The Roadside Rest Area: for off-topic chit-chat

Amtmann

Yes, I've ripped the thread title off from skyscrapercity. But here's your off-topic thread for all and sundry.

Amtmann

Thought I'd quote this post from the motors forum. It has given me pause for thought and then some.

ottostreet wrote: »

As some of ye are already aware, a close family relative of mine was killed on Sunday morning in a single car accident, a young man of 17 who had just completed his Leaving Cert. I know the assumption that people make (and indeed, I made) when you hear that combination 'crash+17 year old male+ early hours=speeding.'

Your assumption would be correct...it appears he was speeding. On a stretch of road that he knew like the back of his hand, a stretch of road I would drive very very regularly. It's not exactly what you would call a dangerous stretch. Wide, open, very very slight long bend. However, speeding isn't what appeared to have been the cause of the accident, it appears it was a tyre blowout at an estimated 70-75mph.

The last two days, I have had the opportunity to see what my own funeral would have been like if i had crashed on one of the nights of sheer driving lunacy i used to regularly have. He was a very similar person to me, in terms of what he did, what he wanted to do, what he drove, his interests and tastes, and in physical appearance. I saw the utter despair and hurt that each family member went through, and I saw the consuming loss that they all felt.

Since I started driving four years ago, I've had a somewhat relaxed attitude towards speed. I've been pulled over countless times, have had a good few penalty points, and have crashed cars. In the last year or so, I have calmed down a lot. I was never one for speeding around towns/villages or busy areas, but I was quite bold on motorways/national roads. I have more or less obeyed every limit for about the last year ( Partly down to penalty points, partly down to growing maturity), despite having a quicker car now than I've ever had. Despite my own driving, I've never had a problem with people speeding or going too fast on open roads, if that was what they felt like.

The passenger in the car with him Sunday morning escaped with a broken elbow. He has reported back every detail of what happened. And whats becoming obvious is that, with a lower speed, he might not have died. OK there's no guarantee, but apparently he struggled to keep control of the car for up to ten seconds prior to impact. If he had been going slower, he may not have hit the wall.

This young man was due to go to his debs tonight, after getting his Leaving Cert results last Wednesday. Right now, he should be at home, putting on his suit and texting his girlfriend. Instead, hes in his grave, wearing the same suit. I am sitting here, dressed in my funeral clothes, ready to get on with the rest of my life. In just over two days, you can be dead and buried, and thats it, the person you were is...gone.

I am not the only person on Boards who has lost a family member or friend in tragic circumstances. Far from it. I'm partly writing this to vent my own sadness, partly to tell you that the stereotype you form when you hear of a young drivers crash may not be true, and partly to say my new view on speeding.

It's not a case of 'all speeders must be shot' or that I'm gonna become one of the high horse brigade. It's more a case of....for every extra mph you go, the greater the chance that if something goes wrong, the less chance you have of escaping. This goes for old and young, girls & boys. Is the extra 5mph really worth the utter destruction of the lives of all around you?

I'm sorry for rambling on a bit, I'm still a bit upset. It's something you never see happening to you. But it can happen to you. His death has done what no advertisement on telly could ever hope to achieve. I saw the extent of his injuries, and it was a violent death. Quick, but violent. No mother should have to do what his mother had to do. No father should ever have identify his dead son by the remains of his arm. No brother should ever want to wear the bloodstained bracelet taken from his corpse. No sister should ever have to stroke the cold, dead, waxy hands in his coffin.

If you can at all, even just 5mph, just slow down a tiny bit. It could be what prevents you from becoming the latest headline.

MidlandsM

Saw that yesterday alright, sobering story.

Then we saw what happened in Kerry early this morning......awful tragic stuff.

RIP to those poor teenagers and my thoughts are with the familys.

darkman2

Furet, I think you should sticky this thread. Nice just to have it there instead of having to bump it all the time.

Amtmann

Stickied.

nordydan

Am just sobering up after yesterdays game. What a finish.

An Dun abu!

KevR

M6 Toll (Birmingham) branded an expensive flop

Was interesting reading the comments as well as the news story. I have used the English M6 Toll a few times and it certainly is handy but £5 is simply too much when there is another motorway alternative. I would probably use the free M6 and suffer the jams if I was travelling this route regularly.

munchkin_utd

KevR wrote: »

M6 Toll (Birmingham) branded an expensive flop

jeasus
from the traffic figures** it has 46000 vehicles per workday which is not exactly a ghost road!
Compare that to sections of Ireland motorways that barely get 10000 a day
And them free!
mad.

** http://www.m6toll.co.uk/pressdetail.asp?id=118

L1011

46,000 on a very high grade D3M is still poor.

If you've never been on it before the quality of it is ridiculous, if it was closed you could easily do 200km/h in any car capable of it safely; nothing but properly cambered sweeping bends and straights.

KevR

Heard a rumour a year or two ago that a Premier League footballer was caught speeding on the M6 Toll and his excuse was that he thought you could drive as fast as you wanted because you had to pay to use the road. Haha!

Chris_5339762

MYOB wrote: »

46,000 on a very high grade D3M is still poor.

If you've never been on it before the quality of it is ridiculous, if it was closed you could easily do 200km/h in any car capable of it safely; nothing but properly cambered sweeping bends and straights.

£1 billion for 27 miles of motorway is a ludicrous price.

But what they should do is reduce the toll to say £2 for a week and see what happens.

Amtmann

Anyone here looking at the prospect of having to emigrate?

KevR

Furet wrote: »

Anyone here looking at the prospect of having to emigrate?

I finished university in May and got a job offer a couple of weeks ago. Still waiting on a contract to sign but hopefully that will be sorted soon.

But when I was job hunting, I did apply for jobs in the UK and would have moved there without hesitation if I got offered a job there first. I did look into moving to the US but getting even a 12 month visa was more trouble than it was worth.

Amtmann

KevR wrote: »

I finished university in May and got a job offer a couple of weeks ago. Still waiting on a contract to sign but hopefully that will be sorted soon.

But when I was job hunting, I did apply for jobs in the UK and would have moved there without hesitation if I got offered a job there first. I did look into moving to the US but getting even a 12 month visa was more trouble than it was worth.

Congratulations Kev - you're one of the lucky ones! I'll probably apply for suitable jobs in Germany, the UK and Canada. I'll look here too, but I won't count on anything turning up for me in the medium-term.

L1011

I've been looking at it more for financial reasons - I have a job but in a fairly limited sector; my employer is dominant and doesn't like big paycheques. I'd be on about 2x in the UK. Also my boyfriend is on the dole, so he might be leaving anyway...

Cookie_Monster

Furet wrote: »

Anyone here looking at the prospect of having to emigrate?

possibly next sept. GF is looking at jobs in the UK, seems like a nice prospect. I'd have no hesitation as finance jobs are still reasonably easy to come across.

Stinicker

Furet wrote: »

Anyone here looking at the prospect of having to emigrate?

I was/am still kinda thinking about it, have been out of work since 2008, however in the meantime my father inherited a large farm and we are starting to make a go of it. I went to Australia this summer on holiday and would love to go back out there as employment and life prospects there are great. However I know if I probably leave that I will be leaving my own inheritence behind me so I am faced with a most Irish of conundrums!

Tech3

Anyone spot one of those safety cameras yet?

The location of these safety cameras are meant to be on the most dangerous parts of the national roads and regional roads in the county. I found two examples that this is merely a revenue generating excercise.

On the N17 in the town of Tuam is targeted as a location for this but 5-10km up the road the notorious corners at Castletown and Carrownurlar have been ignored

Similar on the N21 Templeglantine will be a location where there cameras can be seen on a weekly basis yet the dangerous stretch at Barna is not placed on the map.

KevR

I still can't believe that the Athlone Bypass is an enforcement zone for the GoSafe cameras...

Ren2k7

With all the talk off IMF intervention i have a horrible feeling the roads forum here will be a lot quieter over the next few years.

KevR

Love the picture of Ireland from space!!

Sky News - Pictures of Earth sent from International Space Station

The astronaut's Twitter page

Ireland at night from outer space

Full size image
(Huge file. I had to save it to view it properly; it was trying to display at 100% in my browser which meant it was zoomed in too far to see it properly)

corktina

you can hardly telling its sinking at all from that photo:D

busman

KevR wrote: »

Love the picture of Ireland from space!!
Ireland at night from outer space

Hey! turn off those lights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_pollution

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars"
Oscar Wilde

Empire o de Sun

Furet wrote: »

Anyone here looking at the prospect of having to emigrate?

did it, had no choice :rolleyes: but happy about it

busman

Furet wrote: »

Anyone here looking at the prospect of having to emigrate?

Application sent in the post last week.
Nice to have a couple of options

Amtmann

I wouldn't mind moving back to Nuremberg actually. The quality of life there is excellent and there's a great expat community there of people from all over the Anglosphere. The Germans were great too.

nordydan

Furet wrote: »

I wouldn't mind moving back to Nuremberg actually. The quality of life there is excellent and there's a great expat community there of people from all over the Anglosphere. The Germans were great too.

Speaking of Germany (few posters from here living there), and Bavaria in particular, I am bringing the girlfriend to SW germany next week for 5 days. We are flying into Frankfurt and back from Munich West. Going to spend 4 nights there ending up in Munich after driving down there (hiring a car - looking forward to driving on the Autobahn). Any suggestions (ie hidden gems)? She is into medieval towns (like Bruges) and was looking a Bavarian equivalent. Here Regensburg is good. Thanks

munchkin_utd

nordydan wrote: »

Speaking of Germany (few posters from here living there), and Bavaria in particular, I am bringing the girlfriend to SW germany next week for 5 days. We are flying into Frankfurt and back from Munich West. Going to spend 4 nights there ending up in Munich after driving down there (hiring a car - looking forward to driving on the Autobahn). Any suggestions (ie hidden gems)? She is into medieval towns (like Bruges) and was looking a Bavarian equivalent. Here Regensburg is good. Thanks

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is savage. Its almost like a time capsule from 400 years ago
http://www.rothenburg.de
Its between Frankfurt and Munich. Easy to get to by car, not so by train.

Regensburg also a top spot. Less of a museum than the other place. Would kindof remind you of Galway in that its a student city but with a medieval layout.
If you have a car then definitely nip out to Valhalla a few mile down the road.
(theres also a bus i think to very near)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walhalla_temple

Regensburg also interesting in that its a little like athlone with regards to a main artery running through it that was originally a Dual Carraigeway in the middle of nowhere and then became an artery as the motorways linked onto either ends of the urban highway.
Despite the closely positioned junctions, it WAS redesignated a motorway eventually. And just like athlone, its the main river crossing (across the danube) so is used very heavily by local traffic.
Unlike athlone, no tractors, cyclists, pedestrians or horses though!!!

Empire o de Sun

Enjoy the A5 from Frankfurt heading south (if you go that way), about 30 km is 8 lanes and no speed limit. Take the A5->A67->A6->A5 is quicker than taking the A5 the whole way, more traffic jams on the A5 between Darmstadt and Heidelberg. But Heidelberg is really nice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidelberg

and the Odenwald is not bad too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odenwald

Amtmann

nordydan wrote: »

Speaking of Germany (few posters from here living there), and Bavaria in particular, I am bringing the girlfriend to SW germany next week for 5 days. We are flying into Frankfurt and back from Munich West. Going to spend 4 nights there ending up in Munich after driving down there (hiring a car - looking forward to driving on the Autobahn). Any suggestions (ie hidden gems)? She is into medieval towns (like Bruges) and was looking a Bavarian equivalent. Here Regensburg is good. Thanks

I'm going to Nuremberg next Tuesday via Dublin and Frankfurt. Take her to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (I lived there for a month once, it's like being inside a Grimm's fairytale). Bamberg is also lovely and quaint. Nordlingen and Nuremberg are also very medieval (though Nuremberg is mostly a re-build) but Rothenburg is a MUST with some brilliant museums and really cool shops (the Christmas shop, toyshops, loads of confectionaries). There's no place quite like it. I have loads of photos of it on my facebook page.

nordydan

Thanks for the responses lads, think I'll definitely hit Rotheburg on Wednesday night (looks great), and wing it after that - got two free nights before I have to leave the car back in Munchen on Sat afternoon.

Quick question about driving in the snow in Germany, how does it compare to here? I would imagine they are somewhat more organised than we are, but just any general advise as the combination of the ∞ speed limit, the weather and (as stated above) the 8 lane A5 autobahn might be a bit of a step up from Irish driving! Thanks