Statistics, damn lies and statistics

[Moriath]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6571257.stm

 

[Calaen]

The comments made me laugh the most.

 

[ECA]

Lol this article is so badly written it makes me giggle.

Before speed cameras, the number of road deaths was falling dramatically but this is no longer the case. So do speed cameras really make our roads safer?

What does she mean by "life-changing injury"? In London it's applied to anyone who has a serious injury, which can mean everything from paralysis to a broken bone or a concussion. A broken arm is serious, but is it really life changing?

This semantic sleight of hand infuriates the small band of speed camera opponents. Chief among them is Paul Smith, whose group, Safe Speed, does all it can to discredit cameras.

Small band?

lol k.

For years the myth persisted that cameras were put up as a way to generate money rather than to make the roads safer.

Um? Did the same person really write the earlier parts?

Earlier this year the Department for Transport (DfT) tried to put this to bed. They revealed the requirements that cameras have to meet before they are installed. Principally, there have to have been three serious injuries at a camera site in a three-year period. In London it's even tougher with four injuries over the same period.

Didn't we all know this requirement yearrrrs ago?

The government say there's compelling evidence to show that speed cameras save lives. The last evaluation in 2005 claimed there had been over 40% less people killed or seriously injured at camera sites.

Right because less people killed at camera sites means less deaths overall?

zzzz thats only the first 1/2 of this POS article.

 

[Clown]

You write 'lol' every other line and you're nit picking about the quality of his writing?

Lol k.

 

[Ormorof]

You write 'lol' every other line and you're nit picking about the quality of his writing?

Lol k.

difference being that he is posting on a forum, the other is writing an article for the BBC

might have been edited heavily though, so two people effectively ended up writing the article

 

[Raven]

I wrote to my MP suggesting an alternative to the current speed camera set up. My idea was to have cameras which took photographs of cars travelling at or below the speed limit. Those which did would be entered into a draw and each day a winner would be selected for a prize. Each camera would be sponsored by a major company, who would pay for the camera and supply the prize. (Vehicles would be limited to say three entries a day at the same camera to avoid bottlenecks from people travelling past them all day to get multiple entries). The idea would also encourage people to register their cars properly. I received a reply bluntly stating that the existing laws were enough, and people should not need encouragement to keep within the speed limit. But surely the point is to stop people speeding and save lives.

Who said British ingenuity is dead?!

 

[Maljonic]

I like those signs that flash up the speed limit and tell you to slow down much better than speed cameras.