Rank: Guest 
|
Posted By Brett Day
I always find this stuff about "oversized tanks" laughable.
OK, there are two car models currently available on the UK market.
One has dimensions in mm of 4667x1872x1751 (l x w x h)
The other has dimensions of 4727x1850x1759
Which are "oversized tanks"?
(a) both
(b) one but not the other
(c) neither
(d) my definition of "oversized tank" actually has nothing to do with physical size
I lost all sympathy for the anti 4x4 when some idiot planked a fake parking ticket on my Landrover and broke the wiper blade (apparently is was an accident Yeah Right !!). He had his little rant and I pointed out that a he has damaged property in his little stunt and b this was a working vehicle (my employer suplied it for me to run up and down a gas pipeline project). His response was 'It isn't dirty' That's because as the safety officer for the project I made sure that vehicles used on the haul roads were cleaned before going on the public highway.
I really didn't feel it to be safe tracking mud all over the road.
As for Brake, they do have some usefull info BUT there is an awful lot of emotive opinion. I lost someone close quite a while ago to drunk driver yet was pestered by Brake to give permission to use her details in an anti speeding campaign, my experience is that there are geniune people in Brake but there are also a lot of anti car types, this does not make for an impartial or balanced argument.
Most of the 4x4 stuff orginates from the states, given that US 4x4 are very different in design, size and engineering to the UK market a lot of comparisons don't stand. The visibility question, given that manufacturers are now chasing the EuroNCAP scores many modern cars have poor visibility as a trade off for crashworthiness.
What Car magazine did a studt with different classes of car, the worst for visibilty compared to a previous model was the new mini. The worst overall was not a 4x4 (IIRC the worst 4x4 came in at about 30th) it was a large moden saloon that had a full 5 star EuroNCAP rating.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Mark Mace
just a quick thought, maybe if the driving test were more rigorous there would be less lunatics on the road in the first place,
If our employees were not in a culture of we need it now! then maybe there would be more time and effort spent on planning road trips and amounts of time needed, maybe if the councils and government stopped digging up roads for so called improvements and wasting money on nice big signs, serious improvements could be made.
Finally if we are really serious about safety maybe we can at least attempt to pass our knowledge and expertise of RISK ASSESSMENT onto our colleagues, if we do it well enough and only ten percent learn the error of there ways then there would be ten percent fewer accidents on the road.
Now theres a target for us,
Ten percent less people killed on the roads, ten percent less serious injuries, think of all the advantages to the country as a whole.
PS 4x4 as previosuly stated its a car, the point that has always counted is the Standard of the NUT behind the wheel.
Regards to all
Tony
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Brett Day
Mark, as a driver who has had the advanced driver training and passed the advanced driving test and has since undertaken the Police Class 1 training I can't agree me.
Given that the test has remained largely unchanged from the 1950's and a driver can pass the test on a friday and on saturday be chomping up the motorway having had no training, or testing. Our test system is long overdue an overhaul.
Multi stage tests a la Germany, Australia and NZ are the way to go (NZ being a good example as before going multi stage they used the british driving test. Things have improved since changing the test system and also they are still using the three e's - Education, Engineering and Enforcement.
In the UK our Education has stood still and not been updated.
Our engineering is almost non existant (some LA's are 12 years behind on basic maintenance and 3 years behind on road safety engineering issues).
Our enforcement is being watered down with less traffic officers on the roads (Durham bucking the trend by not having a camera partnership but relying on traffic officers on patrol with thre traditional speed checks is showing the best road safety figures).
Put the safetest car in the hands of an idiot and he will have an accident.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Ken Taylor
I do believe four-wheel-drive to be safer in terms of vehicle control - particularly in adverse road surface conditions as well as off-road. For this reason and having been on 24hr call in all weathers, needing to visit muddy construction sites, living on a 1:6 hill which was often snow-covered in Winter, etc, I have had a succession of 4WD cars. Depending upon necessary load sizes you may not need to have something of 'Chelsea tractor' dimensions in order to achieve 4WD. My current Subaru Forester serves me well in this respect, is lower in height than many conventional estate cars, performs well on and off-road and provides better mpg than many cars. In respect of the environment, I look forward to the day when this level of safety and reliability can be obtained without contributing to pollution and global warming but, meanwhile, wonder how many of the vociferous opponents of '4x4s' are driving 'old bangers', failing to keep their vehicles regularly serviced, burning diesel fuel, taking holidays by plane, buying imported items, etc, etc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By J Knight
Brett, Mark,
Agree absolutely about the training aspects; I'd also like to see compulsory refreshers, and maybe an age/experience related limit on the kinds of vehicle people can drive.
If your parents are rich enough you can pass your test on your 17th birthday and head off down the road in a McLaren Merc; this cannot be sensible,
John
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Darren J Fraser
Agree with the age/experience proposal, already in place regarding motorcycles - take test under age of 25 and restricted to certain size bikes for set time periods. If take Direct Access Scheme test (500cc test bike) then can ride any size bike, however this scheme is only open to persons over the age of 25.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.