@Kevin @@red bren
"why don't you just shoot everyone?"
Because I'm not a Daily Mail reader and I prefer the punishment to fit the crime.
"driving above the speed limit is perfectly acceptable under the right conditions..."
You're joking, right? If not, check Highway Code 124 - "You MUST NOT exceed the maximum speed limits for the road and for your vehicle" No caveats about anticipation, observance and responsibility.
"FFS the police are allowed to do it."
Traffic police go through additional training and assessment before they are allowed to do this. And they also have these flashing blue lights & sirens to warn other road users of their approach.
"and even acrosss all conditions, is not a hugely significant factor (5-7%) in road accidents."
Can you quote a source for your statistic? Even if speed in itself is not the cause of accident, it certainly has an effect on the outcome.
"Why it should be treated as criminal behavious beats me, it is a civil misdemeanour. Criminals intentionally hurt people."
Ever heard of criminal negligence? As a motorist, you're in charge of a potentially lethal blunt instrument and you have a duty of care to others around you. And do you think the bereaved would be consoled by the thought that their loved one was unintentinally killed?
"my concern is that you and others reduce the road safety argument to the one dimension you can control, speed."
But speed is just about the only dimension that can be practically controlled. Red light jumping is the only other I can think of. Admittedly, there are plenty of other factors in road safety, but surely it makes sense to use automation where possible, allowing other scarce resources to be more effectively targetted?
"I can't beleive the recent adverts that say a child hit at 30mph has an 80% chance of survival - FFS the whole point is to not hit them at all, by observation, experience, reactions and a load of other stuff not in your 1-dimensioned world."
But not every driver will have your (self-assessed) level of driving skills and will often find themselves tailgated (and distracted) because they're going "too slow" for a more "experienced" driver's liking, even when doing the speed limit. Of course, you could argue that if their skills are so poor, they shouldn't be on the road, but then, why not just shoot them?