Ireland to introduce death penalty
There was an article in the paper yesterday.
Well, actually there were quite a few articles but one in particular stood out for me.
Over a third of drivers killed weren’t wearing seat belts
This morning the article had somehow morphed into a different one.
Training proposed for first-time speed offenders
The two articles had the same photograph [our minister for transport who has obviously just farted] but each took a different approach to the same subject.
What caught my eye in the first one was the sub-heading which stated categorically- "RSA warns that another 100 people will die this year unless behaviour changes". Now I took this to mean that our illustrious Road Safety Authority are going to behead another 100 motorists unless we behave ourselves. I think that is a reasonable interpretation? It seems a bit drastic but then nothing surprises me about our gubmint these days.
Sadly the sub-heading had changed in the new article – "RSA warns another 100 people may die this year unless road behaviour changes" – which is a lot less fun. Someone must have told them overnight that beheadings are not quite acceptable in this day and age?
Of course the whole thing is a load of bollox. Roads are dangerous places, we know that. There again there is danger in just about every thing we do, but roads do tend to be a little more dangerous than say sleeping in bed or sitting in a deck chair. When people take a car for a drive they know they are doing something that may involve a little blood or at the very least, a dent in the paintwork. If some people choose to add some spice to their danger by not wearing a seatbelt then that is entirely up to them.
So a third of drivers weren't wearing seatbelts? So fucking what? It was entirely their choice made of their own free will and didn't impact [if you’ll pardon the word] on anyone else. They threw the dice and they lost, and that has fuck all to do with me or any other car owner in the country.
Of course the articles are full of "frightening trends" and "shocking statistics" which are presumably there to indicate that our gubmint really cares. What they don't seem to realise is that a combination of roads and cars is going to lead to fatalities no matter what they do. They could take every car off the roads bar one, and that one car could still skid off a bend into a tree?
Come to think of it, how many of those drivers deliberately didn't wear a belt? The suicide statistics in this country have been alarming over the last few years, and driving a car at a bridge parapet is as good a way as any?
"Fatalities have also risen in the 56-65 age bracket, from 11 deaths in 2104 to 17 this year. Ms Murdock said complacency was a concern and with older drivers it could be a “mid-life crisis”, an attempt to recapture their youth through speeding."
Oh sweet fuck! There is a small increase in a particular group and instantly we are all suffering from a mid-life crisis and are speeding around in souped up Volkswagon Golfs with go-faster stripes on the side? I put a dent in Paddy Murray's car down in the village and I am therefore trying to recapture my lost youth? Is it any fucking wonder I sneer at them? Idiotic cretinous morons!
“You have drivers out there who have passengers who are usually very talkative but then are quiet in the car. That’s an indication very often that you’re a bad driver. If the person doesn’t talk to you when you’re driving the chances are they’re afraid, so you need to look at your driving.”
Good God Almighty! I have heard some rubbish bit this is a world beater. Maybe when I'm a passenger I just like to sit quietly and enjoy the view? Maybe they should make it compulsory to talk incessantly to the driver [which is guaranteed to distract them] and thereby make them a better driver?
The best one though is the bit I kept 'til last.
Ms Murdock said “you have a 50:50 chance of dying in a collision without a seat belt on, no matter how minor it is. Many of those collisions were minor in nature and unfortunately because the occupants were not wearing seat belts the outcome was much more serious.”
Here we go, folks.
There is no such thing as a safe level of smoking drinking eating driving.
A matter of perspective?
Your first headline can ve viewed fro two angles.
1.A third of drivers were not taking due precaution.(assuming you subscribe to H+S viewpoint)
2.Two thirds of drivers died in spite of following guidelines(which I would suggest that the guidelines should at least be checked for efficacy)
Personally I always use a seat belt ,my choice.If someone chooses not to I believe that is their right.Darwins law?
2 is an excellent point, but I think "Two thirds of all drivers killed were wearing seatbelts" might "send the wrong message" as they say?
I also wear a sealtbelt most of the time, and it is purely my choice [it means I can drive faster with less risk?]. Those who don't increase the risk and that should be their choice. Darwin indeed.
There is a phenomenon that has been noted since seatbelts were first made mandatory, and which was starkly illustrated when Volvo started with all their super-protective bodywork; and that was that people tended to increase their risk levels (perhaps by going faster or whatever) as the safety factors in cars became more overt. So many of the perceived advantages of the added safety of a seatbelt, crumple zones, side-impact bars etc were largely cancelled out by drivers' behaviour behind the wheel. Naturally, this aspect didn't get much publicity
As an aside, I almost never wear a seatbelt. I was for many years a professional driver, and I was very aware of the fact that in certain types of accident, a seatbelt could condemn you to death. But mostly I don't wear one because I find them an uncomfortable distraction.
Unfortunately, Darwin notwithstanding, I've already produced my clutch of progeny, who have in turn gone forth and multiplied, so my risk-taking genes are still out there in the gene pool, and spreading.
If they really want to produce a very safe car they should build one with a glass floor and sides. I guarantee there would be no speeding then!
You have a 50/50 risk of drowning in 6" of water depending upon whether your head is under the water or above the water.
The basic rule is that life is dangerous. Sooner or later it's going to get you and there is sweet fuck all you can do about it.
All politician's are genuinely worried about their constituencies' continued good health, one should never doubt that fact. Where one should take take a cowlick of salt is with the pols' reasons for said empathy; regardless their pious protestations it is always about money – each person who dies subtracts from the tax base and, ergo, the slush funds from which they personally benefit.
As such years ago I said 'piss on 'em' and now at least once a week hop in the car and drive naked, sans seatbelt, while simultaneously sipping a good bourbon , smoking (a joint) and chatting on my cell. As a further distraction I always have the radio blasting some old rock n' roll.
Haven't been involved in a single accident though I'm proud to say other motorist(s) always do themselves (and occasionally others) an injury in my wake. Proud of that, I am, as it decreases the monies the bastards have to misuse.
My Hero!!
I actually do wear a seat-belt, it comes from years of driving a Volvo 245 (best car to use as a mobile tack-room and food store, although the hay bales do tend to cause problems) and the nagging if I forgot to 'buckle-up' forced me to comply! Strangely it used to sometimes nag about the passenger seat even when there was no passenger?
There's nothing worse than a car that nags. That is an occupation that should be reserved for spouses.
Well written slant on an article/articles I would not have read. I tend to avoid cluttering the mind with the drivel that exudes from these sub-gubbermint departments who have to 'fart' every so often to justify their high salaries and further establish the importance they seem to think their positions command.
The RSA are a pain in the hole. Their answer to everything is lower speed limits and tighter restrictions. They really won't be happy until the speed limit is zero and we have to walk everywhere.
This kind of crap that the "officials" shovel out to the general public is what happens when said "officials" attempt to think. And I agree, in the end it's usually about money.
In my Harley riding days (when I was living in Connecticut), some states had helmet laws and some didn't, CT being one state that didn't. Nothing like consistency, eh? And there were no seatbelt laws. Whether I wore a helmet or not when I rolled out my driveway soley depended on how I felt that day. I can't explain what I mean by that but chalk it up to some sort of sixth sense.
These days I'm no longer riding so donning a brain bucket, laws or not, is pretty much an irrelevant thing for me. However, as far as driving a vehicle is concerned, there are more laws here in the US than you shake that proverbial stick at including the mandatory seat belt law. So for me it's no longer a choice–I have to wear one simply for the fact that I can't afford not to. The fines are very stiff.
As far as deaths due to driving statistics and all that rot, it's all rather simple. You drive a vehicle you take your chances. Not because you have an inate desire to slam your rig into a tree or wall or drive off a cliff–things of that nature. Absolutely not. It's due to all the other idiotic drivers on the road the same time as you are who are texting, yapping on their cell phones, yapping at their passengers, trying to get their annoying little dog off the steering wheel, falling asleep, drunk, stoned, looking everywhere but the road….
(Just a note here. If there's any misspellings it's because the built in spell checker thingy in that copmment form plugin you were having all sorts of problems with is not working.) 😉
Sorry about the copmment form plugin thingy. I had been mucking around with settings trying to get it to work and mis-set one of the options. Seems to work now?