[ILUG-SOCIAL] Speed kills - or does it ?

[Ronan Kirby]

On Wed, 2003-04-09 at 13:29, Joe Desbonnet wrote:
> Agreed completely. But the problem is how to you measure and prosecute 
> "bad driving".  The cops can only enforce things they can measure 
> absolutely (speed, alcohol levels etc). Fixing bad driving is not going 
              ^^^^^
Next time you meet a Garda, ask when was the last time their speed gun
was calibrated and wait for the inevitable "huh?". You can generally
expect a 10% error in your speedo and about the same in their gun. Late
last year we had a car with a digital speedo set using cruise control to
exactly 100kph (national speed limit), a handheld GPS also tracking the
speed, and a (rather new) motorbike running beside for a short period.
All read rather different speeds, with a general diff of about 10% or
11%.

Anywho, after all that, the point I was trying to make is that speed is
not something they can measure absolutely. The other option is to travel
in excess of 173mph and you won't even register on the equipment ;o)

- Ronan