Safe Speed Forums

That has to be a statistical risk to accept or reject each time. I can't tell who is a calm and decent sort of slow poke from a raging testosterone man who hates being passed. Both types are out there. It is another one of the disadvantages of overtaking - I could find myself in a road-brawl with a bonehead.

With respect to my disparaging remarks about dummies in suits - I have nothing against patient, calm and considerate be-suited grey-german-car-driving gentlemen. They are common in Bavaria. Yet take a man, a suit and and a Bavarian car, and put it all on an English road, and 6 times out of ten, the driver is a clod-head the moment he gets on the motorway. I don't know why!

_________________
I stole this .sig

Be careful IG! Basingwerk should really be called "snake charmer" because he deals with all us 'viper' like individuals and sooths us all (well most, except me that is) with his words of wisdom which change with the season.

Yes you may have been a dinosaur, but you could be made a chief constable - but this will only happen if you don't drive a truck, proverbially, through Basingwerk's arguments.

What I find particularly nauseus about his posts is the sterotypical way he attacks ordinary people: Were he to single out the extremes we all want removed, I'd lend him and his opinions more time. As it stands, by all accounts, people at work who wear suits who are busy are all crazed numpties who deserve to be taught a lesson by the one I am starting to think was conceived by the immaculate conception!

Still, I mustn't say too much: BW has friends and my observations aren't too helpful at times

Hey, we're all friends here aren't we?

_________________
CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

Look at it this way PaulF. Everybody agrees on the goal - safer roads. It's just the methods of acheiving it that we're arguing over.

_________________
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

Sure. But I don't think punishing 99.92% of the population by endorsing their driver's licences and then gloating over their misfortune with comments like "smart money" are conducive to garnering the respect of the afflicted.

Still, I wear a suit and am angry - so I fit the stereotypical 'neanderthol man' image some of our contributors like to paint.

And when such contributors are presented with overwhelming arguments based on detailed analysis, such analysis and argument is ignored because to acknowledge so would vacate such contributors' arguments.

Believe it or not, I am all for discussion. But I am not going to be 1,000% polite whilst suffering being thieved from laced with the words of the pious few who seem to get so much pleasure out of the distress of others.

Me neither.


Well, I'm not 100% polite either, but I try to keep good natured about it if only to keep the moral high ground when certain members of t'other side pop up and let rip with insults and ad hominems. You'll know the sort I mean when you see 'em.

_________________
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

Skinning the cat I'm afraid. If some cats regularly mess on the floor, there's no point in chastising all cats when they are making a point, however invalid it is.

Seems the cat has lost it's tongue where discussing the types of vehicles used by transplant drivers is concerned anyway

_________________
What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

There are too many ways of skinning cats.....

_________________
If you want to get to heaven - you have to raise a little hell!

Smilies are contagious
They are just like the flu
We use our smilies on YOU today
Now Good Causes are smiling too!

KEEP SMILING
It makes folk wonder just what you REALLY got up to last night!

Smily to penny.. penny to pound
safespeed prospers-smiles all round! !
But the real message? SMILE.. GO ON ! DO IT! and the world will smile with you!
Enjoy life! You only have the one bite at it.

LOL at both

I agree with "Rewolf". As a driver and motorcyclist of some 40 years, but still young enough to enjoy it (I am 68 next year), I was always taught that you do not tailgate any vehicle and you must leave a gap between you and the vehicle in front for another vehicle to safely move in there in an emergency. I still get upset but not "raged" at the bulk of drivers who have not bothered to improve their skills since passing their driving test, such as taking the Advanced School of Motoring courses. It is no secret that you must minimise your exposure time on the opposite side of the road, so you should be speeding up before the car coming the other way has passed you if the situation demands it. It has worked for me, and if tailgaters get upset, we must educate them to drive properly. Anyway, before moving into the overtaking position, the driver must ensure the the lane is free and safe to do so. Most tailgaters just pull out, oblivious to what is happening behind them, often without even signalling. Thank God for powerful horns.
On that point, driving at speeds that keep you alert is important. Here in Spain, 20 to 25% of accidents are officially caused by slow drivers.

_________________
Brian Deller, author of the book, Motoring in Spain
www.spainvia.com

There are people who can tolerate my views, just as I have many friends and relations who 'live life in the fast lane' - I'm no misfit! I may generalise a bit, but people know my words never really change - I want the worst law breaking speeders to go by bus or train or even walk, and leave drivers like me to get on safely. In a sense, I champion the right to go more slowly than the absolute limit, if you want to. That means it is OK to do 25 mph or less in the 30 zone. You and I should start again - you are a feisty person, which I admire! Do you have red hair by any chance?

_________________
I stole this .sig

I'm a very frequent law breaking speeder, and it would still not jeopardise your prospects of being able to get on safely. The trick is to do the speeding in a way that takes proper account of the safety and convenience of other road users. It's really not that difficult to combine the two styles.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

It really isn't ok if 30 is a safe speed, which it often is, although obviously there are occasions where it isn't.

Trust me BW, if you took another driving test you would fail it on going too slow. It's a little hypocritical to have a go at people for breaking a speed limit which you would fail a test for, while you happily admit to driving at a speed far below the speed limit which you would also fail for. The only differnce is that speeding is an absolute offence whereas going to slow isn't but is sill covered by other motoring laws. You can't pick and choose which rules you follow and which you ignore.

Another bit of hypocrisy I've noticed. You moan about other road users being selfish road slobs, yet you say things like "If you want to". Well what about other road users who want to drive safely at the the speed limit? Are you guilty of selfishness this time?

I really hope you pull over regularly if you drive on a lot of country roads where overtaking is difficult, otherwise I'm sure your having a negative impact on road safety with all the frustration building up behind you.

Oh and one last thing, perhaps overtaking would not be such as exceptional act(as you said) if other drivers drove at a correct speed for the condition and the limit, rather then one significantly below when there is no justification for it.

The limit is the top speed you are allowed to drive at. If you go higher, you can get a speeding ticket. If you drive right on the limit all the time, any inaccuracy or a small slip can get you a ticket. That can be very frustrating.

I'm no chump - I habitually make good progress, but I drive at most a little under the limit. That way, a small slip will only take me up to the limit. This is law abiding and considerate behaviour that you can adopt if you want. If you don't comply, and you get pinged, then for God's sake keep it to yourself, because I couldn't give a hoot!



If wishes were horses… unfortunately, each driver can have a different “correct” speed and we have to cope with that fact - such is life.

_________________
I stole this .sig

Sorry Basingwerk, I'm already spoken for - the wife loves me just the way I am - So if you're about to ask me for a date, I must decline.

Basingwerk, if you'll allow me to substitute the word driver for speeder in your quote above (underlined), and you'll allow me to say speeding does not necessarily mean unsafe and not speeding doesn't necessarily mean safe then we can agree on something.

The law says the limit for a motorway (for example) is 70MPH.

In thick fog 50MPH is most likely to be UNSAFE, yet on a warm, sunny evening; when the motorway is basically empty 100MPH is most likely to be safe. Indeed, according to some police officers in the Telford area, 159 MPH on the M54 in the dark is safe.

Every stretch of road has its own 'natural' limit. And that 'natural' limit changes with the seasons, the time of day, the amount of other road users and the weather.

The reason why almost everybody in the country exceeds the speed limits is merely a natural reaction to any given road in any given weather at any given time lends itself to the speed 'naturally' driven at 85% of all motorists.

About time we stopped crying wolf and beating up ordinary people for just going about their ordinary business.

Uh uh. Basingwerk thinks that 'petty theft' is acceptable in society and has openly admitted to stealing a vast collection of biros and other writing impliments in his time.... Cleptomania is to be accepted and tolerated because (according to BW) no one dies when pens get stolen - even though when organisations like the NHS have to replace all those pens lost through such shrinkage, they obviously can't do as many scans for things like cancer, meaning sufferers go undiagnosed meaning they die earlier.... No, ONLY if you exceed the speed limit by a few MPH are you to be thought of as a social outcast. Stealing is tollerated if not condoned.

But the law has run it’s course and you have 3 points to show you (and your insurance company) the error of your ways! How many will it take before it sinks in that speeding is against the law and wrong! What do you want – special treatment? That ain't going to happen, chum, no matter how loud you screech!

_________________
I stole this .sig