Britain's most terrifying speeding revealed: 128mph in a 30mph zone

Having read and re-read the heading to this, it doesn't specify what penalties; if any, were incurred by these lunatics, or even if those other than the un-named Porsche driver were identified, or even apprehended.
After tripping a speed camera doing 86 mph in a city street, it begs the question how long must this dickhead have been exceeding the speed limit to attain this extraordinary reckless speed.
Drivers such as this should not only PERMANENTLY lose their license, they should lose their liberty for a lengthy spell.

Maybe this is a German thing, apologies.

Even if the Speed Limit is 30 and you are sticking to it, you might be speeding in my opinion in case a bunch of restless school Kids (or cows, whatever) is swarming the pavement next to your driveway. I prefer someone going 123 mph in the middle of the Night and going 15 in the Above Example.

My Point is that speed is not a Risk factor itself, it depends On the circumstances. And while acknowledging the point of Speed limits and fines, I just think an extensive and automatic 5 year ban On going 45 in a 30 is silly.

Any opportunity for making fun of your German background has been undermined by your reasonableness. Damn the EU, taking away our rights!

I am a German ex motorbike racer, thus familiar with speeding and in a way also quite sympathetic to it. Sorry.

123 mph is difficult to achieve in a suburban area, also in a Porsche. It says nowhere at what time of the day the speeding was done. I assume it was in the middle of the night. If so, I would not rate it as severe as many do in here.

Maybe reaction times are not quicker for racers, but they are more efficient in reacting and they can handle their cars/ bikes so much better. You do not always need to brake to a standstill to avoid an accident, avoiding the obstacle is more often key.

People tend to change perspectives entirely when changing their means of transportation. Having a bit of understanding for the others just makes driving together more pleasant. I opt for more tolerance, freedom and not blindly obeying rules (and I am the f****** German in here). It is needless to say tolerance ends where threats start.

I think getting wrapped up on the safety aspects of driving at ridiculous speeds is kind of missing the point in my opinion.

It goes without saying that at times, it is relatively safe to drive at 140mph, where on other occasions, 20mph is taking the piss.

My thought is that wherever some one feels it acceptable or appropriate to hit those types of speed is irrelevant, but the act of thinking its acceptable (never mind safe) to do so, demonstrates that the driver is unable to make considered judgments and is not worthy of a licence.

I don't know anyone that doesn't speed at times (although my missus drives slow with the kids on board), however the vast majority do so to a percentage that does not jeopardise safety... i.e. 75-80 on a motorway. Moving wildly away from this is demonstrative of a basic lack of care/competence.

The argument about F1 drivers is completely mute... none of the convicted in these examples are listed as having any professional racing experience, therefore there is nothing to suggest they have any advanced skill or reaction times to anyone else on the road.

Brainwashed Britain rears it's ugly head once again.....

it needs proper enforcement, the easiest way to change attitudes is if people think they will get caught.

Trust me I know, my job says I lose it if I lose my licence. I got speeding points 50 in a 40MPH roadworks on the M6. However I went on one of those speeding courses and never again. Thing is it has made me more aware as a cyclist as well to the dangers around us.

"it requires a major shift in the attitudes of these people to think about safety.”

Actually it just needs these people removing from the roads permanently

That driver should have his license revoked and never allowed to drive again, but of course in our driving country he could have killed people and have his license suspended slightly longer than the prison sentence he'd receive.

The risk of killing other people on a residential road at 128mph must be orders of magnitude higher than doing the same speed on a motorway (even in imperfect conditions), where you rarely find cyclists, pedestrians, etc. I hope the sentence reflected that. It should be a lifetime ban.

He must have been in a hurry to get out of East Grinstead …...

I did 120 on the autobahn in september last year, quite legally. I didn't have any problems reacting to the other traffic around me, nor did other drivers reacting to my speed, and the speed of the car's I had to pull in for that overtook me going faster.
There is a major problem in this country with the "speed kills" message. Yes, it does, but only in the hands of the dicks who do it innapropreaitly (sp) 143 on the motorway in a modern sports car is no big deal in my book, deserted, late at night, no problem.
35 at 3pm in the afternoon past a school is more dangerous imho.

for me anyone who does in excess of 50% of the speed limit should get a 5 year ban. in excess of 100% it should be 10 years, in excess of 150% a lifetime ban.

I think the comparisons with racing drivers are pointless. Apart from the drivers being accustomed to those speeds, they know the tracks, they know no-one is going to step into the road, they know all the other drivers meet a certain level of competency etc etc.

@Wardy74: That sounds like an unscientific test. More rigorous studies of racing car drivers do suggest they have significantly faster reactions than random controls:

http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/40/11/906.short

I think I remember the simple experiment of catching a ruler and Michael Schumacher being no better than anyone else. All their reactions are practiced not supernatural. Top Gear have been showing new cars, albeit sporty models, can brake very quickly nowadays. Thinking time will remain the same though, and assuming a reaction time of 2 seconds, a car will have traveled more than 100 meters at 128 mph before they go to put the brakes on. That is a lot of street in a built up area.

Oh, and when you're travelling at high speed, it's not just your own reaction and judgement that become an issue, but that of other people. A vehicle travelling at high speed may be a speck in the mirror of the motorist wanting to change lane, but by the time they change lane another second later, they could cause the high-speed vehicle big issues. And so on.

Formula 1 drivers have significantly above average reaction times though. As for flying, pilots generally don't have a need for exceptional reaction times.

Motorways are the safest roads in the country. The problem with speeding is primarily on all the other roads.

these idiots doing 100+ in a residential area... presumably they will now be cycling for the next 10 years or so? (if they are not also serving a term inside)

Quote:

What about other road users? they are expecting traffic to be travelling within a certain range of speeds.
So on a motorway they check their mirrors, see a car in the distance - it is very hard to judge speed. If it is coming at twice the speed it should be there is a real risk they could pull in front of the speeding car leaving the speeding car little or no time to react .

nail. hit. head

I live in East Grinstead..the driver must have been travelling downhill and heading north, as that's the way the camera points..the camera is smack in the middle of a residential area, and in normal circumstances you can barely reach 20 mph as there's so much traffic.....in fact most times I ride down there I'm travelling faster than the cars... but what a fool to be travelling at that speed!? here's what our local rag has to say-
http://www.eastgrinsteadcourier.co.uk/Britain-8217-s-worst-speeder-caugh...

Crazy. That road must have felt very narrow at 128mph. One mistake and it's curtains for anyone and everyone involved.

Actually, I think the IAM commentator is wrong. It's not impossible to react quickly at 140mph - F1 drivers and pilots seem to cope just fine. Travelling at 140mph on a motorway may be foolish, but with dry conditions on a straight, clear road I don't think an experienced driver in a performance car is really that much of a risk to anyone but themselves.

It's the sheer number of twats hammering through a suburban street or country village at 50-75mph that's the problem, their selfish behaviour deters kids from playing in the streets, or cycling to school, etc