Safe Speed Forums

Whoa there a minute. You've just said that rallies are run to allow sufficient time for competitors to get between stages in safety. IIRC, the order in which you arrive at the next stage is irrelevant - it's only how you do on the special stages (on private roads of closed public ones) that affects your placing. The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 forbids any form of racing or speed trials that involve motor vehicles without permission from the Secretary of State. The organisers work with the police with safety and consideration for the general public very much to the fore. Where's the conflict with safety? AFAICT, there is none (at least, not on open public roads). Unlike cycle time-trials, rallying is one sport that's got it right.

What I'm trying to say - but perhaps not very well - is that all forms of non-motorised competition should be brought up to the standard of rallying!

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Will

Why should people be allowed to do anything that causes danger, if they don't need to? You don't need to go running, it is safer to walk. In fact that walk in the park is quite dangerous, you might twist your ankle or get mugged, better stay in the house. Don't put the telly on though, you might get eye strain. But you must have the radio on a tuned to the government approved safety channel so you can keep up to date on the current hazard assessments to keep you safe. Keep your heating off though. I've decided it's an unnecessary luxury and therefore none of you are allowed to use it either. It's for your own good, one day you'll thank me for it. Well actually you probably won't, but I'll still have that nice warm smug feeling of knowing that my interference is for your own good even if you all think otherwise.

Thanks for reading,
The Nanny State.

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Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

And by the way we'll be round to install the cctv to check. If you're out when we get there don't worry, we have master keys so we'll let ourselves in and have a look round while we're there. This is expensive of course so we'll be sending the bill along with the FPN and correction report. If we find any chocolate then we'll confiscate it of course. You know you're only allowed one square on a sunday.

We'll match the contents of the fridge with your bin collection day. Remember it's vegetables only except for the day before bin collection, when you may have a roast.

Now if by chance you have gone out, remember to walk, keeping to the marked area on the pavement. DO NOT under any circumstances wander into the marked area for pedestrian flow in the opposite direction. If you do this accidently please don't worry, the pavement controller will warn you from the nearest public order address system. You will be able to pay your fine at the nearest FPN ATM on the lampost.

Those who have gone to the pub, please remember that one half of shandy is the legal maximum. You will also have to enter via the nicotine detector and may be required to provide a DNA sample should the detector indicate that you have been near a cigarette in the last 43 years. You will of course then be banned from all public places. When you exit the pub you will pass through the motion analyser, which will check if there is any unsteadiness and automatically issue the FPN.

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Wake me up when the revolution starts
STOP the Toll Tax http://www.traveltax.org.uk

...and don't forget the most important one:

"IF YOU HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE, YOU'LL HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR"!

£60 FPN for shouting, contrary to the "Discrimination against the hearing impaired"

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Wake me up when the revolution starts
STOP the Toll Tax http://www.traveltax.org.uk

Reduced to £30 if you pay up straight away. Don't hesitate, just pay up. If you DARE exercise your legal right to fight it in court then it's £60 + more if you lose.

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Andrew.

I used to do navigational road rallies like Barkstar (when I was a squaddie, a navigator too) and although individual drivers were held responsible for their actions the organisers would get it too if the event wasn't organised properly.

I don't cycle but I wouldn't want to stop them using the roads for events. I've used the roads for enjoyment so why shouldn't they. All that is really needed is a proper set of rules and proper disciplinary measures if the organisational control gets it wrong.

Well said, Barkstar. As a rally fanatic (who hates football) I would not be a happy bunny if rallying was banned by order from the Health & Safety Nazis. I'm off to the Isle of Man this year for the third time to watch the Rally Isle of Man. Life is full of risks that must be taken, otherwise you might as well crawl under your bed and die.

CAUTION-DON'T CUT!

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

Saw this on Graem's post -

"£60 FPN for shouting, contrary to the "Discrimination against the hearing impaired"

EH - WAT - MY LUGS ARE FULL OF WAX (Said with a mid glasgo acent)

Who, apart from Barkstar, said anything about banning rallying? Rallying is a shining example of how it should be done. I'm the OP, and I just want to see non-motorised sport that uses open public roads brought under the same sort of control and up to the same standard as rallying.

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Will

so far.... i only see you mean cycle time trials by 'non-motorised sport' ?

It wouldn't surprise me if there was a call to ban rallying at sometime in the not to distant future. Over the past few months there have been some ridiculous ideas from Health & Saftey Nazis, tree huggers, the Government etc. I've often read letters on Ceefax calling for unnneccesary resource-wasting competitive motorsport to be banned to stop global warming.

I wouldn't have any objection to safety measures for non-motorised sport. If The IOM can put up with closed roads and a small army of safety marshalls, then everybody could learn from that.

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

I think you did.



Though you have since made yourself clear.

Barkstar

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The difference between intelligence and stupidity is that intelligence has limits.

As I wrote up-thread - there isn't a conflict with safety in rallying (at least, not on open public roads). Competitors are given more than enough time to travel between special stages. The organisers seem to go out of their way to ensure that public isn't put in danger. AFAICT they have to because all motorsport is banned on public roads unless specifically authorised by the Secretary of State (which in practice I suspect means authorised by some responsible body to which that power is delegated) and if they didn't ensure safety they wouldn't get the authorisation. I want to bring non-motorised sport into line with this.

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Will

Time triallers are (IME) the worst offenders and so I've given time trialling as an example, but my call is by no means restricted to time trials.

I saw two prime examples (one of how not to do it and one of how it should be done) in Plymouth during the last couple of weeks - both were running events.

In the first, there was no overt marshalling and over a dozen runners ran through a red light forcing priority traffic on green to stop (with the accompanying sqeal of brakes).

The second was the an officially marshalled 10 mile race around the Hoe and Barbican. There was a marshal at every junction directing traffic assisted by the police as necessary. Motorised traffic was inconvenienced, but safety wasn't put at risk as hundreds of competitors ran the course. If only all events were organised the same way!

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Will

Willcove, you're right. Competitive time-trialling, where people are riding at vmax with their only thought being whether or not they can shave .1s off their record time, on unmarshalled, busy public roads is complete madness.

Don't worry. The Motor Sports Association (MSA) apparently fearful of litigious threats to its private funds is doing all it can to emasculate Stage Rallying in the UK at the moment.

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Richard Ceen
We live in a time where emotions and feelings count far more than the truth, and there is a vast ignorance of science (James Lovelock 2005)

I was driving near Wrexham on the A550 Saturday when a pack of maybe 50 bikes occupying one and a half lanes of the SC came sweeping around a bend. Fortunately the traffic in my lane had stopped and pulled half onto the grass verge. I cycle for exercise myself but could see the bikers were trying hard. I can see there is a valid argument for road closures for these events for the safety of competitors and least inconvenience of other roadusers.

At the same time there is a good case for closed road rallying as the Jim Clark too.

Just needs government will and streamlining of process and a give and take attitude on the part of those other roadusers & residents affected.

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Richard Ceen
We live in a time where emotions and feelings count far more than the truth, and there is a vast ignorance of science (James Lovelock 2005)

was this a race ?