Brunstrom is a twat

Where do you think most people die, on or off the roads?

Here's a hint. It's not on the roads, not even close to being the
biggest killer in the UK.

 

I guess most people die in their own beds, which, if true, suggests
that old people should get out more.

 

Yup, but it does show driver perception of speed is flawed. I get pulled
out on often when driving the 4x4 because people see it as "slow". The
fact that it's faster than a whole series of Golf GTis doesn't figure in
their thinking, and the fact that I may well be travelling at the NSL at
the time they see me doesn't stop them from lurching into the road (and
often stalling) as soon as they see me.

 

Fit a winch and bull-bar, get a few "character marks", and plaster it in
mud. If you look like you don't give a flying ****, people are less eager
to get in your way I don't get many people pulling out in front of me if
I'm in the Series 2 compared to the Discovery, although the S2 is slower by
a factor of many.

 

Quite true, but in some cases life is enhanced by taking a bit more risk
here and there for the sake of enjoyment that one would miss out on
otherwise.

The trick is to know where one can pinch a bit more freedom and
enjoyment without the risk becoming unreasonable - to ourselves or
others, who may take a different view of life. We do have to consider
the effect on others and apply reasonable restraint, but seeking maximum
safety at all times is not my idea of a balanced life.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

 

Oh I don't know. I think I'd rather die in my bed of old age - than
prematurely at the side of the road in a car wreck. Wouldn't you?

Uno-Hoo!

 

Notice that I used the word 'likely'. Some years ago I was driving near to
my home when a dog ran out of a gap in the hedge around a farmers field. It
was a large labrador and I was that close that I could not avoid slamming
into it. Despite the fact that I was only doing around 45 mph at the time,
the collision forced the front nearside wing into the tyre and sliced it
wide open leading to an instant deflation. Because I was not driving fast I
had no difficulty in coming to a safe stop. Had I been travelling at high
speed, however, the end result would undoubtedly have been very different.

Once again it's physics. You cannot escape from the fact that, generally
speaking, the higher the speed the greater the risk of something going
wrong, the less likelihood there is of taking avoiding action, and the more
serious is likely to be the results.

Uno-Hoo!

 

I'm not sure that I agree with any of that. You would have to be travelling
extremely slowly to be difficult to see. Also, I have attended a fair few
accidents where drivers have pulled out into the path of other vehicles
because they totally underestimated the approach speed. Drivers today are
not expecting approaching vehicles to be travelling at, say, 90 mph and may
believe that they have plenty of time to pull out, when in fact they don't.

I do accept that some drivers do pull out in front of vehicles they perceive
as slow and don't want to get stuck behind. It happens to me occasionally
when I am towing the caravan.

Uno-Hoo!

 

No. I'd rather die suddenly and unexpectedly while doing something I enjoy.
Shouldn't you be outside polishing your Volvo and caravan rather than
on usenet? It's only two weeks until the next bank holiday.

 

Well, if in the wrecked car I was (say) aged 90, and fleeing from the
jealous husband of a nubile sex-crazed 25 year-old with a penchant for
claret, I'd consider it a reasonable exchange.

 

Bloody typical!!

No mention of the poor bloody dog I notice.

 

This is because you hit the dog, had you been going faster or slower you
would have missed it. Your speed was not the factor it was the timing of
the dogs bolt for freedom.

 

Not necessarily, for most values of "speed".

Not necessarily.

Agreed.

If two vehicles are going to collide, then I would agree that the lower the
speeds involved, the less likelihood of damage and injury. But you are a
long way from demonstrating that higher speeds make a collision more likely.

 

I see someone's been mangling Billy Wilder quotes...

 

I must say I find some of Kev's views a bit strange. On the one hand he
seems to feel great concern that nobody should be exposed to appreciable
risk from fast drivers, but in the case of the death of a loved one he
is apt to remark that the remains are nothing more than a heap of dead
meat. That last bit relates to a discussion a year or two ago with Ray.

Maybe it's just me, but I see a strange mixture of emotions there.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

 

Huh?

 

From memory, he said something along the lines of wanting to shuffle
off his mortal coil at around 90 by being shot by the jealous husband
of a young woman or somesuch.

 

My dad was pretty much the same.

I hadn't realised how bad his driving had got until I (rashly) let him
have my old Golf GTI to go away with a few Xmases ago. **** he was
dangerous, I didn't think I'd ever see my car back in one piece again
(let alone my mum).

As his myoloma advanced he was not keen to part with his car at all, as
he firmly believed he would be well enough to drive again.

His car sat in the garage, and became a source of worry to him.

The only thing I could think of was to give him a possible get out
clause, as he was not at all happy about admitting that he couldn't
hack it driving any more.

We suggested that if he was thinking of selling the car, that my lad
would like 1st refusal, as he was fed up with his Clio. This proved to
be a successful catalyst, and he passed his car to my lad for free, and
was able to tell anyone that he had let his grandson have it as his
need was greater than his own.

Bloody parents.

--
Dan L

http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

I'd be more impressed if they'd made that clear at the outset.

Erm, 2 events in the 62 years since the war, (I simply don't know if
there were any before the war)

Hungerford massacre: August 1987.

Dunblane massacre: March 1996.

I'm not aware of any others.

Don't speak too soon. The statistical basis for that assertion is
*very* poor.

My wife keeps buying this elephant repellant rubbish off daytime TV,
it's as expensive as hell. She also says it's been "entirely
successful". :-((

DG

 

Oh, right.

Don't recall that, but there you go. It's something of a cliche anyway.