Drivers and their problems

We (society) would probably get a lot more value out of using the sensors, computers, and controllers that were intended to enable self-driving cars, to give us self-stopping cars

I, for one, would prefer self driving cars with all their software failings to cars driven by Audi/ BMW drivers (and their ilk)

brooksby wrote:

I suppose technically she's correct, but only so long as she's driving on privately owned land and is not on the public highway... But since she WAS on the public highway then it's a fair cop.

Who'd like to wager that she also started misquoting the Magna Carta and talking about her name being a legal fiction...?

It's strange how she thought that she needed a licence, then she got disqualified and realised that she was a Freeman of the Land or something like that

the case has been listed to heard by Judge Donnison

The new written equivalent of 'da da daaa' where everybody, including the gleeful offender, knows whats coming after the 'yes, yes, I'm really remorseful'

brooksby wrote:

I'm not sure what more can be done.  Clearly she's lying when she "insisted she was taking the driving ban seriously".  Maybe confiscate her vehicle (a Nissan Qashqai, I note)?

She has a bus stop outside her house! Sure, it might be quicker by car to get to Swindon for your shopping trip, but it's not like it's impossible for her to manage without a car...

HoarseMann wrote:

She has a bus stop outside her house! Sure, it might be quicker by car to get to Swindon for your shopping trip, but it's not like it's impossible for her to manage without a car...

Surely she could get some supplies in Calne?  There's a bus ... but of course, that only runs every 90 minutes it seems.  And it's only 13 minutes cycle to the centre, or 21 minutes / 4.4 miles to the Tescos superstore!  But... look at the road you'll be "sharing" (albeit for a short distance).

That's the rub: in the countryside there aren't so many people, so there aren't the services (we're all conditioned to expect, because the majority are urban).  So people want to drive out of the countryside for their supplies / amenities / jobs.

Of course this has been an issue since William Cobbett railed about it!  And after population drain from the villages to the suburbs, more recently there has been a (small) reverse migration by people to "nice places" out of town - because (via the motor vehicle) we can.

I don't think anything much changes here in the foreseeable future.  Lost cause... but *if* there were only a cycle path a couple of miles to a nearby centre perhaps a few would use it?

Makes sense - I mean Cormac's also responsible for The Road, right?

A chance that he thought his bike might be stolen from him.

Someone's been watching re-runs of Line Of Duty..

David9694 wrote:

Councillor 'does job' (TIFTFY)

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/24635829.bcp-councillor-investiga...

Echo wrote:

The complainant claimed because the registration plates and faces had not been pixelated, it was a breach of the code of conduct. 

If you've done nothing wrong etc etc.

I don't understand the obsession with pixellating number plates - if the car is obviously parked illegally/inconsiderately, or is being driven in a dangerous manner, then they deserve the recognition IMO.

Great! People driving more to the car park, in order to get their money's worth, all subsidised by cyclists and others not using the car parks. I'd be voting to get rid of the town councillors.

More details here :

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/regional-news/police-catch-dr...

I think a reasonable interpretation of the following league table would be the higher up you are the less effective at dealing with speeding. Where does your force fit in.

Gloucestershire have done remarkably well.

Quote:

Here is a breakdown of the highest speeds on 30mph roads:

1. South Yorkshire Police: 122mph
2. Sussex Police: 113mph
3=. Greater Manchester Police: 112mph
3=. West Yorkshire Police: 112mph
5. West Mercia Police: 106mph
6. Lancashire Constabulary: 104mph
7=. Nottinghamshire Police: 103mph
7=. Bedfordshire Police: 103mph
9=. West Midlands Police: 100mph
9=. Police Service of Northern Ireland: 100mph
11. Dorset Police: 97mph
12. Lincolnshire Police: 96mph
13=. Avon and Somerset Police: 93mph
13=. Kent Police: 93mph
13=. Police Scotland: 93mph
16. Leicestershire Police: 92mph
17=. Cambridgeshire Constabulary: 91mph
17=. Durham Constabulary: 91mph
17=. Gwent Police: 91mph
20=. Essex Police: 90mph
20=. Hampshire Constabulary: 90mph
22=. Devon and Cornwall Police: 89mph
22=. Merseyside Police: 89mph
22=. Norfolk Constabulary: 89mph
25. Staffordshire Police: 87mph
26=. Northumbria Police: 85mph
26=. Hertfordshire Constabulary: 85mph
28=. Suffolk Constabulary: 83mph
28=. Warwickshire Police: 83mph
30. Cumbria Police: 78mph
31=. Cheshire Constabulary: 77mph
31=. North Yorkshire Police: 77mph
33. Northamptonshire Police: 76mph
34. Gloucestershire Constabulary: 74mph
35. North Wales Police: 72mph
36. Cleveland Police: 64mph

brooksby wrote:

Echo wrote:

The complainant claimed because the registration plates and faces had not been pixelated, it was a breach of the code of conduct. 

If you've done nothing wrong etc etc.

I don't understand the obsession with pixellating number plates - if the car is obviously parked illegally/inconsiderately, or is being driven in a dangerous manner, then they deserve the recognition IMO.

Also, there's often issues where the owner of a specific car denies knowing who was driving it at the time of an incident, so surely the number plate doesn't actually identify an individual?

There's also the fact that number plates are easily visible in public places and so there should be no expectation of privacy from the vehicle owner.

It's to spare the car blushes - presumably when they're not crashing into buildings they sometimes get embarrassed by what their driver has done - and it would be unfair to out them for that?

Meanwhile, on the Town Council's own website:

"In 2019 Bollington Town Council declared a Climate Emergency so affirming a strong and positive commitment to take action on climate change."

Hirsute wrote:

Honest, hard working motorists https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gpkgly9qzo The largest difference between the speed recorded and the speed limit was 161mph on a 50mph in Somerset.

I think I know how the logic works now, so watch out for something like:

"It's clear we need to raise the speed limit.  The posted limit is wrong for the design / natural speed of the road and this is obviously creating contempt for the law.

"People doing 90mph in 30mph zones (as in BBC article) - that demonstrates those should be raised to e.g. 60mph for safety reasons.  If people can drive there at 90mph then 30mph is too slow.  It's obviously inappropriate in those locations to force people to keep to an arbitrary blanket limit like 30mph.

"In fact the whole idea of 'dangerous speed' is nonsense.  Speed is not dangerous: it would actually be safer if drivers weren't distracted by also trying to comply with speed restrictions.  Left to themselves people will naturally drive at a suitable speed.

"I've been on several advanced driving courses and have never had an accident...

Hirsute wrote:

Honest, hard working motorists https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gpkgly9qzo The largest difference between the speed recorded and the speed limit was 161mph on a 50mph in Somerset.

Other quibbles:

 - Why are we even penalising / criminalising people who aren't real criminals?

 - Policing speed limits is a waste of limited police resources which they should be spending chasing real criminals / crime with serious consequences. Especially because everyone speeds sometimes.  Same with automated speed cameras - like the police we don't have resources to put them everywhere - so why not nowhere?

Meanwhile:

BBC wrote:

Speed is the biggest factor reported in fatal road collisions, according to government data. In 2023 speed contributed to 888 fatalities, and more than 39,000 collisions of all severities.

'but if cars couldn't go faster than the speed limit how do you accelerate out of trouble...'

Otherwise law abiding...

Was the use of CCTV cameras banned for number plate capture a few years ago. If so, how do these robbing bar-stewards keep getting away with it?

David9694 wrote:

We need to stop listening to whingeing drivers. 

Anger as four Dover town centre streets to shut for Fastrack bus contraflow works

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dover/news/it-s-insane-four-town-centre-str...

Doesn't that red circle sign mean no buses and bicycles in both directions?

SaveTheWail wrote:

It's a shame there's no picture of this:

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/truck-carrying-ice-rink-citys-30439083

Noice!

David9694 wrote:

Manningree station: Manningtree car park expansion campaigners celebrate victory

I'll have to find an hour or so to go through that... good work.

Abellio are a Dutch company but have multinational operations - I assume they'll just work with "what's there" and if that's driving to the station so be it.

When they had the Scotrail franchise for a bit they did at least try to bring a version of the Dutch "OV Fiets" system e.g. public hire bikes operating from train stations *.  I can't say I used the railways often AND widely enough at that time to form an opinion on their service in general.

* Actually a excellent idea - but definitely "too soon" for Scotland.  Closed after about 5 years.  Fundamentally the often scarce public transport services and lack of "mass cycling" (main barrier - lack of suitable cycle infra) meant this was going to be tricky.  Especially for fully "Dutch bikes" - e.g. very practical but heavy.

Also they only had a handful of stations (only one in Edinburgh!) and in fact not many bikes either - so always appeared more of a trial or even possibly "awareness raising"?  Although complaining it was "not self-sufficient" is perhaps beside the point.  I'm not sure that the Dutch version is self-sustaining BUT I suspect it makes using the railways more attractive, and indeed more so than driving in some cases (expands the destination station "easily reached" area.  And in some cases the catchment area at both ends.)

Good spot.