Richard Askew

Just recieved this one from my mum with the message:
Remember you have a sister..

Guys - take some time to read its a true story...


Jack took a long look at his speed before
slowing down: 73 in a 30 zone. Fourth time in
as many months. How could a guy get caught so often?

When his car had slowed to 10 miles an hour, Jack
pulled over, but only partially. Let the cop worry
about the potential traffic hazard. Maybe some other
car will tweak his backside with a mirror. The
cop was stepping out of his car, the big pad in
hand.
Bob? Bob from the gym? Jack sunk farther into
his trench coat. This was worse than the coming
ticket.
A cop catching a guy from his own gym. A
guy who happened to be a little eager to get home
after a long day at the office. A guy he was about to
play golf with tomorrow.

Jumping out of the car, he approached a man he
saw every weekday, a man he'd never seen in
uniform.
"Hi, Bob. Fancy meeting you like this."

"Hello, Jack." No smile.

"Guess you caught me red-handed in a rush to
see my wife and kids."

"Yeah, I guess." Bob seemed uncertain. Good.
"I've seen some long days at the office lately. I'm
afraid I bent the rules a bit -just this once." Jack
toed at a pebble on the pavement. "Diane said
something about roast beef and potatoes
tonight. Know what I mean?"

"I know what you mean. I also know that you
>have a reputation in our constabulary." Ouch. This was
not going in the right direction. Time to change
tactics.

"What'd you clock me at?"
"Seventy. Would you sit back in your car
please?"

"Now wait a minute here, Bob. I checked as
soon as I saw you. I was barely nudging 65." The lie
seemed to come easier with every ticket.

"Please, Jack, in the car."

Flustered, Jack hunched himself through the
still open door. Slamming it shut, he stared
at the dashboard. He was in no rush to open the
window. The minutes ticked by. Bob scribbled away on the
pad.
Why hadn't he asked for a driver's license?
Whatever the reason, it would be a month of
Sundays before Jack ever sat near this cop again.
A tap on the door jerked his head to the left. There
was Bob, a folded paper in hand. Jack rolled down the
window a mere two inches, just enough room for Bob to
pass him the slip.

"Thanks." Jack could not quite keep the sneer
out of his voice.
Bob returned to his police car without a word.
Jack watched his retreat in the mirror.

Jack unfolded the sheet of paper. How much was this one going to cost?
Wait a minute. What was this? Some kind of joke?
Certainly not a ticket. Jack began to read:

"Dear Jack,

Once upon a time I had a daughter. She was six when
killed by a car. You guessed it -- a speeding
driver. A fine and three months in jail, and
the man was free. Free to hug his daughters. All three
of them. I only had one, and I'm going to have to
>wait until Heaven before I can ever hug her again.

A thousand times I've tried to forgive that man.
A thousand times I thought I had. Maybe I did,
but I need to do it again. Even now. Pray for me.
And be careful, Jack, my son is all I have left."
"Bob"

Jack turned around in time to see Bob's car
pull away and head down the road. Jack watched
until it disappeared. A full 15 minutes later, he too,
pulled away and drove slowly home, praying for
forgiveness and hugging a surprised wife and kids when he
arrived.

Life is precious. Handle with care. This is an
important message; please pass it along to
your friends. Drive safely and carefully. Remember,
cars are not the only things recalled by their
maker.



I believe that friends are quiet angels who
lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble
remembering how to fly."


Thanks for your time..

Rich

Phil

Wow

True story or not

That brings it home to you

Phil

devils_ad69

I'm afraid I'm gonna puke.

Jen

Why do you think we have speed limits?

Good post Richard...

Jen

devils_ad69

Oh I see, speed limits are there to stop people going 'too fast'.

So you are OK with people getting hit at 29MPH are you?

Has it ever occured to you that the best way to reduce casulaties is to prevent the accident occuring in the first place, rather than simply reducing the speed at which they occur?

krankyd

>>So you are OK with people getting hit at 29MPH are you?

So if your daughter / mother / yourself was going to be hit by a car, what speed would you like it to be at?

devils_ad69

Krankyd,

I'd prefer it if she wasn't hit in the first place. Which, in my opinion, means that they should know how to cross a road safely and that car drivers know how to drive safely in such conditions.

So, again in my opinion, it is an education thing rather than a blanket enforcement thing.

krankyd

I would agree. the majority of pedestrian accidents are in part caused by themselves.

Andy Porter

and also caused by nobbers tearing round in 30 zones, good post Richard,
Andyp

Katana

In a build up area, 30 mph should be more than enough for us. But the 70 mph limit imposed to us by the government has just got to go. I would rather have motorways that are deristricted or pegged at a higher speed limit and the 30 mph rule imposed vigorously than the system that we have now.

devils_ad69

in fast cars presumably?

ScoobyDoo555

nice one Rich - good post.


Dan

devils_ad69

Katana,

I agree up to a point. The fundamental objection I have to the current way that the authorities enforce speeding policy is that it drums into people that as long as I am sticking to the speed limit, I am safe.

Which is obviously rubbish.

The vast majority of accidents occur within the speed limit. Therefore, what are the powers that be doing about the things that cause those types of accidents? Answer: Nothing.

Katana

I agree with that point wholeheartedly, but isn't it common sense to slow down during bad driving conditions anyway? If I were to be in a build up area, common sense dictates that I slow down and put my extra awareness goggles on in case there are kids or people running about. While driving on motorways in bad weather, I just get my speed down lower than that I normally drive on. No point *****-sizing with kitted up Novas for me in bad weather. Thats what the tracks are for if they seriously want to race me.

And this is coming from a young pup at only 24??!! What is this world coming to??

[Edited by Katana - 2/27/2002 4:11:00 PM]

devils_ad69

Katana,

Agreed. At no time have I suggested that anyone should drive to a speed in excess of what is appropriate for the conditions.

The sooner people realise that to improve road safety we need to:

1. Get people to take responsibility for their OWN actions
2. Improve driver training

the better.

jimbrit

Point to remember

Speed itself does't kill.You don't die because you are doing 50 in a 30

Ignorance at speed does kill.

ozzy

Good post Richard.

I think you'll find that speed increases the chances of you getting killed. It's simple physics that if something half-a-ton hits you at 50 it's gonna do more damage than if it hits you at 30. There's also a much better chance of taking avoiding action, slowing down enough to prevent serious injury, reacting quicker, being alert to any dangers, etc, etc..

It also makes it easier for pedestrians to react if the car they've just run in front of is only doing 25-30 instead of 50-60.

Yes, the Police do make a big point of speed being the killer, but it's the most simple method of reducing deaths or injuries.

How much money/time would be involved training the millions of drivers how to drive properly compared to reducing the speed limits and integrating the change within the already established policing methods.

I for one was very happy to see the "20 is plenty" signs appear in my street.

Stefan

ozzy

For those who don't agree with Richard or are annoyed these posts or that the speed limits are wrong, can I ask why you feel that you need to go faster than the speed limit??

Stefan

jimbrit

I don't feel the need to go faster than the speed limit but I also don't need reminding not to speed. I can also remember not to shoot anyone,not to break into someones house or not to take drugs without someone reminding me.

Jim

Dracoro

'Most accidents happen within the speed limit' - Although true, it is misleading in another way. Person gets run over at, say, 25mph in a 30 limit. Just before the impact the driver was doing 50mph and could only slow to 25 before hitting person/object etc. if they were doing less speed (40,35,30 etc.) the impact would have been less (say at 10mph).
The IMPACT was at less than the speed limit but the driver, just b4 applying the brakes, may well have been doing more just b4.
Inappropriate speed can kill aotherwise it wouldn't be inappropriate speed! Open roads & motorways an appropriate speed is quite often higher than the posted limit. Most, if not all, 30 limits are set that low for a good reason and many, IMO, should be lower in the same way that motorways should be higher.

rant mode off/////

ozzy

Why don't you need reminding then ??

There's laws for the other offences too you know. If they were as problematic as they are in places like the USA, then I don't see why we shouldn't be reminded of them as well.

A lot of people just don't like being told what to do.

Stefan

jimbrit

What?

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Here are 2 stories for you that both happened on the same road in the town in which i live
This road is a 30 zone by the way!

The first happened around 5-6 years ago, the motorbike rider was going up the road (main road!) at an estimated 90!!!!!! MPH!! the woman driver who was at the junction ready to cross traffic saw him but thought she had time to pull out (thinking that he was only doing 30ish mph) the consequences of this accident left one biker dead after he hit the car, this didnt kill him though, he hit the bonnet at 70-80mph, this threw him down the road (about 100yrs) into an oncoming bus, that killed him.....
The woman as far as i know doesnt drive anymore, she walked away from the accident but the shock took its toll on her and she was really the innocent party

The other one was only a couple of weeks back, about 100 yards from where the first had occurred, the car driver at 30mph would have survived the accident but as he floored it through the lights and the bus though he had enough time to turn into the other road he found himself out on a limb... he was killed instantly, estimated speed of impact was 60mph....

The biker was a youngish lad, mid twenties if i remember correctly, the car driver was 56 (my dad knew him) both due to excessive speed in a 30 zone.

Tony

InvisibleMan

personally if you where going to hit me id want you to do it properly, i wouldnt want to spend my time in a wheelchair, just make sure you kill me. Now im sure my family wouldnt want that but its not their life its mine. Im not sure what the best solution for this is but its not speed that kills. Excessive speed kills yeah but lower speeds mame, is that any better.

Ive had a close friend killed by a high speed car & very recently another friend knocked unconscious by a drunk driver. He is not getting the sentence he deserves i think, that may be a different issue, i may be contradicting myself but even after all this i still drive fast. Even being there seeing my friend die hasnt made me drive slower, but since then i have taken courses and become a better observer.

Its lack of observation that kills & i mean from BOTH parties. I very VERY rarely see people crossing the roads looking where they are going. I see them about to step of the pavement & walk across without properly looking in both directions. When they do cross
its like theyre on a sunday walk ffs. We have to have a certain amount of observation when driving WHY does it go out of the window when you are a pedestrian, theres no difference. When pedestrians walk onto roads they become vehicles & have to take
responsibility for their actions.

Where i live, they have moved a zebra crossing cos its right next to a roundabout & it causes major congestion because peoples lack of highway code knowledge, they enter a junction even when the exit it blocked, thus preventing anyone else to move. FFS get a brain! Everyone objected to the crossing being there cos it was too far for them to walk to cross the road. Now we're only talking a few yards but its still too far for them to walk & they still insist on walking across the road.

Its a high price to pay not walking those few extra yards.

Scoob99

iTrader: (1)

But why does it take something like this to make people understand??
I myself was nearly killed by a drunk driver back in 1996 he hit me head on at over 100mph and walked away, I was trapped for 3 hours and according to the paramedics I was dying in the wreckage, but how many of us speed???? Most of us I think, it is properly like I was in the wrong place at the wrong time but that does not excuse some idiots that are on our roads, and not only that we don't drive slow cars do we??? So yes this is a sobering e-mail, But the justice system in this country does not help, the guy that hit me got a 15 month ban and a £375 fine with £125 costs I had to rebuild my life and that was the hardest thing I had ever had to do.
And the pain both to my legs and my body and soul will never leave me

jods

I feel quite Ill reading all this

cryptwalk

Speed kills, no doubt. Then again so does smoking, drinking, taking drugs, crossing the road, eating too much fatty foods, not excercising etc.. etc.. Life is fast, we all live everyday of our lives in the risk Fact.

Never the less intresting read and if it slows people down for a day then it's good, however sadly i doubt it will last.

Crypt.

nuclear_pond

I'm not too bothered about people speeding on motorways and 60 roads, but I realy dont like to see people breaking the 30 limits.

These IMHO are the most important ones, as the speed risk here is more to other people than you ending up in a hedge/ditch wahatever.

I live in a relativley small country village, with a main A road running past my house. I have a large patio style front window, and each evening see many many people roaring through the 30mph village well in excess of the speed limit. I dont want to argue but would like to add that the majority are p1ss powered up novas & co and motorbikes.

Anyway, I was in texas a couple of years ago, and their driving is mad, very scary at first. But one thing I did notice was how they observed speed limits in build up areas. Schools have even lower speed restrictions for the road outside them, which only applies during school hours. It was realy impressive to see the was everyone on their way to work, in a hurry etc slowed down to a crawl in these zones.

My point is that people here would ignore them.

sasman

So Bob didn't get a ticket then. As it said they play golf together, i can only presume he is an Inspector .

devils_ad69

TonyBurns,

Thanks for those two stories. But lets not kid ourselves that these accidents were CAUSED by excessive speed. On both occasions they were caused because one party turned into the path of another
vehicle.

Excessive speed for the conditions was a CONTRIBUTORY factor to the damage caused.

Stefan,

I don't driver everywhere above the speed limit. The vast majority of the time I drive below the limit. Why is that? Because I effectively ignore the limit and drive at an appropriate speed for the conditions.

Scoob99,

Sorry to hear of your incident. My beef with the 'Speed Kills' brigade is that it should really be 'Inappropriate Speed Kills'. 100mph while drunk is clearly inappropriate and the offender should have the book thrown at him.

[Edited by devils_ad69 - 2/28/2002 9:22:10 AM]