Safe Speed Forums

It's not my place to reveal my colleague's identity to you or anyone else without first checking with him, which I shall do after the weekend. Not sure why you think he would complain to you, he agreed your price, no doubt not caring that there were cheaper elsewhere. All I can tell you is that the driver articulated a knowledge of his company's prices, and surprise that he had chosen yours when theirs was cheaper. He told me this as I gave him a lift to the rent-a-car location for his ride home. I can assure you I'm retelling an accurate account of events, what possible motivation would I have not to?!

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Regulation without education merely creates more criminals.

You have made the elementary error of assuming the opinions of members on the forum constitute 'policy'.

Well, after visiting the confusing SafeSpeed website, this is the best I found:

* To recognise, develop and enhance the contribution of "road user care" to road safety.
* To ensure that monitoring and reporting of road safety matters are truthful, accurate and never misleading nor oversimplified.
* To identify, develop and encourage "policy" based road safety improvements.
* To remove other interests from road safety objectives.
* To ensure that the law is applied to traffic offences fairly, effectively and in line with both real and potential dangers.

Now, it's hard to see how this differs from any official policy of the Government, and is still not clear what you actually want to do.

When put up against a simple campaign like "Speed Kills", it is a confusingly vague summary of a 4,700 word "manifesto" that is not even at version 1.0. Your "mainfesto" was last updated 15/11/2004 and is still pre version 1.0. Have you given up on it? Looks like it to me.

And in practice, the list says nothing.

The centre "headline" of the website is "Paul Smith Dies", written December 2007. I mean, this is like the Labour party banging on about "John Smith Dies" 2 and half years after the event. What does this mean to new visitors? Nothing. "Paul Smith" seems more important than the cause (whatever the cause is) which says something, I guess. There are not many campaign groups where a two and a half year old obituary gets centre stage. What has Paul Smith dying got to do with your campaign? The only way to make this worse would be to include a gravestone image.

I am sure you all loved him loads, but he died 2 and a half years ago. Hello?...

Laughingly, on the http://www.safespeed.org.uk/prindex.html Press Release page, the first item says:

Contact information

Contact Paul Smith, Safe Speed's founder:

* email : psmith@safespeed.org.uk

* telephone: 01862 893030 anytime. (Often available out of hours (including after midnight) and on weekends and holidays)

* mobile: 07799 045553 < primary contact number while we're having problems with our main telephone numbers

* ISDN Audio: down

* Location: North Scotland

* Medium res photo of Paul Smith (click here)

We are available for press and media interviews.

We provide public or private presentations of our work.

I mean really, do you provide a free medium to contact him?

I must say, the whole organisation seems very self-serving. As a 3rd party observer, I would say that a much clearer message is needed that will engage and motivate people to join, support simple aims and be boiled down into very short phrases. Otherwise, it's all just mental masturbation. The website has little to focus a visitor and let them see current events and action (let alone to join in).


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example: I go to your "letters" section and I see the first in the list from Steve Pilkington. When I open it, it is stuff from 2003, and saying "new on 7th November 2003 we received analysed data from Avon and Somerset." - if that's "new" I'll eat my hat and it shows the general lack of care and updating. The summary of that page is: "We believe that Avon and Somerset have contributory factors for "excess speed (conditions)" and "excess speed (limit)"." - what on earth does that mean?

What has progressed with this since 2003, guess it is all quite dead, and makes a mockery of any hint of the website being current.

It the is the first letter in the list, I don't want to open the others. But, I persevere and think maybe you have the list upside down, so I open the last one, from the Department for Transport... and tadaaa: "new emails added 24th September 2003."

If this is the best you lot can do under your "COMMUNICATING" section, then do I really need to point out where you are going wrong?

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another example: Top left there is something called Speed Camera Meltdown. This was updated in 2006! and when I open it, it is dated 2004! I mean, what is going on? Who on earth is in charge of your website?

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For a good example of how to show press and PR events, look at my NEWS page: http://www.lingscars.com/news.php - I do a lot better than your whole organisation, current events at the top, colourful, readable, entertaining and emotional. It may not be to everyone's taste but it works. I move over £30 million of new cars a year just from my website, remember - so I know what works.



You lot are living in the past. Past glories, past personalities and a past agenda.

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I am Ling!
Visit www.LINGsCARS.com
I am car sales whirlwind. I like speed cameras.
Rent new car from me, save £££s.

I am delighted that you are spending much of your time browsing our website, and I am sure that you will be delighted to know that there is much work going on behind the scenes for the new website, with a nice simple layout, that I am sure you will enjoy and find very clear.

This is a community where free speech is welcomed and goes unhindered.
I am sure once the new website is complete, you will be keen to send us your views on it.

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

Perhaps you didn't look hard enough: http://www.safespeed.org.uk/manifesto.html


Well that say a lot about government policies then
Except for the Safe Speed manifesto of course.


As I said before: there is already work ongoing to update the site. This should be done soon. There is no legitimate/sincere need for you to continue highlighting this, so I will again thank you in advance for closing it.


Please can you keep your contributions civil and constructive.


We've probably prevented that much camera revenue with the moratorium and public education of the flawed camera policy (via RTTM et al). You cannot assume this campaign has had no significant impact.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

Yes, that's what I was referring to: Last updated 2004. Pre v1.0

4,700 words of claptrap that no one will read.

A joke.

Why not simply sort it out?

(and "mental m******n" is a well known phrase, completely civil. There is nothing at all offensive about the word m*******n. It's a normal bodily function, given its correct term, - that surely no one is offended by, as everyone does it! But when preceded by "mental" it does not mean the sex act: it means a pointlessly futile mental exercise, that makes you feel good but achieves little. You need to grow up a bit if you suggest that phrase is offensive. It's not. It would be quite easily allowed on the BBC, for example. Sheesh.)

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I am Ling!
Visit www.LINGsCARS.com
I am car sales whirlwind. I like speed cameras.
Rent new car from me, save £££s.

Probably? Nope. Possibly? Nope. Complete fabrication? Yes.

In truth you have no idea and are simply making it up.

However, my own figure = "definitely, actually, truthfully and proveably"

So please, don't compare your guessed figures with my completely real ones.

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I am Ling!
Visit www.LINGsCARS.com
I am car sales whirlwind. I like speed cameras.
Rent new car from me, save £££s.

Don't you go on.

Showroom quiet?

Ah, so this IS a ploy to big yourself up, finally the truth comes out!

No publicity is bad publicity eh? Perhaps things have taken a downturn as people find they can get their cars cheaper elsewhere.

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Regulation without education merely creates more criminals.

Loads of money to write and operate a website (operating expense so effectively tax-deductible)
Versus a largely volunteer organisation.

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

i dont suppose there's any road safety related discussion going on anywhere is there?

This thread has been moved from Improving Road Safety as it is totally off topic (sadly).

Some posts have been removed as they are un-necessary and inappropriate for this Forum.

Please remember to remain on topic and debate the issues, refraining from any and all personal attacks.

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

You seemed to have - unless you only cherry picked at parts?
Perhaps others, will read more than you? Don't forget, the great majority are against the policy as executed.


When minors can be expected to happen upon it? How many times do you think that phrase has been uttered outside of the watershed? If none, then you would have to wonder if you're out of step with opinion.
Would you even dare writing it on various pages of your own website?


I didn't guess a figure; I only used yours as a finger-in-air reference. It isn't wrong to use today's revenue against what would have been expected if there weren’t a moratorium, or continued expansion. No one here is in a position to know what that figure is, or how much of that was from a result of the campaign.

You're putting a lot of effort into a campaign that you already believe is a lost cause.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

Well, in all honesty Ling, I started to have a look at your site and lost the will to live pretty early on! I think it PRECISELY embodies a lot of the stuff you feel is wrong with this site! You say you want snappy "sound bites"....

...and have the bare faced cheek to hold up what looks like several dozen pages of "word salad" on your own site! I haven't seen such vacuous drivel since my 8 year old showed me her scrap book! (and even then she didn't have as many pictures of herself in it)! Don't get me wrong, I accept a fair bit of the criticism that you level at the SafeSpeed site, but when it comes to confusingly laid out over-complicated, poorly-formated waffle, I think you're in the running for another award!

Now clearly, you've been successful, so you must be doing something right, but as to whether or not it's down to your website, I remain unconvinced. Certainly, if I was looking to lease a car, I wouldn't have spent long enough on your site to even find out how much it cost. I'm usually in a hurry and if I can't find what I'm looking for online within a few seconds, I move on to the next hit. As soon as that page came up, it was so crowded and off-putting, I wouldn't have bothered trying to sift through it to find out how much the cars were. Also, it has to be said, if I'm looking to lease a car, I'm not especially interested in finding out all about "Ling" - I'd go on an online dating site for that sort of thing!

Is air travel safer now than it was fifty years ago - YES!
Do aeroplanes travel slower than they did fifty years ago - NO!
Does the phrase "confounding factors" mean anything to you?

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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

Never mind the "withdrawal" below the [above] statement (doubtless prompted by the advertising manager)....

It never got beyond the filters on firefox.....too much crap downloaded...

I DO hope that if you read the lingscars site you cleaned the pc afterwards... ?

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

It just made my browser crash all the time, so I didn't bother. Did try though

Didn't you mean "descale"

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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