Safe Speed Forums

not specifically road safety related, but as we are all something of engine heads on here I thought I would ask ...

has anyone been watching / watched "Ice Road Truckers"? It was shown on Channel 5 recently, I caught the last few so got the whole series on DVD from a friend.

I've now watched about half of the series, it's really fascinating. They have a WHOLE different point of view on "speeding" (the limit on the ice road is something like 16mph - and their journeys are up to 300 miles!), exceeding the limit not only risks a fine and suspension, you would also expect the approbation of the other truckers! Not surprising really, go too fast and you can create a pressure wave in the water under the ice, which in turn can cause the road up ahead to crack and break - a fall through the ice into 10 metres of icy water is probably a one way trip, and the road is only open for about 9 weeks a year, so a crack in the ice is not really welcome!

Anyway, I've found it quite fascinating - check it out if you get the opportunity. If you know how to do that sort of thing, I believe the whole series is available as a torrent.

More information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Road_Truckers

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COAST Not just somewhere to keep a beach.

A young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

Yep, watched that series Handy, absolutely fascinating.

Some of the temperatures they were working in were mind-boggling, -42 degrees

But the organisation operating the 'road' didn't take any crap did they? If they thought a driver was dangerous or suffering from lack of sleep becuase they'd pushed themsleves too hard in the dash for the cash, they were banned.

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Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

Yeah, we watched a couple of episodes and it really brings a whole new perspective to the job. One that sticks in my mind was when one of the drivers (a newby if I remember correctly) had his brake lines freeze and plowed through a junction because the rig wouldn't stop!

My only comment to that job is F*** that for a game of soldiers!!

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

I watched that. It looked like something I would like a crack at having done the american wheat harvest twice. But they did look like a bunch of cowboys to me. There were some dodgy custom cutting crews on the road, but I worked for the best and if I did (ice road) that would want a similarly professional employer.

The road safety team looked very good, I like their speed limit thing, as you drive you cause a wave, drive too fast and the wave will break the ice and you die, can't argue with that.

Great -the ones that I've seen - especially the one where the bloke couildn't stop because of poor visibility - leave engine running to keep heat in - crack ice , switch off and freeze - so plow on at reduced speed and pray

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on