Having read this:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-13830017
Should stupid people even be allowed to drive? Discuss.
:-)
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>>Should stupid people even be allowed to drive?>>
Exported back to Australia perhaps?
More pix:
tinyurl.com/4xmbg54
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It seems to be people who can't read! The signs clearly give the times between which crossing is not possible. If you try it you might get away with it and you might not!
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Perhaps the problem is that the driving test just requires you to read a number plate.
You will eventually pass the theory test by guessing.
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I like going to the Holy Island causeway just to watch the tide come in and cover the road - very relaxing.
It's a large open area, and about half a mile of road is submerged, but only by a foot or two of water.
Most of the road is level with the ground, although there is a short bridge section where the water is deepest.
In the linked picture you can see the low bridge, and the flood refuge, which is the small white building at the top of a few wooden steps.
Inside there is a free telephone to the coastguard, and a drilled hole in the floor, presumably for drainage.
The tide doesn't get very high, and the water rarely reaches the bottom of the refuge steps.
There are monthly safe crossing times posted on a noticeboard each side, and also online.
tinyurl.com/5tdjekq
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I also think a Driving licence should be a privilage and not a right ! There are plenty who do not deserve one !
Those that are stupid enough to ignore signs are usually those that park anywhere and drive through red lights !
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I seem to recall that in Switzerland, you get three attempts at the driving test. If you fail the three then you have to see a psychologist before being allowed a final two attempts.
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www.isyours.com/e/immigration/relocation/vehicles/driving_license.html
The Swiss driving test includes a written exam (that can be taken in English or in other foreign languages) and a practical test.
The practical test can be taken only three times. If you fail it three times, you are required to consult a psychologist who will decide if you are mentally fit to drive and who can offer you a fourth and final attempt... But you would have to demonstrate a real inaptitude for driving to get to that point.
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Strictly speaking it isn't a right. You have to pass a test to get one and pay for it. If you can't pass the test you don't get one.
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The difficulty with the proposition is that you are only judging stupidity after the event.
The driving test measures two things:
1) how well someone has mugged up all the HC questions
2) whether they managed to drive sensibly enough for the duration of the test in order to pass.
It is impossible to weed out stupid people in advance, so if that is the aim of the test then it should be rejigged so that everyone automatically gets a licence on application, but:
1) The licence can be lost, permanently, through one act of stupidity
2) driving is continuously monitored, via a "black box", to detect such acts.
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There's not enough information to judge the stupidity of this driver.
There have been cases of drivers parking in laybys off the causeway, going for a walk, and coming back to find the car flooded.
It's more likely the driver was trying to cross, thinking the water was only shallow.
But does that make him a bad driver?
Or a bad judge of the depth of a stretch of water?
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>> Should stupid people even be allowed to drive?
Just one foolish act does not make one stupid.
Our politicans and judges are making loads of stupid mistakes day after day - then why we are allowing them to continue? This makes all of us stupid - isn't it?
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There's plenty of signs to tell you when the water will rise. I suppose people don't always realise how fast it rises?
You'd have thought a controlled barrier would help but the times it would need to lower/raise would be forever changing.
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>> You'd have thought a controlled barrier would help but the times it would need to
>> lower/raise would be forever changing.
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Shouldn't be too difficult to rig it up to a float switch.
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I read somewhere that people get impatient waiting for the tide and decide their car, perhaps a 4x4, can do it fifteen minutes sooner than the book says.
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>> I read somewhere that people get impatient waiting for the tide and decide their car,
>> perhaps a 4x4, can do it fifteen minutes sooner than the book says.
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I hope their insurance companies declare it negligence and refuse to pay for the damage to their cars.
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>> You'd have thought a controlled barrier would help but the times it would need to
>> lower/raise would be forever changing.
Ever changing, but totally predictable and programmable.
I've been across the causeway a few times. It's hard to imagine why people risk it. You don't mess with sea, do you?
I don't know anybody who's come to grief, but I do know a couple who have been "stranded" in the pub, having missed the window.
I imagine that most people who get waterlogged are late and don't want to spend several hours waiting, rather than anticipating the ebb.
Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 20 Jun 11 at 17:32
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My mother, who lives a mile from the sea and likes to watch the waders on the mud at low tide, has a tide clock by the front door. It has an ordinary quartz movement but geared to turn once in 13 hours rather than 12. With a switch attached, it would be perfectly capable of controlling barriers on a tidal causeway.
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...capable of controlling barriers on a tidal causeway...
Finance would be a problem at Holy Island.
They struggle to maintain the road surface, which doesn't last long with two dousings a day.
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I suspect the people who get trapped by the tide on any part of the coastline have little concept of things nautical and their lack of knowledge has the inevitable result. One reason why there are lifeguards on popular holiday beaches in many areas. Respect the sea or it will bite (or drown) you. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 20 Jun 11 at 18:41
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Actually predicting the time of high tide in a particular locations is far from simple and is done by a combination of mathematical calculation and the use of locally observed data. Best use a tide table.
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I'm liking ON's float switch idea. Few bits of old washing machine and it's sorted.
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Surely the answer is to take away the refuge hut, and withdraw the coastguard rescue services. Let Darwinism run its course.
May take a few generations tho'.
Last edited by: pmh on Mon 20 Jun 11 at 19:54
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[[They shouldn't have kids either.]]
''When she was arrested, she told police she had earlier taken amphetamine.
Police later found a small amount of the banned substance at her home, on her kitchen window sill.''
They're good for you those amphetamine's....
shakes head and gets ready for work, hope there's not too many like her about on the road tonight.
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>shakes head and gets ready for work, hope there's not too many like her about on the road tonight.
Don't go out tonight GB. It's either a full moon tonight or they've left the gates open at Broadmoor again.
All of the following seen on my drive home from work:
1) An old-f in a MINI Convertible doing an indicated 28mph down the 50mph limit A33.
2) A three car minor shunt at the traffic lights outside the incinerator plant at Chineham. Instead of pulling forward ten yards onto the filter lane the cars were left blocking the southbound lane while they stood around looking at scratched bumpers.
3) A woman in a Pug CC who pulled out of Morrisons straight across the front of a Ford Galaxy and into the outside lane of the dual carriageway in front of me.
4) The driver of a Ford Focus who blocked a Keep Clear section at a traffic calming build-out resulting in oncoming cars being unable to turn right and blocking the whole road.
Would it be illegal if I showed my displeasure with a paintball gun.
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I regularly see cars with A4-sized For Sale signs on the passenger's side of the windscreen. You'd think people would have the sense to take them off when they are actually driving.
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In the last two weeks, more than ever before, I have seen people driving whilst on a mobile. During a trip to and from a supermarket I saw at least 4. One negotiated a very busy roundabout (and lots before/after as they were behind me).
I sometimes feel like stopping my car (and therefore them) to let them finish their call.
Shame there is no facility on Facebook to find someone's face... because I'd be stopping and snapping away to pass on their details! Sorry rant over.
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There is a solid yellow line outside the shop where I work. In all but the coldest weather our door is open. If I had a pound for every thicko who comes into the shop and asks ''is it ok to park here?'' I would be very happy. Unless I am serving a customer I take them outside and point at the rectangular yellow sign. If they are the stupider of 'Dumb & Dumber' then I point them in the direction of the newsagent next door and advise them to buy a copy of the HW Code.
The older I get, the less tolerant I become.
Not that I ever was.
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Should Stupid People Drive? - Stuartli
