Safe Speed Forums

I still stand by James May

Well it seems James May is our strongest candidate - one of the iconic Top gear trio, whilst at the same time being seen as the sensible straight laced one - and he has already voiced clear support for safespeed by name. And would Sir Paul Condon stand by him on national TV? and how many Radio stations and national newspapers would run a story on the results of a phone-in Scrapcam Referendum conducted on the show?
Our strategy is clear - lets get discussions in motion...

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Dave Lucas

Watching last night's Top Gear, I thought we would see a sensible discussion on KSI stats on urban roads. No chance. Clarkson quickly turned it into a feature of what type of animal road kill to avoid. So I think he's disqualified himself. I would opt for Quentin Willson. He seems to have good competent views on motoring.

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Anyone who tells you that nothing is impossible has never bathed in a saucer of water.

But again, that just comes down to the fact that Top Gear is an entertainment show. It wouldn't fit the show's format for them to have a serious discussion about the KSI statistics and accident causation factors; the best that you can hope for from the show is that they make a serious point and then turn it into a joke, which is what they did last night. You just have to hope that the serious point sinks in.

I agree. I also agree the May would be the man. "Captain Slow" comes across as a gentleman and is viewed by most as such - his support, even at a minor level, would be a plus rather than a minus.

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I won't slave for beggar's pay,
likewise gold and jewels,
but I would slave to learn the way
to sink your ship of fools

Do 'minor' personalities such as these have advisors to, er, advise them on what causes and organisations to support and which to avoid I wonder?

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Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

Whatever our intellectual, cynical sides tell us, there's no getting away from the fact that the entertainers, not the academics are the ones that win the hearts of the masses. Remember that Jade Goody's vote is worth the same as Stephen Hawking's - and there are a lot more of the former and a lot less of the latter in our democracy!!

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Dave Lucas

Yes, but Dave, we're REALLY not going to win this battle on the basis of public opinion. We already have the public opinion, as far as it goes, I'm sure of it.

The public is fairly apathetic on the issue and will remain so. We're not going to 'mobilise the motorist' or even the motorists' vote. The later might be possible but it'd take a great deal more than James May to do it - like £10 million for starters.

Our battle is primarilly the intellectual one: 'This road safety policy has failed and it's high time DfT admitted it.' This is the battle that we CAN and WILL win - the battle that we ARE winning.

The tiny item on Top Gear last Sunday with our FoI would have been HUGELY embarrassing for DfT. And so just one more drip hits the right target. Drip, drip, drip...

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

There is one strength in public opinion that I think deserves particular consideration.
We have seen Dr L's illuminating case in which he has a letter fom the Information Commissioner's office, acknowledging that under the freedom of information act, all citizens have a right to see all evidence against them before paying any money in response to a demand with menaces - evidence which we know the scameraships' fixed penalty offices can't provide.
We could persuade all the scam victims amongst those viewers to refuse to capitulate before they've seen a copy of the police video used against them, and/or certificates of compliance and calibration for the equipment used. The parasites will be overwhelmed with an administrative backlog that would be beyond their resources to clear...

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Dave Lucas

Yes and entertainment is all it is and all it ever will be. It wouldn't be the first time they completely overlooked broadcasting a serious message. If you look back at the previous series and the edition where they had to drive three vehicles across America, one of the challenges they presented was to test the brakes and braking distance on the three vehicles they drove.

Richard Hammond, driving the pick-up truck had to accelerate to 30mph and brake at a certain point on the road. BUT he was so concerned about watching the speedometer-reaching 30mph and keeping at that speed, his attention was diverted away from the road ahead and consequently he missed his marked braking point and ended up in a river which was apparently full of alligators.

What they missed was one of the major arguments against the "Speed kills" fanatics. Hammond was inattentive and inattention is a greater cause of accidents than drifting over the speed limit by 5mph or less.

I agree with what some have said about James May. In the edition where he took a Bugatti Veyron up to its maximum speed, he seemed to drive in a safe, disciplined manner, even at 215mph!

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Anyone who tells you that nothing is impossible has never bathed in a saucer of water.

Is it possible to have somone LESS mature than clarkson?

Using the silliness that you have deployed in attacking this forum upon which to form a snap judgement.................YOU perhaps?

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Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

Timmy Mallett?

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Simon

sorry... I like your Avatar SigmaMotion.

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Oct 11 Birmingham Half Marathon. I am running for the British Heart Foundation.
http://www.justgiving.com/Rob-Taylor

Listening , and looking around , Terry Wogan is looking as perhaps a a better candidate.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

The question is, what percentage of motorists know enough about the war against scameras to have the confidence to stand up to the speed Gestapo - insisting on their rights under the freedom of information act being honoured before surrendering £60?
And how much of a blow could it deal to those vermin if a million new freedom fighters stood their ground against their menacing demands - irrespective of our intellectual pros and cons about Jeremy C?

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Dave Lucas

ME less mature than clarkson?

I do not support people who destroy road safety equipment.
I do not condone speeding.
I believe people with caravans have the right to use the road.
I do not hate countries (Switzerland) simply because they have decent road safety laws.
If I was ever on TV, I would never destroy road safety literature.

Is the last contributor actually being serious in expressing these views, or is he merely mimicking a stereotypical pro-scamera jobsworth in order to enforce the point of how devoid of credibility such creatures are? If the latter, my congratulations on a job well done!

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Dave Lucas

Clarkson is an entertainer, he uses his gift of wit to present issues in a humorous way.
I worry about those who take his engineered persona seriously.

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Pecunia Prius Equitas et Salus