

Well that'll be great .. undertaking galore.

What is it with people WANTING to do this? Are they mad? Some people have FAR to much time on their hands .. and what about the pollution, you now have 50 EXTRA cars on the road, you bright spark.

If I see a car with "M4 Pace Car" on the back parked up anywhere, I'm letting the tyres down.

[Caz SR]

Has someone been watching too many Nascar races?

I think this is a terrible idea. It will encourage undertaking and road rage. The outside lane is the overtaking lane and the highway code states that once the move has been completed, you should return to the inner lanes. Under what circumstances will they justify a car constantly sitting in an outside lane?

Rubbish.

[Bibbs]

It's not illegal to undertake if your lane is quicker .. (slowly driving past someone).

So they'll need to be driving 3abreast to slow the traffic.

Can't they just give Eddie Stobart more stuff to deliver, cause it's always his :FFS:ing trucks 2abreast doing 60 down hill that cause traffic jams in the first place (with a metro doing 61 in the outside lane).

[Caz SR]

That's true Ben if there is a queue in the outer lanes, but technically if a pace car is there to slow the traffic down, you couldn't undertake that so all three lanes will eventually become jammed, with the first cars parallel to the 'pace' car. You wouldn't need three cars.

What will also cause problems are the ghost jams when the people in these queues follow too closely to the car in front, constantly tapping the breaks. Thus causing a staggered breaking effect along the line and meaning the traffic further back will stop completely.

Sure, the first few cars will be doing the limit, but the speed will decrease further down the queue and cars at the back could be reduced to 30mph or less. Great.

[JAHill]

Ha ha ha ha! April fool... It's not April???

Don't they know we already have pace vehicles in the 1st lane - Lorries. 2nd lane - Lorries and the 3rd, Beemers... oh, and lorries.

I think the way to defeat this is to approach it on the grounds that it isn't good for the environment for these cars to be flitting up and down the motorway for no real reason.

If I see a car with "M4 Pace Car" on the back parked up anywhere, I'm letting the tyres down.

If I see it first you'll have to find the wheels first!

[MIP]

This may be over simplified logic perhaps, but if people are moving quicker on the motorway, doesn't it reduce the time they spend on the motorway, and thus the amount of cars on the motorway is reduced, reducing conjestion. I mean, isn't the point of a motorway to carry a large volume of traffic to get to places quickly? Why would you implement plans that would increase conjestion?

How it should work:

As different cars have different braking distances and handling, each model car should be assigned a motorway speed limit. If you go through a speed camera, it'll read your reg plate and a computer will automatically know which model car you have, and decide if your going to fast for your particular car. It should also assess whether you've left a big enough braking distance/gap from the car previous to yours, so you can be fined for tailgating as well.

My reasoning is basically that 70-80mph was quite a sensible speed limit for my 1.1 fiesta. It'd be shaky and unstable at speeds afer that, and the brakes where crap.

My celica on the other hand, in all honesty, feels perfectly planted over 100 and stops in half the distance. Driving a long distance on the motorway at 70 would be pointless, time consuming and fustrating.

The law is supposed to protect people, and speed kills yes, but that would be the same arguement you'd make for reducing the motorway speed limit to 40mph. But thats stupid and impractical, as is the 70mph speed limit for many modern cars. Expecting people to stick to it is nigh on impossible, that would be like telling the population to stop eating crisps cos their bad, limit crisp sales and send out the crisp police. A few crisps arn't gonna kill me. An odd tangent, or ingenious simile, you decide.

[JAHill]

The law is supposed to protect people, and speeding kills yes, but that would be the same arguement you'd make for reducing the motorway speed limit to 40mph. But thats stupid and impractical, as is the 70mph speed limit for many modern cars. Expecting people to stick to it is nigh on impossible, that would be like telling the population to stop eating crisps cos their bad, and this pace car idea is irritating and unsafe.

I can see it now... A "Pace Crisp"! Every fifth crisp is one of those burnt ones that taste like vomit. :)

[Kev Mc]

How it should work:

As different cars have different braking distances and handling, each model car should be assigned a motorway speed limit. If you go through a speed camera, it'll read your reg plate and a computer will automatically know which model car you have, and decide if your going to fast for your particular car. It should also assess whether you've left a big enough braking distance/gap from the car previous to yours, so you can be fined for tailgating as well.

My reasoning is basically that 70-80mph was quite a sensible speed limit for my 1.1 fiesta. It'd be shaky and unstable at speeds afer that, and the brakes where crap.

My celica on the other hand, in all honesty, feels perfectly planted over 100 and stops in half the distance. Driving a long distance on the motorway at 70 would be pointless, time consuming and fustrating.

The law is supposed to protect people, and speed kills yes, but that would be the same arguement you'd make for reducing the motorway speed limit to 40mph. But thats stupid and impractical, as is the 70mph speed limit for many modern cars. Expecting people to stick to it is nigh on impossible, that would be like telling the population to stop eating crisps cos their bad, limit crisp sales and send out the crisp police. A few crisps arn't gonna kill me. An odd tangent, or ingenious simile, you decide.

Never heard of this before but on the face of it it seems like an excellent idea, I'd quite like it to be investigated

[Caz SR]

Why can't we apply similar rules than those in Germany? Their Autobahn system appears to work very well. Admittedly our motorway surfaces are not of the same quality (perhaps this would be a factor) but the traffic flows more freely.

Why are the powers-that-be over here hell bent on preaching about congestion reduction then coming up with ideas like this that'll add to the problem?

[Bibbs]

I don't know why we just don't ALL speed .. everyone have a day of doing double the limit through ALL cameras (tell the kids to stay indoors).

If we ALL rack up 100 points each .. and then we ALL refuse to pay the fines .. what they going to do?

Refuse to pay road tax, refuse to get MOT's etc until THEY do something about the rubbish state of affairs that the british roads are in and the insanely high taxes.

[Flat Pack]

I've think this article is a very confused interpretation of a scheme somewhere to put pace cars on urban roads (also a reasonably stupid idea, but nowhere near as bad as this). Its certainly incredibly badly researched anyway, for example Paul Smith doesn't work for a road safety gear supplier, he's a road safety campaigner and runs the SafeSpeed organisation (not SpeedSafe).

I always try to pass on the right, even to the extent of crossing from the inside most to the oustide lane to pass middle lane morons, but if someone is dawdling in the outside lane I will undertake them. It isn't illegal and its perfectly safe if you take due care.

[Fidgits]

i undertake quite often...

but then it is in California, where, amazingly, it isnt legal either (grey area) but everyone does it, so drivers are aware of traffic overtaking on both sides...

[Flat Pack]

Why are the powers-that-be over here hell bent on preaching about congestion reduction then coming up with ideas like this that'll add to the problem?

Because that way they can make MONEY. Generate a load of congestion, preach about how bad it is and how everyone shouldn't be using their cars to make people feel guilty. Then they're more likely to accept having to pay more for it. Anyone else notice how congestion is the new enemy? The environment was the old enemy, and tax on fuel was the 'solution'. Of course once we're all driving fuel-cell cars or whatever, the money from fuel tax dries up. Hence road charging, you pay no matter how green you car is. Being environmentally friendly was never the issue, getting the money in a way the majority of people could be conned into accepting was.

[mikeb]

I take it this is some kind of joke? If not the people behind it deserve to be shot - seriously.

I just read a comment on another forum that a feature of 'britishness' is having taxi drivers who should be politicians and politicians who should be taxi drivers....

As different cars have different braking distances and handling, each model car should be assigned a motorway speed limit. If you go through a speed camera, it'll read your reg plate and a computer will automatically know which model car you have, and decide if your going to fast for your particular car. It should also assess whether you've left a big enough braking distance/gap from the car previous to yours, so you can be fined for tailgating as well.

That's just as bad. A modern cars stopping distance is 90% dependent on it's tyres. Fit a different brand, and the braking distance will change in the wet and dry. Perhaps DVLA should start keeping records of what tyres are fitted to your car, when you last changed them etc? I'm not aware of any modern car that isn't capable of locking up the wheels under braking.

It would also be akin to having a class system on the motorways.

It's not cars or speeding that cause accidents, it's the idiots behind the wheel. The distance you need to leave between yourself and the car in front is mainly to cover your reaction time - unless the car in front is capable of stopping instantaneously.

I would support cameras that could detect tailgaters though, there are too many nutters who drive far too close to the car in front. But only as long as aren't also used as speed cameras (unlikely).

[Spuffington]

Am afraid, if there's a line of 10 cars in the outside line, cruising along at 60mph because they're all eager to overtake one-another........and lanes 1 & 2 are empty because all the reps can't see anything other than "must overtake - lane 3 is mine!", then I will happily (and often) cruise in lane 1 at 70mph and rejoin the traffic flow when I need to overtake again.

I don't see anything wrong with that - and like Flat Pack says, if you exercise due care, it's not unsafe either. Plus you're displaying appropriate lane discipline...........a bit, anyway!

[alanbradley]

I don't see what all the fuss is about. These idiots will only be on the road briefly between service stationsn where the retired old farts will have to pull over for a "nice cup of tea" and to ppe/empty out thir incontinence pants.

Laughable, just laughable...

A

PS IMHO out motorway surfaces are better than thos on the German Autobahns...

[jaxx]

Well that'll be great .. undertaking galore.

im with you

hardshoulder aswell if need be

thick idea, some moron wants shooting

[Caz SR]

One point that I should add... Police drivers have been trained to a high level. What qualifications will these 'volunteer' pace keepers have, other than a full license?

[Chyownster]

that is such a spanner idea. Just think that people are getting paid to come up with ideas like these!

[Jones~32]

What qualifications will these 'volunteer' pace keepers have, other than a full license?

"How to set cruise control"

What a stupid idea, cant believe someone actually thinks this makes sense?!?!

Its going to cause chaos when drivers wont move over and are only doing 70mph in the outside lane, i can see road rage on the increase

[Moffmo]

Motorways work becuase they are flowing, and everyone is doing different speeds.

If any of you have been to birmingham (i think) where there is the motorway with specs cameras for about 30 mile or something ridulous, it is SO unflowing, Everyone bunches up, gets really close to the car in front, its impossible to overtake as people in the lane next to you are doing the same speed. its terrible

Crap idea