Safe Speed Forums

Yes, quite clearly the answer lies not in education of pedestrians and kids parents and the responsibility they should shoulder, and education which should be passed onto their siblings. (Same analogy applies to drivers).

Never mind all those old values which you should be extolling dcb, as an old nob like me, they have absolved their parental responsibility to others and quite rightly so these days They are sperm donors and receptors, not parents. Let’s leave the rest to society and government..

And as for the Green Cross Code? Dumbing society down to the lowest moronic denominator and restricting all vehicles to 10 mph max would help wouldn’t it?. Is that what we now call progress?

Let’s make a car with one pedal called BRAKE and instaed call it a metal tent which you get out of and just f n’ walk to work shall we? If you want to drive it, take the handbrake off and push it as far as you can, but make sure a child isn't under the back wheel first ok? (That'll also keep the Green Party happy).

Okay, I exaggerate. Vehicles should be able to go at the speed of a horse on motorways; that way we can call it progress for being able to carry so much so far at the same speed as a horse - right?

Did I just go off on one?

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

I'm still waiting for the answer to why it's only cars travelling at 60 that have accidents .New road safety experts decide that 60 is a dangrous speed .Not too fast for the conditions etc ,mark you ,but just a figure , oh ,an it only affects cars of one ton .So solution -lets take care passing 60 ,in a one ton car .55-ok ,then boot it up to 65 -now ,phew ,we're safe again .
An here endeth the first lesson in modern day road safety .

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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

I'd like to see smoking at the wheel an arrestable offence for people doing 70 on motorways or 20 on Brighton sea front if that makes you happy!

And I'd like to see the following classed as attempted murder
1) Cycling on the pavement ,as an absolute offence .
2) Cycling whilst texting/phoning ,or in charhe of a mobile/connected to any electronic device .
Again ,I ,like others have asked a question - weepy -either ANSWER IT or butt out .I know you won't ,as you have failed to answer the umpteen other questions asked of you .

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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

Even this one?





And this would be extended to vehicle drivers too presumably?

Yor're WAFFLING WEEPY - answer the question - or butt out .( or be ,by self incrimination ) be defined as a TROLL
The choice is yours .
No more dodging the issue ,or throwing red herrings (such as your last post ) .
But ,from your past performance ,I doubt it .
Perhaps it's time to resurect the Troll list ,with WEEPY at the top .
You see ,Weepy , where the currency is apples , you want to trade in oranges .You want to sideline the arguement once foundout . You never have been seen answering any question except with something designed to sideline the issue .,or smokescreen the issue - bit of a Navy issue - something ,you may have learned from the master of Naval tatics -EL Submariner .

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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

I would actually be interested in what the typical impact speed between pedestrians and motor vehicles actually is. I suspect that it is pretty much the same regardless of the average speed of the traffic at the time

Basically, I suspect that, for the most part, slowing down traffic will NOT actually reduce the average speed of impact (and there for the liklyhood of death or serious injury) and might actually increase the total number of collisions since people are much more likly to inadviseadly step out infront of a slow vehicle than a fast one....

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

*I'm actually with you on that weepej.

I agree with you Dusty. I mean the common misconception is that if you increase a speed limit from, let's say, 40 to 60 mph you will now get bodies flying through the air at 60 instead of 40 mph. I don't believe either is the case. I think, as you sugest, that many actually happen at quite a slow speed.

The bottom line for me though is that if you use an appropriate speed for the conditions it's all entirely preventable.

*Edit/add: Although probably not for the same reason as you weepej. As you know, I hate drivers doing other things when they should be concentrating on the road, especially if it is an unnecessary distraction. If you are really seriously that desperate and addicted to cigarettes here's a thought: Pull over and smoke your head off and get back in the car afterwards.

I’ve been a passenger, going back a long time, where the driver was smoking and he dropped it. It didn’t cause an accident but there he was fumbling in the foot-well to pick it back up. He was more concerned with it burning something making a mark than anything up ahead on the road.

When Jeremy Clarkson was driving a special Ferrari, from a member of Pink Floyd, in an episode of Top Gear I remember him saying “this is fantastic. It has absolutely no extras, not even a radio. So you can just get on with the wonderful driving experience with no other distractions”

That’s just my opinion on the smoking thing in cars, besides it being a vile habit.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

As an ex smoker ,one of the most possibly dangerous things on the road is a driver gasping for a ciggie .Quite honestly ,If I can afford a car and it's all mine -why should some tinpot dictator tell me what I can /can't do in it .And don't tell me it causes a distraction - I only gave up approx eight years ago ,andI've been driving & smoking for the rest of my 45 years behin the wheel .Licence -clean .Insurance -max NCB .If I ever dropped one -it got left to burn the additional mats ,till I found a safe place to stop .As for passengers -times I can't stand the smell .But if I was allowed -can I really complain , besides Mrs B woul tell me to belt up .But ,with grankids in -she won't light up .

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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

I think it’s irresponsible to reach over, down, to wherever, open the box, pick out a cigarette, stick it in mouth, pick up the lighter thingy, get it in the right place usually looking down to make sure you don’t light your nose instead, and then create a fog in the cockpit. Add to that the umpteen times you look down to flick the ash in a tray and all for what? Because someone can’t drive for half an hour without that fix.

When it happened in the car I was in he dropped it on his lap first and in a panic flicked it off with the back of his hand on the floor, his left leg flapping like a birds wing. That’s when he tried to retrieve it. I think in twenty years time it will be a ban in the same way you might say “Can you believe bikers used to ride without a helmet?”

We can agree to disagree dude and I respect your opinion and experience, but for me it’s that old nugget of adding more, (unnecessary IMO), activity to the very serious matter of driving safely as near as 100% as humanly possible. I think there’s some sort of infection or brainwashing these days, (maybe in the tap water), whereby people find it impossible not to be doing something other than thinking about driving. On my own again with this no doubt but see if you have noticed something else..

When I pull up at lights or stuck in a traffic jam for a few minutes, nine times out of ten when I look around they simply have to be fiddling with something. They’re looking down at something, an MP3 perhaps or I don’t know what. It’s as if it’s a physical impossibility these days to just do nothing except look at your surrounds and take valuble information in which may be useful, protective and considerate. They end up across a Keep Clear or yellow box or blocking a T-Junction preventing a driver from turning off the main road into a side road causing a tailback. Or on other occassions I have had to beep them because the traffic has set off. Whta's going on and what is wrong with people?

This is why I get on my high horse about the standard of modern day driving with all it’s ‘just one more thing’ and ‘I can add another task to driving which suits me’. The bigger picture, I think, is that the norm has now become 90% paying full attention to the task of driving and 10% not.

Not getting into a fight over it It's just my opinion and personal observations for what they're worth. If people think that’s a big fat zero that’s perfectly okay by me.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

Ok by me ,tone -but I suspect most smokers/ex smokers will have lit up on remote ,and no more distraction than turning on the radio /putting in a CD .I try not to be the "converted ex smoker",as I can't condemn what I know is a very hard habit to break .Even now ,I still get pangs .

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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

Funnilly enough, I had an encounter with a great guy when I completed a course on the 17th edition electrical wiring earlier this year. On topic enough to mention I hope..

During the course he went downstairs for a break and because I liked him I went with him to chat. He said "I hope you don't mind me smoking" and I said no. I can move out the way and I don't judge a person by the fact they smoke, I just don't want to be forced to smoke myself. (Unlike the old days).

It turns out that he recently restarted smoking after, I think I'm sure he said, 15 years of complete abstinence after feeding off it since the age of 14! He was at a guess at least in his late 50's but, like all long term smokers, looked old. Memories of telling my American love her mouth looked more like an a-nous in a moment of truth. Well, she pushed me on how she looked! (Yes, I am that stupid and honest and yes I should have known better).

I think she had shovel hands and an Adams Apple like Zippo too come to think of it

Anyway, to be serious.. He said once you have been a smoker you can never be a non smoker; you are and will always thereafter be an ex smoker. Very different to a non smoker which I am!

I love meeting people, you learn so much. I'm too knackered to Google it but there's something in my memory about 'I can learn from everyone no matter what status or walk of life, rich or poor'. And if I'm wrong and I just made that up, it's my quote ok? (Along with "well it felt good until some nobhead put the lights on" and "If we turn the lights off I think I can still do it".

Man you are a tough lot to please! This isn’t an forum it’s a jury. (Play on old joke from the 70's).

Continue to be strong Dave

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

Big Tone said


I always liken it to alcohollism - you are an ex smoker a day at a time . You count the days ,each one gives you more strength to counter the pangs .And if it gets too bad ,you find something to get over it .Mine was strong mints .Couple with lack of exercise ( great advice from NHS then) , my waist balooned ,an now I've got type 2 ,and the rest .Another reason not to start again.But then can we trust meic advice .Mrs B had an ulcer few years ago , not helped ,according to consultant by smoking .Turned out ulcer was caused by bug living in stomach .Cure was anti biotics (and something to counter the effectson the stomach lining) .Problem was that they were prescribed as being taken together .Pharmisicist disagreed ,and she took one tablet at one time ,with the other later .
So much for the smoking theory .
Funny how medical views change .
First rail medical I went for - smoking was the big enemy .
Couple of years later it was alcohol .
Last time it was BMI.
Made me think that ,perhaps the medics ain't that all knowing ,after all .

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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

I can't believe we seem to be having this pi55ing contest without anybody having mentioned the number of accidents caused by someone smoking at the wheel?! Unlike Ipods, mobile phones and sat-navs (all pretty recent in-car "distractions" - though not taxi, police or CB radios, apparently ), cars have had fag lighters pretty much ever since they've been equipped with electrical systems capable of powering one! There should be plenty of data about how many accidents have been caused by smoking at the wheel! Why not go the whole hog and ban car radios, manual gearboxes, and make all cars single seaters so that you can't be distracted by your passengers too?!

AS I said -been there - lighting /smoking is pretty much a remote activity ( remember Lizard brain acticvity) for most smokers . Far less intrusive than operating a CB /Tuning a radio etc .
If we want ot go there ,why not ban cyclists from cycling with headphones in .

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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

Why not? The police already have that power in respect of far less harmful drugs such as cannabis

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Just as we need more research into the dangers of using mobile 'phones whilst driving we also need more research into the effects of smoking on driving safety before rushing into a ban.

But in neither case for cyclists. The carnage caused by cyclists using mobile phones or smoking is so obvious that an immediate ban is imperative.

Or perhaps we should introduce a law which makes driving or cycling dangerously, whatever the cause, illegal.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Yes but where are they gonna do that? .... this legislation is planning to make smoking in vehicles illegal period, that is, even while safely parked, so if it's hosing with rain the only option may be to stand out in it. Would driving while soaking wet and cold improve driving skills??

AFAIK The proposed legislation is not based on road safety considerations at all, and is based solely on health matters. I can't remember the last time I was forced to travel in a smokey vehicle at gunpoint, and don't remember reading reports of it happening to anybody else ... if ya don't wanna travel in someone's smokey vehicle .... then don't ... simple.

Oops I forgot ... it's for the children .... if parents are willing to smoke in a car containing their own children, why is it other folk's problem??? Why should other folks who don't have children and don't ever carry children in their vehicles be inconvenienced in any way to make their own choices, when those choices have no effect on anybody else ever?

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You only need two tools - WD40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD40. If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct tape. :0)

Latest sign of idiocy -Headline in Nuneaton version of Cov evening telegraph was about Coventry trying to get smoking banned OUTDOORS .Didn't get chance to read article ,but it was headline on P1

Here we are -http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2011/11/21/coventry-to-ban-smoking-outdoors-92746-29812662/

But for now & during the olympics is only going to be one part of the city .
Today one square -tomorrow ---

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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

Come on now - Nanny says it's for your own good - you;ll thank her for it one day!

Of course, when she's got rid of all the smokers, who's she gonna come looking for next? The fatties I reckon! I can see it now - A BMI of 30 or more? Illegal to drive, sir! Think fo the benefits! Fewer cars, fewer miles, less congestion / pollution, healthier nation...

...got to be good news eh?

Once they're all off the road we can lower the bar when it comes to BMI until we have the ideal population!

Not sure who she'll be chasing after that - probably anyone who has ever so much as cracked the seal on a bottle of anything with alcohol in it. Then I reckon she ought to have a crack at those people who indulge in dangerous sports. I think random stop-and-search power would be in order. anyone found with crampons or climbong ropes in the car gets banned from driving on the spot.

I don't smoke. I don't like the smell of smoke, and people who smoke don't usually smell very nice. Their cars generally smell horrible and command lower second hand prices. That doesn't mean to say I want to go out of my way to make their lives any more miserable than they are doing themselves!