Is the proposed road tax a threat to racing?

Originally posted by Ted@Jan 4 2007, 07:21 PM
I think I'll make my next vehicle a milk float, at least that is until the government decides that even that is too fast.
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I used to drive one Ted!!! :lol: Hideous vehicles they are too, and in those days at least, weren't required to pass an MoT, the result was that they're just about the most unroadworthy vehicle out there. Turning a corner was like operating a sluice gate. I'm sure that I heard that they are involved in more accidents pro rata than any other vehicle on the road. Mind you I knocked a lamp post over the first time I took control of one, when the lock wouldn't turn off and just kept going around in the same circle. Couldn't find the break quick enough, as that was about 6 inches above the accelerator, and had to be pushed down like the old fashioned sewing machine type thing.

I'm pleased to know I'm in the 5% Brian :D I remember it well, sailing through the air of Manhattan B) In fact I did more damage to the car, then it did to me, but it set in chain a series of events which has resulted in me no longer being allowed into the land of brave and the home of the free.
 
Which of the following will happen first:

A) Government declares War on Pollutionism.
B) Government passes bill allowing DVLA to seize assets of suspected Pollutionists.
C) Government agrees to release details of our "Travel History" to allied governments to help their War on Pollutionism.
D) Polar Ice Cap melts
 
There is a huge difference between speeding on a motorway and speeding in a residential area. I'll admit to driving over 70mph on the motorway and I don't believe it's dangerous in the right conditions but you'll not see me driving over 30mph in the streets of Faringdon. I'm not likely to hit a toddler on a trike on the M4 am I?
 
Originally posted by Shadow Leader@Jan 4 2007, 05:56 PM
Neither is driving along deserted country lanes late at night at over 30mph likely to be highly endangering people, both situations in which I am commonly driving.
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Some of the reasons I don't speed down country lanes (or on any roads) during the night, is the fact that not only could you meet a drunk, a tired driver or a thug in a stolen car you could also meet a deer or a badger crossing the road. Both of these animals could cause serious damage to your car and possibly to the driver depending on the state of the road and your ability think quickly and avoid crashing when there are no street lights to assist with the visibilty. I have also come across pedestrians staggering home down the roads (as no pavements) and no torches and even cyclists on bikes with no lights.

Ensuring you are driving at the right speed (or even slightly slower in areas you are not familiar with ) could possibly save not only your life but someone else's life or the life of some innocent wildlife. When driving anywhere, always expect the unexpected.
 
Yup, killed a few badgers in my time - then again they are stupid and they do tend to jump off banks in front of you or run straight in front of you!
 
Originally posted by Griffin@Jan 4 2007, 08:22 PM
There is a huge difference between speeding on a motorway and speeding in a residential area. I'll admit to driving over 70mph on the motorway and I don't believe it's dangerous in the right conditions but you'll not see me driving over 30mph in the streets of Faringdon. I'm not likely to hit a toddler on a trike on the M4 am I?
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No, you may not see a toddler, Griffin, but you may be near a vehicle that suffers a blow-out. No one can predict this happening, and the damage a tyre can do travelling at 40-50 mph is unreal. You may have to brake extremely suddenly when debris flies off the back of an open-backed vehicle in another lane, you may have to brake quickly when the traffic in front of you all of a sudden has to stop. By driving to the speed limit it may help you stop in time, or certainly buy you a few crucial seconds to check your mirrors and change lanes if possible.

I was driving back from London at 2am one morning when a car passed me going the wrong way in the fast lane. :blink: I had an owl drive into my windscreen once and once my bonnet blew up on my old mini causing nil visibiltiy. All of these things happened at night.

I am not saying I never drive slightly over the limit - I have been guilty of it many years ago. I may drive a few miles over the limit now sometimes without realising BUT I certainly don't make a habit of it. I value my life too much.
 
Well you learn something new everyday - evidently Dave Cameron failed to tell Kathy about his simiar environmental tax plans - what a rotter leading her on like that :D
 
I've learnt something too, Ardross. You are always going to be so damn predictable and so desperately unfunny. Go and find a thread you don't agree with to delete or lock as we are already 4 days into the New Year. Try the one about foxhunting.... oh no, you've already done that one. :blink:

What sort of public school boy word is "rotter"? What era are you from?

Dear, oh dear...... :confused:
 
Brian - going back to your speed statistics - I am not saying that added speed won't kill rather than just maim, or simply bruise or just ladder someone's tights - it's the STUPIDITY of the driver (taking a decision to speed, to go the wrong way 'just this once' on a one-way street, to jump the lights - even on amber, to tailgate, to cut in, to forget to look before changing lanes, drive when drunk, drive when tired, drive when talking on a mobile, world without end) that ends up killing people.

The point is, like a lot of people on here, I've both kept well within speed limits and I've occasionally exceeded them on Motorways (only), too. I've been tailgated when doing 30, 40, and 90 mph (I realise I shouldn't have been speeding, but why am I tailgated by fools at 30? Do they think trying to push me will make me go faster?). I've been cut in on at all kinds of speeds and nearly t-boned by twats rushing out of slip roads; I've had people try to jump across me when I've started across roundabouts, and I've more times than I can recall seen lane-changers fail to indicate and nearly cross into each other's paths. I was behind a white van which raced past me, and in trying to get off into a slip road he'd left too late, rush straight up a bank and crash into an electric pole in a shower of sparks and loud bangs! (Which meant I had to park up and check that the fool was okay, of course. He was.) All of these things are in any day's drive, as I'm sure they are for many. As I said, it's the stupidity behind driving accidents which kills. I can't BELIEVE they've made driving tests more difficult - the results show stunning imbecility any day of the week!
 
Originally posted by Euronymous@Jan 4 2007, 04:14 PM
That is wrong. Until recently i had 12 points on my licence, six of which were getting caught by a camera at 5.30AM on my way to work, who the fcuk am i gonna kill at that time in the morning?
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12 points, I think maybe you need to figure out what the middle pedal and the big signs on the side of the road are for!!!!!!

How can you justify fast driving just because it is early, there are lots of people on the roads at that time of the morning, is the 10 minutes you save on your journey really worth it, worth the risk of dying????
 
Originally posted by krizon@Jan 4 2007, 09:34 PM
i've more times than I can recall seen lane-changers fail to indicate and nearly cross into each other's paths.
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How about having someone following you around a strange city and not indicating turns until they yell out the window!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
As I understand it you dont have to get every question on the theory test correct. Can someone confirm this ? You can theoretically kill people and pass ?
 
Yes, on p.110, Question 2-C asks:

"You have just run over a person in the dark. What should you do next?"

The Pass answer is:

"Run them over again to ensure they can't identify you in court."
 
It's not just the theory test you need to pass, now there is a hazard perception test too. My poor old mother is learning to drive and being dyslexic she is dreading taking the theory test.
 
Yes, Uncle G, for example, there's this one:

On an automatic drive car, what does the letter 'D' stand for?

1. Drink

2. Drive

3. Doughnut

Pretty stiff stuff, I reckon.
 
Those stats are all well and fine, but the responsible driver surely knows when and where it is safe to "go a bit over"
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But how the hell do you define a responsible driver. I had you down as an intelligent if prickly man, Euro, but you must surely agree that in the face of such facts, it is necessary to crack down on speeders.

You may have to get up 10 minutes earlier, Shadow may find driving a chore, but the war on speed and drink driving is working.
 
Originally posted by krizon@Jan 4 2007, 09:34 PM
I've been tailgated when doing 30, 40, and 90 mph (I realise I shouldn't have been speeding, but why am I tailgated by fools at 30? Do they think trying to push me will make me go faster?).
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I kid you not, but this happenend to me about 18 years ago on the A614, when I was doing about 45 in a 40 area going towards Nottingham. A car duly presented themselves on my rear bumper at night, and I duly speeded up. The bastard stayed with me, I speeded up again, and again they responded. By now I was over 65 approaching 70, and had started driving with more than one eye on the rear view mirror, and one eye forward wondering just what was going on. At about this point, a series of blue lights suddenly shot across the roof of my pursuer. It was a bloody police car.

On pulling me over, there was a reasonably terse exchange "I wanted to see how far you would be prepared to go" was the explanation he gave me. I questioned his intelligence and professional responsibility, and it was left prety well at that. I wasn't booked under the circumstances, but was required to present my documents at Nottingham nick within 12 days. Mind you my response to that one wasn't too clever :lol: Not as bad as what I said the West Midlands traffic cop though when it became apparent that he was going to book me, I wasn't going to succeed in talking myself out of this one. Although I was made to apologise, for the sarcasm on that occasion it was a phyrric victory of sorts under the circumstances, as I'd clearly hit a raw nerve and got my £60 worth at least :teeth:
 
I actually said that driving in the UK is a chore compared to driving in other countries but don't let that put you off putting words in my mouth Bar. I love driving, always have done, but it can be a pain in the UK, mainly as there are so many pricks on the roads.
 
Originally posted by Kathy@Jan 4 2007, 09:20 PM
I've learnt something too, Ardross. You are always going to be so damn predictable and so desperately unfunny. Go and find a thread you don't agree with to delete or lock as we are already 4 days into the New Year. Try the one about foxhunting.... oh no, you've already done that one. :blink:

What sort of public school boy word is "rotter"? What era are you from?

Dear, oh dear...... :confused:
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Kathy I suggest you check out some of the Conservative leader's environmental tax plans then you might be a little better informed and how about a New year's Resolution to stop namedropping .
 
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