Scoop

Maybe more people should take road safety as seriouslly. I agree sometimes the limits can seem pathetic and I know in early hours of the morning with no traffic on the motorway I have hammered it BUT I knew that if I got caught I'd have to face the consequences. The limits are thought out for a reason, it just might be that at certain times they are inappropriatly low. People often say to me 'but its 3 o clock in the morning' as if there is a rule which says if its early hours the speed limits don't apply anymore. Sadly some people don't have common sense as you say. Today I saw a car doing 40 mph down the motorway and cars were actually swerving to avoid. Says something for their forward observation but also what the slow cars driver was thinking, I do not know.

Erm, I think I've heard alot of them but you can give it a go. Here are some funny/memorabel ones... PERSON - 'sorry officer, its these damn shoes, they are new and i can't feel the pedals, im used to pressin gdown on the pedal so far but because these have bigger soles i must be pressing down furthur' ME - (With big smile) 'But your eyes and speedo still function correctly do they? slow it down. I f I see you driving like that again I'll give you a ticket' --------------------------- PERSON - (caught doing 85mph in a 30mph - subsequently banned) We were being chased by a guy with a knife down the road there! ME - Ok, so wheres the danger now? Your in a car with 4 of your mates and are half a mile from the town where it happened. I tell you what, it's not down for me to decide things like this on the street, I will report you and you can explain to the magistrates why you had to drive that fast. I'll put a call out on the radio to have a look in the town. --------------------------------- PERSON - Whats the problem now!? (immediatly fails attitude test) ME - You were driving in excess of the speed limit, 50 in a 30. PERSON - Yeah, whats the problem ME - Its illegal and dangerous. PERSON - Just hurry up and give me the ticket, my dinners getting cold (gesturing to takeaway on passenger seat). ME - OK, but I just want to make sure I've got all the correct deatils. (Cue numerous radio checks and ID checks, vehicle checks for good 15 minutes. Issue paperwork, explain procedure, caution then get rid)

Hmm, dare I say it... isn't that modern America? It's always somones fault. Hence the lawsuit culture you have and we also seem to be adopting much to my disgust. Its not Johnnies fault, he has ADHD. Hes from a single parent family. McDonalds makes us fat, etc

What about flying? Its expensive but good fun. I don't mean go and get your PPL but do a few pleasue flights where you can take control. I done a few and got to take control for about 15 mins each time. After that the pilot did aerobatics. Was good fun. But if your grounded, maybe you wouldn't be fit for that.. I don't know, just a suggestion

You can try it but dont hold your breath Speed limit is a maximum limit, not a mean, mode or median speed.

Indeed, in the UK there is a scheme called Pass PLus where once you have you licence you can take a furthur course which is defensive driving techniques. Once passed my insurance halved

Thats their choice, but the law is clear. that is a maximum limit. Not a guide with a tolearnce of plus or minus 20 miles an hour. I fail to see how you can argue with it. The 'I'm going the same speed as everyone else' argument is boring and pointless and if you raise it with a police officer it may be the difference between a bit of verbal advice and getting a ticket as they hear it so often. Let me throw an analogy in there. What about exit seperation? What if you knew you had to leave 5 seconds but, you know, it doesn't really matter. Theres lots of sky and besides, you really want to get down 2 seconds quicker. So you exit earlier and have a collision somehow. Would it be OK because its just a guide or should you really have followed the plan?

If the police are sent to patrol a fast road then that seems reasonable to me. I've done the same in my downtime but I much prefer lurking in the housing estates looking for shitbags. I assure you there isn't a single officer in that police station, including supervisors who is thinking 'YES!, this will generate some nice money, maybe we'll get that new patrol car next year after all!' I only dish out tickets if... 1) The persons actions are dangerous (automatically qualify talking on a mobile phone/running red light as dangerous) 2) After trying to give verbal advice they fail my 'attitude test' - normally by trying to tell me the law (incorrectly) Still don't know why people do this 3) They really are taking the piss with regards speeding. ie 15mph or more above the limit. I say any police officer not taking action in these circumstances is not fulfilling their duties as a constable. The other point of course, is that if you are caught speeding you are obviouslly not observing the road ahead of you. A person with a speed gun, a fixed camera, a police vehicle behind you or a vehicle parked are all easy things to spot

I liken people get off with offences on a technicality to the kid in the playground playing tag coming up with excuse for not being 'it'. 'Nuh-uh, I had my legs crossed, I wasn't touching the ground, you touched my shirt but you didn't touch me!' Whatever happened to being honest and accepting the result of your actions. If you killed someone you'd have the rest of your life to realise why its dangerous and no amount of excuses would make it easier to live with yourself. How do you react when people down drive your road really fast, you got kids and what if they play out the front. What if the difference of 5mph, which equates to about 30 seconds off your total journey time or something equally pathetic, is all the driver was doing that killed your child?

Who 'enforces' it based on revenue. Tickets are issued at officers discretion. What do they care how much money they have raised. If it was the police forces accounts depertment operating the cameras i'd accept what your saying. I don't see how nayone can argue. Its black and white. You og over the speed limit you shouldn't be surprised if one day you get a ticket. We all do it but we all should accept that if we get caught we have to face teh consequences. A consequence free justice system is pointless.

If you were instead summonsed to appear in court and found guilty I'm sure the fine and punishment would be much greater. Thats certainly true here in the UK Also if everyone involved in minor traffic offences appeared in court the whole court system would crash and you'd have chaos. Tickets are just a convenienet administrative way to deal with an offence. Its quick and simple, yes it costs money which in turn goes back to the state, but no different to any other court fine. Its one of those topics that everyone hates because everyone gets a ticket and almost everyone is bitter about it. Bottom line, if you weren't breaking the law you wouldn't get one. I do however agree that minor speeding infringements are petty, but I personally don't issue tickets in these circumstances.

.. or possibly instant disqualification

Thats bullshit. They are there for safety, no ones gets a buzz out of issuing tickets and no officers are on commision or have to fill a quota. Some people really are so self involved and don't think that what they are doing has any implications. Clearly it does as NWFlyer's post cleary shows. People get killed and injured through assholes running red lights or speeding. The only way to communicate with people like this is to hit them in their pockets. Do you think if you got off with a verbal all the time that you'd change you ways? No you wouldn't. If the only way to get through to people is to make them think 'damn I can't afford to get caught' then thats fine (no pun intended) by me

Think the link is busted. Thats typical. the first time EVER that someone agrees with me AND provides backup to what im saying and it dont link across!

I don't read the daily mail thank you very much! A good practice in debates is to pose questions to the people, not neccesarily your own opinion. These are common things you hear being said. I have witnessed some of them and find it frustrating but at the same time I'd love to go to Europe and work for a while. As you said numerous times, LEGAL immigrants are great, apart from the whole wage thing, but there really is no place for sponges. Like you said, we have enough of our own local authority housed freeloaders

Hey, I know that I start my pattern at 1000 feet and that is displayed clearly enough. Under canopy things are relatively slow time and checking alti isn't such an issue for me, at least not yet. I'm not interested in trying high performance landings. I guess the only way to know for sure is to try.

Now that IS something that should be strictly regulated.

I think shes just shit stirring between me and John. Haha

That is true, I agree on that and agree it's not a fair observation.

It isn't a compliment really. We use it to describe for example, someone who is fucking huge and well built. I have no idea why I'd want a 19 year old blonde girl built like one though I really don't go for the Russian shot putter typers

In honesty I think it should be kinda like America where to live and work you have to be sponsored by a company or family, bring some skill or specialised knowledge (i.e. doctor) or have some other important reason such as close family abroad. I made enquiries to work as police officer in US but have to be citizen and therefore been resident for 3 years. It's possible as company I currently work for have department in Texas (Hi John, new neighbour!) and I am a skilled worker. Some sherriffs departments actually accept foreign applicants as there is an exception granted if they cannot find suitable local candidates. Genuine asylum seekers allowed on temporary basis then sent back when threat has deemed to have gone (if appropriate). Asylum seekers who are not genuine (those that have travelled through a number of countries should automatically be treated as such) rejected and deported immediatly. Travellers without limitation but of course it will be hard to make sure their intention is to return home again. We are a small country but we are getting bigger and bigger population wise with housing and employment shortages, national health and emergancy services overstretched. I think their should at least be a temporary restriction as other countries have where only a restricted number of immigrants per year are allowed from different countries. The free for all we have at the moment is causing problems I believe

Oh yes, I know plenty of highly academic people that just have no common sense or practical skills.

Ryanair have been making me laugh so much with their reaction to the whole situation

Does it mean your stupid by your actions, not because your slow? I never really got it either to be honest

Just makes you think. I understand if you try to buy a house in Jersey you can't unless you have good reason. ie family there or you have an investment to make to the community (your minted) If you've got nothing to offer us, and infact on the take, as in case of illegal immigrants, why should you be allowed in? If for example France, Germany or Ireland had a major civil war, I can understand people coming in as we are a neighbouring country. I agree the EU thing is kinda cool, but creates bad blood when people are undercutting our workforce. We got enough of a problem finding jobs as it is. There isn't any at the moment in our little corner of England. EDIT: Done some research...