Hulland Ward etc.

Last week, me and the rest of my tribe had a week in Derbyshire,
staying at relatives not a million miles away (1) from Hulland Ward.

Anyway, the one thing I noticed on my travels on the roads around that
way, (nice as they were aside from the 50mph speed limit they were
generally saddled with), was the proliferation of lovely bright signs
informing us all of how many bikers had been killed or injured on the
stretch of road you happen to be travelling on at the time, in the
last five years.

My question is, do these stats include every single reported off, even
the ones whereby the injured person had just ended up with a scratch,
or is there a certain level of injury that qualifies for inclusion of
these stats.

That, and is it just me or are they scaremongering a tad by not
actually stating on the signs how many people were injured and how
many actually died?

(1) South enough to be in the decidedly dreary looking end of the
county, though.

 

Swadlincote, then?

 

Aye... I have no idea how you guessed from that description. ;-)

Went to 'Twycross Zoo' (1) on the first full day which is only just
down the road, and found it to be full of rude twats who didn't appear
to be able to read the signs politely asking them to not bang on the
glass of the animal enclosures.

Also did Alton Towers for the first time, and whilst it's a tad
expensive to get in, it was well worth the money and we all really
enjoyed ourselves... even me, and I'm not one for rollercoasters (2)
etc.

Spent a few days up in the Dales, having made the mistake of skirting
up the outside of the Peak District as far as Chesterfield on one
occasion... and if anyone else is thinking of popping up that way and
likes that there nature, 'Dovedale' is well worth a visit.

(1) If you like your primates, this is worth going to see... although
given our experiences, I'd suggest maybe going along later in the year
when it's less likely to be as crowded.

(2) 'If it hasn't got a throttle and brakes, I'm not interested'; I'll
happily do silly speeds on a bike, but can't stomach anything more
than the 'Runaway Mine Train' at places like this.

 

My understanding is that if it requirted a trip to hospital, even if
only for a check-up, then it's recorded.

Could be wrong, mind.

 

It's usually K&SI figures - Killed and Seriously Injured.
That's broken bones , lots of bleeding and so on.

 

In message

We went to Twycross in term time so it wasn't too bad - still plenty of
mouth breathers around though. Monkey World was excellent if you like
primates but a really bad idea in school holidays, pretty depressing
watching out of control kids chucking stuff at the glass separators to
taunt the monkeys.

 

In my view they just indicate that it's an interesting road and the speed
should be upped further.

We have them in Sussex - A272 is a good case - but not the 50mph limits.

 

Well yes... but if various other signs dotted along the more
interesting of routes I could find up in Derbyshire are anything to go
by, you're then risking getting nabbed by a plod 'copter.

Given all the roadside propaganda etc, they appear to be adopting the
Brunstrom approach to bikers to a certain extent.

I suspect it's only a matter of time:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...road-speed-limits-to-be-reduced-to-50mph.html

 

I wouldn't mind going again when the weather cools down and the brats
etc, are all back at school... although a lot of the mongs banging on
the windows etc, appeared to be the parents, so no hope for their
offspring really in that respect.

Even worse, plenty with Brummie accents when we went. ;-)

I walked past a couple of bigger compounds with Chimpanzees in them,
and pondered why these had reasonably strong looking metal bars just
inside the windows when most of the other compounds didn't... and then
soon realised why as one of the chimps concerned went 'ape shit' and
started screaming and beating the feck out of the bars.

Some of the smaller enclosures contained gibbons etc, which sat with
their backs to the glass or just stared fairly motionlessly and this
seemed to encourage the mouth breathers to bang on the glass even
more, none of which got any real reaction out of the monkeys concerned
- I guess they've seen it all before.

Anyway, it did make me question just how kind it is to keep animals
obviously depressed or disturbed by being cooped up and on display in
this way, no matter how under threat they maybe out in their natural
habitat.

 

Did you compare the meerkats?

 

Most of the time I come behind a car on a NSL single they're already
going at 50mph or less, my best guess is that a proportion, maybe even
a majority assume it's already 50mph.

 

Not IME

 

What I've noticed in recent times when I've had cause to go on a
longer trip, is that people generally, (especially in terms of cars),
seem to be driving slower on motorways than they used to, and by that
I don't mean when a whole bunch of people are being held up by one
self righteous twonk in lane three etc, more when the road is
relatively clear.

Whether this is down to being more worried about being nicked for
speeding than they used to be, or due to them trying to squeeze a bit
more economy out of their cars given the current financial climate, I
have no idea.

 

Demographics.

The median age of drivers is increasing, in line with the general
population.

More Hondas, Citroen Berlingos & Subaru Foresters on the road mean more
dawdling old farts.

 

One could almost think you were referring to the the aforementioned
'spectators' in their normal living space.

 

Quite a few of them in Devon and Cornwall too.

On one road, there have been a few car fatalaties, but they don't get
their own signposts. Clearly the govmint care about us more if we're on
bikes. Which is nice.

 

YMMV or the surrey/sussex border has a higher proportion of doddery
old gits.

 

This.

If you live in Derbyshire they send you a little leaflet with maps of
the routes and pretty pictures alongside the 'YOU MAY DIE' warning.
Which is nice. Not had one this year actually, so it may only be if
you've taken a bike safe course that year.

 

I've never had one of those, and now am sort of relieved, death
stalking me would have ruined the fun.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, ginge

DEATH doesn't stalk gingas. He's only interested in people with souls.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

I have already made the greatest contribution to the fight against climate
change that I can make: I have decided not to breed. Now quit bugging me and
go and talk to the Catholics.