Prince Philip , Duke of Edinburgh N/G | Page 3 | Vital Football

Prince Philip , Duke of Edinburgh N/G

Are older people actually more likely to be involved in an accident than other groups, or do we assume any accident where an old person is involved that the older person is senile, is hyped up on prescription pills and has the eyesight of Mr Magoo?

Most older drivers I know tend to only drive down to the local Tescos rather than make long journeys.

In terms of Prince Philip, considering all the police and security that is around him, if he was medically unsafe for driving then someone would have said something and had his license removed. It is entirely possible that it was a typical accident that happened to be caused by an older person.
 
Philip would still be able to drive without a licence. Not on public roads granted, but he has enough private land to drive about on so fuck him!
 
Buddha said:
The safe thing would be to not overtake but similarly, if a line of cars build up because someone is driving at 40mph just because it is the limit but actually the conditions mean 45mph would be more appropriate, then the driver sticking dogmatically to the limit is also failing to drive safely.

Of course, people driving too fast is more common and more dangerous problem.
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It is of course the judgment of the impatient that 45pmh is more appropriate which may or may not be true. The 40mph limit would be set on the assumption there is perfect conditions and that you should drive slower in bad weather.

In the eyes of the law 40mph is the appropriate speed and I am sure the police would ask what was so important that not being able to drive an extra couple of mph was considered acceptable.

The issue with slow drivers is when they are doing 60pmh down the overtaking lane of the motorway and are causing a queue of people who wish to drive at the 70mph limit.
 
Buddha said:
This is right, it's not simply driving too fast that's dangerous, driving too slowly is also very dangerous.

Speed limits, and sticking to them, isn't a perfect solution. Often it is necessary (in order to be driving safely) to be traveling at a much slower speed thxn the limit. Less often but still sometimes, it is safer to be driving faster (though not excessively, only marginally) than the limit.

People sticking to speed limits is generally a good thing but there are times when someone sticking strictly to the limit can cause an accident. Drivers stuck behind can get frustrated and then try a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre. I've seen this happen often on certain roads and sometimes it has nearly resulted in disaster.

The safe thing would be to not overtake but similarly, if a line of cars build up because someone is driving at 40mph just because it is the limit but actually the conditions mean 45mph would be more appropriate, then the driver sticking dogmatically to the limit is also failing to drive safely.

Of course, people driving too fast is more common and more dangerous problem.
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Try driving at 70 on a motorway and carrying out correct lane control - its a nightmare.

I did it for a month to take part in a competition - never again
 
Baghdad_Rob said:
It is of course the judgment of the impatient that 45pmh is more appropriate which may or may not be true. The 40mph limit would be set on the assumption there is perfect conditions and that you should drive slower in bad weather.

In the eyes of the law 40mph is the appropriate speed and I am sure the police would ask what was so important that not being able to drive an extra couple of mph was considered acceptable.

The issue with slow drivers is when they are doing 60pmh down the overtaking lane of the motorway and are causing a queue of people who wish to drive at the 70mph limit.
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You're right about the motorways and people driving too slowly in the wrong lanes.

But you're wrong about speed limits. They are nearly always about right but not always. If it's only ever safe to drive at 45mph on a particular road 10% of the time then it makes utter sense to make the limit 40mph. That in itself doesn't mean that 10% of the time it isn't safe, even appropriate, to drive slightly faster than the limit.
 
There are some interesting points in that report but it's hard to draw any firm conclusions. Different studies appear to have to have come up with almost opposite answers.

I think everyone needs refreshing on the basics of road craft not just the elderly.

Using the latest statistics from the Department for Transport, RegTransfers has researched the top causes of road accidents – here is a breakdown of the top 10 that occur in a year throughout Britain:
  1. Driver failed to look properly – 42,189 accidents reported
  2. Driver failed to judge other person’s path or speed – 21,211 accidents reported
  3. Driver was careless, reckless or in a hurry – 17,845 accidents reported
  4. Driver had poor turn or maneuver – 15,560 accidents reported
  5. Loss of control – 12,151 accidents reported
  6. Pedestrian failed to look properly – 8,687 accidents reported
  7. Slippery road surface – 7,327 accidents reported
  8. Driver was travelling too fast for conditions – 6,468 accidents reported
  9. Driver was following too close – 6,040 accidents reported
  10. Driver was exceeding speed limit – 5,102 accidents reported
The most common cause of accidents is to driver error. Over 100,000 (108,479) crashes occured in the UK due to cars suddenly braking, drivers failing to look properly, poor car maneuvering and/or loss of control.

Bring on driverless vehicles with a take me home function at closing time.
 
Buddha said:
This is right, it's not simply driving too fast that's dangerous, driving too slowly is also very dangerous.
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It can be but only if it causes impatience and frustration in other drivers so they undertake dangerous overtaking manoeuvres that they would not usually attempt.

I live out in the sticks and frequently find the roads brought to a virtual standstill by slow moving wide farm machinery which is a lot more unstable and difficult to pass than old people in their cars.

Our other main problem that causes journey delays is articulated lorries being sent down narrow country lanes presumably by their sat navs. That actually makes cars grind to a complete halt.
 
So, less than 48 hours after the Duke of Hazard rolls his 4x4, he`s caught driving a replacement vehicle without wearing his seat belt - what an arrogant plonker. Apparently, Norfolk Constabulary has had "suitable words" with him for allegedly driving without wearing a seat belt. Perhaps they said something like... "Suggest you hang up your Land Rover keys you ignorant daft old twat". Though, they should avoid using contentious words, like "old", that would be a bit ageist......
 
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