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THE SPEEDING DRIVER: WHO, HOW AND WHY?

APPENDIX A INTERVIEWS WITH ACCIDENT-INVOLVED DRIVERS

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

A.1 Extended interviews were undertaken with 8 car drivers who had been involved in crashes while driving within the past 3 years. Four were male and 4 were female. The ages of both the males and the females ranged from 19 to 49 years. A set of over thirty questions were developed, designed to lead the respondent from talking about the part that the car played in their daily life, through the manner in which they drive, via their views and feelings about speed, speeding and speed enforcement, to discussion of the car crash they had been involved in and its immediate and subsequent effects on them and on their driving. Care was taken to avoid re-traumatising any respondents who showed any reluctance to revisit this latter matter. Some respondents did not address all the question topics, but all provided insight into the causes and consequences of their crash. The interviews terminated with two final questions, about mobile phone use and road safety publicity.

A.2 The interview questions were:

MALE 19 YEARS

A.3 How long have you been driving?

A year and a half now.

A.4 Have you had any breaks from driving?

No. I was off sick - I crashed my first car. I was off for a while, but other than that.

A.5 Do you do a lot of driving?

About 6,000 a year.

A.6 What car do you drive? (Engine size?)

Vauxhall Nova - 1.2.

A.7 What is your car like to drive?

It's not too bad - once it gets going it's alright.

A.8 Do you ever feel that your car pulls you along? Do you always feel you're in control?

No.

A.9 How does your driving fit in with your job? Do you drive to and from work?

I need to travel for work and that - to and from work.

A.10 Do you think that you could manage without a car? Why?

No. I just need it all the time. I don't like getting buses and stuff like that. It's easier, if I've got the car there - instead of waiting for a train or a bus to come you can just jump in the car. (Works in another town) - I think there's a bus that goes to (work town) but I don't really know. (Social life - rely on car?) Not a lot - but I do sometimes.

A.11 When you drive, are you generally alone?

On my own usually.

A.12 In what circumstances do you carry passengers?

If I was going on holiday.

A.13 Do you drive differently when you have passengers? How? Why?

Yes. I'd be a lot safer. A lot slower as well! It's other peoples' lives at risk.

A.14 What about your life? Are you immortal?

Yes - I won't die!

A.15 Do you think going slower is safer?

It can be, aye.

A.16 How does the weather affect your driving?

If it's raining, I slow right down. I don't like - that car can't handle it wet anyway. I don't like driving in the rain or snow. So if it was raining I just slow it down.

A.17 What do you like about driving?

It's freedom. If you're bored, you can just jump in the car and go a wee run in the car and listen to music - I love it. Sometimes I feel good driving fast - it gets the adrenaline rushing.

A.18 What do you dislike about driving?

Traffic and slow drivers. You can get people that are too slow for the roads they're on and shouldn't be on the roads. That's the kind of people that annoy me and that's it really.

A.19 Are there some kinds of drivers/vehicles that annoy you?

Old drivers - 60s, 70s, pensioners that are driving - they just shouldn't be allowed on the road I don't think - because they are slow and they're a danger to other people. Caravans kind of annoy me as well - but then they've got to be slow because they're towing.

A.20 How do you feel when someone is driving too close behind you? What do you do?

Pressured - as if they're wanting me to speed up. They want to get by me. Sometimes it makes me angry - it depends how far up the back end they are. If they're right tight up then that annoys me. I'd probably slow down - or speed up - it just depends on the case. If somebody was wanting past and it was clear, then I would let them past. But if it was somebody wanting past when there's corners and stuff - just slow down.

A.21 Do you ever feel under time pressure when you're driving?

I have done a few times, aye. That makes me panic - I'm going to be late for work. I go a bit faster.

A.22 Do you ever feel under any other pressure when you are driving on the road?

Not really, no.

A.23 Have you ever gone out in the car 'to calm down' after being upset/angry?

Yes, I've done that a few times. Sometimes it can make me feel better - you're on your own, you've got time to think - you can calm yourself down a bit.

A.24 Do you drive faster? Yes. Do you think it's dangerous? Oh aye - because you're not concentrating properly, you're thinking of other things - you should be concentrating on the road.

A.25 Please look at Picture 1 (Motorway) and Picture 2 (Country Road). Imagine that you're making progress in free-flowing traffic on these roads.

A.26 What speed would you normally drive on the motorway?

70.

A.2 What speed would you normally drive on the country road?

60.

A.28 What speed would you prefer to drive on the motorway?

80 - 90. I would feel safe driving at 85-90.

A.29 What speed would you prefer to drive on the country road?

About 70, I think. Because, there's blind corners and stuff like that, so you don't know what you're coming up against.

A.30 What goes through your head when you come across a speed camera? What action do you take?

Slow down so it doesn't catch you! More than likely I'd have to slow down. After I pass the camera, I'd go back to my normal speed.

A.31 Do you think that speed cameras make the roads safer?

They can do, aye, but people - they don't really care about speed cameras any more because the police aren't stamping down on it. Most of the cameras I see - I mean you can see signs up, and all that, that say 'speed cameras' but there aren't any on the roads - so they're not really.

A.32 Some local authorities have introduced traffic calming measures to slow drivers down - do you think that this is a good idea? Do you think that they work?

Can do - but in other cases you get like boy racers and stuff who get agitated sitting behind slower cars, and that can cause more accidents.

A.33 Some local authorities have introduced 20mph zones - do you think that this is a good idea? Do you think that they work?

I think there's a few about here. Aye, well if there's kids running about - you've got to be more careful. If the schools were closed? I'd drive about 30, I think, if there was nothing about.

A.34 Are you ever unsure about the speed limit on roads that you drive?

Sometimes, aye - going through towns, wee towns, that don't have - like some of them don't have signposts up - and they say slow down, but you don't know if you go down to 30 or stick with 60 or not.

A.35 Could you tell me a little about the accident(s) that you've had while driving. Was it a typical day for you - or were the circumstances unusual that day? What would you say was the cause of the accident?

I was coming home from Stirling - it was on a Sunday. I was coming home from my friend's house. It was about 10 o'clock at night - half ten. It had been raining - it was like smirry rain. But there was also another crash the same night - so I think there was oil or petrol on the road. And as I went round the corner, the back end spun round and I went into a field - hit a tree stump. It was quite scary. I was in hospital for five days - I'd collapsed lung, broken ribs. Luckily I was on my own in the car. But then, I say lucky - but, if there was someone else in the car, I wouldn't have been going so fast and I wouldn't have left at that time of night either. I was doing 60 - the speed limit was 60 - but it was going round a corner.

A.36 How did the accident affect you personally?

My Dad was in Canada at the time - my Mum she was down in the Mull of Kintyre, so they got a bit of a fright. My friends were a bit shocked as well.

A.37 How did the accident affect your driving?

It gave me a kick up the backside - made me realise that life is short. You can't just race about everywhere - you've got to pay more attention. I do drive more slowly now in some circumstances - like taking bends. Like the road I travel every day - I know the speeds I can go round the roads. But other roads - that's when I slow down. I'm more cautious about the corners and stuff like that.

A.38 How long did it take you to get back to normal?

Quite a while - a good few months. It took me three or four weeks to get back into a car - and then, after that I was fine. I started back at work - I was off for seven weeks. Started back at work and had to do the journey and I was getting more confident but I was still that bit wary of traffic and stuff. But, other than that, I didn't have any nightmares or anything like that.

A.39 Publicity

Adverts on telly are quite good. The one with the guy driving by the school and he's got the guy sitting in the back of the car - and it's him - adverts like that are quite good. You've got to think - well wait a minute, maybe I should slow down. Some (people my age) don't care - don't listen, they think 'I'm indestructible' - it doesn't appeal to me. I was like that as well - but now, totally changed. (Blood and guts advertising) in some ways it might actually make people see what's going to happen if they keep going the way they're going - it might give them a wee fright. But, I don't really know - I think it would be a good idea. But I like the ones that make you think.

A.40 Do you use a mobile phone in the car?

No - well I have a hands-free kit, but I don't use it a lot. If someone phones me in the car, then I don't - I only answer it if I know I'm going to be safe. But, if not, then I just let it ring out and see who it is who has phoned me once I've stopped.

A.41 Support a ban?

Yes - people are distracted, don't pay attention to the roads - cause more accidents.

MALE 28 YEARS

A.42 How long have you been driving?

For 4 years.

A.43 Have you had any breaks from driving?

No breaks.

A.44 Do you do a lot of driving?

I do - since moving from London.

I just moved to the area about a year ago - before I was living in London and worked in London and did a lot of driving in London.

Not sure (how much) - more than I did in London because I do more miles here - going to the shops and stuff. More than 12 thousand a year.

A.45 What car do you drive?

A Passat Estelle - 1.9.

A.46 What is your car like to drive?

It's a little small for me - just headroom-wise.

A.47 Do you ever feel like the car pulls you along?

No.

A.48 How does your driving fit in with your job? Do you drive as part of your job?

Getting to and from work.

A.49 Do you think that you could manage without a car? Why?

No. There is public transport. We have neighbours here who are both teachers in (local town) and they go into (local town) every day so, I mean, we could survive without a car. For work sometimes I need to take tools and stuff.

A.50 When you drive, are you generally alone?

Often.

A.51 In what circumstances do you carry passengers?

Well sometimes - often with my family. I'm driving with my family and in my capacity as - I do some voluntary work sometimes. The person that I work with - I visit a person and take them for a drive.

A.52 Do you drive differently when you have passengers? How? Why?

Yes. I think you have to ask my wife. I don't drive more slowly. I think - probably a year ago there was definitely a different level of - definitely drove slower with passengers. But now my level of driving on my own is coming down and I'm getting calmer and, living here, I'm not living in London where you have to drive as fast as you can. That was a big change when I got here at first. Now there is less of a difference. I feel responsible for other people.

A.53 Does the weather affect your driving?

Yes. There's been times - last winter - when I drove to visit the same person and they live quite high up in a hilly area and it's treacherous the road when it's snowing and a journey that can take 35 minutes when it's fine - I've had it take me an hour and a half sometimes.

A.54 Do you like driving? What do you like about driving?

Yes. I enjoy driving - I sometimes have enough of it and I get bored of driving the same kind of road - the same route every day. It's the mobility - being able to visit places with my family - on trips to nice places which you might not be able to do on the bus or by bicycle.

A.55 What makes you feel good when you're driving?

Good music and good scenery.

A.56 What do you dislike about driving?

The unreliability of my car. Frustrations with the car - in terms of its reliability. London traffic - all city traffic.

A.57 Are there some kinds of drivers/vehicles that annoy you?

Dangerous drivers I guess. And in this area (very rural) there's a lot of dangerous overtaking. Local drivers drive as fast as they can.

A.58 Who are the worst drivers on the road?

I think it's young people - not necessarily young people - people that drive fast. I think some elderly drivers get to the point when they need to take a test to see if they are still capable.

A.59 How do you feel when someone is driving too close behind you? What would you do?

Just a bit frustrated - a bit angry perhaps - yeah. If it was on a road - a country road - so I would know to slow down and indicate to the left and encourage the car to overtake me.

A.60 Do you ever feel under time pressure when you're driving?

Sometimes.

A.61 Do you ever feel under any other pressure when you are driving on the road?

No - feel quite calm.

A.62 Have you ever gone out in the car 'to calm down' after being upset/angry?

No.

A.63 Picture 1 - what speed would you normally drive on the motorway?

80 mph.

A.64 Picture 2 - what speed would you normally drive on a country road?

60 mph - 50-60 mph.

A.65 Picture 1 - what speed would you prefer to drive?

Happy with 80 mph.

A.66 Picture 2 - what speed would you prefer to drive?

The same.

A.67 Picture 1 - how often do you check your speedometer on the motorway?

I look at it quite often - I tend to look at my speedometer when I'm on the motorway quite often. Once every 2, 4 minutes - once every 4 minutes.

A.68 Picture 2 - how often do you check your speedometer on the country road?

Same as on the motorway.

A.69 What goes through your head when you come across a speed camera?

I check that I've being speeding.

A.70 What action do you take?

If I was over the speed limit by more than 10 miles then I would take my foot off the accelerator and brake as well - brake gently if necessary.

A.71 Do you think that speed cameras make the roads safer?

I've had no ill-experience of speed cameras but you do tend to find people standing on their brakes and bunching up around speed cameras which seems a bit dangerous but I've no experience - I've heard that there's been this problem.

A.72 Do you think traffic calming is a good idea? Does it work?

Speed bumps? Yes I think it's alright - in London, my experience of London anyway is you do speed calming on one street and you just move it to another area and so on and so on and so on. So I don't think it's that good for that reason. But then for the reason of certain streets which are real rat runs - where there is kids playing and things - it does slow drivers down on that road - so in that way it does work. But then again it just shifts the problem to another area.

A.73 Do you think 20mph zones are a good idea? Do they work?

I think that's definitely a good idea in towns cause people, you know, the idea is that the speed limit is not the limit that you drive at but it's legal to drive at that limit. So in towns people do tend to drive around at 30 mph - which is still too fast in certain situations. So I think 20 is a good idea in certain areas definitely. I think it would make people drive at under 30.

A.74 Are you ever unsure about speed limits on roads that you drive?

Yes. Some roads just have those small signs along the way. If it's like an urban dual carriageway where it's like 40 mph or 50 there's usually a sign along the way - smaller signs - and you need more signs.

A.75 Could you tell me a little about the accident you had?

It was an autumn day - November - yes it was kind of autumn and raining - wet and the road was kind of slippery with leaves. I was on the way to work - it was in the morning, early in the morning on the way to work. I'm not sure what speed I was doing before the accident - I wasn't aware that it was too fast. I wasn't doing over the speed limit - it was just too fast for the conditions in the bit of road that I was on which was very bendy. I was too fast entering a bend and skidded - and I thought I'd righted it but then it reversed direction and I came off the road and hit a tree. I had a passenger. We were both injured - the passenger more than me. He broke a rib - or 4 ribs. I wasn't severely injured - and the dog was in the car and the dog wasn't injured, my passenger was injured.

A.76 How did the accident affect you?

It certainly affected my driving. It affected my driving in that when I first moved up here I was still driving like a sort of London, with a London mentality - driving everywhere as fast as I could - a kind of anxiety about getting places as fast as possible. So, especially if I was in the car on my own, I would drive much faster. And I would enjoy driving fast as well when I first moved up here - on my own. Cause if I had my family in the car I wouldn't drive fast. So before the crash, I knew - I had a thought to myself - that it would take a crash like that to make me slow down and something like that could make me. So I did crash and it did change the way I drive - it shook me up and made me realise that I was driving too fast.

A.77 What do you think about road safety publicity?

Drink driving campaigns - at Christmas - seem to have been successful - but I don't drink. There's always lots of advertising about reducing your speed and speed kills and all the slogans - but I think it's usually just experience that makes you bring your speed down. Age - and having a family has affected me.

A.78 What kind of advertising would affect you?

I think it's a good idea to use quite powerful images in the campaigns and it's the closest thing people get to being in an accident.

A.79 Do you use a mobile phone?

I did when I lived in London but since I moved up here I don't use it. I used it when I was driving but now I don't use it at all.

MALE 47 YEARS

A.80 How long have you been driving?

I learnt to drive in 1979 probably. That is to say I learned to drive a car then, I had been riding a motorcycle for some time. You're awfully vulnerable riding a motorcycle, you are exceedingly vulnerable on a motorcycle. I stopped riding a motorcycle because I met a car coming round a bend and it was on the wrong side of the road and you know there's very little you can do! So, I had a crash and broke my arm on the motorbike and I'd already started driving a car at that time but I never went back to a motorbike - it isn't worth it. It is - you are just so vulnerable. If somebody else makes a mistake there's nothing to protect you.

A.81 Have you had any breaks from driving?

I've had breaks from owning a car and so there would have been few years that I didn't drive very much. 1982 until 1987/88 before I had a car of my own. That isn't to say that I completely didn't drive but I didn't drive very much.

A.82 Do you do a lot of driving?

I do much less now than I did 3 or 4 years ago. I mean through the 90s I probably averaged 30 thousand a year - I'm now averaging under 12.

A.83 What car do you drive? (Engine size?)

I now drive a 4-wheel drive - sports utility thing. I had a series of cars but latterly - a couple of very nice sports cars which were extremely good fun to drive in.

A.84 What is your car like to drive?

It's better than you'd think is the quick answer. It suffers at present from the fact that the tyres lose pressure - and I'm told this is because of corrosion on the inside of the aluminium wheel rim - and I'm going to get them redone. And consequently you have to be sure your tyres are at the right pressure before you go and do anything silly. But at the same time, it drives well - if you push it, it will slide on bends quite nicely. It's more like a hot hatch than you would believe a 4-wheel drive could be.

A.85 Do you ever feel that your car pulls you along?

Oh, I always drive the car.

A.86 How does your driving fit in with your job?

I've worked at home this year - I'm not really working very much at all. I've deliberately chosen to take the year mostly off - I'm just keeping my customers happy because I overworked last year and got myself very tired.

A.87 Do you drive to and from work?

I don't - I have driven a great deal because of work - you know, going to see customers. The nature of my business is that most of my customers are in big cities and most of them are not in Scotland. I do use the train a great deal - I like the sleeper very much. I don't drive to London. But when you have a customer in Northampton and a customer in Birmingham and you've got to see them both on the same day - you drive.

A.88 Do you think that you could manage without a car? Why?

The answer is - increasingly it would be possible. We now get most of our shopping from Tesco through the online so that we don't drive to shop very much any more - and that has brought the mileage down really quite sharply - really surprisingly. And it also means you don't actually have to go out. I have lived in places as remote as this without motor transport before in my life for years and managed fine. I'm, of course, older and less fit - more lazy. The public transport is rotten - it's better than it was. We're still at the stage of one bus a day. You really can't manage by public transport alone but you can do very well with a push bike.

A.89 When you drive, are you generally alone?

Probably not these days. When I was driving more, almost always - but given that I don't do the long journeys going up to see customers by myself that I used to do usually Juliet is with me.

A.90 Do you drive differently when you have passengers? How? Why?

When I answered this question in the previous interview I said that I didn't think I did - and I've thought about that since, and I think I do. Not much - but having someone to talk to on a long journey certainly helps with alertness. I mean we were up to Edinburgh last night - Tony Benn was doing a talk - and coming back - leaving Edinburgh at 11 and back here at 1 am, certainly helps with your alertness having someone else in the car. Whether I drive more carefully with someone else in the car I don't know - I'm inclined to think I don't. On the other hand, Juliet gets nervous on overtaking - particularly on overtaking on the short straights which is a lot of what we have here - so I probably don't overtake as frequently when I have Juliet in the car as I do when I'm by myself. I'm not persuaded that that makes much difference to safety because I think, on the whole, on driving when I am concentrating - I am good. My faults in driving are when I am not concentrating. Having a passenger helps concentration when you're a bit tired. And that is really the most dangerous.

A.91 How does the weather affect your driving?

We get a great deal of rain. There's something of a joke locally that the flood signs come out when the flood's already going away and they remember to take them up again just before it floods again! The last 2 cars I had before this were open cars - but there is a temptation with an open car to drive faster when it's wet to keep it going over your head rather than falling in the cockpit, But, against that, the 4-wheel drive really isn't troubled nearly so much by standing water on the road as the little low cars. Obviously, one goes slower in the rain on the whole because traction is less good. But the other thing that we have around here is on days with high winds, trees come down and you take it very very easily on some of the twisty bits through the woods - because you never know when you come round a bend and there's a tree across the road. I've done that more than once!

A.92 Do you like driving? What do you like about driving?

Yes very much. Sense of engagement - I mean I would have said 3 or 4 years ago that driving was my chief recreation. A sense of engagement, a sense of stretching your skills, a sense of control - yes, those things.

A.93 What makes you feel good when you're driving? (When do you feel good about driving?)

What makes me feel good is a twisty mountain road with good visibility so that - although it wouldn't be fun with no bends - it's much more fun if you can see the road ahead 2 or 3 miles so that you can be sure that when you take a bend on the wrong side you're not going to hit anything! Yes, a fast car, a twisty road - and that to me is heaven. No question!

A.94 What do you dislike about driving?

I'm much less good now at city driving than I used to be - and I find it stressful. I know that I don't have the sorts of awareness that you require for city driving. I don't much like motorways where you sit in fundamentally the same place on the road for 2/3 hours at a time doing very little and yet you have to be alert all the time. The thing about driving the sorts of roads that I like to drive is that although you have to be alert all the time your senses are being stimulated. One of the things which happens a lot round here lately - which I am very unconvinced of the wisdom of - is a lot of the little twisty roads are getting substantially straightened. This of course means that local drivers like me - I imagine one of the reasons you've come back to talk to me again is because I owned up to driving too fast a lot of the time which I imagine pretty much everybody around here does, but very few people own up to. One of the things about straightening out the roads is the average speeds are increasing and roads which you could not take fast 20 years ago you now can take fast. I am not persuaded that it is any improvement to safety. I think it's been done for timber wagons - but you know in cities we see these things - traffic calming measures - where deliberately quite sharp bends are being introduced into roads - this seems to me a good idea and taking quite sharp bends out of rural roads seems to me quite a bad idea. I mean to take examples, there's (a local road) - used to be extremely twisty, used to be a fun road to drive - still is a fun road to drive - but the bends which kept me down to 40/ 45 mph are gone and so you can take it at 70/80 without a problem. And you go off and hit a tree at that speed - somebody's dead. And if you meet another car at that speed - somebody's dead. So I'm not persuaded this is a good thing.

A.95 Are there some kinds of drivers/vehicles that annoy you?

Not many. I think it's just partly a matter of getting older and being aware that I'm going to get older still. Yes, I mean people who drive very erratically - but very very infrequently. People who pull out of sideroads without looking - they scare me. I don't like being scared, I don't think anybody does. But, on the whole, no. I have a personal phobia about tractors with ploughs - because a tractor going down the road with a plough in the raised position, that plough is just at the right height to come through you windscreen - and it's very very solid metal. And if you were to come up suddenly behind a tractor with a plough and the road conditions were slippy or there was wet leaves or whatever - that's a personal phobia. But increasingly you're seeing tractors on the roads with yellow flashes on - so this is improving. But it's not that tractors on the roads annoy me, it's just that they scare me.

A.96 Who are the worst drivers on the road?

Kids - and it's inexperience. And the only way they're going to get more experience is to be on the road. Some older drivers drive very slowly and you have to pull out for them. Some old drivers become very nervous and their nervousness brings bad behaviour with it. At the same time, on the whole, elderly drivers do not drive erratically. If you're aware of them, you can predict what they'll do. Sometimes they're a wee bit over-eager with their brakes - but OK, if you're aware of it, it's not a problem.

A.97 How do you feel when someone is driving too close behind you? What do you do?

I dislike it very much. I think it's very dangerous. I will tend to slow down and dab my brakes - I'd encourage them, if at all possible, to overtake. I'd much rather, much rather somebody who is messing about is ahead of me. That will typically be kids. Typically it's inexperience again.

A.98 Do you ever feel under time pressure when you're driving?

I do feel under time pressure particularly when I've been out seeing customers or whatever by myself and I'm coming home - and I know Juliet is expecting me home at a particular time and as usual I've stayed talking to someone for too long, or messed about too long, and I'm under time pressure - and, you know, we have discussed that as a problem between ourselves and we now have strategies to deal with that. This has made me a bad driver in the past. Driving too fast when you're too tired is, as I have reason to know, the worst thing you can do. On the other hand, if I'm not too tired I'd probably drive that fast anyway. So whether it makes me drive faster - I don't know. But it does tend to make me drive faster when I'm tired - which is seriously bad news.

A.99 Do you ever feel under any other pressure when you are driving on the road?

No - I'm mostly a pretty relaxed driver. I don't get angry or stressed or tensed.

A.100 Have you ever gone out in the car 'to calm down' after being upset/angry?

Yes. Probably not a good idea - and I haven't done it for many years. But I certainly have in the past driven off aggression. It releases the aggression - your minds engaged in something, your body is engaged in something. You're dealing with the adrenaline. So, provided that you don't kill somebody in the process, as a strategy for reducing tension it works - but it would work an awful lot better on a racing track!

A.101 Please look at picture 1 (Motorway) and Picture 2 (Country Road).

Imagine that you're making progress in free-flowing traffic on these roads.

What speed would you normally drive on the motorway?

I would probably be doing an indicated 85-ish. Now that would not be a continuous speed, it would vary between 80-ish and 90-ish.

A.102 What speed would you normally drive on the country road?

We've got shadow across the road and we've got a bend where we don't have a good sight line, I mean taking this snap shot of the road, I would be decelerating at that point - probably around 60. But if the sight line had been longer on the same bend - then I would've been going faster. And, in my current vehicle - which is not a sports vehicle, which is not that fast and has a higher centre of roll than the cars I've been driving before - probably not more than 80.

A.103 What speed would you prefer to drive on the motorway? What speed would you prefer to drive on the country road?

The speeds that I've given are my preferred speeds. I've been driving, as we've said, for a very considerable period - in that time I've been stopped for speeding twice. I was stopped for speeding in about 1992 - doing 77 mph (60 mph limit) - and I was fined, I forget how much, but it wasn't a large amount of money. I actually, about 5 years ago - coming back into the village, overtook an unmarked white car and I would have been doing 115/120. And it followed me into the village - and turned out to be a police car. But they had not followed me far enough - so they gave me a stiff telling off. And I was stopped again the year before last, again at 77 mph on the road into Edinburgh - and fined 40 and, I think, 3 points. You know, this level of risk of being caught is not, for me, a disincentive. I've never had more than 3 points on my licence. So I've never felt at any risk of losing my licence. So, from the point of view - is it a disincentive? For me, no - because the police don't appear to be taking it awfully seriously. And, you know, from the way I feel - driving on mostly fairly empty rural roads - I've probably have had more accidents in my driving history than some people but I've certainly had very many less than urban drivers that I know. I don't feel that I'm unsafe or at risk of putting other people's lives in danger. I mean, putting my own life in danger is another matter.

A.104 How often would you glance at your speedometer on the motorway?

It's not a matter of how often. I mean you have a pattern of eye movement and the speedo is in that pattern and, I would have thought, that I would be looking at the speedometer more than once a minute just in the regular road, mirrors. I don't think that I very frequently consciously look at any of the one things that are around me but you're doing it constantly. I suspect if you put an eye tracker on somebody who's driving, the eye movement is pretty continuous. One interesting thing is that I now have to wear glasses for driving - which I don't wear for sailing. When I'm sailing, my focus is always long and I never feel the need for glasses. When I'm driving if I don't wear my glasses, I know within minutes - which shows that I'm doing very different things with my eyes when driving.

A.105 How often would you glance at your speedometer on the country road?

No difference from when driving on the motorway. Well, having said that, on the motorway you're having to spend less time concentrating on the road so you're probably looking at the speedometer more. Because on a road where you're really engaged in driving and you're concentrating on the road to a much higher degree.

A.106 What goes through your head when you come across a speed camera? What action do you take?

I typically decelerate if I see it in time. If I haven't seen it in time, there's nothing I can do. Having said that, you know, I've been driving regularly these last - I very rarely speed in town, I do feel that that's important because the risk of a kid or something playing on a bike or walking on the road is very high. And most of the speed cameras are in towns - but speed cameras on motorways are pretty common as well. I haven't once been picked up on a speed camera. Now, I would have thought that every time I've passed a speed camera on the motorway, I was exceeding the speed limit - I haven't once been caught.

A.107 Do you think that speed cameras make the roads safer?

There's been an argument recently about whether speed cameras should be painted bright orange or continue to be painted dull grey. If they're painted dull grey and you don't know when you're going to be caught then they could be a disincentive to speeding - provided that, you know, I had received a whole sheaf. I know a friend who works for the BBC and commutes between here and Aberdeen on a fairly regular basis and drives a nice little sports car. And she picked up 3 tickets on one journey back from Aberdeen which really upset and shook her. But I have never picked up a ticket from a speed camera and, you know, until you have - you're not going to take them very seriously. So, I understand that these cameras do not have much film in them and that they sit there and 90% of the time they're not active - I don't think there's any point in having them unless they're really working. And it's no good flashing if nothing happens through the post. So, to be a disincentive I think they should remain grey and I think they should be - much more frequently fines should result. Because, otherwise, nobody's going to pay attention -and if they're painted bright orange, you always know where they are, you're always going to be going slow when you actually pass them and then speed up afterwards. So, no point. If you see them, you slow down - get past them and then speed up again.

A.108 Some local authorities have introduced traffic calming measures to slow drivers down - do you think that this is a good idea? Do you think that they work?

I think it's an excellent idea. I think it should be done much more often and I think it should be done in much more places - and I include rural roads. One of the things they have done in this village in the last 20 years is they've closed off the main road at the top so the straight road up through the village now has a sharp bend at the top which effectively is traffic calming - and the bulge outside our house, which again is traffic calming - so that you can't treat the main street as a race way which people used to do. So that's a good thing but, for instance, if you go from here back towards Dumfries you'll pass through (a village on the main trunk road). The speed limit for the village is 50 mph which is ridiculous. The school is on the opposite side from the houses so the kids are crossing the road and it's 50 - the speed limit is 50 - and it's straight. It would do no harm to put an S-bend in just before the village and just after the village. And that would bring speeds down and, I think, this would be a good thing to do and it doesn't seem to me that efficiency or the truck drivers don't like it or whatever is an excuse. I think putting speed limits on will not bring speed down to the extent that traffic calming measures will.

A.109 Some local authorities have introduced 20mph zones - do you think that this is a good idea? Do you think that they work?

I think it's a good idea. I think probably there are a lot more people who, like myself, take much more notice of urban speed limits than rural speed limits. On the other hand, I think traffic calming measures are a better thing. It will work for people who have got them a few years and are relatively responsible. It will not work with kids and it will not work with people who for one reason or another are less responsible.

A.110 Are you ever unsure about the speed limit on roads that you drive?

The answer is - yesterday I was driving up to Livingstone and instead of going up by the Edinburgh by-pass as I usually do I went up over the Dalbeattie pass and up the M74 and coming along the M8/A8 somewhere - probably coming into Livingstone itself probably after I'd left the M8 - there was a patch of road which was wide but it had street lights. I couldn't recall whether I'd seen a limit sign but I couldn't see a limit sign. And I just assumed - streetlights - well it's probably 40 and kept my speed at 40 and I don't know whether it was or wasn't. I would like to see, where there are streetlights, I would like to see either regular speed limit confirmation signs or, if it's unlimited, then repeaters.

A.111 Could you tell me a little about the accident(s) that you've had while driving.

Was it a typical day for you - or were the circumstances unusual that day?

What would you say was the cause of the accident?

It was an unusual day in as much as we were starting a new project. I'd been up in Glasgow, on a customer's premises, all day. I'd been working extremely hard, I'd interviewed a large number of people and, you know, in performance mode all day - dealing with people, not having time to break away and relax. Because it was Glasgow and because I had to be there at 9 am, my working day had effectively started at 7 from here. And at the end of the day, I was very tired. Now my plan had been that at the end of the day I would find a bed & breakfast in Glasgow and stay overnight. And when I came out the customer's premises - about 6 o'clock - I was feeling so tired, I couldn't be bothered to go and search for a bed & breakfast. I thought, I'll just drive home. And I drove home down the M77/A77 to Ayr and then on the A713 over the top back here. I was driving a Triumph Spitfire which was a very nice little car. And just coming over the top from Ayrshire into Galloway, I was feeling good. I stopped and took my suit jacket off. I took the top off the car and got the car sorted out and I was feeling really quite good. I was thinking about getting home for tea - and what we'd have for tea. And my mind must have wandered. We came over a ripple in the road surface - I mean not a bump - and I lost the back end of the car. Now I might possibly have momentarily fallen asleep - but I don't think so. I think it was just attention wandering. And that car always was tricky to drive and you needed to be aware because the back end broke away very easily. Indeed, I had it booked into the garage for rear shock absorbers to be replaced. On the day of the accident - 2 days following the accident it should have come in, but I had already made the booking. Anyway, the back end broke away, the car started to spin, I corrected the spin but I didn't have enough room left on the road - and I went off the road, and flipped the car and it did 720 degrees roll. And I broke my back. About a month later, after I was sort of half fixed and a bit mobile, I got somebody else to drive me up to the accident site and just looked at it. Where I'd come off, the front wheel had hit a stone which was what flipped it. In any case it was an untenable situation - you cannot drive a sports car across a moor. And there was a patch of muddy ground where there was a scoop in the mud which must have been made by my head - there was mud and grass in my hair when we got to the hospital. And stones, this distance apart, I'd just gone between. I was on my own - and you're going to ask me how fast I was going? I had thought that I was doing 70 mph - that was the speed that I had intended to be driving at on that section of road. Looking at the accident site after the accident, I believe that it must have been much higher. I think it must have been over 100. Because the car did a very significant distance upside down through the air before it bounced the first time and then it went on another very significant distance. It wasn't a big bump - it was a very slight change in surface. I had been doing 70 up to the point where I stopped to take the top down. And I was feeling good, and I suspect I then speeded up considerably. Because, on another day, if I was feeling fresh I would have attacked that road at that speed - and enjoyed it - and kept control.

A.112 How did the accident affect you personally?

It affected my family dramatically I can tell you. That's one reason why I'm not driving a sports car any more - don't think it would go down very well.

A.113 Did the accident affect your driving?

No. It affected how I drove for about a year. I was very very nervous when I first - I mean I didn't get back into a car to drive for about 5 months because, literally, I was physically unable. When first I did get back into a car, I borrowed a Peugeot 106 or something - a very small car. And I was acutely aware of being vulnerable and drove very nervously - and probably very badly - for some months. And then - the August I had the crash, we got the 4-wheel drive in February. And there is a standing joke between myself and the guy who runs the garage here who always looked after my cars about the rate I'd go through tyres. But there still is that standing joke, so I'm still going through them. I'm back to being a fast driver - but not for around here. I think we're all fast - it's no accident that David Coulthart comes from 8 miles that way and Colin McRae comes from 8 miles that way - you know? We are in an area with exceptionally good roads, exceptionally quiet roads and quite long distances - and we all drive like lunatics. Just, most of us don't admit it. You know, I would - driving up to Edinburgh and back yesterday, I would have been overtaken not as many times as I overtook - but I wasn't the fastest driver on the road, and I very rarely am. But I'm very rarely obeying speed limits. The thing that would really make me slow down is if I killed somebody. I mean, that really really - that is the one thing I'm terrified of. I wouldn't like to lose my licence - that would be unpleasant, but worse things happen. Causing somebody else injury would be awful and I don't think I could handle that - I don't want to handle that. And that's why I much prefer roads where I've got very long sightlines that I can be damned sure that there isn't somebody around the next bend. I am an older person, I'm more mature, I'm less inclined to take risks, I'm aware of my own mortality. On the other hand, I certainly drive many roads faster than I did when I was young because I know what I can do and what I can't do. I'm much more inclined to be sure the vehicle is in good mechanical order. When you're young, you think you're immortal and you don't have to take care.

A.114 Do you use a mobile phone when you're driving?

I have a wee clip thing that goes behind my ear and a phone on it. I used to use a mobile phone quite a lot - now I very rarely use it. I very rarely - I've never made a call in a moving car. I've received calls in moving cars occasionally. It's curious because you listen to radio all the time - but the phone has a very different impact on your concentration. It used to be when I was running a business, had employees I was responsible for and stuff like that - but I would never drive anywhere without the phone switched on. These days it's sometimes in the car, it's sometimes not in the car. It's very often not switched on. If it is switched on, I very often won't take the call even if it rings. If I do take the call, well I usually stop to do it. But no, I've never been a mobile phone on the move person.

A.115 Advertising

There have been a couple of very very effective campaigns - the one last Christmas with the drinks in the casualty ward, I thought that was extremely well done. I think the campaigns which affect me most are the ones that concentrate on 'you might kill somebody else'. There's the recent one where this guy is driving through town and he's being harassed by other drivers around him and he comes up on a junction and there's a cyclist. I don't find that as effective as the hospital bar one. Although, I'm not a drinker anyway - and certainly don't drive when drunk. I did that once, once only, when I was about thirty-something and was staggered by how I misjudged - and never did it again. I think advertising campaigns potentially can be useful. I think they probably have more effect on people who are aware of their own mortality and aware of risk to other people. The immortal kids are not going to pay attention. I don't think there's any solution to that and if I was asked how do you reduce average speeds on roads I'd say - prevent it, make it physically impossible.

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