You often find those drivers who dislike speed limits claiming that it isn’t speed that kills, it is bad driving leading to accidents.
And they’re right … sort of 🙂
Driving at a high speed doesn’t kill anyone directly, but it does have a negative effect. Firstly driving at high speed increases the likelyhood of an accident because you have less time to react to dangers on the road … the faster you are travelling the quicker you will arrive at that car that has just drifted into your lane, and drive over that bicycle that has just fallen off the back of that car. Secondly if you do have an accident, the faster you are going, the more likely you are to wind up dead … the faster you are going, the harder you hit.
A variation on the second which is more important to me as someone who is most often a pedestrian, is that the faster you are going, the less likely a pedestrian you hit will survive.
Personally I would like to see speed limits reduced in built-up areas and on quiet country roads, but increased on major roads (motorways, dual-carriageways) and those limits enforced properly. Smaller roads have more dangers than larger roads, and the old upper speed limit of 70mph was worked out at a time when cars were far less safe than they are today.
Oh! One last word for those who keep whining about speed camera. Keep to the speed limit, and you won’t get caught. If you insist on breaking the law, don’t complain about the law being enforced.