We are all aware that the speed we are travelling at can depend up on whether or not we become involved in a road traffic accident. The speed limit determines whether or not we are able to stop when a vehicle or pedestrian appears in front of us. In the most populated areas with street lights, the speed limit is 30 mph unless specified differently.
Most of us stick to the speed limit, although there are some drivers who fail to stick to the law on speeding. Speeding is a high factor in the amount of accidents on our roads, especially in wet and icy weather conditions. There are always adverts on the TV created by the government to make drivers aware of what difference travelling at 30mph can make to travelling at 40mph.
The government and local councils recently turned a number of speed cameras off because they weren’t catching many offending drivers, so what a waste of money! Today, some of those cameras are being turned back on, due to an increase in the amount of motoring offences.
If the usual yellow speed cameras sent a chill down your spine I dread to think what the new speed camera will do. The government have released details of a new speed camera which is referred to as Asset – Advanced Safety and Driver Support for Essential Road Transport. This latest development is being funded with around £7 million of European money.
The Asset does things that the average speed camera couldn’t do. As well as detecting the speed of your vehicle from 50 yards away it also checks number plates to make sure the insurance and tax are up to date on vehicles. Along with the regular checks it also measures the distance between vehicles to spot tailgating and takes pictures of the inside of the car to make sure you are wearing your seat belt. The camera is part of a movement in the UK to cut down road traffic accidents; machines like these are expected to be seen in the U.K from 2013.
If you have been involved in a car accident due to the excessive speed of another driver and suffered injury because of this then you may be able to make an injury compensation claim. The police can find out the speed a vehicle was travelling at due to the skid makes it leaves on the road in the instance of an accident. They will also look at a number of other aspects, such as the damage caused to both vehicles. If you would like to make a compensation claim, the sooner you act up on this the better, as most claims have a three-year time limit.
