A crash without 'speeding' flummoxes police.

This says it all. 'No-one knows how this accident happened'? Oh dear oh dear. 'If they weren't "speeding we are totally flummoxed" 

To which I wrote the following:

No sooner do I pen one letter in response to the 'speeding' issue do I read an astounding account of evidence submitted about a fatal crash that, because neither driver was 'speeding', no-one, not even the crash investigator, can give a reason for it.

The crash investigator even uses the term 'excessive speed' which I deplore because no such state exists in the Road Traffic Act. There is either 'speeding' or driving too fast which is reckless driving at any speed, often below the speed limit; as in this case it seems.

'Excessive speed' should never be used by officials because it muddies the water between 'speeding' that causes no accidents, like in this accident, and driving too fast which does.

If a driver loses control of his vehicle it is because of excessive speed whether 15 MPH or 40 MPH. Don't the Collision Investigation Units even understand that much?

I quote the following extract from my earlier post which was written before I had read this story:

'........not one accident is or can be caused by 'speeding'. By driving too fast, which is reckless driving at any speed, often below the limits too, does but not 'speeding'. No camera can see 'too fast'. They can only see driving above an arbitrary and unscientific number on a pole..............'

So the cause of the accident, if reported correctly by the Echo, could only be driving too fast for the bend, or the conditions PC Brown; no matter what the speed limit was.

And this tragic crash is why it is more important for drivers to drive to the road and conditions than to a speedo and for cameras. I am confident that PC Brown would not disagree with drivers driving to the conditions at all times.

Political menace......the push bike.

The RACF has commissioned a report which it claims is vital to road safety policy and that is to account for the 'antagonism that can seriously jeopardise road safety'. The report focuses on the attitudes of cyclists and drivers toward each other. See Item here  

Isn't it easy how something so apparently benign and constructive can actually be part of an already established attitude and policy? So let's look a bit deeper into their proposal to understand what is really behind it.

The reader can be forgiven for associating the RACF with the RAC.

They are two separate organisations. The RACF is not a pro-motoring group and in fact supports the prosecution of perfectly safe drivers by virtue of totally unscientific and arbitrary speed limits. Added to which they are not road safety or driving experts either. We can therefore be forgiven for asking what exactly is their CV to be making any statements on a life and death issue anyway?

But aren't they being totally fair and un-biased between driver and cyclists in their reports? Not exactly no! In fact they are all to the advantage of the cyclist by talking as though there were a level playing field. 

And thus how smoothly we are all lead to think of all road users as equal when in fact that is not the case at all. So let's look again at this:

What is cycling? Well to put it crudely, it is to put oneself into the path of rather heavy fast moving machinery and plant; usually operated by any Tom Dick and Harry. Would any sane and right minded person wish to do that?

But B.J. isn't the only politician who wants to show off his cycle clips credentials is he?

And then there is Councillor Jane (the cycle clips) Urqhart of Nottingham tram fame.

 
So where are all these people so wrong?

 
Why are politicians falling over themselves to show off their cycling credentials when to do it is so nuts, that to place oneself in so much danger, would be an offence under some elf'n safety rule if it were anything else wouldn't it?

The RACF has really commissioned an anti car anti driver report and that is because there is no level playing field. Cycling is done by a tiny minority RACF. Whereas everyone depends on the 30 million drivers of this country and the economy would collapse without them, no-one would miss cyclists at all.

The push bike is a political menace simply because any politician who rides one is in a minority and as I have demonstrated, has to be mad.

Cycling, used to pretend to all of us that it can be an alternative to the car, is not only a lie but a menace to the 30million drivers that need the politicians to support them.

So when the media start promoting this RACF anti car propaganda, they will in fact be promoting madness!

Right. I have a buckled wheel to repair.

2nd Driver Protest Weekend

The next private

and off duty driver protest is for the weekend starting 28th Jan.

Object: to show big business and thus the Government how drivers are a priority and not a luxury. Public transport even need us to make its links. The government can only do so much for us on fuel and taxes but it can make life a lot easier for drivers like, less fines, less punishment, less unnecessary slowing, no unnecessary speed limiting. Protest now on all driver grievances. How?

Simple: Just avoid for one weekend all those business, retail parks and city centres that depend on the driver for trade just for one weekend. It's that easy. Pass it on by twitter, email and F.B.

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Road Safety only if there's a few bob in it?

Road safety only if there's a few bob in it?

Here is an example of the typical pious but profiteering face of The Road Safety Industry if ever there were. Ex Sergeant Dave Kay, of Lincolnshire Police Road Safety Partnership, at one time acting chief copper there, clearly was on a good screw for doing life saving. Very pro prosecuting perfectly safe drivers too. This partnership actually denied to me the self evident, 'Reduce the need to overtake reduces the attempts and thus reduces the overtake accidents' and also 'The more a driver can see the better his driving and thus less night-time crashes' Here he is now, involved with two consultancy companies, still no doubt piously peddling his peculiar 'life saving' technique for money! K Consulting (Lincs Ltd) http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/dave-kay/15/65a/b99 & Mannor Ltd http://www.freeindex.co.uk/profile(manorr-ltd)_273749.htm Ex acting head of Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership. Unless his customers are all cyclists or walk around for their business, can we note that Dapper Dave was all for prosecuting perfectly safe drivers for personal profit and gain; not to mention a good pension too? Not much change there then!!

7th 8th 9th January Driver's year 2011

Would you consider selective use of your car for three days if it didn't inconvenience you at all?

Now fuel is at a record high with 150% Tax Markup.

It is about time that our 30,million drivers demonstrated their power. Truth is if we all stopped doing it the economy would collapse and thousands more would die than are from any driving cause.

It's simple. We all don't do something that we don't do most days anyway, but all don't do it on the same three days!!

We are being mercilessly criminalised, over taxed, hampered and slowed by officialdom on the behest of profit and gain and to feed the public transport lobby too. We are also sustaining an aggressive multi billion pound Road Safety Industry which dreams up more and more ways to criminalise us or take more money from us too. Then there are the £120 parking fines as well. Why? Because the authorities pretend they are doing us a favour and to drive is a 'privilege'. It is not. It's the other way around. We employ most of them. We pay most of them; if we didn't drive, many of them would be out of work and we are a massive lobby.

Perhaps it is time we showed how vital we all are then!

This would not inconvenience you at all. Here's How:

Excluding all those who drive for their profession for obvious reasons, the rest can still make an impact by avoiding use of our cars and motor vehicles where it would impact most. Retail parks, or Hypermarkets or filling up and non urgent garage servicing during those three days. Re-arranging our routine around the three days and avoiding the theatre or cinema or favourite restaurants etc.

These all have massive car parks because.....they need drivers....!!

By shopping locally and avoiding out of town precincts, retail centres and city shopping centres, DIY, theatres, cinemas and malls, all of which rely on the car, during that three days. It would be dead easy for you but a powerful message to business and politicians alike to support the drivers of this country.

Show them there is no bus or train carriage that can carry us and all the goods we need to get in our cars and that public transport can never be an option without private transport.

Limited only by our imagination, we, as private drivers, could show what impact the driver can have without even using the professional wing of the driver army.

Let's do it. 7th 8th & 9th January 2011 make 2011 Driver's Year. Pass it on. 07722917074

Jail for an error?

Should drivers be jailed for doing what the Government, Society and the community allow them to do for the economy and their expediency?

Perhaps we need to look at this question again but from the perspective of the majority, instead of the shrill anti driver minority, usually from a green agenda, on whose behalf imprisonment is now regularly being meted out to beleaguered drivers.

Perhaps we should have spotted the way things were headed when the word 'accident' was removed from official vocabulary. Is this coincidence? After all, it is a bit harsh to bang someone up who simply made a mistake and had an accident isn't it? Then of course there is the mantra, a la Brunstrom, that road accidents must be treated as a murder scene with all its attendant forensic examination to boot!

But let's look at it this way. What does the Government expect when it allows humans to mingle with large pieces of moving machinery in a way that would offend any elf'n safety rules and be banned if it were a private concern? So it is expedient that, with meagre qualification, any Tom Dick & Harry is let loose with large pieces of metal kit with flesh and blood intermingled.

Now having done that, it allows inexpert but profitable agencies to have a major say on what should and should not happen and thus are accident scenarios set up for us too. For example the DfT and its Partnerships, in ignoring the self evident such as, 'Remove the need to overtake, reduces the attempts to overtake and thus reduces the head on crashes', or 'The more drivers can see the safer they are' actually sets up the accidents and the resulting casualties does it not? A classic example can be found on this site ( Our fault if we crash so that's ok then! ) where I argue the self evident that by restricting dual carriageways to 50 MPH means that one can only legally pass an HGV on a two way road with opposing traffic, where the DfT is setting up crashes, the response? 'It's all your fault if you crash'. And on that basis judges are imprisoning people?

Let's start off on the premise that, excluding drunk driving, no-one sets out to crash and kill anyone so we are imprisoning people for an accident where most of the ingredients for it were supplied and endorsed by the authorities in the first place. But how on earth can we send people to prison for an action where on one occasion there is only bent metal and no police interest at all and another, from exactly the same action, but for the tragic coincidence that human flesh got in the way as it is bound to do from time to time?

Any judges out there like to explain this one to us?

Skid control.

Someone wrote to me for information of the nearest skid pan for a daughter who had had a fright. My reply might help others so here it is:

Hi David,

If she goes out now she won't need a skid pan mate. But seriously I do not know of one but if you visit the IAM site, I am sure they include skid pan experience in their training.

In the meantime, I can help her now:

Don't go out unless it is essential.(*see note) Find a large flat area with no traffic, like a weekend quiet industrial estate, and try some simple remedies to get confidence as follows:

• Four wheel skid. Basically when the car is sliding straight. To create one, drive straight (not fast) and slam brakes on. This will cause a four wheel slide. Remove the cause by releasing brakes and it will bring back steering. I used to demonstrate this by slinging my hat out in the snow, driving at it, creating a 4 wheel slide and then my passengers tell me what side to pass the hat on. It works believe me and the only way to believe it is to do it. Start slowly and then build up with confidence. So to correct it, simply remove the cause, which is braking, and gently steer around object or, to stop, if the ABS hasn't kicked in for you, jab jab jab the brakes (cadence braking) until she stops in a straight line before the object (hat).
• 
  
• Two wheel or one axle skid: Take away the cause which is power (Foot off the accelerator peddle that is). This should then recover traction and steering. Add cadence braking to this too if the space is running out and there is no space for a direction change so stopping is essential.
• 
  
• A rear wheel skid, on rear wheel drive, can also be recovered by steering briefly, no brakes or throttle, towards the direction that the rear is going to straighten it out. But if space is too short use cadence braking to stop in a straight line.
• 
  
• Always get deceleration and slowing done on the straight and not in a bend or a turn and try to keep the engine as your slowing agent with minimum brakes.
• 
  
• In bad conditions, 2nd gear will get her around locally with the least braking required and best control using the engine.
• 
  
• To avoid skids or correct them on snow or ice and slippery roads, speed and space is the key as well as smooth and gentle steering and braking. Leave at least three times the normal safety distance from the nearest vehicle ahead and three times the normal stopping distance. This will give more time to react correctly to the skid.

It may well be that, if we are now to experience prolonged snow and ice regularly, Snow Chains will become the norm and a good investment.

Take her out and have some fun. Fun is also the key to confidence too.

*Note: Ideally private land with permission. Do not share the space with other users. (One at a time or move off.) Learning to control a car on ice is just as legitimate as any other driver learning and improvement, providing that it is genuine instruction and not just for 'fun' in my view. The police may disagree but on what legal grounds, I cannot visualise. If they ask you to stop, don't argue with them.