Not the Daily Mail.
The BBC.
Driver fined 'for blowing his nose'
I am sorry, the world has indeed gone mad.
But more seriously, we now have laws of either such vagueness or framed deliberately to be catch-alls that basically one can be busted for anything, anytime.... because someone feels like it. Remember, the AG seems to have flipped between illegal to legal in a heartbeat ... on going to war.
And we now have retroactive laws being flung about with more heft on matters of money than on terrorism.
The law... is an ass. And many, too many, involved in it, are a**holes. Which means one, fatal, inevitable result: we will cease to respect them, and hence the law.
And it will not matter if, as I suspect, this idiocy is quietly dropped and all involved slink away to grumble before trying it on again. The damage has been done. All for £60 (rising with each challenge on validity, a totally disproportionate piece of official extortion that does not apply in the other direction).
Hope they think it worth it. I'm sure, for some reason, like what seems our entire civil self-service, there will have been bonusses involved.
Showing posts with label DRIVING. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DRIVING. Show all posts
Friday, January 29, 2010
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Driving Mrs. Martin - Nippy helpful advice
You may not of noticed, but winter has returned.
So I just thought it was worth sharing some very useful, proactive tips and tricks that my dear wife has tracked down, following her short but expensive introduction to the joys of snow driving and black ice on an untreated road this time last year.
Especially as all that is in this cold 'snap' (how long does it last before a new temporal definition applies... a cold 'drawn out agonising echo'?) happening is apparently 'unprecedented' (that means it hasn't happened before), and there's a chance that while the helpful notion of 'not travelling unless you have to' may tick a box in some high-paid circles, especially those now putting grit on ration, to keep the economy running most still have to get from A to B to do X & Y to earn a crust.
So fresh from her PC via my PC to yours (noting all, so far, are from our national broadcaster doing what they should be doing, informing factually rather than opining or evangelising, and doing it well)...
Fab advice here from peeps around the world who are used to snow and icy conditions.
Your tips for coping in a colder UK climate
Top tips for driving safely in the snow and icy weather
How to drive in snow and icy weather
Feel free to add any that help. Possibly more useful than some gracing our screens and pages with a bunch of excuses and 'It wasn't our faults' who perhaps deserve a tad more challenge in future when asking for a wadge of wonga to prevent things long term that they seem a tad shy on even basic contingency plans to prepare for now.
Addendum (with luck addenda)
Lifehacker - Top 10 Winter Survival Tools and Tactics
BBC - Brown issues cold weather gas and salt supply pledge - Phew!
Mumsnet
BBC - Pothole and frozen pipe worries as 'big freeze' thaws
So I just thought it was worth sharing some very useful, proactive tips and tricks that my dear wife has tracked down, following her short but expensive introduction to the joys of snow driving and black ice on an untreated road this time last year.
Especially as all that is in this cold 'snap' (how long does it last before a new temporal definition applies... a cold 'drawn out agonising echo'?) happening is apparently 'unprecedented' (that means it hasn't happened before), and there's a chance that while the helpful notion of 'not travelling unless you have to' may tick a box in some high-paid circles, especially those now putting grit on ration, to keep the economy running most still have to get from A to B to do X & Y to earn a crust.
So fresh from her PC via my PC to yours (noting all, so far, are from our national broadcaster doing what they should be doing, informing factually rather than opining or evangelising, and doing it well)...
Fab advice here from peeps around the world who are used to snow and icy conditions.
Your tips for coping in a colder UK climate
Top tips for driving safely in the snow and icy weather
How to drive in snow and icy weather
Feel free to add any that help. Possibly more useful than some gracing our screens and pages with a bunch of excuses and 'It wasn't our faults' who perhaps deserve a tad more challenge in future when asking for a wadge of wonga to prevent things long term that they seem a tad shy on even basic contingency plans to prepare for now.
Addendum (with luck addenda)
Lifehacker - Top 10 Winter Survival Tools and Tactics
BBC - Brown issues cold weather gas and salt supply pledge - Phew!
Mumsnet
BBC - Pothole and frozen pipe worries as 'big freeze' thaws
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Musing on a motorway
Yesterday I was travelling to and from a VC-pitch contest in Bristol (more on this later).
First up I was not doing it in the Volvo. And this is a car designed to lollop along motorways.
No, I was in the missus' Golf, while she took mine.
The reason was simple: cost (and this, plus time, was why I wasn't in a train). I don't happen to like it as there is no way I can afford to get a car that does what The Volvo does, only cheaper, but my actions were shaped by market forces.
The other was not on the motorway. Just after Gloucester I got on the road that takes one back to Ross. And on my tail, the whole way, mostly through countryside, I was bang on 50, 40 and 30mph.
After 15 miles I had a tailback of 20 cars. Ironically, if the police car had been at the front I suspect we'd all have got there a lot quicker. And safer.
Because, despite having a Road Angel, without cruise control I had my eye glued on the speedo the whole time, as the merest blip on the gas or downward slope was taking me over the limit, even by the 10% allowed'.
This was... is...plain stupid. Rules vs. common sense. Box-ticks vs. desired result. And from the look on the police driver's face as I checked along the route, he thought so to.
First up I was not doing it in the Volvo. And this is a car designed to lollop along motorways.
No, I was in the missus' Golf, while she took mine.
The reason was simple: cost (and this, plus time, was why I wasn't in a train). I don't happen to like it as there is no way I can afford to get a car that does what The Volvo does, only cheaper, but my actions were shaped by market forces.
The other was not on the motorway. Just after Gloucester I got on the road that takes one back to Ross. And on my tail, the whole way, mostly through countryside, I was bang on 50, 40 and 30mph.
After 15 miles I had a tailback of 20 cars. Ironically, if the police car had been at the front I suspect we'd all have got there a lot quicker. And safer.
Because, despite having a Road Angel, without cruise control I had my eye glued on the speedo the whole time, as the merest blip on the gas or downward slope was taking me over the limit, even by the 10% allowed'.
This was... is...plain stupid. Rules vs. common sense. Box-ticks vs. desired result. And from the look on the police driver's face as I checked along the route, he thought so to.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
A matter of principle
If only Gordon Brown could drive
It's a shame that the subsequent thread posts show the polarisation such blog posts inspire, and which often render these things such a trial.
I have to say I have much sympathy with the basic thrust of this piece, though not specifically or restricted to driving, and its costs per se.
It just the worrying trend of quite significant decisions or, more often, impositions, being made on many by a few almost totally isolated from the actual realities and/or consequences of them.
Extending the automotive motif, beyond chauffeured ministers and taxi-fare redeemed Mayors, there is also the simple fact of the London-centricity of it all.
Simply put, you really don't need to use your car as much there, and certainly not to get to work. Ignoring the situation elsewhere, by politician, activist and even media, is positively divisive. The latest 'green' measures have done nothing to support more economical motoring options, or encourage any decent enviROI moves, and merely added a swingeing additional tax burden to those struggling to cope already with all the other costs imposed to pay for index-linked salaries and pensions.
It's a shame that the subsequent thread posts show the polarisation such blog posts inspire, and which often render these things such a trial.
I have to say I have much sympathy with the basic thrust of this piece, though not specifically or restricted to driving, and its costs per se.
It just the worrying trend of quite significant decisions or, more often, impositions, being made on many by a few almost totally isolated from the actual realities and/or consequences of them.
Extending the automotive motif, beyond chauffeured ministers and taxi-fare redeemed Mayors, there is also the simple fact of the London-centricity of it all.
Simply put, you really don't need to use your car as much there, and certainly not to get to work. Ignoring the situation elsewhere, by politician, activist and even media, is positively divisive. The latest 'green' measures have done nothing to support more economical motoring options, or encourage any decent enviROI moves, and merely added a swingeing additional tax burden to those struggling to cope already with all the other costs imposed to pay for index-linked salaries and pensions.
Monday, November 12, 2007
A Going Overboard Government
Yes, it's an acronym. AGOG. I think it is deserved: Motorists risk £60 fines for smoking behind the wheel
I don't smoke. But I do drive. And I do like to know what I can and can't do, so I can avoid doing the latter. This simply seems designed to create confusion enough to ensure a steady stream of revenue.
Because I am trying to grasp how these sentences, I presume provided by this country’s legislators and law enforcers, can sit together in a viable manner:
‘... inclusion of smoking ... as a potential hazard.’
“... the smoking reference in the code was an advisory one and it was down to the discretion of police forces...’
‘Transgressors could face criminal charges “if someone was deemed ...’
Is it or is it not LEGAL to smoke whilst driving? If it still is, then this seems to be a fundamental assault (and not the first) on the chances of any law-abiding person being able to understand the law enough to obey it, much less those in theory tasked to enforce it.
How can you face criminal charges on something that is advisory????
This is clear institutional anarchy.
I don't smoke. But I do drive. And I do like to know what I can and can't do, so I can avoid doing the latter. This simply seems designed to create confusion enough to ensure a steady stream of revenue.
Because I am trying to grasp how these sentences, I presume provided by this country’s legislators and law enforcers, can sit together in a viable manner:
‘... inclusion of smoking ... as a potential hazard.’
“... the smoking reference in the code was an advisory one and it was down to the discretion of police forces...’
‘Transgressors could face criminal charges “if someone was deemed ...’
Is it or is it not LEGAL to smoke whilst driving? If it still is, then this seems to be a fundamental assault (and not the first) on the chances of any law-abiding person being able to understand the law enough to obey it, much less those in theory tasked to enforce it.
How can you face criminal charges on something that is advisory????
This is clear institutional anarchy.
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