Hi folks...
I have been reading this forum for some time now and I feel that I would like to take part as I have a few strong views on road-safety.
I have read back the archives a bit and although I see a some subjects that interest me I would like the opinions of the board-uses in a more up-to-date way than going back into history too far.
My name is Paul, my username is Papaumau, ( it is Maori BTW ), and I am retired and spend a fair bit of time online these days.
I have two children and three grandchildren so I am particularly interested in their safety on the roads.
I was introduced to this site by a visitor to my own consumer forum - which I will not advertise here unless I am specifically asked for it's addy.
During my journeys around the internet forums I have found that road-safety is inclined to fall between two stools: 1). The opinions of the general road-users and 2). The opinions of the officials who apply the law and who extract the taxes and fines from us when we "misbehave" !
Because of this syndrome I am sadly afraid that we have a "them & us" situation here where the road-users and the establishment feel there is some kind of a war ging on between them.
From the zealous application of speed cameras to the zealous application of the road-calming schemes and the parking and tolling schemes it appears that much of the effort that is expended in trying to ostensibly make the roads and streets safer is in fact making the lives of the road-uses a misery.
Some have suggested that all of these sanctions are simply aimed at stopping us from using our expensively run and maintained vehicles at all so that it might then only be the very rich that can afford to get from A to B via personal transport.
Many too have said in the past that this "war" against the road-users is being prosecuted in the wrong order to the introduction of efficient , cheap, safe, and dependable public transport, where the taxes and curbs on our motoring freedoms are rising exponentially and long before any decent public transport is even designed - never mind in place.
Well, I think that I have managed to put as many of the problems of motoring and transportation in Britain that I can think of into this introduction and if I have missed anything I hope that you will tell me so.
To me SAFETY is the most important part of the transport equation in Britain today, I just think that many of the so-called "safety" policies that are in force nowadays are simply revenue-gathering exercises in disguise.
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