Deadly Cargo

I am preoccupied with death on the roads but then too many people do suffer terrible injuries on the roads of the UK and a whole host of others do not live to tell the tale.
And sometimes we know who our killer is... as is shown on a safety ad. from almost 10 years ago.
http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/campaigns/seatbelts/seatbelts.htm where a rear seat passenger is not strapped in so is flung forward following a front-end impact killing the driver.

It never ceases to amaze me that people think they can save their babies in the event of a
collision with them sat on their laps.All people in a motor vehicle should be strapped in and strapped in properly. No child seat is too expensive for your child. If you can't afford one then

1. don't have a car etc
or
2. don't have children

It's quite simple really.

Other things should be suitably secured as well. Even an empty CD case on the parcel shelf can deal a nasty blow in a collision.
We're very good at making sure our box of a dozen eggs is secure since they are so obviously fragile but who gives a toss about the humans beings in transit, eh?



Whilst I am in road safety mode, the lumpy thing attached to the top of the back of your seat is not a headrest it is a head restraint. It needs to be set at the correct height for whoever is sat in that seat. This includes the rear seats where restraints are fitted!. If they are too low, par example, and another driver rear-ends the motor that you are in there is a chance of not simply suffering from whiplash but of dying due to something called HYPEREXTENSION. If not dying then possibly landing you in a wheelchair unable to feed yourself. [hyperflexion is also involved as the neck snaps forward again]

...............................One of the new breed of restraints as found on SAABs

Mobile on a mobile

In the UK if you wish to use a mobile phone whilst driving it must be of the hands-free variety. Well, you don't talk with it clamped to your ear with one hand holding it and one hand on the steering wheel.
You can be wired for sound. You can have a speaker system but do not hold it to your ear for a chat. And, you should not text whilst on the move or read an incoming text.
Now to me this seems as sensible as you can get.
Using a mobile phone removes your mind partially if not totally from your immediate environment.
Only recently - the case is ongoing - a man was killed as he ?stepped out in front of a van? whilst chatting on his mobile. Even if the investigation shows otherwise there are plenty of other cases that have proven such events. My thoughts do go out to the aforementioned chap's family and friends and those involved in the collision.
If you can not concentrate enough under your own steam then what chance you concentrating whilst driving?
This is one of my big soap box issues and my writing this now has been prompted by one of the most stupid acts i have seen concerning mobile phones. Now i have seen drivers of cars, vans, coaches (with passengers) and articulated HGVs using mobiles attached to their ears. And half of them have had a passenger perched beside them! FFS!
This latest one was a driver of a silver Ford Fiesta passing by a primary school in a 20mph zone at kicking out time. I had just moved off from having been stopped at the zebra crossing to let a family cross. His window was open, he was enjoying the sun, the company of a female passenger and a chat on his mobile!
But for further safety issues i would've taken his number plate details and passed them on to the police.

There is ONE instance when you are legally allowed to use it whilst a driver on the move. When you believe you are being followed by a potential assailant and you are informing the police whilst heading for the nearest safe place or your local open police station.
Otherwise, DO NOT DO IT! It really is not worth it. We managed perfectly well without having phones glued to our ears for decades during the existence of the the internal combustion engine.