nomadpete

And this one makes more sense in the 'sex n health' thread

It's a miracle !

I should post this in the religion thread !

6 hours ago, red750 said:

Aaaah. Now I see why the four point harness wasn't popular with motorists in USA.

Although I really do like the concept of electric cars - after all, the IC reciprocating engine is a silly way to create maximum torque at zero rpm, which is what cars need - I have a problem accepting the present batteries. Where is the logic in making a high voltage, high capacity battery out of thousands of little cylindrical cells? Particularly when the battery thus created will become 'defective' when just a few of these masses of cells die?

I eagerly await the development of less messy batteries.

Fanaticism is not good for us.

13 minutes ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

There is a lot to be said for rule by the rich....  

Probably we have drifted to a topic that doen't belong onder the 'politically correct' banner, but......

That's a nice theory. But I suspect that very few super rich got that way by putting the good of the general public ahead of their own greed.

Can you think of any other selection criteria that might prioritise acting in the interests of the general public??

Just looked it up. The BBC claims......

"The 2020 US election campaigns smashed all records - with presidential and congressional candidates spending a total of almost $14bn - more than double the price tag for 2016. "

So there, over $20 BILLION in the last ten years. And that's not counting what it costs in wages!

The monarchy is an absolute bargain compared to tthat

(Our monarch doesn't cost us anything!)

12 hours ago, spacesailor said:

The focus in Australia  !.

IS & always was !.

REVENUE.

On one Short, dead-end road, over 20 signs .

What a waste of tax payer,s money.

On any stretch of N S W road you have to keep your eyes glued to the speedometer. 

Also keep a sharp lookout for the thousands of speed signs ! . Or pay the revenue man !.

spacesailor

 

Add to that, we have a police force culture that is focussed on playing 'spot the infringement'.

A game that borders upon harrassment of motorists.

I thought their job was to use existing laws to protect the general public from harm caused by careless or thoughtless acts committed by individuals. Watching the Aussie TV police patrol shows them persuing and stopping motorists for such things as a defective tail light, which posed no real danger to person nor property.

They never set up a speed trap down our side street (across from a school) but frequently set one up at the end of a long incline on divided road where there was little risk posed by cars going a bit over the limit.

Focus was on easy pickings instead of stopping fewer but far more dangerous drivers.

Thank you Peter. My sweet, perhaps not totally innocent wife thought that was a lovely instructional video.

7 hours ago, onetrack said:

If the Republicans really want to start a bunfight over whether we should still be tied to a monarchial system - which has served us admirably for the 234 years of Australias existence, as we know our current governmental system - then they had better start advertising just exactly WHY a Republic is going to serve us better than the setup we already have.

Now THAT resonates.

If we are going to make ANY changes to the govermnent systems, we should start by clearly showing the cost/benefit/risk analysis.

I confess, last time around, I only voted for a republic because the superficial publicity made it sound like a good idea. It has to be more than just 'a good idea at the time'. There has to be a clear advantage to the country before it is worth introducing the risk of getting a 'popularly elected' psychopath that can buy their way into to the top job, just by buying the greatest advertising package. (Thinking of the USA system here)

11 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

I don't think its unfair.. it was as if she was trying to set the agenda for a referndum on it, conceding the Voice referendum would come first.

 

Are her public positions elected office?

 

Well, we seem to allow far less qualified people (such as sky tv personalities) to make sweeping political statements. Why not an ex pollie voice an opinion?

3 hours ago, Yenn said:

I think we need to concentrate more on drivers mental ability

A culture of safety, taught from early on, would improve the outcomes. Along with a wholistic approach to all aspects (as pointed out above, it takes all aspects to truly make for happy, safe motorists.)

I should never have mentioned skid pans. Skid recovery is like stall recovery in planes. It is most important to recognise the signs of an incipient and how to avoid it developing. In itself it is a very minor but none the less important part of a training package.

We had three instructors and about ten trainees. A good ratio. In the course of a very intensive eight hour day I think I spent 10 minutes on the skid pan and half of that was with the instructor.

10 hours ago, octave said:

It seems to me that advanced vehicle handling training is very much the last resort in terms of avoiding this event.

So, would you say the same about pilot training?

10 hours ago, octave said:

an increase in fatalities amongst older drivers which goes against the general trend.  I am not sure whether putting Granny or Grandad on the skid pan is the fix for this.

This is most likely due to those drivers lacking the skills required for safe motoring.

Proper training and regular reassessment is proven to make pilots safer. Why not apply the same to motorists.

Many older drivers have forgotten a lot of the road rules. Many are not allowing for their (expected and natural) decline in cognitive capabilities. Many GP's are reluctant to ground drivers who should be grounded.

Advanced training spends as much time teaching safe driving culture as much as it teaches actual control of the car in emergency situations.

Judging by the drift of this conversation, few people have done one of these courses.

I simply love science. It is so entertaining. But so many people believe in it! Some even believe the world is round!

EDIT TIME EXPIRED so my more considered post follows here

Not many modern urban cowboys have had your extensive experience of learning early, on slippery inconsistent gravel, at silly speeds, in cruddy poorly designed cars.

And I think that those youthful fast reactions probably saved me more times than outright skill, too.

Modern Grand Theft Auto is no replacement for real world experience. And the present 100hrs logbook is little better than that. Learners only gain a false sense of security from this as parents (the supervisors) will be taking their learners on simple easy roads. A learner needs to learn a lot more than painless easy driving around familiar places with little challenge.

Much of my driving skill was earned at great personal cost and luck. Later, professional training helped a great deal. I hope that my learnt skills combined with better ability to read the surrounding traffic, can keep me out of trouble now that I have aging reactions. But I worry about being surrounded by high risk semiskilled road users.

Just like flying, those automatic emergency actions can (often) kick in because they were embedded into the brain with lots of practice. Learner drivers do not get the benefit of emergency procedures in real cars on real roads. You can't legislate safety on roads any more than CASA can legislate safety in flying machines.

Not many modern urban cowboys have had your experience of learning early, on slippery inconsistent gravel, at silly speeds, in cruddy poorly designed cars.

And I think that those youthful fast reactions probably saved me more times than outright skill, too.

I hope that learnt skills combined with better ability to read the surrounding traffic, can keep me out of trouble now that I have aging reactions.

13 hours ago, onetrack said:

anti-monarchists in every society in every country. Scratch them a little, and you'll usually find they're of Irish ancestry

The Irish have long memories....

They've never forgotten the potato famine, have they!

What about the Scots, don't they have a bit of a long standing grudge too?

30 minutes ago, Yenn said:

I have taken to talking to some of my friends and telling them that I respect them for what they are.

We need more of that. Thanks Yenn.

I didn't know that UK has a anti-monarchy movement. Or is it just another "anti change" person that can't cope with the inevitable?

8 hours ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

pass a test involving stopping distances,

Incidentally, the defensive driving course that I keep rabbiting on about did exactly this. Participants were taken out to a safe bit of tar, and asked to stand beside the 'road' at the point where they think a car will come to rest after a sudden stop from 40kph. Then repeat at 60kph, then at 80kph.

A discussion was held regarding the differences.

Even many experienced drivers had no idea how the stopping distances look from outside the car. Few knew that it takes more than twice the distance to stop from twice the speed. It was a very sobering experience.

Thanks for the insight into all the factors at play.

That particular experience was simply one where the 'good holes' in the swiss cheese lined up.

Fortunately swiss cheese has 'good holes' as well as 'bad holes'

OK Bruce. We all seem to agree that 'human factors' is a big problem with regard to road safety. I consider Stupidity to be a significant human factor.

6 minutes ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

I still say that at some level of stupidity, we should not give out driver's licenses

Now that you raised that valid point, how can we implement a test for 'stupid' and does it have a stupid scale?

My experience with ABS...

Country road. Narrow blacktop. Light drizzle had dampened the road after a long dry spell. I decided not to let the apprentice drive home. I came over a crest at 95kph, and an approaching car suddenly slowed and attempted a U turn in front of me. The road was too narrow for that so the young lady stopped across my path, ready to do a three point turn.

I hit the brakes, as you do, and started to swing the wheel to the right to avoid the inevitible. The ABS acted - but I didn't sense any retardation nor change of direction. I'm close enough to clearly see her startled expression. At least she didn't have anyone in the passenger seat. I lifted my foot off the brake and a moment later the car started to change direction as the wheels started turning again. We cleared her rear bumper by a gnats dick. With only the front left wheel still on the tar and the other 3 on wet grass, we went around behind her at 45 degrees to our direction. In my mirror, I saw her reversing to complete her three point turn.

Now before you say it, I didn't use cadence braking. But had I relied on ABS to save us, we would have slid right through her passenger door. In that particular instance it did nothing to improve braking nor allow steering under heavy braking. The only thing that saved the day was my first defensive driver training in which went on a skid pan and practiced the very same manoevre. (Like spin training)

My point is that although ABS MIGHT help SOME people in SOME circumstances, it is definitely not all it is cracked up tp be.  And nothing beats good training.