Author |
Topic Search Topic Options
|
Rhys
Moderator Group
Coffee addict...
Joined: 02-February-2003
Location: from the Latin locātiō
Status: Offline
Points: 10053
|
Posted: 02-January-2006 at 15:39 |
I once nearly got taken out by an artic on the motorway..
I was flashed onto a motorway from a slip road by one artic driver - then one in another artic overtook this one and decided to pull back in - where I was.. Now tell me where the the blind spots are!
I had to accelarate hard after swerving onto the hard shoulder! If I hadn't I wouldn't be driving anymore. Oh, and I went faster than 70mph is that allowed in this situation?
I never drive by the side of a rig (if I can help it), I don't trust them - Now I don't know what type of artic you've driven/drive or how many mirrors you use, but I've been told by a ex lorry driver where the blind spots are on a standard rig - if I can't see the driver in their mirrors then they can't see me.. I've also been a passenger in a LHD rig.
Oh and by the way, the police have said that to safely overtake another vehicle then it is acceptable to reach speeds over the limit (say to 90mph) as long as you drop back down afterwards - the emphasis on safely and quickly overtaking - rather than slowely like many artic drivers at 1mph (I'm sure artic drivers wind their windows down and have a chinwag )
|
V reg Rustbucket Merc C220 Cdi estate J Reg Saab 900i 16v '63 Ford Anglia 105e deluxe R reg Honda PC50 moped..
No BMW as yet...
|
|
Sponsored Links
|
|
|
thepits
Moderator Group
Joined: 09-July-2003
Location: far far away
Status: Offline
Points: 10000473
|
Posted: 02-January-2006 at 15:44 |
Rhys wrote:
Oh and by the way, the police have said that to safely overtake another vehicle then it is acceptable to reach speeds over the limit (say to 90mph) as long as you drop back down afterwards - the emphasis on safely and quickly overtaking - rather than slowly |
OOH! Controversial statement there Rhys...
I'm sure livvy will have something to say about that!
(p.s. I agree!)
|
Cats know your every thought.
But don't care.
|
|
Rhys
Moderator Group
Coffee addict...
Joined: 02-February-2003
Location: from the Latin locātiō
Status: Offline
Points: 10053
|
Posted: 02-January-2006 at 15:56 |
Livvy can say what he wants, this was roughly quoted from a trafic police officer some years ago on a tv motoring programme while showing a piece on driving safety - I don't know which one or when it was, but it was what he said.
|
V reg Rustbucket Merc C220 Cdi estate J Reg Saab 900i 16v '63 Ford Anglia 105e deluxe R reg Honda PC50 moped..
No BMW as yet...
|
|
thepits
Moderator Group
Joined: 09-July-2003
Location: far far away
Status: Offline
Points: 10000473
|
Posted: 02-January-2006 at 16:01 |
Rhys wrote:
Livvy can say what he wants. |
Aha - a clue to livvy's identity! Not that we needed another!
It seems to me that, whilst understanding what HE is trying to put forward, HE still has a very narrow view on the realities of daily motoring.
Perhaps driving in a marked car changes other drivers attitudes?
|
Cats know your every thought.
But don't care.
|
|
Rhys
Moderator Group
Coffee addict...
Joined: 02-February-2003
Location: from the Latin locātiō
Status: Offline
Points: 10053
|
Posted: 02-January-2006 at 16:18 |
thepits wrote:
Rhys wrote:
Livvy can say what he wants. |
Aha - a clue to livvy's identity! Not that we needed another!
It seems to me that, whilst understanding what HE is trying to put forward, HE still has a very narrow view on the realities of daily motoring.
Perhaps driving in a marked car changes other drivers attitudes? |
A generalisation, maybe its a woman.. after all they all think they are better drivers
|
V reg Rustbucket Merc C220 Cdi estate J Reg Saab 900i 16v '63 Ford Anglia 105e deluxe R reg Honda PC50 moped..
No BMW as yet...
|
|
thepits
Moderator Group
Joined: 09-July-2003
Location: far far away
Status: Offline
Points: 10000473
|
Posted: 02-January-2006 at 16:20 |
|
Cats know your every thought.
But don't care.
|
|
livvy
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 12-November-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 745
|
Posted: 02-January-2006 at 18:00 |
Rhys wrote:
Oh and by the way, the police have said that to
safely overtake another vehicle then it is acceptable to reach speeds
over the limit (say to 90mph) as long as you drop back down afterwards
|
What a lot of tosh. Try using it as a defence to a speeding prosecuton & see where it gets you.
|
My views expressed are just that.
Mine & mine alone.
|
|
livvy
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 12-November-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 745
|
Posted: 02-January-2006 at 18:04 |
|
My views expressed are just that.
Mine & mine alone.
|
|
Rhys
Moderator Group
Coffee addict...
Joined: 02-February-2003
Location: from the Latin locātiō
Status: Offline
Points: 10053
|
Posted: 02-January-2006 at 18:15 |
livvy wrote:
Rhys wrote:
Oh and by the way, the police have said that to
safely overtake another vehicle then it is acceptable to reach speeds
over the limit (say to 90mph) as long as you drop back down afterwards
|
What a lot of tosh. Try using it as a defence to a speeding prosecuton & see where it gets you.
|
I take it that is your view and no one elses?
If this is the case why was it broadcast by a policeman on national tv?
|
V reg Rustbucket Merc C220 Cdi estate J Reg Saab 900i 16v '63 Ford Anglia 105e deluxe R reg Honda PC50 moped..
No BMW as yet...
|
|
Rhys
Moderator Group
Coffee addict...
Joined: 02-February-2003
Location: from the Latin locātiō
Status: Offline
Points: 10053
|
Posted: 02-January-2006 at 18:26 |
OK another instance..
Traveling down the M1 a while ago - in the fast lane ovetaking a few cars at around 75mph, I saw a police car traveling at speed some distance behind me with two's and blues on - to clear his way I accelarated past the remaining cars to enable me to quickly and safely pull in as this was the only exit open to me, I must have touched 85mph before pulling in and slowing back down to 70.
The policecar passed me at speed, and took no interest..
|
V reg Rustbucket Merc C220 Cdi estate J Reg Saab 900i 16v '63 Ford Anglia 105e deluxe R reg Honda PC50 moped..
No BMW as yet...
|
|
spokey
Bavarian-Board Contributor
Offensive and obnoxious tub of lard
Joined: 02-March-2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 1948
|
Posted: 02-January-2006 at 19:07 |
Rhys wrote:
OK another instance..
Traveling down the M1 a while ago - in the fast lane ovetaking a
few cars at around 75mph, I saw a police car traveling at speed some
distance behind me with two's and blues on - to clear his way I
accelarated past the remaining cars to enable me to quickly and safely
pull in as this was the only exit open to me, I must have touched 85mph
before pulling in and slowing back down to 70.
The policecar passed me at speed, and took no interest.. |
Bad planning, Rhys: you should have seen the cop car coming ages ago and not overtaken.
Or something.
|
Ciao,
Spokey
|
|
Nigel
Moderator Group
Joined: 09-November-2002
Status: Offline
Points: 6941
|
Posted: 02-January-2006 at 19:47 |
spokey wrote:
livvy wrote:
I'm seriously trying to visualise a scenario where accelerating over the speed limit in order to get out of trouble would be the only/best course of action, where you would never have been able to see or wouldn't have been able anticipate the problem before you had to resort to that
|
Gosh, you IAM guys are just so perfect. It's a genuine inspiration to us all. I want to rush in and sign up tomorrow, just so I can be as sanctimonious and holier than thou as you are.
You are an inspiration to us all, livvy, and a great advertisement for what a fun-loving, grounded person an IAM driver can be.
|
lol, to the best of my knowledge Livvy is nothing whatsoever to do with the IAM.
In my humble opinion, there are things that can go against you when driving where exceeding the speed limit can be an answer, but, to back Livvy up...if I were on test, or in my case requal....I wouldn't be overtaking in that scenario in the first place.
Overtaking is now probably the hardest thing for me to teach a candidate.
I can't have them exceeding the speed limit...period.
On a lot of the roads in Worcestershire ( where I do this IAM observing), a lot of nsl's have been dropped to 40 or 50 mph, which makes the subject of overtaking very difficult, then just for good measure the local road safety unit put down loads of solid doube whites !
|
Best Wishes
Nigel
|
|
livvy
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 12-November-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 745
|
Posted: 03-January-2006 at 02:24 |
Rhys wrote:
livvy wrote:
Rhys wrote:
Oh and by the way, the police have said that to
safely overtake another vehicle then it is acceptable to reach speeds
over the limit (say to 90mph) as long as you drop back down afterwards
|
What a lot of tosh. Try using it as a defence to a speeding prosecuton & see where it gets you.
|
I take it that is your view and no one elses?
If this is the case why was it broadcast by a policeman on national tv? |
It is my view & it just so happens that it is also the view of the statute books.
There is no provision in law for you to exceed the speed limit for
overtakes. Offering " a policeman once said on TV" is no defence.
In law you have to stay within the limits when completing an overtake
& if it is not safe to do that, then the overtake is not safe in
the first place.
Of course if you do speed in doing so, it doesn't follow that you will
definitely be prosecuted for speeding if seen by Police. They can
choose whether or not to prosecute, but you are leaving your fate
completely in their hands. They can prosecute where they can provide
evidence of your speeding & the fact you were only doing it while
overtaking will not suffice as a defence.
The choice is yours ultimately, but if you decide to exceed the limit
you have to be prepared for the consequences if they do decide to
prosecute, because you are putting yourself & your licence on offer.
Rhys wrote:
this was roughly quoted from a trafic police officer some years ago on a tv motoring programme |
Was this at a time when the Police took as hard a line on speeding as they do now ?
The decision to report for prosecution is the individual officers &
where you break the law in regard to speeding, that option is open to them.
They are not bound by what some faceless officer said on TV once,
they are bound by the law.
The only way for you to ensure you don't get prosecuted is to remain
within speed limits. Anytime you wilfully or inadvertently go over them
without an exemption, you render yourself liable to prosecution.
Edited by livvy
|
My views expressed are just that.
Mine & mine alone.
|
|
livvy
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 12-November-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 745
|
Posted: 03-January-2006 at 02:39 |
Rhys wrote:
The policecar passed me at speed, and took no interest.. |
I imagine with the blue lights & two tones on they were going to something that had a higher priority for them at that time.
|
My views expressed are just that.
Mine & mine alone.
|
|
spokey
Bavarian-Board Contributor
Offensive and obnoxious tub of lard
Joined: 02-March-2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 1948
|
Posted: 03-January-2006 at 04:23 |
livvy wrote:
I imagine with the blue lights & two tones on they were going to something that had a higher priority for them at that time.
|
Doughnuts, probably.
|
Ciao,
Spokey
|
|
Peter Fenwick
Bavarian-Board Contributor
Joined: 27-August-2003
Location: Lost somewhere in time...
Status: Offline
Points: 6484
|
Posted: 03-January-2006 at 05:38 |
Nigel wrote:
.
On a lot of the roads in Worcestershire ( where I do this IAM observing), a lot of nsl's have been dropped to 40 or 50 mph, which makes the subject of overtaking very difficult, then just for good measure the local road safety unit put down loads of solid doube whites !
|
Same round my way. It's bloody stupid if you ask me. On one road even the police said that lowering the speed limit would make it less safe, but they still took no notice.
|
Entering an age of Austerity and now driving a Focus Diesel.
|
|
livvy
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 12-November-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 745
|
Posted: 03-January-2006 at 11:42 |
Nigel wrote:
On a lot of the roads in Worcestershire ( where I do this
IAM observing), a lot of nsl's have been dropped to 40 or 50 mph, which
makes the subject of overtaking very difficult, then just for good
measure the local road safety unit put down loads of solid doube whites
! |
Probably because people keep making fatal mistakes overtaking, so they
design the chances to do them out. It's easier than training everyone
to do it safely, especially when people don't make any effort to get
enhanced training off their own backs.
|
My views expressed are just that.
Mine & mine alone.
|
|
spokey
Bavarian-Board Contributor
Offensive and obnoxious tub of lard
Joined: 02-March-2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 1948
|
Posted: 03-January-2006 at 12:27 |
Interesting comparison, given that you expect hospitals to be safe places and roads to be dangerous places:
The Guardian wrote:
The number of deaths from
infections picked up in hospital, including the so-called superbug
MRSA, is four times higher than the government's official figure,
campaigners claimed yesterday.
The
MRSA support group said that the government's tally of 5,000 deaths a
year comes from statistics compiled in 1994. Their analysis of
statistics from official bodies suggests that the real number of annual
deaths is closer to 20,000.
Half
of those 20,000 deaths would be from the methicillin resistant
staphylococcus aureus bacteria, or MRSA, Tony Field of the group said.
The government's 1994 break-down gave 800 out of 5,000 deaths as from
MRSA. |
The BBC wrote:
The number of people dying on UK roads fell to 3,221 last year - the lowest since records began in 1926. |
Yet, the number of speeding fines being issued is growing, year on
year, as is the number of miles travelled. So, we're driving more,
breaking more speed limits, we are stubbornly refusing to better
ourselves and yet fewer people are dying.
And if the goverment's statistics are to be believed, only about 1100
of the road deaths are attributable to speed. If they are wrong (and I
think you might imagine what I believe!) then only about 225 deaths are attributable to speed.
Now, 225 deaths out of the annual deaths in the UK (about 620,000) is
0.03% of the total. There are about four times as many cold-blooded
murders in the UK every year. There are between 5000 and 20000
avoidable deaths in hospitals every year, i.e., between 20 and 100
times as many people die needlessly from going to hospital as do from
driving too fast.
Yet we have thousands of "safety cameras" and other invasive mechanisms
making sure that we don't make 226 deaths by speeding and absolutely
nothing about stopping avoidable deaths in places that are supposed to
cure you, not kill you.
I can't help but feel that the emphasis on dumbing down driving is misplaced.
|
Ciao,
Spokey
|
|
livvy
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 12-November-2005
Status: Offline
Points: 745
|
Posted: 03-January-2006 at 12:47 |
spokey wrote:
Interesting comparison, given that you expect hospitals to be safe places and roads to be dangerous places:
The Guardian wrote:
The number of deaths from
infections picked up in hospital, including the so-called superbug
MRSA, is four times higher than the government's official figure,
campaigners claimed yesterday.
The
MRSA support group said that the government's tally of 5,000 deaths a
year comes from statistics compiled in 1994. Their analysis of
statistics from official bodies suggests that the real number of annual
deaths is closer to 20,000.
Half
of those 20,000 deaths would be from the methicillin resistant
staphylococcus aureus bacteria, or MRSA, Tony Field of the group said.
The government's 1994 break-down gave 800 out of 5,000 deaths as from
MRSA. |
|
I agree woeful.
spokey wrote:
The BBC wrote:
The number of people dying on UK roads fell to 3,221 last year - the lowest since records began in 1926. |
Yet, the number of speeding fines being issued is growing, year on
year, as is the number of miles travelled. So, we're driving more,
breaking more speed limits, we are stubbornly refusing to better
ourselves and yet fewer people are dying. |
Whoaaa, that's a big jump you are making there.
Just because more people are getting fined for speeding doesn't mean
that we are "breaking more speed limits" necessarily. Just because
enforcement has become more effecient, seeing numbers of prosecutions
rise is not evidence of more speeding just that more offences are being prosecuted.
The evidence from cameras is that "they" help reduce the instance of
speeding, help reduce the severity of the margin over the limit &
help reduce KSI's numbers etc. They do this whilst at the sametime
prosecuting more of the people who don't change their behaviour (or
change sufficiently enough) as listed above.
If your hospital figures are correct, just imagine how many of those
people may have been serious injury RTA victims from speed related
collisions. Who then went to hospital & got MRSA. Now of course if
they hadn't been speeding & hadn't gone to hospital they wouldn't
have got the MRSA. So cameras may actually be saving lives by
preventing simple injury collisions not just the fatality collisions.
If you want to get a true picture of speeds relationship to collisions
speak to the people best placed to have seen the evidence of what are the major contributory factors in them.
i.e. The Police officers
who report serious collisions.
They'll tell you inappropraite speed
plays a big part in collisions on our roads.
Edited by livvy
|
My views expressed are just that.
Mine & mine alone.
|
|
Rhys
Moderator Group
Coffee addict...
Joined: 02-February-2003
Location: from the Latin locātiō
Status: Offline
Points: 10053
|
Posted: 03-January-2006 at 12:57 |
livvy wrote:
If your hospital figures are correct, just imagine how many of those
people may have been serious injury RTA victims from speed related
collisions.
|
..and what percentage were caused by the police speeding, and hitting members of the public?
|
V reg Rustbucket Merc C220 Cdi estate J Reg Saab 900i 16v '63 Ford Anglia 105e deluxe R reg Honda PC50 moped..
No BMW as yet...
|
|