we allow programmes like Top Gear to portray going sideways IN ROAD CARS on a Track
I fail to see how this has any bearing.
Even before the new format of TG, people would drive like this. It's just more prolific, partly due to more cars. The other problem is that you could pass your driving test with full marks but there's no monitoring or reassessment of how one drives. Even with having a driving test every five years, the majority will pass fine because they'll take refresher lessons and temporarily knock out their bad habits.
Given that speeding accounts for something like 2% of all accidents, we should move our focus to more problematic areas: poor driving habits, poor condition of vehicles and poor road conditions. Improve them and you'll reduce the rates of fatal accidents. You also have people who drive without a license, road tax or valid MOT.
What you need is a system whereby ANPR will detect not only insurance and road tax and MOT but also linked licenses. E.g. my car would only have my license linked to it. If a copper saw the driver and it did not look like me on the license, they could pull the driver over.
But that's still not enough. The future, IMO, will be blackboxes and/or cameras in all vehicles. Alternatively, remove humans from the equation entirely.
I'd personally love to have a fore and after camera to record for up to five mins and after an impact, so if someone cuts in front of me and hits the brakes, the evidence will show it wasn't my fault. Same for tailgaters etc.
