Reply from BRAKE re Morgue
Discussion
Thank you for your email after hearing Mary Williams on Radio Bedfordshire.
I would just like to confirm that Brake has not had nothing to do with this initiative other than discussing it on the radio today. As far as I am aware it is a local police initiative. This is not something that we would do ourselves, however given the numbers of young people that die on the roads each year, any attempt to educate young drivers about the potentially tragic consequences of taking risks on the road (e.g. drink driving or speeding) should be welcomed. Please bear in mind that it is extremely difficult to get the message across to young drivers (especially males) and sometimes shock tactics may be the only way of doing this. Think also of the children and young people who have to go to the morgue for real to see their dead brother or sister killed in a road crash. Obviously taking people to morgues is a fairly radical approach and I would not expect to see this happening on a wider scale unless there was clear proof that it had been effective in reducing the casualty rate of young drivers who had participated.
One in ten drivers are under 25 but one in four drivers who die on the road are under 25.
If you would like to receive regular information about road safety and help us in our work to prevent deaths on the road and care for those bereaved and injured in crashes, you might like to become a Friend of Brake - please contact me for further details of this scheme.
Regards,
Ruth Harper
Campaign & Communications Officer
Brake, the road safety charity
It has the unpleasantly intolerant ring of squaddie's religious piety, as taken from the contemporary mid 17th Century lifestyle tome, "Confessions of a New Model Pike Cleaner."
And I stand resolutely firm in a puddle of freshly split Castrol GTX, tunic fully buttoned and resplendant in the post-coital glow of a Munchensport black gold fillage session, convinced of mine own righteousness 'gainst these dread oppressors of liberty.
We must defend our island in the face of these fatuous reactionaries, rejecting the very premises upon which their hateful conclusions might otherwise lead us.
If our monarch-elect is a fan of the chariot Vantage, then let us nail our colours to whatever mast of governance unto which we would pledge allegiance.
An Anglicised Sun King with a hankering for the splutter of carb, or the humourless republican with a plan for monorailed singularity and omnibus domination?
No.
And I stand resolutely firm in a puddle of freshly split Castrol GTX, tunic fully buttoned and resplendant in the post-coital glow of a Munchensport black gold fillage session, convinced of mine own righteousness 'gainst these dread oppressors of liberty.
We must defend our island in the face of these fatuous reactionaries, rejecting the very premises upon which their hateful conclusions might otherwise lead us.
If our monarch-elect is a fan of the chariot Vantage, then let us nail our colours to whatever mast of governance unto which we would pledge allegiance.
An Anglicised Sun King with a hankering for the splutter of carb, or the humourless republican with a plan for monorailed singularity and omnibus domination?
No.
My cousin was killed after artic. hit him. Only those adults closest to Ferdl went to identify him. We have moved away from the tradition of the open coffin in the front room as well, and very few go to Chapel of Rest to view body these days.
You would not take a young child to morgue to see a loved one in that state. You want them to remember them as they were in prime of life.
As said in other thread on this: their contribution to road safety is getting tunnel-visioned. The German idea of playing back footage of your own car speeding - with some nasty "what ifs" programmed into game seems much more logical and educational than voyeuristic intrusion into another's grief - in mistaken belief that it will impact on boy racer who will still believe in his own immortality regardless. The Germans are remaining cautiously optimistic over their latest "game" as early indicators show it appears to be "making people think" (their words
) - and it may even find its way to the learner stages according to latest from Rheinland Pfalz forum.
You would not take a young child to morgue to see a loved one in that state. You want them to remember them as they were in prime of life.
As said in other thread on this: their contribution to road safety is getting tunnel-visioned. The German idea of playing back footage of your own car speeding - with some nasty "what ifs" programmed into game seems much more logical and educational than voyeuristic intrusion into another's grief - in mistaken belief that it will impact on boy racer who will still believe in his own immortality regardless. The Germans are remaining cautiously optimistic over their latest "game" as early indicators show it appears to be "making people think" (their words
) - and it may even find its way to the learner stages according to latest from Rheinland Pfalz forum.BRAKE said:
...Obviously taking people to morgues is a fairly radical approach and I would not expect to see this happening on a wider scale unless there was clear proof that it had been effective in reducing the casualty rate of young drivers who had participated.
So let's consider a scientific study. How many "young drivers" would you have to take to a morgue and then track afterwards to determine whether there was a statistical difference between the casualty rate of this group compared to a control group which had not done the same visit?
Answer: We don't actually have a control group to compare them with, because we're not doing a scientific study. If it feels right it must be right. Oh the joys of post-scientific Britain.
I'm struggling with this....
A plan to cut road deaths involves taking people to see dead people who met their (presumably gruesome) end in a car crash, the idea being that it'll make us all safe and slow and wonderful so WE don't end up dying in a gruesome car crash. What happens when we're all so safe and slow and wonderful that there's nobody getting killed to go and look at? Driving standards will plunge, everyone will end up getting killed and we'll have nobody left alive to go and see them.
Don't think they've thought this one through....
A plan to cut road deaths involves taking people to see dead people who met their (presumably gruesome) end in a car crash, the idea being that it'll make us all safe and slow and wonderful so WE don't end up dying in a gruesome car crash. What happens when we're all so safe and slow and wonderful that there's nobody getting killed to go and look at? Driving standards will plunge, everyone will end up getting killed and we'll have nobody left alive to go and see them.
Don't think they've thought this one through....
They just get more and more inane.
The idea that seeing a dead body, presumably any old dead body and not necessarily anyone killed soley by speeders is a bit on the deceitful side.
Besides which, wheres the connection between the dead body killed by a fall from a building site and a person exceeding a speed limit by 1 or 2 mph huh?
Maybe Mary and the rest of her overzealous muppet squad can enlighten us all?
Oh btw Mary, i was once a very near victim of a BUS as a child. Plus it was MY fault. Oh yes indeed,
so i know what the hell IM talking about.
As a child i was uninformed regarding the green cross code and did what a lot of other little buggers do; I ran out without looking.
Fortunately (debatable) the driver had his full attention focused in the direction he was going, ie forwards and not at the speedo, as Brake seem to believe is best.
Anyways, i dont think that showing me a dead body would have had the impact(no pun) in quite the direction Brake would have us believe it would.
This dense idea that theyve pinned their name on has me scratching my head.
For instance, where do you stop in regard to the state of the body being viewed?
Will it be a liquefying mass of organs?
Will it be mashed to an unrecognisable mass of blood and bone?
Will it be only people killed by SPEED mary? Or will you use just any old bod?
Where does such a stupid idea as this end?
Why dont you think of the psychological damage to the the children?
Enough already. About time these fools were outlawed, they do more harm than good.
The idea that seeing a dead body, presumably any old dead body and not necessarily anyone killed soley by speeders is a bit on the deceitful side.
Besides which, wheres the connection between the dead body killed by a fall from a building site and a person exceeding a speed limit by 1 or 2 mph huh?
Maybe Mary and the rest of her overzealous muppet squad can enlighten us all?
Oh btw Mary, i was once a very near victim of a BUS as a child. Plus it was MY fault. Oh yes indeed,
so i know what the hell IM talking about.
As a child i was uninformed regarding the green cross code and did what a lot of other little buggers do; I ran out without looking.
Fortunately (debatable) the driver had his full attention focused in the direction he was going, ie forwards and not at the speedo, as Brake seem to believe is best.
Anyways, i dont think that showing me a dead body would have had the impact(no pun) in quite the direction Brake would have us believe it would.
This dense idea that theyve pinned their name on has me scratching my head.
For instance, where do you stop in regard to the state of the body being viewed?
Will it be a liquefying mass of organs?
Will it be mashed to an unrecognisable mass of blood and bone?
Will it be only people killed by SPEED mary? Or will you use just any old bod?
Where does such a stupid idea as this end?
Why dont you think of the psychological damage to the the children?
Enough already. About time these fools were outlawed, they do more harm than good.
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