[henk4]

Originally Posted by crisis

I suppose my point is most of their ideas and initiatives revolve around the ambiguity of the term speeding. As far as I am concerned and I am happy to be proved wrong, the dangerous type of speeding is the one where the speed is inappropriate for the road or conditions. It’s the only one that makes sense. Therefore greater use of speed traps is primarily going to catch those who are exceeding the limit by 5 or 10 ks. Most of the fines I hear about are around those numbers. The leastdangerous type of speeding. The only strategy they list that addresses anything of value is “Education – more information about the consequences.” Pity they don’t think Education – more thorough practical driver training rates a mention.

This sums it up very nicely. To my opinion speed traps should be placed at points where there is a real need to slow down.
Let me add also that as far as saw the discussion in this thread, the emphasis seems to lie on fatalities involving car passengers. In urban areas the participation in traffic of other members of the public (like cyclists or pedestrians, or playing children) should be taken into account. There the level of speed really will determine the mortality level of contacts made.
The other important issue, also mentioned here is the difference in speed. Having done a trip on the fable German Autobahn yesterday, I couldn't help notice that even on ungoverned sections of a two lane motorway the average speed will be relatively low, due to fact that lorries are not allowed/governed for speeds over say 85-90 kph, and many motorists are overtaking these with speeds of about 100-110 kph, causing sometimes massive braking activities hundreds over meters behind them. This is really an accident prone situation indicating that driving too slow is sometimes a greater danger than driving too fast.