The Majority of Adults don't exercise enough apparently

[marinyork]

I think strangely enough contrary to all the H&S and risk averse public, cycling has probably improved as a form of exercise. This is because of damaging things in the 80s and 90s, the endless flogging off of football fields, parks and local swimming pools to be replaced with expensive gyms and superlarge swimming pools miles away and costing a fortune.

 

[Crankarm]

Yes, true, until you reach a situation where the vast precentage of the population has been caught speeding.

Just because people haven't been caught speeding doesn't mean they don't speed. Put more camera's up, lower the speed limit on rural roads, set up more average speed sections, change the speed limit up and down on the same road and watch the number of convictions rise further.


'Recently released figures reveal that in 2004 there were 13.5 million motoring offenses - that's about 1 for every 2 cars in the country. Of these there were 11 million fixed penalty notices which includes just over 2 million issued from speed cameras.
The increase in speed camera tickets is 6% higher than in 2003 and double that from 2001 raking in £130 million in fines during 2004.
These numbers are likely to increase as 233 new camera sites have been approved for 2006-2007'

'A total of 1,462,235 speeding fines were handed out to drivers in England and Wales in 2007 - the most recent data available.
At £60 each, that raised some £87,734,100 for Government coffers - the equivalent of £240,367 a day'

You been making some additional contibutions to general taxation then shunter ? You got a bit of a heavy right foot? Think of all that extra fuel you're wasting and extra CO2 emissions you are creating. Slow down.

Speeding fines are taxes on the stupid. There is a speed limit. You know what the limit is but you choose to break it. Either you're in one hell of a hurry all the time or you have deep pockets and are feeling benevolent .

Also speed cameras save lives can't argue with them really. More of them I say. The only way to change behaviour is to hit people in the wallets .

 

[Crankarm]

Link to the news item here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8120726.stm

Some quotes from the article:



So how come they didn't mention commuting to work by bike... that must be getting me my 30 mins daily easily.

They mentioned cycling but not specifically cycling to work. Even with the success of Cav and the Team GB cyclists cycling is still marginalised. The majority who don't cycle hate cyclists or cycling. The car lobby is far too strong and fat. Most beaurocrats, industry chiefs and politicians are lardie arsed slobs whose only exercise is filling in their expense claims eg Boris and part time cyclist Cameron. I reckon a large proportion of MPs would be in the seriously at risk obese category if they were medically examined. Pressers and Digby Jones are both seriously fat b4stards . A lot of top coppers are lardies as well. The one who was Counter Terrorism chief Quick who got fired he was pretty fat. Obviously he was getting paid far too much for the very little he did. Had he been more active and eaten less he wouldn't have been so fat.

The easiest thing to do especially during nice summer weather is to walk as much as you can. Go for a walk late evening after supper for about an hour. Walk off some of those pounds before bed. A great time to sort things out in your mind and have a nosey round your manor. Need to do it myself to loosen up the cycling muscles.

 

[PBancroft]

Speeding fines are taxes on the stupid. There is a speed limit. You know what the limit is but you choose to break it. Either you're in one hell of a hurry all the time or you have deep pockets and are feeling benevolent

I agree. Speeding fines are not taxes. It is a Speed Limit. Not a target. Not a minimum. A limit.

You have to be remarkably thick or inattentive to not notice what the current limit is, and in either case you're unlikely to also be on the lookout for other hazards on the road.

And the Government is remarkably benevolent in response to breaking the rules of the road and driving dangerously. They don't take away your car, and they don't make you retake your test straight away. You just have to pay a very small fine and get a couple of naughty marks against your licence.

A tax? Hardly. A slap on the wrist and no more. And such a gentle slap that people evidently don't even realise that they are being punished but just see it as another cost for the poor persecuted motorist.

 

[shunter]

You been making some additional contibutions to general taxation then shunter ? You got a bit of a heavy right foot? Think of all that extra fuel you're wasting and extra CO2 emissions you are creating. Slow down.

Speeding fines are taxes on the stupid. There is a speed limit. You know what the limit is but you choose to break it. Either you're in one hell of a hurry all the time or you have deep pockets and are feeling benevolent .

Also speed cameras save lives can't argue with them really. More of them I say. The only way to change behaviour is to hit people in the wallets .

I'll repeat the question I asked someone else;

Are you saying that you have never gone above the speed limit or just that you have never been caught?

I assume that you would equally disagree with the emergency services travelling in excess of the speed limit and risking killing other innocent road users to save another.

 

[John the Monkey]

I assume that you would equally disagree with the emergency services travelling in excess of the speed limit and risking killing other innocent road users to save another.

Are you seriously equating this with your own exceeding the speed limit?

You are aware that drivers of Emergency vehicles are specially trained, and that exemptions to traffic law apply to them when they are attending an emergency that do not apply to other motorists, aren't you?

 

[shunter]

Are you seriously equating this with your own exceeding the speed limit?

You are aware that drivers of Emergency vehicles are specially trained, and that exemptions to traffic law apply to them when they are attending an emergency that do not apply to other motorists, aren't you?

And there was me believing the Government campaigns that speed alone kills. How gullible am I? Now you are suggesting that speed does not necesarily kill but rather badly trained drivers can not speed safely. Does that mean motorists with advanced training IAMS and ROSPA can also speed safely?

Maybe speeding needs other factors to be the big danger that it is on the road eg. inattentive driver, drinking, on the mobile, too busy talking to children in back seat, poor roadcraft and driving skills etc

Strangely enough, I watched a police car with emergency lights and siren nearly take a car and it passengers out in a huge queue of cars because the driver pulled into the hard shoulder to let the police through not realising the police where using the hard shoulder. It wasn't the police driver's skills that saved him from almost certain serious injury but just coincidence and 2 - 3 secs.

By the way I don't exceed the speed limit - or is it I haven't been caught in the last 8 years - motorcyclists don't speed

 

[John the Monkey]

And there was me believing the Government campaigns that speed alone kills. How gullible am I?

Do you understand that Emergency vehicles have specific exemptions to traffic law BECAUSE they are a) attending emergencies and have drivers that have received additional training?

Joe Public may have gone through additional training but those exemptions do not apply to him (or to, say, a trained off duty Emergency services driver driver) going about their every day drive to work/shops/local point of interest. Clear enough?

 

[shunter]

Do you understand that Emergency vehicles have specific exemptions to traffic law BECAUSE they are a) attending emergencies and have drivers that have received additional training?

Joe Public may have gone through additional training but those exemptions do not apply to him (or to, say, a trained off duty Emergency services driver driver) going about their every day drive to work/shops/local point of interest. Clear enough?

Did you seriously think I was arguing that Advanced drivers should also be exempt? Did you really think I was suggesting that the emergency services should not be exempt from prosecution?

By the way, the bit you quoted has no relevance to your above statement. You will see that it was you who stated that one can safely speed with training so the logical conclusion of that is that advanced drivers also have a lot of the skills to safely go above the speed limit. No mention again of exemptions! No mention that it would be appropriate to let them do so! Just saying that it is not speed alone that kills.

 

[Crankarm]

I'll repeat the question I asked someone else;

Are you saying that you have never gone above the speed limit or just that you have never been caught?

I assume that you would equally disagree with the emergency services travelling in excess of the speed limit and risking killing other innocent road users to save another.

And I'll repeat me question to you shunter:

Have you been caught speeding a few times because you have a heavy right foot or limp wrist because your posts read like you have ? If a motorcyclist you are in a group of road users who ALWAYS adhere to the speed limits .

For me unblemished license. Never been caught speeding as I don't speed. As I'm sufficiently alert and aware of road conditions and instructions fear of penalty for breaking the speed limit is of no concern to me. I can go to sleep at night without worrying what is going to drop through the letter box in a few weeks time or worry about an umarked police van parked up by the roadside with it's rear doors open unlike many other car drivers I have seen who alarming slam on their brakes to slow their cars and avoid a ticket .

TBH I drive very little now. Last time I used the car was about 1 month ago and that was just to take it for a run to charge up the battery and make sure everything was still working. Most of the time I cycle everywhere. Have been known to be a bit of a speed demon on my bike though .

Slow down shunter. Sounds catchy...... Slow down shunter. Cue the backing singers, drums and guitars.....Slow down shunter.....

 

[scouserinlondon]

And the point is that I fit it into my daily life rather than having to make time to exercise.

I've been on a bit of a weight loss mission for the last year, and cycling 4 times per week has made it so I only have to go to the gym twice a week no and even then it's only a short weights session, cardio's taken care of thanks to the commute.

 

[John the Monkey]

By the way, the bit you quoted has no relevance to your above statement. You will see that it was you who stated that one can safely speed with training so the logical conclusion of that is that advanced drivers

No.

I said that exemptions to the law exist for Emergency Service drivers attending emergencies. Comparison to other drivers who are impatient, late for meetings, inattentive or simply want to go faster than the posted limit is inappropriate, as the circumstances and legal consequences are different.

 

[shunter]

Slow down shunter. Sounds catchy...... Slow down shunter. Cue the backing singers, drums and guitars.....Slow down shunter.....

A song just for me - I am touched!

Slow down Shunter
You’re far to fast
Ease of the throttle
If you want to last
This speeding lark is just not cool
Driving around like a complete tool
It’s not a question of fines or taxes
Or that speeding kills – the fact is
Crankarm’s the man who doesn’t do speed
And John the Monkey sees no need
For all that hurrying on the Queen’s Highway
So stop it now and do it my way!

Cue 4 blond long legged backing singers and Rolf Harris Wobble board


Only caught speeding once many years ago. Cop jumped into the middle of the road around a hidden corner and then claimed I wouldn't have been able to stop in time if someone had been crossing the road - hence the reason that I stopped in time for him. Not the cleverest in irony! He reeled in quite a queue of culprits for most of the morning. Of course he must have overmilked that spot to get his numbers up because the local residents in co-operation with the police got the the speed limit raised from 30mph to 40mph. Go figure Never seen a traffic cop in that area since then.

Limp Wristed Motorcycle Club sounds a bit too gay for me! Limp wrist means throttle closed !

Have also been seen doing 33.4 mph in a 30mph zone on my bicycle but old habits die hard - would feel guilty about if it wasn't for car drivers going past at over 40mph.

Commuting by cycle is healthy and should be encouraged more actively by advertising campaigns but they wont.

 

[HJ]

Yes, true, until you reach a situation where the vast precentage of the population has been caught speeding.

Just because people haven't been caught speeding doesn't mean they don't speed. Put more camera's up, lower the speed limit on rural roads, set up more average speed sections, change the speed limit up and down on the same road and watch the number of convictions rise further.


'Recently released figures reveal that in 2004 there were 13.5 million motoring offenses - that's about 1 for every 2 cars in the country. Of these there were 11 million fixed penalty notices which includes just over 2 million issued from speed cameras.
The increase in speed camera tickets is 6% higher than in 2003 and double that from 2001 raking in £130 million in fines during 2004.
These numbers are likely to increase as 233 new camera sites have been approved for 2006-2007'

'A total of 1,462,235 speeding fines were handed out to drivers in England and Wales in 2007 - the most recent data available.
At £60 each, that raised some £87,734,100 for Government coffers - the equivalent of £240,367 a day'

What a load of bollocks...

Break the law and you pay a fine, the fact that speed cameras are used to catch criminals has nothing to do with tax. If you don't want to be fined, don't break the law, tax of the other hand has to be paid...

 

[HJ]

35 Million Vehicles
£200 year Tax average each Vehicle
£500 VAT/Fuel Duty per Vehicle
£10 Insurance

Easily a Minimum of £2.5 Billion per year.

And the cost to the NHS due to ill heath caused by lack of exercise in adults??

Vehicles don't even cover half of it...