Motorists need to spend less time working out ways to evade the law and more on understanding the reasons behind the limits argues Brian Farrell of the National Safety Council.
In last week's Motors Wayne Lyons of Speed Camera Defence said in a piece about speed detectors that he doesn't condone reckless driving. He tells us he only sells anti speed detection equipment to 'responsible citizens who risk loosing their livelihood if they are caught even slightly over the speed limit'.
While his concern for 'responsible citizens' is to be admired it is gravely misplaced.
Likewise it is a pity that those who buy his products do so out of a fear of being caught by the Gardaí rather than a fear for their own safety.
Sadly the belief that anything up to 10km/h above the limit does not constitute dangerous speeding is shared by many drivers in this country.
Our own research supports this view. An NSC survey of over 2,463 drivers in July 2004 found that: 9 out of 10 drivers believe it is acceptable to drive up to 10 km/h over the speed limit and 7 out of 10 believe it is acceptable to drive up to 15 km/k over the speed limit
Drivers believe that there are acceptable or safe levels of speeding but such a view exposes a major flaw in our thinking when it comes to understanding speed. We do not realise that a car driven at any speed is a lethal weapon; in fact it's a weapon of mass destruction.
Breaking the speed limit by 5 km/h can mean the difference between life and death for pedestrians, cyclists or unrestrained passengers travelling in a car.
You might buy Mr. Lyon's products to evade detection but I'm afraid they will not help you evade the laws of physics.
The relationship between various speeds and stopping distance in dry and wet conditions are striking. What if you need to stop a car in an emergency. A school child runs into the road 45 metres ahead. It's a 60 km/h zone and the conditions are dry. In general, a car travelling at 60 km/h will take about 45 metres - or 11 car lengths - to stop under hard braking. You brake. The child survives.
Now consider what happens travelling at 65 km/h. Your car will still be moving at a speed of 32 km/h after a distance of 45 metres. It will stop after having travelled 51 metres - 13 car lengths.
The difference of 5 km/h in travelling speed can be the difference between no impact and colliding at 32 km/h. Or in plain English the child is dead.
If it was another vehicle you hit rather than a pedestrian and you have an unrestrained child in the car he or she will suffer serious injury or may even be killed in the impact (and we know that six out of 10 parents still don't strap their children safety into the back of the car.)
Of course in wet conditions the margin of safety is reduced further.
So is it really worth it for miniscule time savings? On a 10 km journey driving at five km/h over the 60 km/h speed limit will get you to your destination a whole 50 seconds quicker. Understand the nature of speed, understand the destructive force of your car and please, please slow down.
Brian Farrell is communications executive with the National Safety Council