Family Emergency. How fast would you go? Be honest.

[Disastrous]

zarjaz1991 said:

blueg33 said:

You can guess all you like, you are rather presumptive, only a bit older than a child yourself I see.

Aha, an older person dismissing my opinion because I'm young. That's really surprising.

Besides which, 24 is considerably past being a 'child'.

In fairness, you're the guy who decided that at 24 he had seen enough of the world to know that he doesn't want a woman, ever, but he does want to own two Mondeos, aren't you?

It sort of suggests you might be a bit short on life experience.

[WestyCarl]

TartanPaint said:

zarjaz1991 said:

It's also interesting to note that there seems to be a considerable amount of "I'm a parent, I've got kids so it's different" nonsense in this thread....as usual people with children think they have some sort of miraculous outlook on the world that non-parents are too stupid to have realised.

Nope, it's nothing to do with that. My own personal experience (YMMV):

I have two kids, a girl and another girl, 2.75 and 0.75 revolutions round the sun respectively. However, before I had kids, I couldn't stand the little snotballs. I was anti-kids. Horrible little things, all of them! I'd never have one of those! Yuk!

Having my own has made me a far less selfish person than I was before, and that definitely includes a bit more understanding of other people's kids too, and a bit more empathy towards parents, and certainly more concern for the well-being of kids in general. When I'm in the park with mine, I'll keep a wee eye on the others, just to make sure they're not doing anything that could kill them. I'm more patient when there's a crying kid in a restaurant while I'm trying to enjoy my food, goddamit! I'm more empathetic towards a mother struggling with bags and a toddler and taking too long about it, because I sort of understand the epic battle she had just to get everyone washed and fed and dressed and out the house this morning! If there is a bunch of kids running around the park making loads of noise, or splashing a bit too much in the pool, I'm less annoyed than I would have been in the past.

In short, my own kids have made me less selfish towards all kids, and I'd say just less selfish in general. My girls instantly bumped me off the top slot in the "most important people in my life" charts, and once that happened, and I started to look around a bit more, I realised I'm actually pretty far down that list. I enjoy my own family's company more and they don't seem to be quite so much of an inconvenience when they visit. I talk to my sister more, and suddenly she's a fantastic aunty instead of just another person I'm obliged to buy a Christmas present for. I have had no choice but to take pleasure in other people's pleasure. I have to spend less money on myself, and take joy in seeing the girls enjoy my disposable income instead. I have to holiday a lot closer to home, and holidays aren't really holidays if you come home more tired than you went, because it's not my holiday time any more; it's the time when I give my wife a well-earned break. At weekends, I have to go to play-parks instead of race tracks. I have to drive cars with isofix points instead of harness bars. And I really, really, don't mind.

I do accept that none of us know what we'd do in any random hypothetical made-up white-knight situation, especially one designed to provoke every little boy's fantasy of a free pass for a blue-light run at hyperspeed, but I'd have thought that more PHers would vote for, "I'd like to think I wouldn't, but..." rather than, "yes I absolutely would!".

For somebody's default position to be "I'd drive flat out!", well, I guess that's something the old me would understand, and the new me understands that the old me would understand, but the new me doesn't.

I'd say my own kids are probably the biggest reason I hope I wouldn't drive like a selfish pr*ck.

Edited by TartanPaint on Wednesday 11th May 09:04

Great post

[zarjaz1991]

Disastrous said:

In fairness, you're the guy who decided that at 24 he had seen enough of the world to know that he doesn't want a woman, ever, but he does want to own two Mondeos, aren't you?

It sort of suggests you might be a bit short on life experience.

It's not that I "don't want a woman", I am just happier not being emotionally dependent on others. I have plenty of friends and don't live some sort of solo life. Possibly that will change in the future but I have no interest in the dating / shagging culture that appears to dominate the lives of people my age and indeed much older.

What I don't ever want is children, and that is perfectly reasonable. However that's for another thread.

Two Mondeos? It happened by accident, partly out of a principle that I wasn't going to accept a dealer part ex figure of only £100. I am also quite fond of the older Mondeo and realised I'd become rather attached to it. This is a forum of car enthusiasts, surely such irrational and eccentric behaviours can be understood? And if you add in my company Volvo I have three cars, all for just one person.

Perhaps in the future if I have more money, I might do similar things with more interesting vehicles.

[Disastrous]

zarjaz1991 said:

Disastrous said:

In fairness, you're the guy who decided that at 24 he had seen enough of the world to know that he doesn't want a woman, ever, but he does want to own two Mondeos, aren't you?

It sort of suggests you might be a bit short on life experience.

It's not that I "don't want a woman", I am just happier not being emotionally dependent on others. I have plenty of friends and don't live some sort of solo life. Possibly that will change in the future but I have no interest in the dating / shagging culture that appears to dominate the lives of people my age and indeed much older.

What I don't ever want is children, and that is perfectly reasonable. However that's for another thread.

Two Mondeos? It happened by accident, partly out of a principle that I wasn't going to accept a dealer part ex figure of only £100. I am also quite fond of the older Mondeo and realised I'd become rather attached to it. This is a forum of car enthusiasts, surely such irrational and eccentric behaviours can be understood? And if you add in my company Volvo I have three cars, all for just one person.

Perhaps in the future if I have more money, I might do similar things with more interesting vehicles.

When you get a bit older you won't feel the need to justify yourself to a stranger on the Internet...

[zarjaz1991]

Disastrous said:

When you get a bit older you won't feel the need to justify yourself to a stranger on the Internet...

I'm not really justifying myself, I'm just discussing it.

I've no interest in convincing people, but I'm quite happy discussing my reasoning.

Anyhow, if I didn't respond, people might think I was normal....that would never do.

[Disastrous]

zarjaz1991 said:

Disastrous said:

When you get a bit older you won't feel the need to justify yourself to a stranger on the Internet...

I'm not really justifying myself, I'm just discussing it.

I've no interest in convincing people, but I'm quite happy discussing my reasoning.

Anyhow, if I didn't respond, people might think I was normal....that would never do.

I was only pulling your leg

And you're quite right - it is a discussion forum after all!

[TartanPaint]

One of the best (simplest, cheapest, most therapeutic) ways to figure yourself out is try to justify your choices and opinions to a bunch of strangers on the internet. If you can't write a convincing argument, cancel the post and consider changing your mind.

If you've got a thick skin, PH can be very good for the soul.

[ORD]

No argument here - I dont want the lad to have children any more than he does.

[DaveCWK]

I'd go as fast as is safe, nothing crazy though. I'd probably run a few red lights if there was clearly no vehicles coming (well sighted roundabouts which have been 'upgraded' with lights, T junctions etc)

Infact what am I saying. In the SE, any progress id like to make is predetermined by the queue I'm stuck in

[DoubleSix]

Those of you saying you'd just call an Ambulance and dutifully wait should check out '999 What's your emergency?' on C4....

Edited by DoubleSix on Monday 4th July 22:13

[mph1977]

DoubleSix said:

Those of you saying you'd just call an Ambulance and dutifully wait should check out '999 What's your emergency?' on C4....

Edited by DoubleSix on Monday 4th July 22:13

care to enlighten us with your wonderful insight ?

also how doe s that sit with the majority of ambulance transports being undertaken without claiming exemptions ...

[DoubleSix]

mph1977 said:

DoubleSix said:

Those of you saying you'd just call an Ambulance and dutifully wait should check out '999 What's your emergency?' on C4....

Edited by DoubleSix on Monday 4th July 22:13

care to enlighten us with your wonderful insight ?

also how doe s that sit with the majority of ambulance transports being undertaken without claiming exemptions ...

For your benefit, if you missed the program, it showed the reality of a massively stretched and underfunded service - as those of who have had to use it well know, response times are not great...

[LaneDiesel]

I was wondering about this the other day. A few months ago I was woken up by the other half in agony collapsed on the bathroom floor.

Ambulance took 45 minutes to arrive, and has the control room not called me back when they did, I'd of thrown her in the back and made some progress.

I would always be mindful of adding more patients to the A&E list, but watchinh 999 WYE this evening certainly made me think......

[mph1977]

DoubleSix said:

mph1977 said:

DoubleSix said:

Those of you saying you'd just call an Ambulance and dutifully wait should check out '999 What's your emergency?' on C4....

Edited by DoubleSix on Monday 4th July 22:13

care to enlighten us with your wonderful insight ?

also how doe s that sit with the majority of ambulance transports being undertaken without claiming exemptions ...

For your benefit, if you missed the program, it showed the reality of a massively stretched and underfunded service - as those of who have had to use it well know, response times are not great...

Response times suffer becasue of the amount of Total Wastes of Ambulance Time that call ... not helped by replacing clinician led NHS direct with computer led and call taker deliverred 111.

the first elephant in the room is the tractor production commissars put in place by the dear leader and the great leader, this applies across the NHS as a whole

the second elephant in the room is of course the way in which the Unions are creating a toxic situation within the service ...

[ashleyman]

I was literally just driving home from the cinema and had an ambulance behind me. Funny that this topic had been resurrected.

Lots and lots of tight bends and double white lines meant that passing me wasn't possible for them. I had that ambulance up my butt for about 3 minutes. I was indicating left so they knew I had seen them, but still carrying on at the 30/33 speed limit so that I wasn't slowing them down when they couldn't pass. After 3 minutes I knew they needed to get past and I was holding them up. I knew the road well and I knew there was a passing spot further up so accelerated and drove to the passing spot as fast as I could (safely) and pulled over to be out of their way.

This is where it gets interesting. It took a while but they passed me and then I pulled out behind them. They're going 35/40 max and I'm at 30. It takes a few more minutes to reach a red light where they treat it as a give way. By the time I get there I'm now 2 car lengths behind them and then my light goes green so I move off and now I'm right behind them. Still behind the ambo and it's slowly gaining speed and distance. Eventually it pulls left onto a 60 dual carriageway. I get there and pull left too and it's an awesome sweeping corner so I have some fun and go down the road at Mach 1 accelerating to 60. I'm gaining on the ambo and eventually pass it - it takes longer to get to 60 than I do!

I then carry on and go through the next town at 30 like a good boy. Eventually the ambulance comes up behind me, passes me again and then I turn off and drive to my house.

The one thing that stuck with me for this whole experience was that 1. the ambo was big, slow and heavy. And 2. If I had a loved one and I was driving that route, I'd be at least 3x faster in the car than that ambulance would have been. Maybe they were working inside the back, maybe not. Either way I couldn't help but think that I would have been faster. Really made me understand why sometimes people want to drive themselves. In an urban setting, ambulance is quicker due to traffic and lights. But in the countryside, car wins.

[Efbe]

TartanPaint said:

One of the best (simplest, cheapest, most therapeutic) ways to figure yourself out is try to justify your choices and opinions to a bunch of strangers on the internet. If you can't write a convincing argument, cancel the post and consider changing your mind.

If you've got a thick skin, PH can be very good for the soul.

actually I will often argue the exact opposite of what I think of a topic just to test it out myself. If I cannot see a good argument leveled back against me, maybe I was wrong in the first place.

[Countdown]

ashleyman said:

I was literally just driving home from the cinema and had an ambulance behind me. Funny that this topic had been resurrected.

Lots and lots of tight bends and double white lines meant that passing me wasn't possible for them. I had that ambulance up my butt for about 3 minutes. I was indicating left so they knew I had seen them, but still carrying on at the 30/33 speed limit so that I wasn't slowing them down when they couldn't pass. After 3 minutes I knew they needed to get past and I was holding them up. I knew the road well and I knew there was a passing spot further up so accelerated and drove to the passing spot as fast as I could (safely) and pulled over to be out of their way.

This is where it gets interesting. It took a while but they passed me and then I pulled out behind them. They're going 35/40 max and I'm at 30. It takes a few more minutes to reach a red light where they treat it as a give way. By the time I get there I'm now 2 car lengths behind them and then my light goes green so I move off and now I'm right behind them. Still behind the ambo and it's slowly gaining speed and distance. Eventually it pulls left onto a 60 dual carriageway. I get there and pull left too and it's an awesome sweeping corner so I have some fun and go down the road at Mach 1 accelerating to 60. I'm gaining on the ambo and eventually pass it - it takes longer to get to 60 than I do!

I then carry on and go through the next town at 30 like a good boy. Eventually the ambulance comes up behind me, passes me again and then I turn off and drive to my house.

The one thing that stuck with me for this whole experience was that 1. the ambo was big, slow and heavy. And 2. If I had a loved one and I was driving that route, I'd be at least 3x faster in the car than that ambulance would have been. Maybe they were working inside the back, maybe not. Either way I couldn't help but think that I would have been faster. Really made me understand why sometimes people want to drive themselves. In an urban setting, ambulance is quicker due to traffic and lights. But in the countryside, car wins.

So you couldn't pull over safely for a mile and a half!?

That sounds like one hell of a narrow road.

[ashleyman]

Countdown said:

So you couldn't pull over safely for a mile and a half!?

That sounds like one hell of a narrow road.

It's pretty narrow at the best of times, sometimes scary close if a truck is coming the other direction. All I know is it's a twisty road in mid Surrey with double white lines down the middle. I was slowing down and as left as possible whilst signalling and they wouldn't overtake. I then travelled at 30/33 - the speed limit - and they still wouldn't overtake. I expect it's down to the fact that the ambo would be slow to accelerate/slow to pass and couldn't justify the risk of a head on if they couldn't get round me quick enough. I just decided to get out of the way and drove to the passing place faster than they could catch me.

My point was that even though the ambulance was on blues and driving faster than the speed limit. I was driving at the speed limit and still catching him up.

Edited by ashleyman on Tuesday 5th July 00:25

[mybrainhurts]

Had my own medical emergency in the car.

A dose of stzenspitz took hold from nowhere.

You might think that stopping and puking into a Tesco bag is A Good Idea.

It is not. They have holes.

When the stuff downstairs demands liberation at the speed of light, and you're sitting in the car, its only escape route is up your back.

This is not conducive to fast driving.

[mph1977]

ashleyman said:

Countdown said:

So you couldn't pull over safely for a mile and a half!?

That sounds like one hell of a narrow road.

It's pretty narrow at the best of times, sometimes scary close if a truck is coming the other direction. All I know is it's a twisty road in mid Surrey with double white lines down the middle. I was slowing down and as left as possible whilst signalling and they wouldn't overtake. I then travelled at 30/33 - the speed limit - and they still wouldn't overtake. I expect it's down to the fact that the ambo would be slow to accelerate/slow to pass and couldn't justify the risk of a head on if they couldn't get round me quick enough. I just decided to get out of the way and drove to the passing place faster than they could catch me.

My point was that even though the ambulance was on blues and driving faster than the speed limit. I was driving at the speed limit and still catching him up.

Edited by ashleyman on Tuesday 5th July 00:25

They were not passing you because they do not have an exemption to pass moving vehicles against a solid line


this entire thread is based in fallacy as has been explained numerous times yet still the pH drivign gods continue to advocate dangerous practices.