Dodgy Roads Kill, Not Speed

[DavoWA]

Just to prove that my actions mirror my words, I have 2 Minis (real original ones ) in my shed, and one will be used to teach my 2 12 year old daughters about car control as I hope to have one ready for next years state motorkhana competition.

[Buf-Phoon]

Plonky

I have just returned from Germany, and let me tell you , U are spot on , planning , infrastructure and education are the key ingredients. That said most "Fatals" are attributed to speeding in inclement conditions, ie fog , Ice etc

The infrasructue , courses for new drivers etc, roads are second to none.

Why is it then that the Carr Govt does not equitably distribute its taxation wealth in a more beneficial way, albeit that the contributing factors to road deaths in this country cannot holistically be attributed to speed on a per capita basis?

Should we always plan for the lowest common denominator or just raise the bar of admission ?

[DallasQLD]

I propose that speed cameras can detect speeds BOTH WAYS. I expect a "CrEdit" on my account when go through one under the limit!

If they tried that out they would soon get rid of em.

How about a " credit" for when you can't drive at the posted limit?

[KrasH]

  plonky said:

Krash, as a matter of fact they do have a lot of accidents on the autobahns. Mainly due to untrained (taught by parents) drivers who let rip on open speed limits.

The difference with the Germans is that they undergo rigorous driver training before they get to drive.

I'm so glad that Miranda's article has been posted here. I correspond with her regularly and she know's that I think she is the Pinup girl of Sydney journalists!!!

Well done Miranda!!!

I'm sure there are alot of accident's, but how much traffic uses them. You have 60 million or so people in the area the size of maybe a little smaller than NSW. If I remember correctly (I was in Germany about 7 years ago) The autobahns basically criss cross germany. I think something like 10 or so from east to west and 10 or so north to south. When my uncle took me from the City of Ulm (basically inbetween Stuttgart and Munich) to Wuppertal (in the Essen area, with Dussuldorf , Dortmund etc) the trip was basically about 500km's and only took us about 3 hours. I noticed that the Autobahns were seriously packed with traffic everywhere. When I saw this I was amazed that I didn't end up seeing an accident, although we did have to take a few detours to avoid some traffic problems. It all comes down to education and decent roads.

I did get a buzz, however, when my uncle was driving his Nissan Bluebord Diesel at about 180km/h and he says to me "have a look at this car about to pass us" I look and this black Merc fly's past. Easily doing 250km/h.. Boy was I impressed

[KrasH]

  WhiteTee said:

Plonky

I have just returned from Germany, and let me tell you , U are spot on , planning , infrastructure and education are the key ingredients. That said most "Fatals" are attributed to speeding in inclement conditions, ie fog , Ice etc

The infrasructue , courses for new drivers etc, roads are second to none.

Why is it then that the Carr Govt does not equitably distribute its taxation wealth in a more beneficial way, albeit that the contributing factors to road deaths in this country cannot holistically be attributed to speed on a per capita basis?

Should we always plan for the lowest common denominator or just raise the bar of admission ?

Ahh.. Too true. You haven't seen an Organized society until you visit Germany. In the city of Ulm (about 100,000 people, home of some Merc bus factories, formally Setra) I was amazed how efficient the public transport system was. Eg. me and my cousin need to catch a bus to get to the city centre. I ask "how much longer until the bus arrives". She says "oh, about 40 seconds" I say "what?". she then says "35 seconds". I wait and wait, and guess what. The bus was at our stop at the exact time she had said. I then get on the bus and I see that whenever it gets to another stop it has the street name displayed on one of those led signs in the bus and the name is spoken out in German over the speakers. This seriously freaked me out. Then it get's to some traffic lights. The lights have bus specific signals. Arrows for straight ahead, left right. The bus driver just follows the lights. Anyways, get the the final stop and I have a look in the bus drivers cabin and there is a cassette that is playing with the "bus stop street names etc". Now that's organized. When I was up in the north of Germany in Wuppertal and Dortmund (where a cousin of mine played soccer) There was no difference. The buses were on time everytime. Even the trains were always on time. Oh well, Australian governments (federal and state) can learn alot about efficiency from the German example.

[plonky]

I'm glad you have a high regard for German efficiency as I am also of German background (my Grandfather)

The motivating factor in efficiency is commonsense. I try to be a commonsensical as possible and do this rationally and sensibly.

However, I'm afraid that the current Germany (East and West) is really a shadow of the former West Germany. The country is broke, the debt is massive and the Red (Socialist) party formed an alliance with the Green (Environmentalist) party and the country has gone to pack.

As a matter of fact Germany is now one big watermelon. Green (environmentalist) on the outside and Red (Communist( on the inside!