Safe Driving DVD.

[Yowe]

^^^^^^

Well, that certainly made me think. Brought a tear to my eye too

[ChristopherWilliamThomson]

It is a shame we cannot take one of the uninhabited isles in Shetland, build a lot of roads on it and say, "There you go, if you want to break the law, be it speeding, drunk driving or whatever, go and drive there, and get it out of your system."

 

That way any accidents will not involve the majority of innocent people who do not take such idiotic, unconsiderate, and downright murderous risks.

[jeemsie]

It is a shame we cannot take one of the uninhabited isles in Shetland, build a lot of roads on it and say, "There you go, if you want to break the law, be it speeding, drunk driving or whatever, go and drive there, and get it out of your system."

 

That way any accidents will not involve the majority of innocent people who do not take such idiotic, unconsiderate, and downright murderous risks.

 

Unst?

 

Seriously though, i reckon there are two extremes regarding the causes of bad driving, over-confidence and inexperience (or even inebriation, which can combine the two) these are the things that should be taken out of folks systems, obviously a bit of common sense is all thats needed to combat this but accidents will always happen, unfortunately. As long as folk are largely aware of their surroundings and what they are doing, the risks are lessened. I don't go in for this police bashing either, they are after all only human, and while there may be the odd case of abusing their powers, i'd challenge anyone else not to do the same, i'm sure they are all well aware that they are NOT above the law.

 

Back to Unst, or somewhar other, onywhere really, how about a rallycross track? dunna need to build ony roads, just depopulate the right areas, shouldna be ony drink driving regardless though

[Ally]

This letter in the Shetland News is pretty good i thought, in a safe driving context.

 

Click here

 

You'd think if he was so observant he'd have got out of the way!

 

Sorry - Thought the "I saw you" poem thing was a bit to yanky and schmaltzy for my tastes. Appreciate the sentiment though.

[Njugle]

Touché Ally

 

Yeah, the old Frank Bruno; "Think once, think twice"(karate chop)"Think bike!" was definitely more of a winner.

 

Come to think of it, that was over 20 yrs ago, i was a bairn and i can still mind it!

 

Did that old ad not have smashed watermelons in it too?

[Ally]

Touché Ally

 

Yeah, the old Frank Bruno; "Think once, think twice"(karate chop)"Think bike!" was definitely more of a winner.

 

I can't remember that one! If it's one of the classic public service announcements then if gets my vote. Some of those were messed up. Charlie says... etc. The one that sticks in my head stars a wee kid who goes to get his frisbee from a fenced in power plant, ignoring the "Danger High Voltage!" sign.

 

Needless to say he wound up as toast. Scarry stuff. I wouldn't go near a frisbee for years!

[Njugle]

Touché Ally

 

Yeah, the old Frank Bruno; "Think once, think twice"(karate chop)"Think bike!" was definitely more of a winner.

 

I can't remember that one! If it's one of the classic public service announcements then if gets my vote. Some of those were messed up. Charlie says... etc. The one that sticks in my head stars a wee kid who goes to get his frisbee from a fenced in power plant, ignoring the "Danger High Voltage!" sign.

 

Needless to say he wound up as toast. Scarry stuff. I wouldn't go near a frisbee for years!

 

Holy cow, did i say Frank Bruno? What was i thinking! it was Henry Cooper!

 

Yeah the old Public info skits were quite powerful. With the exception of the Green Cross Code gadgy, his gaudy super-hero suit was so overbearing it was hard to concentrate on the message.

[BigMouth]

I bet you can remember the advert word for word though.

 

Its amazing how those things stick in our heads.

[Pooks]

Some of those were messed up. Charlie says... etc.

 

I could never remember what the real adverts said as all I could ever think of when they came on was 'Charlie says don't jump into the water without your parents'.

[Quarffie]

When living south years ago, aged 19 and thinking I was a superb driver, I found myself in an unfortunate situation when having just pulled out from a parking slot a guy dashed out in front of me. Result? I knocked him flying, my speed was about 20 to 25mph. The cops came and measured up as if I had killed him (which I hadn't - just broken hip and leg and cuts and bruises)

 

The thing is, it is not macho or clever to go speeding through residential areas; I speak from experience.

[JustMe]

I always think this old poem ought to be part of the driving test.

 

John Betjeman - Meditation on the A30

 

A man on his own in a car

Is revenging himself on his wife;

He open the throttle and bubbles with dottle

and puffs at his pitiful life

 

She's losing her looks very fast,

she loses her temper all day;

that lorry won't let me get past,

this Mini is blocking my way.

 

"Why can't you step on it and shift her!

I can't go on crawling like this!

At breakfast she said that she wished I was dead-

Thank heavens we don't have to kiss.

 

"I'ld like a nice blonde on my knee

And one who won't argue or nag.

Who dares to come hooting at me?

I only give way to a Jag.

 

"You're barmy or plastered, I'll pass you, you bar steward-

I will overtake you. I will!"

As he clenches his pipe, his moment is ripe

And the corner's accepting its kill.

[fullerton101]

On the subject of showing gruesome images to deter people, for me personally I don't think it would affect me that much. As no matter how gruesome the image is, It will always feel detached from me. (unless it was someone I knew )

 

For me a much bigger deterant, especially living in a place like Shetland, is the shame I would feel if everyone I knew and everyone who knew my parents etc knew I was a drink driver.

 

Also, similar to the poem above ^ one of my favourite songs, by a band called Tsunami Bomb is about drink drivers.

 

Being a learner driver myself, it definitely makes me think about how wrong it is.

 

Ask her to stay

Ignition turns, the engine burns to life

She drives away

Away into the night

Storm rolling in

The darkness descending and then

She picks up her poison bottle

Cloudy sky, cloudy mind, now she feels at home

 

She drinks away her pain

As she takes your life into her hands

 

Out on the road

The poison has begun to settle in

She's going home

But wishes she could disappear again

She starts to swerve

The white line means nothing to her

She picks up her poison bottle

Heavy head, heavy eyes, will she make it home?

 

She drinks away her pain

As she takes your life into her hands

Her memories remain

As she takes your life into her hands

 

Losing control

Bits and pieces scatter like small toys

She'll never know

The lives she has taken and destroyed

She looks around

At flames eating bodies on the ground

She sees her broken poison bottle

Pick it up, smash it down in a pool of blood

 

The cops came and they took her away in chains

[JustMe]

Well said fullerton101....add that song to the "new drivers pack".

[Njugle]

Heavy stuff indeed.

 

One thing though:

 

For me a much bigger deterant, especially living in a place like Shetland, is the shame I would feel if everyone I knew and everyone who knew my parents etc knew I was a drink driver.

 

That may apply to you but i can wholeheartedly assure you that even now there are at least a couple of districts of Shetland where drink driving escapades are still regarded as funny and discussed with bravado.

[Willies_landy]

On the subject of showing gruesome images to deter people, for me personally I don't think it would affect me that much. As no matter how gruesome the image is, It will always feel detached from me. (unless it was someone I knew )

 

 

 

HAVING READ THE ABOVE I WISH TO POINT OUT THIS -

 

I HAVE HELD A 9 MONTH OLD BABY KILLED IN A ROAD ACCIDENT. THE BABY WAS PEREFECT AND HAD NO VISIBLE INJURIES. THIS WAS THE FIRST GRUESOME THING I HAD TO DO. THE SECOND CAME WHEN I HAD TO TELL THE GRAND PARENTS. SO AS YOU CAN SEE YOU DON'T HAVE TO SEE AN IMAGE TO BE EFFETCED BY A DEATH.

 

THIS ACCIDENT OCCURED AS A RESULT OF A SPEEDER IN A BUILT UP AREA. CAN THIS HAPPEN IN SHETLAND? A CALSSIC PLACE IS ON CHURCH ROAD, BOY RACER GOING UP HILL WITH A YOUNG MOTHER REVERSING ONTO THE ROAD. TAKE A MOMENT TO THINK ABOUT IT!