Let's Give our Counties SAFER roads...please sign.

lauren12

Sadly most of us know someone who was killed in a road accident. This is a heartbreaking tragedy but we can do something about it...

Please sign this and lets give our country, family and friends safer roads....

1. I will not go over the speed limit, and I will actively keep check on my speed while driving - (speed is the number one killer on the roads).

2. I will not drink and drive.

3. I will not text and drive - believe me whoever it is can wait, or pull over onto the hard shoulder.

4. I will not take my rage out on the accelerater pedal.

It would be great if you discussed this with your family and friends and pass on the good word, and even stick this up as a post it to remind yourself of the promise you made to yourself and to people who may share your vechicle.

Please make every journey a safe one - you can make the difference

Lauren12 is making Mayo a safer county

drunkmonkey

You forgot a few.

I will not drive in the outside or middle lane of a 3 lane carriageway when there is no car to the left of me.

I will not tailgate.

I will pay attention to the speed limit and drive as the conditions and my car allow me to do safely.

I will try and keep a constant speed.

I will not brake around corners.

I will not brake when a car or truck comes the other way.

squeakyduck

Don't drive when you are tired.

A friend of my brother drove when he was tired, crashed killing himself and seriously injuring my brother.

It was suspected that the guy driving fell asleep by accident and swerved into a lorry He was very young too.

Don't just make Mayo a safer place to drive, make Ireland a safer place to drive.

lauren12

Yes squeeky duck sorry I forgot in the tired one, I meant to put that in. And I am very sorry about your friend and your brother.

lauren12

drunkmonkey wrote: »

You forgot a few.

I will not drive in the outside or middle lane of a 3 lane carriageway when there is no car to the left of me.

I will not tailgate.

I will pay attention to the speed limit and drive as the conditions and my car allow me to do safely.

I will try and keep a constant speed.

I will not brake around corners.

I will not brake when a car or truck comes the other way.

I just want to keep deaths off the road, I could have put up about indicators and fog lights and all that. Here's the thing about driving, others aren't perfect drivers, and nor am I or you, they will do things to annoy us but the point is to protect each other as much as possible. If you want to sign up then great.

coffee_cake

lauren12 wrote: »

I just want to keep deaths off the road, I could have put up about indicators and fog lights and all that. Here's the thing about driving, others aren't perfect drivers, and nor am I or you, they will do things to annoy us but the point is to protect each other as much as possible. If you want to sign up then great.

You could just add those to your list instead of being defensive and saying "nobody is perfect".
Tailgating in particular is quite dangerous.

lauren12

bluewolf wrote: »

You could just add those to your list instead of being defensive and saying "nobody is perfect".
Tailgating in particular is quite dangerous.

Ya know what, it doesn't matter like I put this up in the hopes that people would say ya I will actually agree to that and I will consciously try more carefully and really really do it. But as of yet no one has said ya I'd like to agree to that or try, no one seems to want to try and change only poke holes in threads.

metrovelvet

You know what- I already do all those things, plus I pay all my motor tax and my county cant pave a road.

You want safe roads? Pave them and light them and do it the right way.

wonderfulname

My personal opinion, this isn't America, I'm not an Oprah watching housewife. I'm never going to do any of the things mentioned above but its not because of a bunch of emotive words which hold no relevance to me, its because I have a brain in my head. Educate people as to why such things are a bad idea don't just ask them to blindly agree not to.

Malari

lauren12 wrote: »

Ya know what, it doesn't matter like I put this up in the hopes that people would say ya I will actually agree to that and I will consciously try more carefully and really really do it. But as of yet no one has said ya I'd like to agree to that or try, no one seems to want to try and change only poke holes in threads.

Maybe it's because people do drive carefully.

Maybe it's because saving lives takes more than a facile "don't go over the speed limit". Someone tootling along in the outside lane of a motorway at 100kph without once looking in a rearview mirror is far more dangerous than someone who indicates, overtakes at 130kph then goes back to the inside lane.

I actually think that I do drive fast but carefully and I think that the overall consideration for other road users INCLUDING correct use of indicators, keeping up with traffic, awareness of things beyond the end of your car bonnet and appropriate use of lanes are equally as important in reducing dangerous driving as excessive speed when you are not in full control of your vehicle.

As far as I'm concerned, no-one who currently drives safely needs to make a conscious effort and really try hard to do so, it just comes automatically.

ztoical

lauren12 wrote: »

Ya know what, it doesn't matter like I put this up in the hopes that people would say ya I will actually agree to that and I will consciously try more carefully and really really do it. But as of yet no one has said ya I'd like to agree to that or try, no one seems to want to try and change only poke holes in threads.

It has nothing to do with agreeing with it or not. All the things listed are things you are suppose to avoid doing as a good driver. Who hear is going to post saying 'you know I drink and drive all the time but now I've signed up to random thread online I'm not going to' This is a dicussion forum and drunkmonkey and bluewolf was adding to said dicussion. Their comments was very valid as the things you listed are illegal and people shouldn't be doing them but the things bluewolf listed are the most common driving faults people have and are actually very dangerous on the roads esp tailgating. When I drove my first car, a tiny little Micra, I was nearly run off the road countless times by lorries and larger cars - flashing, honking, driving right up my arse when I wasn't driving slow nor stopping them over taking but once I up graded to my dads land rover the tailgating stopped. Far too many bullies on our roads. If you want to tackle people on road safty ask for some cop on to other road users not to stop doing stuff that is already illegal.

Also there is a motoring forum, why did you opt to post this in the ladies lounge out of interest?

lauren12

wonderfulname wrote: »

My personal opinion, this isn't America, I'm not an Oprah watching housewife. I'm never going to do any of the things mentioned above but its not because of a bunch of emotive words which hold no relevance to me, its because I have a brain in my head. Educate people as to why such things are a bad idea don't just ask them to blindly agree not to.

And do you think maybe saying ya that's cool although I already do that I'd be happy to commit to that and use your commitment to road safety to positively maybe affect others.
I thought I did explain pretty well and as you said most with brains in their head will understand...but yet there are still people racing each other from town to town to get better "timing" done.

I don't try and pretend to be Oprah or American in any way, all I want is for people to be more aware of what they are doing on the roads, I don't feel there is anything wrong with that.

And the fact that I just pretty much got picked at and bollocked out of it by most about this...just leaves me completely disheartened about the whole thing...sorry for the "emotion".

lauren12

ztoical wrote: »

It has nothing to do with agreeing with it or not. All the things listed are things you are suppose to avoid doing as a good driver. Who hear is going to post saying 'you know I drink and drive all the time but now I've signed up to random thread online I'm not going to' This is a dicussion forum and bluewolf was adding to said dicussion. Their comment was very valid as the things you listed are illegal and people shouldn't be doing them but the things bluewolf listed are the most common driving faults people have and are actually very dangerous on the roads esp tailgating. When I drove my first car, a tiny little Micra, I was nearly run off the road countless times by lorries and larger cars - flashing, honking, driving right up my arse when I wasn't driving slow nor stopping them over taking but once I up graded to my dads land rover the tailgating stopped. Far too many bullies on our roads. If you want to tackle people on road safty ask for some cop on to other road users not to stop doing stuff that is already illegal.

Also there is a motoring forum, why did you opt to post this in the ladies lounge out of interest?

Sorry I'm still trying to get used to this. Yes and I absolutely agree, I get irritated by drivers who do that, but I didn't want it to be a "lets bitch" kinda thing, I just wanted to be a lets change.

I don't want anymore people to get that knock at that door, or someone be so badly injured it effects them for the rest of their lives.
I know no one wants to admit to it, but so many drivers speed out there, so to actually consciously say I'm not going to do that anymore is a good thing. I don't know I thought raising more awareness was a good thing.

PS When someone is up my butt I pull my fogs on them a couple of times, like a kinda backwards flash, they usually back off. I know its not an excuse for them but it does help.

ztoical

lauren12 wrote: »

PS When someone is up my butt I pull my fogs on them a couple of times, like a kinda backwards flash, they usually back off. I know its not an excuse for them but it does help.

Thats actually really dangerous and not advisable at all!

lauren12

Malari wrote: »

Maybe it's because people do drive carefully.

Maybe it's because saving lives takes more than a facile "don't go over the speed limit". Someone tootling along in the outside lane of a motorway at 100kph without once looking in a rearview mirror is far more dangerous than someone who indicates, overtakes at 130kph then goes back to the inside lane.

I actually think that I do drive fast but carefully and I think that the overall consideration for other road users INCLUDING correct use of indicators, keeping up with traffic, awareness of things beyond the end of your car bonnet and appropriate use of lanes are equally as important in reducing dangerous driving as excessive speed when you are not in full control of your vehicle.

As far as I'm concerned, no-one who currently drives safely needs to make a conscious effort and really try hard to do so, it just comes automatically.

Malari I heard the most interest quote from a guy I dated once..."I do drive fast, but only when I know it's safe" and that has stuck with me...needless to say I would never get into the car with him again.
Have you ever noticed how most people die on what we would call the better roads and that is all down to speed.

And I just wanted to mention that speed limits change for the country roads usually down to 80kph. And I would have to say every time you get into the car you have to make a conscious effort, no matter how good you think you are, because you don't know what is coming next.

lauren12

ztoical wrote: »

Thats actually really dangerous and not advisable at all!

Well they always go back a couple of feet and it doesn't blind them, it doesn't distract me. Why do you feel it is dangerous?

lauren12

metrovelvet wrote: »

You know what- I already do all those things, plus I pay all my motor tax and my county cant pave a road.

You want safe roads? Pave them and light them and do it the right way.

Unfortunately I can't do anything about that...you'll have to get onto the local county council. and I know how frustrating that is to bang into a darn pot hole.

ztoical

lauren12 wrote: »

Well they always go back a couple of feet and it doesn't blind them, it doesn't distract me. Why do you feel it is dangerous?

It's not the I feel it's dangerous, it is dangerous. Check any learning to drive/road safty manual. Flashing fog lights/taping your breaks/making any sort of gesture along those lines is viewed as very dangerous driving when dealing with someone tailgatting and can and does lead to accidents. You would fail a driving test straight away for doing anything along those lines. Tailgatters are bullies, you are basicly waving a red flag at them and looking to play chicken. The correct way to deal with tailgatting is to remain calm and ease off the accelerator. Slow down, move in if you can and allow them to over take.

lauren12

ztoical wrote: »

It's not the I feel it's dangerous, it is dangerous. Check any learning to drive/road safty manual. Flashing fog lights/taping your breaks/making any sort of gesture along those lines is viewed as very dangerous driving when dealing with someone tailgatting and can and does lead to accidents. You would fail a driving test straight away for doing anything along those lines. Tailgatters are bullies, you are basicly waving a red flag at them and looking to play chicken. The correct way to deal with tailgatting is to remain calm and ease off the accelerator. Slow down, move in if you can and allow them to over take.

Well I wouldn't do it in a test now, may be blond now but give me some credit

Anyway ok...I'll change I won't do that anymore...promise

wonderfulname

lauren12 wrote: »

Well I wouldn't do it in a test now, may be blond now but give me some credit

You're a hypocrite if ever I saw one...

metrovelvet

Accident rates
Despite the prevailing high speeds, the accident, injury and death rates on the Autobahn are remarkably low. The Autobahn carries about a third of all Germany's traffic, but injury accidents on the Autobahn account for only 6% of such accidents nationwide and less than 12% of all traffic fatalities were the result of Autobahn crashes (2009). In fact, the annual fatality rate (2.7 per billion km in 2009) is consistently lower than that of most other superhighway systems, including the US Interstates (4.5 in 2009). Furthermore, a 2005 study by the German government found that Autobahn sections without speed limits had the same accident rate as those with speed limits.

http://www.gettingaroundgermany.info/autobahn.shtml


I dont believe it all comes down to speed.

ztoical

lauren12 wrote: »

Well I wouldn't do it in a test now, may be blond now but give me some credit

Pot - Kettle :rolleyes:

The way you drove in your driving test is the way your suppose to drive on the roads every day.

ztoical

metrovelvet wrote: »

Accident rates
Despite the prevailing high speeds, the accident, injury and death rates on the Autobahn are remarkably low. The Autobahn carries about a third of all Germany's traffic, but injury accidents on the Autobahn account for only 6% of such accidents nationwide and less than 12% of all traffic fatalities were the result of Autobahn crashes (2009). In fact, the annual fatality rate (2.7 per billion km in 2009) is consistently lower than that of most other superhighway systems, including the US Interstates (4.5 in 2009). Furthermore, a 2005 study by the German government found that Autobahn sections without speed limits had the same accident rate as those with speed limits.

http://www.gettingaroundgermany.info/autobahn.shtml


I dont believe it all comes down to speed.

+ 1 alot comes down to education. We have a really poor attitude to learning to drive here. While in countries like Germany your never let anywhere near an actual road until you've done several hours of closed course driving. In alot of european countries it's a very graduated system covering all areas of driving while here it's a 20/30 min drive round town and still hundreds fail it every week and then moan the test is rigged.

lauren12

wonderfulname wrote: »

You're a hypocrite if ever I saw one...

WTF, I'm sorry I would also beep at someone I saw if they were my friend, I wouldn't do that if I was in a test either.

That was meant to be a joke...I noticed how you didn't quote me on saying I'd change...haha brilliant

lauren12

ztoical wrote: »

Pot - Kettle :rolleyes:

The way you drove in your driving test is the way your suppose to drive on the roads every day.

I don't get it, I didn't come on here saying everyone here is a bad driver, I just wanted to raise awareness. I believe I've a good attitude in my road safety and I wanted to pass it on. And I took that criticism and said ok that's fine I'll change my behaviour.

krudler

ztoical wrote: »

Pot - Kettle :rolleyes:

The way you drove in your driving test is the way your suppose to drive on the roads every day.

driving the way you're supposed to in a test would get you killed on a road, reversing around corners, W.T.F, I cant believe thats part of the test, I've never done that once since passing. They should have a choice, do you

A. reverse stupidly around a blind corner.

or

B. keep going, find someplace safe to do a turn, and come back the way you came.

krudler

lauren12 wrote: »

Well they always go back a couple of feet and it doesn't blind them, it doesn't distract me. Why do you feel it is dangerous?

do you really need to ask that? they see your fogs come on, mistake them for brake lights, brake themselves, can easily cause an accident.

lauren12

It was probably only an idea I had cos I visited my uncle's headstone on the road lastweek. I just thought maybe I could do anything, say something to stop this...just anything...right?

I think we've all felt like that at one point in our lives.

But I've pretty much been attacked and I feel pretty sad about bringing the whole thing up now, nevermind.

_Kaiser_

This really should be in Motors, but anyway...

first off OP, while I do commend the idea behind your post, I feel the need to highlight the glaring error in your theory.

I know the RSA and Uncle Gaybo would like you to think that "speed kills" but it doesn't... INAPPROPRIATE speed kills!

There's a big difference to doing 130 km/h on a straight level motorway, and 130 km/h on a narrow twisty backroad.. sure many of them aren't suitable for the 80 km/h they're often posted as anyway.

As has already been mentioned there are many other more dangerous issues that need to be addressed first - like tailgating, driving with no/minimal lights on in bad weather/night time, idiots who can't use roundabouts, people who don't indicate, people who don't speed up when joining a motorway, people who cut you off as they swerve across 3 lanes to an exit etc etc etc

I'd much rather a driver used their cop on and drove at a speed appropriate to the conditions (ie: weather, road surface, traffic volume etc) than spending half their time watching the speedo.

krudler

lauren12 wrote: »

It was probably only an idea I had cos I visited my uncle's headstone on the road lastweek. I just thought maybe I could do anything, say something to stop this...just anything...right?

I think we've all felt like that at one point in our lives.

But I've pretty much been attacked and I feel pretty sad about bringing the whole thing up now, nevermind.

well yeah thats good, but then to say you drive dangerously yourself is a bit hypocritical no?

lauren12

krudler wrote: »

well yeah thats good, but then to say you drive dangerously yourself is a bit hypocritical no?

I didn't come on here saying listen I'm perfect at my driving at all that wasn't my thought behind it. And when that was said to me I said ok I'll never do that again.

I think it would be hypocritical to say something like..."well that's your opinion"...or something...but look honestly I'm sick of defending this post. I really didn't realise I would have to.