A helmet saved my life -- believe it

[Marc Brett]

On Fri, 25 May 2007 08:23:28 +0100, Peter Clinch
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Rob Morley wrote:
>
>> Surely that's because their tyres are three inches wide and they don't
>> do more than 45mph?
>
>I am reminded of a glorious newspaper ad Citroen once did for the 2CV,
>where they pointed out it had as many wheels as a Rolls Royce, more room
>than a Porsche ("we don't need a silly plastic luggage rack on the back
>of /our/ car!") and faster than a Ferrari: "at it's top speed of 72 mph
>it can easily overtake a Ferrari doing 60 in the slow lane".

My company's H&S dept mandated that we all take supplemental driving
courses, since ijuries from car accidents have a big impact on business.
One of our lorry drivers came back with a huge grin on his face and
declared that he was faster than a Porsche -- he had just been taught to
coast slowly up to roundabouts and anticipate the gaps in the traffic.
The silly Porsche driver, of course, raced up to every roundabout and
braked to a halt while the artic cruised serenely by, so winning the
"race".

 

[Mark McNeill]

Response to Marc Brett:
> One of our lorry drivers came back with a huge grin on his face and
> declared that he was faster than a Porsche -- he had just been taught to
> coast slowly up to roundabouts and anticipate the gaps in the traffic.
> The silly Porsche driver, of course, raced up to every roundabout and
> braked to a halt while the artic cruised serenely by, so winning the
> "race".


Good technique on a bike as well, of course; on my old commute I'd
occasionally get honked at[1] for *not* shooting up to the roundabout
and coming to a dead stop, but instead slowing and timing my entrance
for a gap.

[1] Assuming I was reading the driver's mind correctly; but it seemed to
correlate pretty well.


--
Mark, UK
"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary
to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes
beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is
likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."

 

[dkahn400]

On May 25, 8:23 am, Peter Clinch <[email protected]> wrote:

> I am reminded of a glorious newspaper ad Citroen once did for the 2CV,
> where they pointed out it had as many wheels as a Rolls Royce, more room
> than a Porsche ("we don't need a silly plastic luggage rack on the back
> of /our/ car!") and faster than a Ferrari: "at it's top speed of 72 mph
> it can easily overtake a Ferrari doing 60 in the slow lane".

I remember that one. It also boasted of central locking and an
automatic sun roof. You could reach all the door locks from a central
position and you would automatically roll the roof back when the sun
came out.

--
Dave...

 

[Alan Braggins]

In article <[email protected]>, Mark McNeill wrote:
>
>Good technique on a bike as well, of course; on my old commute I'd
>occasionally get honked at[1] for *not* shooting up to the roundabout
>and coming to a dead stop, but instead slowing and timing my entrance
>for a gap.
>
>[1] Assuming I was reading the driver's mind correctly; but it seemed to
>correlate pretty well.

On a couple of occasions I've been in a position to ask a driver why they
had honked their horn and found that they weren't able to give a reason,
so I'd be slightly cautious about that assumption in spite of the
correlation....

 

[burt]

"Mark McNeill" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Good technique on a bike as well, of course; on my old commute I'd
> occasionally get honked at[1] for *not* shooting up to the roundabout
> and coming to a dead stop, but instead slowing and timing my entrance
> for a gap.
>
> [1] Assuming I was reading the driver's mind correctly; but it seemed to
> correlate pretty well.

Mind?