BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
Catrike UK said:
You realise the difference between rate and totals, right?
Detention Lines: I will wear a helmet.
- Thread starter handsome joe
- Start date
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You realise the difference between rate and totals, right?
Riding in Circles
Veteran
- Location
- EDINBURGH
BentMikey said:
True, my bad reading of the graph, driving standards are still key though, the US have about the lowest standard of driving I have seen outside of the third world.
Graham O
New Member
- Location
- Brynford, North Wales
I wonder why Spain and Italy don't figure in that graph? IIRC Helmet wearing is compulsory on Spanish main roads and Italy has, or is portrayed as having, a cycling culture.
Nigeyy
Legendary Member
- Location
- Massachusetts, USA
Woo hoo, USA number 1, USA number 1!!!!!! We're number 1 baby!!!
U-S-A U-S-A U-S-A
errr.... hang on, wait a minute.....
U-S-A U-S-A U-S-A
errr.... hang on, wait a minute.....
mickle said:
Nigeyy
Legendary Member
- Location
- Massachusetts, USA
You must have visited Boston or Manhattan, right?
I think you are right; and it's not just the standards -admittedly there are some bad driving standards here -but I think there's much more than that. Road design, safety attitudes, attitudes to cyclists and the types of vehicles driven all contribute to that figure.
Just an FYI: a true story from last Saturday.....
My son is out playing football and I'm talking with some of the other dads at the game. Somehow the talk gets round to a an accident that had happened in the town when a woman had driven head on into an oncoming car, and later died of injuries. Police stated she'd been changing her radio station at the time, and had simply wandered over to the wrong side of the road. I almost blanched when quite a few dads started nodding their heads and saying "yeah, that's happened to me a few times when I'm looking in the car for something or changing stations and I look up and I'm on the wrong side of the road.....", Honest, I kid you not.
I think you are right; and it's not just the standards -admittedly there are some bad driving standards here -but I think there's much more than that. Road design, safety attitudes, attitudes to cyclists and the types of vehicles driven all contribute to that figure.
Just an FYI: a true story from last Saturday.....
My son is out playing football and I'm talking with some of the other dads at the game. Somehow the talk gets round to a an accident that had happened in the town when a woman had driven head on into an oncoming car, and later died of injuries. Police stated she'd been changing her radio station at the time, and had simply wandered over to the wrong side of the road. I almost blanched when quite a few dads started nodding their heads and saying "yeah, that's happened to me a few times when I'm looking in the car for something or changing stations and I look up and I'm on the wrong side of the road.....", Honest, I kid you not.
Catrike UK said:
swee'pea99
Legendary Member
Americans, I have to say, have a reputation for including many peeps who are...how can I put this....none too bright. I read the other day that 1 in 5 think the sun revolves around the earth, and that around a quarter of high school biology teachers - that's teachers, mark you, not students - believe dinosaurs and humans lived on the planet at the same time.
PpPete
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chandler's Ford
As an aside from main argument...
I had an experience analogous to Joe's (1st post) on skis last year.... Fell, hit my head, knocked myself out for a few minutes, I shall be buying and using a skiing helmet next year. I've been skiing for years - never considered a helmet previously - even though the ski schools now insist the kids wear them.
Will wearing a helmet it make me a safer skiier? - no. But I now know that, despite my confidence in my own (skiing) abilities, it is possible for such things to happen and I'd just feel happier knowing there was a little more energy absorbtion round my skull than the usual woolly bobble hat.
I'll leave you to guess whether I wear a helmet when cycling....
I had an experience analogous to Joe's (1st post) on skis last year.... Fell, hit my head, knocked myself out for a few minutes, I shall be buying and using a skiing helmet next year. I've been skiing for years - never considered a helmet previously - even though the ski schools now insist the kids wear them.
Will wearing a helmet it make me a safer skiier? - no. But I now know that, despite my confidence in my own (skiing) abilities, it is possible for such things to happen and I'd just feel happier knowing there was a little more energy absorbtion round my skull than the usual woolly bobble hat.
I'll leave you to guess whether I wear a helmet when cycling....
Riding in Circles
Veteran
- Location
- EDINBURGH
Nigeyy said:
Often as not a 15 year old has 10 minutes around the car park at Krogers and is then sent out on the road, passing the test is achieved by getting back to the test center with the examiner still in posession of all limbs.
Nigeyy
Legendary Member
- Location
- Massachusetts, USA
My test (didn't realize at the time I could convert my UK license) consisted of:
driving around one block taking all right turns -about 1/4 of a mile -with a State Trooper yawning in the passenger seat, and my mother-in-law in the rear seat (relatives are allowed to sit in the car during the test, though you have to wonder if that is a good idea).
You know, to this day I'm entirely sure the State Trooper even looked up more than twice. I've also heard of people who had to drive less than I did to pass their driving test and have no reason to disbelieve them ("drive up 100 yards, turn around, come back").
But I think you're being a little harsh; sometimes it's not Krogers you know.
driving around one block taking all right turns -about 1/4 of a mile -with a State Trooper yawning in the passenger seat, and my mother-in-law in the rear seat (relatives are allowed to sit in the car during the test, though you have to wonder if that is a good idea).
You know, to this day I'm entirely sure the State Trooper even looked up more than twice. I've also heard of people who had to drive less than I did to pass their driving test and have no reason to disbelieve them ("drive up 100 yards, turn around, come back").
But I think you're being a little harsh; sometimes it's not Krogers you know.
Catrike UK said:
On driving licences, when I did mine in NZ the tester traffic cop was a bloke in my football team. (I was 16 but played senior grade. Btw,in NZ there are traffic police as separate and distinct from your ordinary plod. Traffic police do the testing, there are no specific examiners). Anyway, he asked me to drive around the block and that was it; no parallel parking, 3 point turns - nothing. He passed me, gave me my licence and that was that. When I got home, I told my mum and was obviously a little concerned about the ethics of it. She said, in an even tone, "take it back if you feel that strongly about it". I thought for a moment and said no more about it. I'd already got my motorbike licence at that stage so I figured I was safe enough!
