Speed

After the U.K. Government got on top of the problem of widespread drink driving, when a coupe of pints and a chaser seemed necessary to cope with the rigours of the Hammersmith gyratory, the issue of speed came next in their sights.

Speed is unlikely to be at the uppermost of your mind when it comes to comparing rescue and recovery services, but is a hot topic of conversation amongst motorists.

Of course, one of the most controversial measures the government undertook to combat the speed problem was to introduce speed cameras on sections of road that before were formerly patrolled by policemen hiding behind hedges. But now most policemen are back at base filling out urgent paperwork, speed cameras took their place.

And speed camera technology has improved so much (the guy will soon no longer even have to change the film, as it will be digitally relayed to the tax office, oops, sorry, police station), it will be even easier to catch speeders.

But motorists don’t like speed cameras who see them for what they really are: revenue generators. They have become just another government stealth tax and this is what really annoys the average motorist. Many strongly argue that their use is not motivated by high principles of road safety but rather is motivated by needing to supplement the tax coffers. If money is not the issue, many argue, then why not just do away with the fines and just dish out the points instead? And few really appreciated the Government’s insistence that speed cameras are their for safety reasons and to prove it, they should be painted in bright colours and not hidden by road signs.

At over £3,000 apiece, the average camera needs paying for of course, but the millions raised by catching speeders pays for their purchase and operation many, many times over.

And, as stated before, although this hot potato is not an issue when it comes to car insurance breakdown cover, every driver finds it irksome, if not downright annoying. Take the average built-up area which means that its perfectly possible to go driving for about ten minutes and get enough points for speeding to be banned for a year.

It is the speed camera’s lack of emotion that really annoys. You cannot plead with it, hope it’s in a good mood, crack a few jokes and hope it’s near the end its shift. If it’s operating and you are speeding, then you are done. And then try arguing in court that there was no-one you were going sixty behind the milk float.

So, when it comes to car breakdown cover UK, the question of speed is not going to arise, but it will fill most of your waking thoughts as you drive around the roads of Britain. And of course, you can’t help thinking that if the government were really serious about speed, then they would tell the manufacturers to fit 50 mph speed limiters onto every vehicle. It’s mechanically perfectly possible to stop a car going above 50 mph (BMWs already do it, but that’s to stop you going above 150 mph), but that is surely the option, if the Government is truly serious about cutting down on speed and road deaths.

But how long would a Government last if it did that? About ten minutes.