Sunday Times: Death row: Britain's most dangerous road

"David Hansen" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 08:56:31 +0100 someone who may be Tony Raven
wrote this:-

Yes it is people driving inappropriately for the conditions but just as
you can have dangerous cycling facilities you can have dangerous road as
well. It all comes down to the design. If you have junctions with no
sight lines there is a much greater probability there will be a
collision than if visibility is good.

This is not as great as the road "safety" lobby claims, due to risk
compensation.


I do have a degree of sympathy however with someone booted up the back as
they wait to turn right. I'm sure the junction warning signs are in place
and drivers are not slowing enough but it doesn't help the victim much.
As an aside I did a one day advanced driving course with my previous
employer. Our instructor ( ex traffic police) said if we only took one thing
away from the course it was to keep the wheels aligned fore and aft when
waiting to turn right. If you pre-empt the manoeuvre and are hit from behind
you are catapulted into the path of one-coming traffic. better to be pushed
down the road than into a head-on.

Julia

In article ,
says...
On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 18:34:37 +0100, Tony Raven
wrote in message :

So its all your fault Guy. Everyone keeps going fast so they don't
infringe your patented technique.

No, no, you've got it all wrong - they are driving as fast as humanly
possible in the certain knowledge that this is the SafeSpeed for the
road :-)

SafeSpeed, pah. A few weeks ago I was overtaken by a milk truck
travelling at an inappropriately high speed on a blind bend.
Luckily for him an oncoming vehicle had slowed down for the bend
as was able to get into a hedge. The milk truck sped off and
thankfully the other driver and his car were OK. I wrote and
complained to the milk company and got a reply stating that
they'd checked the driver's tachograph and he had not been
exceeding the speed limit. Of course he wasn't, it's a twisty
country road and the limit is 60mph. He still overtook me on a
blind bend and he was going too fast to do otherwise when he came
around a blind bend at speed and saw me on the next blind bend. I
was going to write back and tell them that whether or not he was
exceeding the speed limit was irrelevant and then I decided that
I just couldn't be bothered. Certainly a driver who thinks that
one ought to tear down the dotted line.

Juliette
--

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 12:11:01 +0100, JBB wrote:
Our instructor ( ex traffic police) said if we only took one thing
away from the course it was to keep the wheels aligned fore and aft when
waiting to turn right. If you pre-empt the manoeuvre and are hit from behind
you are catapulted into the path of one-coming traffic. better to be pushed
down the road than into a head-on.

That's sounds sensible enough. There you go, not only did you take that
away from the course, but you've converted another person too.!

In New Zealand, when turning right off a road, you're supposed to pull
over to the left until you can see the road is clear in both directions
before pulling all the way across. I'm not sure the range of roads that
that applies too, but it certainly applies on NSL-style roads in the
countryside, and there is usually a little right-turn layby on the left
side. Makes good sense from a safety point of view, but I'm not sure
how practical it would be with the traffic densities on UK roads.

--
Trevor Barton

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 11:18:45 GMT someone who may be Juliette
wrote this:-

I wrote and
complained to the milk company and got a reply stating that
they'd checked the driver's tachograph and he had not been
exceeding the speed limit. Of course he wasn't, it's a twisty
country road and the limit is 60mph.

The speed limit for a lorry on such a road is 40mph.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E
I will always explain revoked keys, unless the UK government
prevents me by using the RIP Act 2000.

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 12:11:01 +0100 someone who may be "JBB"
wrote this:-

I do have a degree of sympathy however with someone booted up the back as
they wait to turn right.

I have more than a degree of sympathy. I have complete sympathy.

I'm sure the junction warning signs are in place
and drivers are not slowing enough but it doesn't help the victim much.

The way to help the victim is by reducing danger at source. Sticking
plaster "improvements" to roads, as advocated by the road "safety"
lobby, are more to do with speeding up motorists than making the
roads safer.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E
I will always explain revoked keys, unless the UK government
prevents me by using the RIP Act 2000.

David Hansen writes:

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 11:18:45 GMT someone who may be Juliette
wrote this:-

I wrote and
complained to the milk company and got a reply stating that
they'd checked the driver's tachograph and he had not been
exceeding the speed limit. Of course he wasn't, it's a twisty
country road and the limit is 60mph.

The speed limit for a lorry on such a road is 40mph.

Yeah right. I'll believe that when I see it.

A

David Hansen writes:

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 12:11:01 +0100 someone who may be "JBB"
wrote this:-

I do have a degree of sympathy however with someone booted up the back as
they wait to turn right.

I have more than a degree of sympathy. I have complete sympathy.

I'm sure the junction warning signs are in place
and drivers are not slowing enough but it doesn't help the victim much.

The way to help the victim is by reducing danger at source. Sticking
plaster "improvements" to roads, as advocated by the road "safety"
lobby, are more to do with speeding up motorists than making the
roads safer.

Of course, with a properly painted bay at every right hand turn, it
makes cutting the goolies off the offender easier to do as it would
be much easier to prove dangerous driving if someone had booted
someone up the rear crossing into a painted resserve.

A

In article ,
says...
On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 11:18:45 GMT someone who may be Juliette
wrote this:-

I wrote and
complained to the milk company and got a reply stating that
they'd checked the driver's tachograph and he had not been
exceeding the speed limit. Of course he wasn't, it's a twisty
country road and the limit is 60mph.

The speed limit for a lorry on such a road is 40mph.

Good job I didn't write back then.:-) Even so, taking those bends
at 40mph is dangerous unless you're sure that there isn't going
to be a cyclist doing 10mph on one of them, he didn't have time
to slow down and tuck in behind me until we were past the twisty
bit.

Juliette
--

On 27 Sep 2004 12:44:55 +0100 someone who may be Ambrose Nankivell
wrote this:-

The speed limit for a lorry on such a road is 40mph.

Yeah right. I'll believe that when I see it.

See the Highway Code.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E
I will always explain revoked keys, unless the UK government
prevents me by using the RIP Act 2000.

On 27 Sep 2004 11:38:53 GMT, Trevor Barton wrote:

In New Zealand, when turning right off a road, you're supposed to pull
over to the left until you can see the road is clear in both directions
before pulling all the way across. I'm not sure the range of roads that
that applies to

I've a recollection it's in teh countryside a car turning right gives
way to a car behind it (ie, you want to turn right, you pull over to
teh left and let teh thing behind you past), but in a town you don't.

regards, Ian SMith
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