November 2001
Just saw a post on the UK Speedtraps Forum from SS which says that, according to a report in Motorcycle News this week ( Page 6) Notts are to scrap their Traffic Police Division and rely solely on speed cameras.
Can this crazy idea be true? No doubt all will become clear in the fullness.
If this is correct, then it shows that they are not interested in road safety and taking dangerous and drunken drivers off the road.
Just hand over your cash to the roadside motorist milking machines.
Utter, utter madness. Read more
Has anyone else noticed the proliferation of people using as many lights at the front as is possible? I mean driving / fog lights...all 4 blobs of light glowing out at you. Aren't they lucky, they can see where they are heading. Maybe they are that 'special' breed. You know them; they who do not have to indicate, simply pull out; they who have no mobility of neck or eyes to view their rear-view mirrors; they who can overtake you then slow down to a lower speed than before; they who have a 'fixed throttle' - can do no other speed than 43 MPH regardless of speed limits. I am continually annoyed by these 'I'm alright, Jack' people. What, pray tell, are they being taught during their lessons? Any ideas anyone? Any more annoying habits? Come on, get them off your collective chests! Read more
Am I alone in being thoroughly p'd off by Harry Potter overload? Just as I thought the 10-year-long dinosaur craze was over, along comes Harry Potter Hype!
Now then Rover boffins/owners. Last night's desire for 214/414 info met with informative responses _ thanks.
Tonight, crazy guy that I am -I'm focussed in the local paper on a 620i , (which I believe has Honda power plant.) - seems worth a look at £1999.( Year- 1996) . described as excellent condition. though not phoned/ checked mileage etc. yet. Just about within my budget too!
However the presence of a tow bar might denote a 'worked to death case '! This area is rural so might have spent every wakening hour attached to a horse box!
Whilst this is a departure from last nights modest inclinations. I'm really missing my previous( larger) car with good room for storage etc. - The bar would also be useful in fact. What about economy/insurance particularly ? Shared experiences appreciated.
CHRIS W. Read more
The Rover 600 is the only "modern" car I've ever felt carsick in. For back seat passengers it's very wallowy and roly poly. This happened several times with different drivers and different (new) hire cars. Probably ok on the motorway, but on B-roads: Yuck. The only thing I've felt worse in is a Morris Minor, but that doesn't have suspension so much as springs.
Chris
Overheard by my work colleague's wife in school recently shortly after our first winter snows in Aberdeenshire. Three teachers (ladies) talking about ABS; they were aware that their car(s) were fitted with ABS, but one individual, describing what happened when she braked in the prevailing conditions, 'the pedal started banging and thumping so I took my foot off it straight away!'
How many drivers (off both sexes) are not aware of how ABS manifests itself? Also how the pedal effects can vary from car to car, and what you should do, and not do.
Maybe raising awareness of ABS and its effects is a good point for all car dealers to include when selling cars?
Also more support for taking your wife (or husband) to the 'extremely useful' empty snow-covered supermarket car park and find out! Read more
Simon Saxton wrote:
> I would
> have expected that to be conducted in modern day driving
> instruction & the actual licence examination?
Ah, but some of us never had modern day driving instruction ...
I'll go find a clear straight road!
from motorcycle news
They say there?s never a copper around when you need one but that could soon be dangerously true in Nottinghamshire.
The force is scrapping its traffic division to rely on speed cameras as its sole road safety enforcement.
It?s also binning Operation Brake, a scheme which works to cut bike theft.
Notts police is denying the cost-cutting move in public, but officers have called MCN to express their dismay at the decision, which is part of a " restructuring " scheme.
One officer said: " It has been suggested within the force that this will bring about an extra 10 deaths on the roads each year.
" As far as road safety goes, speed cameras will be pretty much it and that is unacceptable. Speeding covers a narrow band of people, generally those in cars. We need to pay more attention to buses and lorries as well, which also cause accidents."
Even the most generous estimates reckon speed causes no more than a third of all accidents.
That leaves two thirds of all accidents without a team dedicated to stopping them happening in the first place.
By April, every traffic copper in the county including those on bikes will be moved to other departments.
One of those sections will be a response team staffed by officers with advanced driver training. But they will only respond, not be on the roads as a visible deterrent to prevent people driving like idiots.
Unsurprisingly, riders? clubs have attacked the plan. The BMF?s Jeff Stone said: " It?s a crazy move as cameras do nothing for road safety. We need more police on the roads, not more cameras. Read more
(Un?) Fortunately it does. While there will still be a traffic "response" capability, there will be no "pro-active" traffic policing!
> But they will only respond, not be on the roads as a visible deterrent to prevent people driving like idiots.
Well, it's supposed to be the season of the same, despite the gloom of some. Here are some purportedly genuine extracts from insurance claim forms:
Accidental Accident Reports
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming home I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don't have.
The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intent.
I collided with a stationary truck coming the other way.
In my attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole.
I had been shopping for plants all day and was on my way home. As I reached an intersection, a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision and I did not see the other car.
I had been driving for forty years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.
I was on my way to the doctor with rear end trouble when my universal joint gave way causing me to have an accident.
My car was legally parked as it backed into the other vehicle.
As I approached the intersection a sign suddenly appeared in a place where no sign had ever appeared before, making me unable to avoid the accident.
I told the police I was not injured, but upon removing my hair, I found that I had a fractured skull.
I was sure the old fellow would never make it to the other side of the road when I struck him.
I saw a slow-moving, sad-faced old gentleman as he bounced off the hood of my car.
The indirect cause of the accident was a little guy in a small car with a big mouth.
I was thrown from my car as it left the road, and was later found in a ditch by some stray cows.
A pedestrian hit me and went under my car.
I thought my window was down, but I found out it was up when I put my head through it.
To avoid hitting the bumper of the car in front, I struck the pedestrian.
The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.
The pedestrian had no idea which way to run, so I ran over him.
An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished.
A truck backed through my windshield into my wife's face.
I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment. Read more
I must say I liked these! More of this to brighten the day after a miserable train journey to work.
Adding to the silly signs and bumper stickers can I add these:
I saw an Escort Estate last night that had a "Rabbits on Board" sign! Fascinating!
And I have seen a photo' of a Harley Biker wearing a jacket that had on the back "If you can read this, the bitch has fallen off!"
Have a happy day
www.safe2travel.co.uk/speeding.html
publically funded ! Read more
Ah,
but isn't poor road design also 'some form of human error'!? : )
Caught at the front of the queue waiting for the traffic lights to change this morning, I asked my other half if he wasn't going to be nice to the clutch by letting it up, given that we knew we had quite a wait before we could go.
He said it didn't do the clutch any harm to keep it fully depressed.
Is this right? Explanations in layman's terms please and no sexist comments: just because I gave up physics a long time ago doesn't mean I have no brain.
AND, we have to reverse down a steep drive to get onto the road. (Yes I know we should reverse on but if we do that we crunch the undercarriage on the road: steep and awkward camber!) I usually do the first bit in neutral because I don't need any acceleration and I can then give all my concentration to the brake and the mirrors, rather than having to think about the clutch as well. I know if my foot slips off the brake there is nothing to stop me, but if I was in reverse gear would the situation be any better?
In anticipation ... Read more
No, no, I *ALWAYS* have the last words in an argument.
Of course, they are usually along the lines of "Sorry, I'll do it right now", but they are the last words, and they're mine.
Would anyone pay to be included within a forum site. This would stop the kids of the world annoying and aggravating perfectly good discussion groups. Read more
K wrote:
>
> I need some one who is presntly studying in the IT
> environment, I run an internet based site and am looking to
> solve some comercial problems ie uplaod of data onto the
> site, upload of news section like HJ's a refresh to the
> existing site. Basically I need to manage thesite from our
> staff as opposed to using a third party internet company.
If you'd included an email address, I might have been able to make a suggestion. Then you could have had a news upload *exactly* like ours. Basically, though, your idea of running the thing in-house is fine as long as you realise that whichever way you work it you'll need to make an initial investment for setting up.
E reg 213 base model.
Excellent mechanical condition, a little rust.
Relative is hoping to sell before rust breaks out.
Bought for £600 12 months ago (price due to condition), hopes to sell for £400.
OK, £400 budget.
Needs:
-Cheaper insurance
-5dr hatch
-35mpg+
-Reasonable on motorway (she will moan if it struggles past 80...)
-Not a fiesta or maestro. Please, not again.
-Oh and the cheap tax is now for 1500 and under isn't it? Stepmother is adamant its still 1.3 and under. Read more
Good tip, I mean tipo, from Chrissama. Tipos are also electro-galvanized so don't suffer from the levels of oxidation that FIATs used to be famous for. PAS wasn't standard until July '93 and most 1.4's before then didn't have it.
HJ
Browse
Ok, does this mean no more camera vans too?
That would be a nice bonus.