I have admitted to mistakes here. There's not many to have the balls to admit making a mistake that cost a few hundred grand to fix. No they deny it and cost even more while someone sorts it without knowing what went wrong. Just as well other stuff I designed sold for millions.
Only after wasting 20 posts trying to wriggle out of the fact that you had made a mistake.
It was indeed Larry Niven.
"The Patchwork Girl" springs to mind as a relevant story, although none of the synopses online ring a bell.
It was the first in a "future history" series featuring Gil Hamilton of the ARM. Well worth reading.
Gur tvey va dhrfgvba jnf jebatyl npphfrq bs zheqre, naq pnzr onpx bhg bs gur betna onax nf n cngpujbex bs bguref, jurer gurl'q obeebjrq naq ercynprq inevbhf ovgf bs ure juvyr fur jnf va gur betna onax njnvgvat gevny.
Hopefully ROT13 encoded, to save spoiling the story.
Its fun to wind some of you up.
Nope, 35 in a 30 zone may be perfectly appropriate for the conditions, however it would be illegal. Remember a speed limit can only at best be a compromise. It does not take into account prevailing conditions, the vehicle in question or the driver - the chances of it actually being an appropriate limit in any given circumstance are going to be slim.
Have we introduced you to Dennis? ;-)
I think inappropriate includes driving at illegal speeds, you may not but I will not accept that definition. Next you will be stating its appropriate to run the lights when its clear, or ignore turn restrictions because you can see there is nothing coming, etc. I mean why stop at breaking the law by speeding you may as well do as you please if you think its appropriate.
It is never appropriate for a driver to exceed the speed limit except in an emergency. Emergency may well be defined by the court and not by the driver. It doesn't include being late because you couldn't be arsed to get out of bed for instance.
I sped and the courts I'm sure would not consider it an emergency, but to us personally it was and it was nothing to do with not being arsed to get out of bed.
My wife's favourite aunt died suddenly. As she lived in Ireland, there is a very short period before burial - die in the morning, removal service in the evening, burial next morning. By the time we found out, we were too late to get to the airport in time for a flight that night and the first in the morning would not get us there in time, due to needing to pick up a hire car and drive right across Ireland. The only thing to do therefore was travel by ferry during the night. No problem so far.
We booked a crossing from Stranraer to Belfast - the roads in the North are better and it's an easier and quicker route than from Dublin. We set off to Stranraer with an hour and a half in hand on a four hour drive - longer was not possible, as after a full day at work, I needed sleep before driving and a later ferry would have been too late.
We then got stuck on the M6 for nearly two hours, because the motorway had to be closed when someone threatened to jump from a bridge.
By the time we got moving, our satnav predicted an arrival time 8 minutes before sailing, but last check in is 30 minutes before. Making up 22 minutes minimum, meant driving at a steady 90 on the motorway instead of the pace I'd planned, however, to my wife, this journey was vital - particularly as she'd recently lost her mother and been left with no blood relatives over here; was having problems with work; our youngest son, myself and herself and had all been seriously ill (all very close to death) and she was becoming depressed. Missing this funeral would have been very damaging to her mental state.
A friend was caught by the police doing nearly 130 on the M1. They did prosecute him, but the police officers obviously understood why he was doing so and only reported him for ninety-odd, thus preventing an automatic ban. The situation was that he had received a phonecall from his mother saying that her house had been broken into and she thought the the intruder might still be downstairs.
SteveW
Your logic is criminal!
The ones that piss me off are the dorks who drive over a 2 lane (unmarked) roundabout in as near as dammit straight line - usually when I'm in the center lane 1 foot behind them.
I was in the outer lane today and some dork in front did exaclty that to the van driver who was to my right. Didn't half get sworn at courtesy of his horn.
I find bikers tend to do that a lot... they appear to think they are quicker away than cars, something they obviously aren't.
You may think that, but I doubt you will find many who agree. When accident statistics are collected, inappropriate speed is treated separately from speeding. So an incident resulting from someone falling asleep at the wheel while doing 75 on a deserted motorway in the dead if night would not be considered a speed related accident. Whereas someone driving into the back of a queue of traffic while doing 60 in dense fog on a motorway would be treated as a case of inappropriate speed contributing to the accident.
Its a good point, and in fact yes, there are times where that would seem like a sensible option.
Many countries already have such policies apply in some cases.
They are planning on introducing a pilot scheme here where lights at some junctions would default to flashing amber at non busy times, allowing drivers to use their judgement when to proceed.
Indeed - good suggestion. You seem to be chilling out a little Dennis. Use common sense, don't inconvenience others or put them at risk.
Again there have been some tests on this in a few towns elsewhere in Europe, where they have basically removed all motoring related rules, and taken down all traffic signs (other than navigational ones). So no speed limits, no give way signs, beware of falling rocks, schools, bus lanes etc, not even much in the way of road marking. Basically freeing drivers from mental clutter and information overload, and forcing them to drive more co-operatively with other drivers since there are no longer "rules" to fall back on. Not unsurprisingly the standards of driving have improved, and accidents have been greatly reduced. The population of the towns generally report feeling more content and less stressed.
(Not only that, it must drive the control freaks apoplectic with rage, which is obviously also good fun! ;-)
The fact that the majority of drivers do so on a regular basis without causing accidents, and speeding as a sole cause represents a very small percentage of accidents, demonstrates that this is obviously false.
In the case of an emergency, it can only be defined by the driver. The concept of "emergency" does not usually afford time for court hearings to decide!
No, but would perhaps include driving someone in immediate danger to hospital when other options are not available.
Had a lovely example of something similar yesterday... I was driving down a dual carriageway in relatively light traffic, indicated and pulled over into the right hand lane to allow traffic joining on a slip road to merge. I was rather surprised when some chancer in a large white van decides this would be a good time to undertake at about 90 a short while later - nearly taking out couple of the cars on the slip road in the process.
(Still it was in a SPECS controlled section of road, so there is a fair chance the non existent registered keeper will get a NIP in the post).
Indeed - there is so much that is legislated about these days that the chances of getting through a day without unwittingly committing some offence (although maybe not criminal) are going to be pretty slim!
Also *local* rather than national rules. Bus lanes, yellow boxes, parking legalities.....
Age is no help. News bit on proposed Westminster parking charges.... you
*text* the payment! How does that work if you don't routinely carry a mobile and may not have your reading glasses to hand?A general thought vaguely in support of Dennis, laws/rules rely on the majority complying. Usually through a general acceptance that the rule is fair in that it is required to be met by all. If more than a minority blatantly ignore a rule it becomes hard to maintain an acceptable compliance level and more rigorous enforcement is introduced.
Individuality is a great human asset but struggles against population density and conflict management.
Speed limits introduced for vehicles on cross ply tyres, indifferent cable operated drum brakes and poor road surfacing have been nailed down by fuel conservation/pollution, traffic density and inadequate highway provision.
regards
You use your free PT pass?
It's long been near impossible to park in the West End of an evening anyway. Except for the very expensive NCP car parks.
Never forget that the truth is the opposite of whatever dennis says.
I was gutted when they changed the locks on the underground car park At Marble Arch belonging to a company I hadn't worked for for years. I assume the car park was so full of people who didn't work there any more that one of the directors couldn't park his Bimmer.
You were the first to mention marine fuel. I never mentioned it once.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.