Safe Speed Forums

Surely the only point here to still be arguing is that odds of something happening which would require expeditious manipulation of the wheel, and perhaps the repercussions of being unable to.

Everything can be reduced to a risk/benefit balance, surely any increase in risk for zero benefit is unacceptable?

He had pre-arranged the stunt with his colleague. They were both looking away from the road and into the camera. Both were grinning, both had thumbs up.

I think his mind was on his little jape, not on the road. And probably well before he reached the camera.

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www.thatsnews.org.uk / www.thatsnews.blogspot.com / http://thatsmotoring.blogspot.com/

Can I get back in here?

Nevermind anything magically [dis]appearing in his path at the time he so carefully chose as 'reasonably safe to pose for a photo'. Teleportation and force majeure are not at issue here.

I challenge anyone to answer the following questions ...

1) Ever pose for a photo while driving?
(Weekly.)

2) Ever pose for a photo while driving by taking your hands off the wheel?
(Rarely. Were I to do so now, it would be during daylight, preferably under controlled and/or closed conditions, with a knee on the wheel, and the other foot on the brake. [Most Yanks' cars shift themselves.])

3) Ever pose for a photo while driving by taking your hands off the wheel and eyes off the road?
(No.)

4) Ever pose for a photo while driving by taking your hands off the wheel and eyes off the road and while responding to a police emergency?
(Not applicable.)

To put it another way, even if the hands and the eyes are irrelevant,
5) How much of your mind/attention is on driving while posing for a photo with no hands?
(Pick a %age between 100 and 0)

Here comes the curveball:
6) What if there was no police emergency?

_________________
The Rules for ALL ROAD USERS:
1) No one gets hurt
2) Nothing gets hit, except to protect others; see Rule#1
3) The Laws of Physics are invincible and immutable - so-called 'laws' of men are not
4) You are always immediately and ultimately responsible for your safety first, then proximately responsible for everyone's
Do not let other road users' mistakes become yours, nor yours become others
5) The rest, including laws of the land, is thoughtful observation, prescience, etiquette, decorum, and cooperation

At 70 mph und 60 mph each time? He had planned this jolly jape.. it was deliberate. His mind will then have been off the road ahead und I really doubt he check mirrors either.


Und was it a genuine shout? Well we all know from the "affairof the chinese takeway" that they can set off one und then "change their mind if it ist too far away und get in the way of a spring roll with soy sauce"


Like that policeman in that case - these other idiots destroy trust und respect.

_________________
Nicht ganz im Lot!
Ich setze mich immer wieder in die Nesseln! Der Mad Doc ist mein Mann! Und ich benutzte seinen PC!

UND OUR SMILEYS? Smile ... und the the world smiles with you.
Smiley guy seen when you read
Fine me for Safe Speed
(& other good causes..)

Greatest love & Greatest Achievements Require Greatest Risk
But if you lose the driving plan - don't lose the COAST lesson.
Me?
Je ne regrette rien!

Let’s be clear about this…

I am not defending this man’s crass behaviour - I’m with everyone else on that. There is nothing he did which is remotely excusable.

I am defending against knee-jerk reaction, which automatically couples his gross stupidity with dangerous driving. I know all the arguments and nothing convinces me he was behaving anymore dangerously than someone changing a CD, for example.

To say it was premeditated is a fair argument because he couldn’t choose the timing, but is that any different to driving in a strange town and looking at road signs for directions?

And one thing I really hate is this growing safety message, which tells us all the things we shouldn’t do rather than those we should. It’s negative education rather than positive education.

So good has been the “Speed Kills” message, that people genuinely believe they must be perfectly safe if they drive within the Speed Limit.

So what of the future? “No Officer, I wasn’t exceeding the Speed Limit, I wasn’t listening to loud music, I wasn’t talking to my passenger, I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t smoking and I only removed one hand from the wheel - and that was to change gear. Clearly, I MUST have been driving safely!”

What’s the point in telling people to keep their eyes on the road if we don’t tell them what to look at and what to look for?

I don’t trust this man as a Police Officer but I see no reason not to trust him as a driver.

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It's tricky doing nothing - you never know when you're finished

Totaly agree with you grumps, and well said.

_________________
Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

Ja.. I know this what you are saying.





Well.. apart from being on motorway und already having idea which exit I need beforehand..

When in strange town looking for signs.. I usually just bubbling below speed limit... not holding up others on road but slow enough to be glancing ahead und at the signs.. but this would be part of COAST.. to observe und read the road. (We always seem to come back to COAST ..)





We should be training to COAST properly as constant.



Which ist why all the stats show increases.. Interestingly .. Germany's latest report in press reveal KSI up overall.. but KSI on A/bahn down by 12% with most interesting quote from ADAC I will be posting up in due course.. with linky to the article und a brief summary in English or should I say "English my way"




But he took both hand off wheel in obvious premeditation und idiocy.



Which ist why the THINK! campaign should focus more on each aspect of COAST with a culminating COAST In Action one.





I trust him as neither. I will be extra wary of hands free in front of scams as result.

_________________
Nicht ganz im Lot!
Ich setze mich immer wieder in die Nesseln! Der Mad Doc ist mein Mann! Und ich benutzte seinen PC!

UND OUR SMILEYS? Smile ... und the the world smiles with you.
Smiley guy seen when you read
Fine me for Safe Speed
(& other good causes..)

Greatest love & Greatest Achievements Require Greatest Risk
But if you lose the driving plan - don't lose the COAST lesson.
Me?
Je ne regrette rien!

Update on this story from the Sexpress yesterday.


The village idiot in question was banned by magistrates and fined £400 in February after he admitted to a "careless" charge.

He appeared in front of a disciplinary the other day.

He was given an "undisclosed fine" by his bosses - S Yorks Constabulary but kept his job because





He will be re-assessed as a police driver when the ban expires .. It seems he already had three ping points from being pinged when off-duty..





Genuine shout .. a professional will be concentrating on the job in hand and not indulging in daftness.

Guy acted like a pretzel twice. Had he taken one had off wheel to give a two-fingured or just manoeuvered his fingers on the wheel to give vent to feelings .. then fine. But this was a smirking "cannot do me for speeding here gesture" and this is why it is unacceptable behaviour on his part.

Police rightly say he was up before the disciplinary because his behaviour fell far short of what police and public expect.

Typically..




Whilst I agree with the comment that this pretzel plod has undermined the police by behaving unprofessionally.. the otehr comment is quite absurd. I would want the emergency services trained to drive at decent speeds to get to SAVE lives properly and speedily. Prosecution admitted the speed was legitimate under the circumstance. It was the childish stupidty of thumbing at a Gatso knowing he had trigged it which was the beyond logic. It simply shows how far a speed cam really undermines common sense road safety and why we need better trained police out there with no fixed cams or hidden vans to trigger this sort of behaviour in the first place. The speed was not the issue. The effect the speed cams can have on some folk who are otherwise "normal and of good character" grossly undermines safety.

_________________
If you want to get to heaven - you have to raise a little hell!

Smilies are contagious
They are just like the flu
We use our smilies on YOU today
Now Good Causes are smiling too!

KEEP SMILING
It makes folk wonder just what you REALLY got up to last night!

Smily to penny.. penny to pound
safespeed prospers-smiles all round! !
But the real message? SMILE.. GO ON ! DO IT! and the world will smile with you!
Enjoy life! You only have the one bite at it.

Perhaps if your focus began with a stupid rationale (speed=danger), and you looked for something stupid, you'd tend to find other stupid things, and encourage more stupidity?

_________________
The Rules for ALL ROAD USERS:
1) No one gets hurt
2) Nothing gets hit, except to protect others; see Rule#1
3) The Laws of Physics are invincible and immutable - so-called 'laws' of men are not
4) You are always immediately and ultimately responsible for your safety first, then proximately responsible for everyone's
Do not let other road users' mistakes become yours, nor yours become others
5) The rest, including laws of the land, is thoughtful observation, prescience, etiquette, decorum, and cooperation