Did you know?

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Did you know that there is a physical condition known as situs inversus in which the organs of the body are in a reversed location. eg., the heart is in the right chest instead of the left, etc, This condition occurs in about 1 person in 50,000. People with this condition often die in their 20s, but some have lived till their 80s and 90s. 

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Actor Guy Pearce has carried heartbreak since childhood. At just eight years old, he lost his father in a horrific plane accident that shattered his family and forced him to grow up too soon.

In August 1976, Stuart Pearce, a decorated RAF squadron leader and chief test pilot for Australia’s government aircraft industry, was killed when the tail of his plane broke away mid-flight. His navigator survived, but Pearce never came home.

Left with his mother Anne and disabled sister Tracy, Pearce became “the man of the house.” He remembers routines of responsibility—turning off the TV, practising instruments, helping his sister to bed—that shaped his resilience but robbed him of a carefree childhood.

Years later, Pearce admitted the loss left him fearful of change and “jangling with nerves.” He struggled with anger, turned to marijuana for calm, and only through therapy began to face the trauma.

Now 58, Pearce reflects on those years differently, especially as a father to his son Monte. His pain, he says, forged the strength behind both his life and his performances.

 

[Litespeed]

Ben Mendelson also has a interesting background, his father is a famous and lauded scientist.

 

He headed the Florey institute for medical research.

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Did you know that you are required to give way to pedestrians on a slip lane even if no pedestrian crossing is marked? The penalty for failure to comply is a fine of $500 and 3 demerit points.

 

In Queensland, there are two offences related to failing to give way to pedestrians.

 

Section 69(2A) of the Queensland Road Rules: This offence applies when a driver fails to give way when turning left from a slip lane, including to pedestrians.

 

Section 81(2) of the Queensland Road Rules: This offence applies when a driver fails to give way at a marked pedestrian crossing.

 

For both offences, the penalty is the same: a $500 fine and 3 demerit points.

 

Similar rules apply in other states.

 

[Marty_d]

Pedestrians always have right of way. Anywhere. If you're doing 110 on a freeway and a pedestrian climbs over the barrier and wanders across the road, it's your responsibility to avoid them.

[spacesailor]

NAH .

Don't deprive them of their ' suicide ' .

Lend them a way-out of their despair! .

spacesailor

[onetrack]

It's not quite that clear-cut, Marty. Pedestrians must accept that a roadway has priority for vehicles, unless there's a crossing of some kind. In W.A., the general rule is you must give way to pedestrians if you've stopped your vehicle, as in doing a turn. However, if your vehicle hasn't stopped, the vehicle has right of way.

 

It's a matter of courtesy on both parties behalf, that motorists offer pedestrians the courtesy of walking across the road, if it doesn't impede traffic flow - and pedestrians must take care that they don't step into the path of vehicles without looking. There is a charge of "obstructing traffic", which can be applied to both motorists and pedestrians.

[Jerry_Atrick]

In San Francisco, cars have to yield to pedestrians virtually everywhere. It is like the roads are daubed with a great big zerbra crossing everywhere. If a pedestrian wlaks to the curb to cross the road, the cars have to give way. I had no idea and about 1/2 way between intersections I decided I would cross the road.. They are wide fopotpaths (sidewalks), and the cars can see you coming and they slow right down hoping would cross before they get to you. Of course I had no idea, so by the time I gout to the kerb, the car was at a crawl. "Oh, come on! What are you waiting for? Hurry up!" I exclaimed to myself before I realised he was stopping to let me cross.

 

I thought it was an extremely considerate, if over the top driver, but someone corrected me that it was a nw law (since the last time I visited).

 

The other law that California has,  which I like, is on certain usually mountainous windy roads, if you have moer than 5 cars behind you (and you are causign a queue), you have to legally pull over when safe and let them pass.

Edited 2 hours ago by Jerry_Atrick

[Marty_d]

7 hours ago, onetrack said:

It's not quite that clear-cut, Marty. Pedestrians must accept that a roadway has priority for vehicles, unless there's a crossing of some kind. In W.A., the general rule is you must give way to pedestrians if you've stopped your vehicle, as in doing a turn. However, if your vehicle hasn't stopped, the vehicle has right of way.

 

It's a matter of courtesy on both parties behalf, that motorists offer pedestrians the courtesy of walking across the road, if it doesn't impede traffic flow - and pedestrians must take care that they don't step into the path of vehicles without looking. There is a charge of "obstructing traffic", which can be applied to both motorists and pedestrians.

While you are correct, if you could reasonably be expected to see the person and you didn't take action to avoid them, I suspect you'd still face charges (our neighbourhood Mr Plod may know).

Either way, I wouldn't want someone's death on my conscience.

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

If a pedestrian wlaks to the curb to cross the road, the cars have to give way.

That explains what Dustin Hoffman's "I'm walking here" in the movie Midnight Cowboy. That line wasn't in the script. Hoffman came out with it because a taxi didn't stop as he and his partner were crossing a road during the shooting of a scene.  It was an unconscious response to a common situation.