Annual road toll up 44

[unstuck]

There's at least one in Gorrrrrrrrrrre...

OI, I aint old.

[willytheekid]

OI, I aint old.

Ahhh...yeah...you are mate

...but there aint nothin cooler than old school rockers



you old fart!

[swbarnett]

Life is uncertain at best and it's obvious that if He prevented one tragedy He would have to prevent them all and everyone knows what that would mean. It's a case of hands on or hands off. What would everyone prefer?

I'd prefer that we stopped blaming a logical non-entity^* for our actions and took responsibility for ourselves.




^*Although I have recently postulated that if we are all just brains in jars "God" may actually be a lab technician.

[unstuck]

Ahhh...yeah...you are mate

...but there aint nothin cooler than old school rockers



you old fart!

Bastard, I'm not even to the top of the hill yet, let alone over it.

[Tazz]

The point is that if we make an assumption (and I think a relatively fair one) that we have a reasonably constant number of fatals per car.kilometer, then if we have more cars on the road because of lower fuel prices, we get a proportional increase in the number of fatals.

Is the increased traffic directly causing the extra accidents, or is it the increase in morAnism?
If all those accidents occurred purely because there were an extra 12 vehicles or whatever in their vicinity, then it holds weight as a legitimate factor and cause, otherwise it is just a weak attempt at shifting the blame from bad driving/moronism (fuck ups). That is my (apparently badly worded?) point.

If I have a head on with a car while overtaking it isn't the fact the road is 'busy' that is at fault, it is me, pulling out in front of the car like an eejit.
If the road was less busy and there was no car to hit, cool, but I'm just a lucky eejit then because I'm obviously too hopeless to check for oncoming traffic correctly, and it is only a matter of time before my luck runs out (or I head to Specsavers).

No wonder there are so many useless people on the road if blaming extra traffic for shitacular driving propaganda is so easily swallowed.

[MisterD]

Is the increased traffic directly causing the extra accidents, or is it the increase in morAnism?

Sheesh. How about you read this and come back to us?

[Taxythingy]

No wonder there are so many useless people on the road if blaming extra traffic for shitacular driving propaganda is so easily swallowed.

Surely it's the all the extra traffic on the road that is useless??

[Scuba_Steve]

God has a lot to answer for then... why is it, it seems that 'only the good die young'

I don't need to answer for shit!

[Edbear]

I'd prefer that we stopped blaming a logical non-entity^* for our actions and took responsibility for ourselves.]

Now there's a novel idea...

[bogan]

Now there's a novel idea...

Indeed, maybe you should apply it to your accident then?

[Taxythingy]

There is also an equation for something to do with the distance over which an object accelerates that has something to do with it (so my armour in my leathers is about 10-20 mm thick, compared to an airbag which is about 400 mm deep when fully inflated) but I can't remember it.

That would be force = mass * acceleration, units of which are Newtons = kg * metres/seconds^2.

[Edbear]

What is clear is that crashing usually hurts and hurts a lot more if you break yourself at the same time.

I crashed at the incredibly fast speed of 45 km/h and broke my back. Object of impact? The kerb. Cause? Unseen patch of oil on the corner - invisible in the dark and rain. Vehicle involved? Toyota Estima, one of the stronger vehicles.

What happened? Rear tyres lost grip and the rear slid sideways heading me into oncoming traffic. I managed to spin the van around and it headed straight into the high kerb, smashing the front alloys and as it was sideways, rolled onto its side. The force of impact drove me down into the seat, smashing a vertebrae. What they termed a burst fracture of the L1.

Outcome? One of the longest fusions they have ever done, L3 to T11, rebuilding the L1 with a sizeable chunk of my right hip as there was only small fragments of it left. A permanent curve in the spine and a warning against activities that place strain on the L4/5. Surgeon said the fusion itself would cause considerable stress on those joints and if I stuff up another one there would be nothing he could do. Prognosis? Ongoing pain, early onset of arthritis and uncertainty of time remaining vertical. He stated no more bike riding as that not only places extra strain on the L4 / 5 but also even a minor "off" could cripple me.

In short, I have to decide my risk and balance with staying on my feet for as long as possible. If it was only me affected I would ride, but my family, and especially my wife, want me to stay out of a wheelchair. They had enough last time I was in one for a year or so.

Complicating the issue is a chronic illness that is muscle wasting and very fatiguing among other things that mean it's 50 % fatal if untreated.

What lessons learned? Crashing hurts. Breaking important stuff has long term consequences and accidents can ruin your whole day.

[Berries]

...but there aint nothin cooler than old school rockers

Jeez, Shania Twain has let herself go.

[Tazz]

Sheesh. How about you read this and come back to us?

How about you find all the recent holiday road toll details and point out where it says excess traffic caused the death.
I think you'll find booze, inattention, tiredness and all the usual suspects have actually taken their lives.

How can other countries with way more traffic on the road have lower road tolls if it is that simple? Their traffic is also increasing every year.
Check your shelf full of books for dummies and let us know?

I'm fully aware and understand the simple place you're coming from, more traffic = more risk, but it isn't the traffic that is the risk, it's the mistakes they make and those are what results in the deaths.
Saying if there was less traffic on the road there would be less deaths is a simpleton cop out.

Remember this is all in the context of lemon mans comment and the speed and booze crack downs for this holiday season.
Blaming it on a few more cars on the road (and I haven't actually seen any figures to back that up for this holiday season. How is it measured? Litres of fuel sold? Were boaties out more too?) is just hiding bigger issues, and brushing over the failure of the 'crack down' on speed and booze.

As someone stated, we didn't see them saying that high fuel prices were to blame for the lower road toll last year, they were low due to the lower tolerance on speed allegedly. That's convenient, and probably in your dummies book under 'using whatever stats you can grab to make your argument looks better because it's that easy when you don't account for the full picture'.

[Tazz]

Surely it's the all the extra traffic on the road that is useless??

Finally, some recognition for me as the worlds best ever driver