Discussion
Great diary 10p, and i would go to all of the modifying car mags and offer it to try to get them to realise what could happen. Lets face it with the current condition of Britain road, the growing number of un road worthy cars this could happen to anyone. Certainly made me and the rest of the forum members on the rs forum (Renault) to take a moment out to contemplate it.
10pS, have you thought about doing a Blog with your story in it?
It'd be much easier to distribute than this thread, and would be very popular i'd imagine.
They're really easy (and free) to do, see the website below:
https://www.blogger.com/start
You could even copy and paste your posts from this thread onto it.
I'd be happy to help if you want, as this is the kind of story that should be told to the motoring world.
It'd be much easier to distribute than this thread, and would be very popular i'd imagine.
They're really easy (and free) to do, see the website below:
https://www.blogger.com/start
You could even copy and paste your posts from this thread onto it.
I'd be happy to help if you want, as this is the kind of story that should be told to the motoring world.
Thank you 10p for your insight into the prison system.
I wanted to comment on this as I witnessed an accident involving a car and a motorcyle a few of years ago when on holiday in Cornwall and I cannot believe the disparity between how you were treated and the incident I observed.
I followed a Renault Clio down a country lane that was being driven somewhat erratically. It also had an inflatable 'finger' in the rear window that was gesticulating in my direction. After following for a couple of miles the Clio inexplicably veered onto the wrong side of the road afer failing to negotiate a corner. This didn't appear to be a skid, just a lack of steering input. Unfortunately a motorcyclist was coming the other way and hit the Clio head-on. His bike disintegrated (it was only a 125cc I beleive) and the rider was thrown over the top and landed several feet away face down on grass verge.
My passenger and I went to the motorcyclist and at first I thought he was dead with one of his legs on particular at a very odd angle. I immediately called 999 and made sure the emergency services were aware of the severity of the incident. After a couple of minutes he started groaning which was good! Other people were starting to arrive on the scene now including a trainee nurse who made the motorcyclist as comfortable as possible without moving him.
The driver of the Clio was a 17 year old girl. It transpired that she had no insurance, no MOT and had recently written off another car. Following later anaysis by the police it appears that she was on her mobile phone at the time of the incident (which explains the erratic driving).
The motorcyclist was a builder in his 50's on his way home from work. He had a fractured spine and both legs were broken. I never found out exactly what happened after the accident other than he survived.
The thing that shocks me about this is the the girl driver received 9 points on her licence and a £60 fine. That is all. As I was a witness (I wasn't asked to attend court) the police wrote to me to advise me of the outcome.
I wanted to comment on this as I witnessed an accident involving a car and a motorcyle a few of years ago when on holiday in Cornwall and I cannot believe the disparity between how you were treated and the incident I observed.
I followed a Renault Clio down a country lane that was being driven somewhat erratically. It also had an inflatable 'finger' in the rear window that was gesticulating in my direction. After following for a couple of miles the Clio inexplicably veered onto the wrong side of the road afer failing to negotiate a corner. This didn't appear to be a skid, just a lack of steering input. Unfortunately a motorcyclist was coming the other way and hit the Clio head-on. His bike disintegrated (it was only a 125cc I beleive) and the rider was thrown over the top and landed several feet away face down on grass verge.
My passenger and I went to the motorcyclist and at first I thought he was dead with one of his legs on particular at a very odd angle. I immediately called 999 and made sure the emergency services were aware of the severity of the incident. After a couple of minutes he started groaning which was good! Other people were starting to arrive on the scene now including a trainee nurse who made the motorcyclist as comfortable as possible without moving him.
The driver of the Clio was a 17 year old girl. It transpired that she had no insurance, no MOT and had recently written off another car. Following later anaysis by the police it appears that she was on her mobile phone at the time of the incident (which explains the erratic driving).
The motorcyclist was a builder in his 50's on his way home from work. He had a fractured spine and both legs were broken. I never found out exactly what happened after the accident other than he survived.
The thing that shocks me about this is the the girl driver received 9 points on her licence and a £60 fine. That is all. As I was a witness (I wasn't asked to attend court) the police wrote to me to advise me of the outcome.
10p, we have recently taken on a magazine called Rev.UK its aimed at young drivers who have either taken their test or are about to. Its distibuted in sandwell FOC and is also handed out to safty units nationwide.
Should you be interested in having your accounts published in this, please send me an email, it may just save a few young lives.
Should you be interested in having your accounts published in this, please send me an email, it may just save a few young lives.
I think, rossp, that it is the subtle difference between DANGEROUS and CARELESS driving. Unfortunately a lot of the factors you've described do not impact on the DANGEROUSNESS of the driving, such as insurance, MOT etc. It would be an issue if the condition of the car was so unroadworthy as to be a) Dangerous and b) Obvious to the driver that it was dangerous. But otherwise irrelevant.
I do agree that it's a very light sentence, and to be honest the dozy bint got off lightly, given that the outcome was very similar to that of 10penceshort. However, there have been numerous recent cases involving deaths where light sentences were passed down because of the lack of, and I use inverted commas on purpose, "dangerous" driving.
Generally, for DD there has to be some element of ongoing "bad" driving rather than a momentary lapse. 10ps was, I gather, hung drawn and quartered by the people he had overtaken giving wild statements concerning speed etc.
However, and it pains me to say this, some judges are renowned for being rather lenient on young women.
I do agree that it's a very light sentence, and to be honest the dozy bint got off lightly, given that the outcome was very similar to that of 10penceshort. However, there have been numerous recent cases involving deaths where light sentences were passed down because of the lack of, and I use inverted commas on purpose, "dangerous" driving.
Generally, for DD there has to be some element of ongoing "bad" driving rather than a momentary lapse. 10ps was, I gather, hung drawn and quartered by the people he had overtaken giving wild statements concerning speed etc.
However, and it pains me to say this, some judges are renowned for being rather lenient on young women.
I think this is a way up call for me as a biker, i've been reconsidering things recently in light of personal events (not motoring related) and ultimately, while death isn't so much of an issue, i don't particularly want to end up in a wheelchair because a 17 year old isn't paying attention! Once again i'm reminded of the fact that it doesn't matter how safely i ride, ultimately my fate is in the hands of other road users.
VerySideways said:
I think this is a way up call for me as a biker, i've been reconsidering things recently in light of personal events (not motoring related) and ultimately, while death isn't so much of an issue, i don't particularly want to end up in a wheelchair because a 17 year old isn't paying attention! Once again i'm reminded of the fact that it doesn't matter how safely i ride, ultimately my fate is in the hands of other road users.
The fundamental danger of bikes. You haven't got a ton+ of metal around you to protect from the stupidities of others.VerySideways said:
I think this is a way up call for me as a biker, i've been reconsidering things recently in light of personal events (not motoring related) and ultimately, while death isn't so much of an issue, i don't particularly want to end up in a wheelchair because a 17 year old isn't paying attention! Once again i'm reminded of the fact that it doesn't matter how safely i ride, ultimately my fate is in the hands of other road users.
I also have a bike licence and seeing this incident and hearing of others means I don't ride one anymore.crofty1984 said:
rude-boy said:
This sort of stuff reminds me why I never wish to ride a bike on the road.
Didn't Carl Fogarty never get his road licence?I love speed, I actually love the idea of owning a bike, but the number of times I seen or hurd of people, some known to me, getting scrapped off the road through no fault of their own means the closest i think i'll ever get is a bike engined car.
rude-boy said:
crofty1984 said:
rude-boy said:
This sort of stuff reminds me why I never wish to ride a bike on the road.
Didn't Carl Fogarty never get his road licence?I love speed, I actually love the idea of owning a bike, but the number of times I seen or hurd of people, some known to me, getting scrapped off the road through no fault of their own means the closest i think i'll ever get is a bike engined car.
VerySideways said:
I think this is a way up call for me as a biker, i've been reconsidering things recently in light of personal events (not motoring related) and ultimately, while death isn't so much of an issue, i don't particularly want to end up in a wheelchair because a 17 year old isn't paying attention! Once again i'm reminded of the fact that it doesn't matter how safely i ride, ultimately my fate is in the hands of other road users.
I agree with what you say, but you can minimise (note:- not eliminate) the chance of their stupidity having a serious effect on you, by riding so that you can stop in the distance you can see. From what I understand from 10ps account, the biker wasn't able to stop in time when he happened upon 10ps car 'almost stationary' on his side of road.Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff