Depressing speed camera thingy in local rag

[trustysteed]

I was quite shocked and surprised by that, went on a Chimanimani trip with him and never had an inkling.

you were lucky, that's where he used to try his special priesthood tricks. brother of a girl i was at Lewisam with found him trying to get into his sleeping bag one nite.

I do recall him having the nickname of Father Charging-P*n*s, although I didn't attribute this to anything other than schoolboy humour. Never heard a thing about anything dodgy.

Back in about 1996, i was leaving work (here in the UK) and was listening to the news on raido 5 in my car and the headline was 'Jesuit priest Father James Channing-Pearce is jailed for 4 years for sex offences'. I almost crashed my car when i heard the name!

Anyway, a little research on the net and talking to people from Saints, apparently the school had shipped him over to Canada to a rehab clinic to try and stop him as well as cover up what he'd been up to at school as the rumours were starting to become more than unfounded. When he finished rehab he went to another Jesuit school in the UK where he was subsequently caught, hence the prison sentence.

And that folks is the great school of Saint George's, run by Jesuits, and one of the top private schools in Zimbabwe.

i'm not fond, in case you hadn't guessed.

and if you'll excuse the, err, pun, i had him for Physics in Form 3!

 

[BentMikey]

I must admit I had an excellent time at the school, but then C-P never tried anything with me. I thought it was very good, well run, and super high standards.

 

[Bman]

...(such as the metro down the street that leans so far to the right while driving along that if it were a ship i'd be calling the RNLI)

Ahh well, we cant blame the driver for being overweight!

Maybe he needs to get out on his bike!?

 

[trustysteed]

I must admit I had an excellent time at the school, but then C-P never tried anything with me. I thought it was very good, well run, and super high standards.

i just enjoyed my sport there, i thought the jesuits, traditions and all that academic nonsense tiresome!

wish i'd gone to a co-ed school. my brother went to vainona high for a couple of years although he did say it was full of skabangas!

 

[BentMikey]

wish i'd gone to a co-ed school. my brother went to vainona high for a couple of years although he did say it was full of skabangas!

LOL, you are not kidding!!!

 

[ufkacbln]

traffic cop.

He / She is capable of spotting bad driving and doing something about it, or spotting dangerous cars (such as the metro down the street that leans so far to the right while driving along that if it were a ship i'd be calling the RNLI)

they are also capable of disecration, I was with a friend who exceeded the 40mph limit (went up to 50mph) through a mobile speed trap in order to get quickly and safely past a tractor and trailer. after completing the maneuver he dropped back to 40mph and started panicking that he was going to get pulled, all that happened was we got a thumbs up from a police biker that came past a little bit later!

back to my point, and the point that ''brian'' my alter ego has just posted on the site.

the problem is, as they say, not speed. speed is fine in the right place, it is inappropriate speed. Most of the schools near here have a 20mph limit outside the gates, most people do 20mph.

Just after passing my driving test back in 2001, most of the roads near my parent's house were national speed limit A and B roads. I could actually weave my Dad's mazda demio down them at just above the limit, staying within my lane, not lifting off the throttle or braking. A little bit silly I know now, the car wasn't the most suitable for the job, BUT, i would never do it in the wet, there were quite a few corners I'd brake for in the wet, partly cos I could see the flowers attached to trees due to other people driving too fast in poor conditions.

so the problem in my view is not speed but people's inability to drive at a speed suitable to a road in a given condition. in response to the number of incidents on these roads the speed limit dropped - showing that the average driver needs to be told what a ''safe'' speed is for the worst condition on these roads.

I find it amusing that the A roads are 40 or 50 mph but the single track unclassified roads leading off them are still national speed limited!

Red Herring!

Police Officer spots speeding driver, and pulls them over, ahas a chat and lets them go..... road unsupervised at all for ten minutes- ABD members dream!

Police Officer arrests driver, sorts out paperwork ... road unsupervised for an hour or so - ABD member has orgasm!

 

[ufkacbln]

again, my english teacher was right, I'm not the best at getting my point across

all that I said was intended at judgement of conditions within the posted limit.

a road that is safe to do the posted 60mph limit down in good conditions may only be safe to do 40mph down on a very rainy day, people need to judge that and drive accordingly, they don't, they crash, the limit gets lowered.

i did mention that I had once or twice gone a little over the limit due to being young and foolish - something I look back on and think i was stupid to do.

Institute of advanced Motorists clearly states that driving should be at an appropraite speed within the promulgated limits

There is absolutely no conflict between safe driving and driving within the limits

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Now I've bought a Citroen 2CV, I don't care if they cover the whole country in speed cameras.

 

[downfader]

Thats Chris bloke on there is a bit of a pillock. He says the speed camera supporters are wrong and you can tell as we all get emotive about it. Wonder why that is?

Just sent him this reply (as he's still not provided evidence on the "85th percentile" b*ll*cks):

@Chris on 12-Feb-2010
Complete nonsense. I havent seen one morsel of proof that those who "see speed cameras as being counter-productive" are right on here.
.
Infact I can give you several reasons why speed limits are set and enforced. Lets take urban areas for one: pedestrians need to know that it is safe to cross, and a vehicle travelling faster than a speed limit adds a level of risk where the pedestrian may misjudge the vehicle's velocity, and as such the ped gets hurt.
.
Then theres a reason why its usually 30mph in urban roadways: this is to limit damage. We've all seen the adverts where the child says "hit me at 30..." This has a basis in fact, just speak to any doctor or nurse in the NHS. Speeds are reduced to 20 outside schools for much the same reason, only that children are a) impetuous and may run out - this gives the driver better braking ability, and their bodies are smaller, bones and muscle less developed so more likely to sustain a serious injury than an adult hit at the same speed. Again, ask a quack - they will confirm this.
.
You also have to remember also that just because its gone 6pm that the 20mph limit outside the school may still apply for another reason: many children go along to extra curricular activities and so may still be around.
.
We all know Gatsos have their limitations - however these are just one of about 15 cameras open to use by the authorities. Set up right a Gatso will produce effective recording of offenders, drivers are always open to the option of contesting the fine if they beleive the camera to be wrong (thats why we have markings on the tarmac)
.
Speed limts on motorways and dual carriageways are set to 70mph for the stopping distance to traffic frequency ratio. If you increase the speed you also have to increase the stopping distance - thus meaning less traffic can use these types of roads. If everyone kept to 70 you may well find the traffic flows better rather than the stop start of drivers having to brake or change lanes to stop some wolly who has drive up their bottom at speed or cut them up when they've seen what they beleive to be an opening.
.
Infact Motorways are better equiped to deal with speed than other roads due to slip road design, traffic managment through barriers and contraflow separation. Urban and country roads have no such design and speeding increases the chances of even a close call as drivers cant merge at speed from junctions - they have to stop and wait, then accelerate. They may assume you're travelling at one speed and pull out, only to realise you're going much faster due to the luming effect.
.
So in my opinion - dont speed. It makes it simpler for everyone at best. Still waiting for peer-reviewed evidence on the 85th btw. Odd how thats not forthcoming ;-)

Most of it was rambled out in a hurry tbh, so not sure it makes complete sense. The gist is there though

 

[Bad Company]

(1)20 years of commuting up and down the Mile End Road has drawn me to my own conclusions yes.All those times I have seen traffic lights lying on the road.Perhaps the traffic lights were drunk.

Oh right. The drivers were obviously speeding then.

There were some really nasty accidents caused by theives driving stolen cars through the Limehouse Tunnel (think it's called the link), so they installed speed cameras. Does anybody really think somebody driving a stolen car will care about a speed camera?

 

[BentMikey]

That's not a reason to hate speed cameras.

 

[hackbike 666]

Easy for me to not hate speed cameras as I have never owned a car.

All I see is people driving recklessley which isn't nice.

Oh right. The drivers were obviously speeding then.

There were some really nasty accidents caused by theives driving stolen cars through the Limehouse Tunnel (think it's called the link), so they installed speed cameras. Does anybody really think somebody driving a stolen car will care about a speed camera?

I know the Mile End Road is bad at times but even I never suspected that everyone drove stolen cars.

 

[Ashtrayhead]

Bambazonky.

Excellent name! Describes how I feel after a night on the Guiness!

 

[BentMikey]

Only I misspelt it and trustysteed did a better job.

 

[ufkacbln]

Oh right. The drivers were obviously speeding then.

There were some really nasty accidents caused by theives driving stolen cars through the Limehouse Tunnel (think it's called the link), so they installed speed cameras. Does anybody really think somebody driving a stolen car will care about a speed camera?

I don't think they care about the Police either or they wouldn't have stolen the car in the first place, is this therefore an argument for getting rid of both the speed cameras and he Police?