Posted By Nigel Hammond To counteract that other thread, I feel obliged to start a new one. I am disappointed that there are CMIOSH people who think like JC. Putting aside his negative rants on H&S which have been endlessly debated on this forum, he encourages Macho style reckless driving. How socially responsible is that?!

Posted By garyh I agree, and the Police should stop it straight away!

Posted By rks In truth who cares what Jeremy clarkson says. If someone who has any input in the country or anyone who has any sort of importance wants to say something i will listen. But the likes of clarkson is nothing to me and people who take him seriously only add to his ego and his own publicity. Rks

Posted By Philby' Stupendous Man ref. 'it is very interesting just how many advanced driving and racing techniques are the same or similar. ' Couldn't agree more, espescially the know your cars/bikes and your own limits, plan ahead, spot danger/situations and adjust afore you reach them, check the car in advance and maintain/service repair, ensure suitable for purpose, eg, tyres, brakes suspension....(the only difference being that you don't usually have the same space to make the corrections when things go wrong, nor do you have the wall of tyres, gravel traps and run off sections)...oh dear slipped into Risk Assessment mode....EXACTLY what race teams/drivers etc do and, I suspect, exactly what the backroom boys on top gear do! Philby'

Posted By Philby' Whoops, sorry about the double posting, being copying and pasting from drafts in word to try and allieveiate my slight problem with words... Philby'

Posted By Chrisinwood hello all, well like usual and to be expected as the thread increases we tend to get away from the point of the first post. Little bit confused by it, JC does have some daft views in regards to safety generally. However I have never seen him blatantly support reckless driving? Everything is either on a racecourse or is risk assessed and the police informed where appropriate for public roads. In regards to the fact that surprise CMIOSH members agree, why ???? How about FIOSH, TECHIOSH, GRADIOSH, AFfiliate why just CMIOSH people? Everyone has their own point of view and they should be able to express it, just because they disagree doesnt make them wrong. Who can honestly say they have ever worked at the BBC? And those that have, have they ever been involved in the risk assessment process for Top Gear? Just asking the question because if they havent how do we know what policies, procedures, assessments are carried out....we dont, and therefore those that are quick to condeme are doing the one thing we should NEVER do....ASSUME! Everyone should be welcome to their opinion, and it doesnt mean they are any less competent than any else. Oh and i have to add, to the comment regarding is there any thing more important in the world (another thread i think?) Well again, your welcome to your view, (my humble opinion) however, threats of nuclear war, children, babies dying of starvation accross the world, homeless people, child abuse etc etc to me are the MOST important thing, however does that make me a less competent safety professional as i dont agree? maybe so in some peoples eye, but thats up to them.

Posted By Colin Sandiford Hello It's all very well saying that Top Gear is fun, but I saw the remains of the Lamborghini that the Top Gear crew wrecked on Park Lane in London a few years ago, not impressive. While we all appreciate that the roaads used for the tests are empty, who of us has not been cut up on the motorway by some FOOL who tried to out race an even bigger more aggressive FOOL. Having seen the remains of people killed by speeding motorists in my previous career I think a little less emphasis on speed in Top Gear and Fifth Gear might not be a bad thing.

Posted By Ron Young For goodness sake, the guy is an entertainer and you all have a choice on whether to watch him or not. If he doesn't want to grow up, that's his prerogative.

Posted By Nigel Hammond In response to some of the replies, I'm not advocating being risk averse. I work for a charity for people with learning disabilities. In the social care world, Risk Assessent is all about enabling people to take risks - integrating into the community and achieving hopes and dreams. Yes, I agree, Life would be dull without risk taking. At the same time life can be very bad if we do extremely dangerous acts. There is a balance to be struck. But this is patronising stuff - I'm sure most of you H&S advisers (whatever your grade)address risk taking in the balanced way these days. However; speeding, talking to a camera and playing with a satnav while driving through villages is irresponsible. What is it with driving? I still don't get it. Why are many of you so keen to defend the right to speed and not pay due care and attention. I have to confess I have a vested interest here. I love my two children to bits and it terrifies me of the thought that they could be harmed by some idiot who thinks that speeding is fun - like good old entertaining Jeremy. Every time you see a bunch of flowers on the side of the road there are probably about 100 grief stricken people. Times that by 3500 deaths a year, times that by three score year and 10 life time and that equates to about 24 million people grieving because someone they knew was killed on the roads during your life time. This number crunching doesn't even address major injuries.

Posted By Merv Newman I'm not sure which thread I should be replying to. For or against JC ? I never get to watch his TV shows (wife hates him. She says. Hmmm) but I always read his sunday times articles. With which I tend to agree 100% My only complaint is the encouragement of the macho (ok. macha if you like. Women CAN be worse than men. sometimes) Macho/a is usually evidenced by someone screaming up behind you and hanging two inches off your back bumber (spelling mistake but I'll leave it in) and desperately trying to overtake. What do you do ? You can speed up to increase the distance. This puts you in the wrong legally, and they will soon close the gap. You can slow down and hope they will take a very early opportunity to overtake. Fine, but watch THEIR oncoming traffic and mentally rehearse your first aid training. You could get involved in the spin-off. Or you can maintain your normal safe driving habbits, thus exasperating them even more. The third option is probably best although I have a tendancy to do the second. My wife is quite understanding when I do that. She drives a classic mini and just hates big cars threatening to hit her in the bum. A mini cannot accelerate. They can only slow down. So, I like JC. He's a big guy, drives fast cars for a living and has to get across to the English male. If only he could play footbal ! And his wife does the macha bit quite well, too. If you take a look at the link : http://www.timesonline.c.../0,,2092-2219964,00.html and meld that in with jerra's thoughts then I believe you will have a pretty good feeling for the public perception of elfansafety today. It seems to be mainly positive, but lots of frustration caused by a number of ignorant, backside covering jobsworths. And the journalists protesting against the cancelling of a mass breakfast by some anonymous jobsworth are doing a more or less good job. Except that they do not seem to have checked the qualifications/experience of the pronouncing person. THAT is sloppy journalism. And this is what jerra is protesting against. Quite righly, in my humble opinion. Merv