I dont think I'll win anyone over

[downfader]

We used to have a "you have no rights as you don't pay road tax" idiot at work, who had the same attitudes about cyclists getting out of the way as they had no "rights", and would come off worse.

One lunchtime I simply queried this with a theory...

I drive a large 4X4 which is in band H - Does that mean that I have more "right" to the road than his small band B car, especially given that he would come off worst in an accident. Should he be getting out of my way when I drive?

Apparently not!

I have a mate that drives LGVs. Last time someone said similar to me in person I said the same, but with LGV instead of 4x4.

Theres a similar load of gumf going on the Daily Echo site after a horse rider died the other day. Muppets coming out saying "you dont pay tax, dont belong on the road, should insured..."

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/8853239.Horse_rider_s_road_safety_call/

 

[stowie]

We used to have a "you have no rights as you don't pay road tax" idiot at work, who had the same attitudes about cyclists getting out of the way as they had no "rights", and would come off worse.

One lunchtime I simply queried this with a theory...

I drive a large 4X4 which is in band H - Does that mean that I have more "right" to the road than his small band B car, especially given that he would come off worst in an accident. Should he be getting out of my way when I drive?

Apparently not!

I have wondered a similar thing with regards to contributory negligence, which has been mentioned in rulings by judging in respect to cyclists not wearing helmets.

One wonders whether contributory negligence could also be apportioned to the victim of a car accident who was driving a car with less than the maximum safety ratings? After all, the purchase of the car was their decision and they should have been aware of the safety ratings of the car they bought?

 

[mumbo jumbo]

They should be compulsory. Not only would it make the average driver concentrate more, it would also stop the Clarkson type lunatic from treating the road as a race track. Would the idiot in the Range Rover who was overtaking everyone on the wrong side of the double white while crossing Soutra on Saturday night be doing so if she/he had a fixed camera recording their journey?

The biggest saftey feature in any vehicle is the drivers brain, getting the driver to engage it is more important than all the high tech safety features in the world.

A colleague of mine (ex cyclist, now Range Rover driver, but a level-headed type) recently said that the best safety innovation you could introduce into cars would be a 6 inch spike sticking out of the steering wheel. That's how to engage a driver's brain - personal consequences. I'm not endorsing this as an idea in practice. But it makes the point I think!

 

[snorri]

There is someone who wants to get rid of speed limits. You can't make this stuff up.

No need to make it up, this topic has been covered ad nauseam on the Safespeed forum.

 

[downfader]

Back to where this thread come from on the RAC forum. There is someone who wants to get rid of speed limits. You can't make this stuff up. read for yourself LINK

Yeah no suprise to me either. You expect it from some quarters of society, unfortunately they never take into account:

- to increase speed you need to increase stopping distance, this effectively means less vehicles can use said peice of road as they are more spaced out
- upon impact the damage will be more severe to driver and vehicle, higher likelyhood of death
- the overall average journey times will not usually be that affected for mid to long journeys (eg 20-60 miles distance). We're talking minutes, not hours less, sometimes even seconds once cornering and braking is taken into account

IMVHO most drivers just do not have the skills to drive at 60, let alone above. Theres a good reason why F1 drivers can do the things they do at such high speed - the training.

 

[Chilternrides]

Well for what it's worth Downfader, I though the conversation you had with most of the commentators on there was very well reasoned and presented, as in most cases were their replies.

People will always have differing views, but often those views are knee-jerk rather than reasoned, and from what I read on there a number of the comments were reasoned and reasonable, even if not at times in full agreement with you.

Thanks for representing the non-militants among us - a chance for other road users to see that we are not always foaming at the mouth and expecting it all our won way. Well done.

 

[Riding in Circles]

Back to where this thread come from on the RAC forum. There is someone who wants to get rid of speed limits. You can't make this stuff up. read for yourself LINK

Pretty scary stuff, the reasoning seems to be that it is ok if innocent people are killed or maimed as it would be the drivers responsibility.