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Clarkson

That great big Jezza

  • Fire him into outer space

    Votes: 12 25.5%
  • Give the man a knighthood

    Votes: 35 74.5%

  • Total voters
    47
Clarkson is a better writer than presenter.

That's really where I'm coming from, he's hilarious.

As for the speeding, while I like Clarkson, it's got nothing to with driving at 186mph past a school while there's an ice-cream van opposite a zebra crossing.

He's just a funny bloke.
 
when it comes to glamourising speeding and denying that speeding is a factor in road accidents he is VERY VERY wrong.

Is it though? I don't know the answer here, but what proportion of road accidents are down to speed alone as opposed to poorly maintained vehicles, lack of concentration, and/or drivers trying to execute some riduculous maneuver? For example, I was in Chelmsford today and saw two accidents that were down to people pulling out of junctions without looking properly.

Speed, with suitable driver training, is not a problem.




Btw - I think the moral here is don't drive anywhere near me, as there's a fair chance I'll see you crash :unsure:
 
Is it though? I don't know the answer here, but what proportion of road accidents are down to speed alone as opposed to poorly maintained vehicles, lack of concentration, and/or drivers trying to execute some riduculous maneuver? For example, I was in Chelmsford today and saw two accidents that were down to people pulling out of junctions without looking properly.

Speed, with suitable driver training, is not a problem.




Btw - I think the moral here is don't drive anywhere near me, as there's a fair chance I'll see you crash :unsure:
Can you train a 5 year old child not to step out in front of his car 185 mph speeding car ?
 
Is it though? I don't know the answer here, but what proportion of road accidents are down to speed alone as opposed to poorly maintained vehicles, lack of concentration, and/or drivers trying to execute some riduculous maneuver? For example, I was in Chelmsford today and saw two accidents that were down to people pulling out of junctions without looking properly.

Speed, with suitable driver training, is not a problem.




Btw - I think the moral here is don't drive anywhere near me, as there's a fair chance I'll see you crash :unsure:

But very few accidents will be down to speed alone - when you look at it there will almost always be a "contributary cause" that the likes of Clarkson will hide behind. I think it is fairer to ask "How many accidents has excessive speed for the road/conditions/limit been a major contributory/exaserbating factor?". The two accidents you have seen aren't the sort that, these days with all these lefty meddling things like seatbelts and crumplezones, lead to fatalities. It is momentum, ie speed, that leads to death.

And any post-test driver training, from advanced driving to defensive driving to skid-pan training has to be welcomed - but you are putting immensely powerful motor cars in the hands of immature youths and Clarkson saying that it is big, clever and cool to drive them fast, without putting any sort of warning or context to that, is leading to kids killing themselves, their passengers, and innocent third parties.
 
But very few accidents will be down to speed alone

That is sort of the point I was aiming at originally. There's normally something else involved that means the speed one car is going becomes a problem. The story about the fatalities - one car crossed the central reservation etc... Yes it was speeding, but if it had been doing 70 and crossed the reservation the result would in all likelyhood have been the same. The real cause, in my opinion, is that of a driver trying to do something that he does not have the ability to do. Speeding or not, a car crossing a central reservation and going headlong into another is going to result in deaths.

As I've said, speed alone is not the problem. Immaturity/inability of drivers is much more of a problem. It's then down to personal points of view. I see where you come from by saying that shows like Top Gear promote the 'cool' image of driving fast to young people, but I personally don't agree with it. I'm of the opinion that people who want to drive fast will do, regardless of what TV presenters say. I don't think a couple of warnings during a show will do anything to change that - which is where the immaturity issue comes into it again.

Is Clarkson a prat for both going that fast on the Limehouse Link, and admitting it to a journalist - yes, he is.

Will that influence others to do the same - in my opinion, no.
 
Only 2 options? Well i sit on the fence with him, he's a bit of a tosser but there are worse people but on the other hand i wouldn't say no to having a beer with him. BUT i'd love to see his smug face being fired into space.
 
That is sort of the point I was aiming at originally. There's normally something else involved that means the speed one car is going becomes a problem. The story about the fatalities - one car crossed the central reservation etc... Yes it was speeding, but if it had been doing 70 and crossed the reservation the result would in all likelyhood have been the same. The real cause, in my opinion, is that of a driver trying to do something that he does not have the ability to do. Speeding or not, a car crossing a central reservation and going headlong into another is going to result in deaths.

As I've said, speed alone is not the problem. Immaturity/inability of drivers is much more of a problem. It's then down to personal points of view. I see where you come from by saying that shows like Top Gear promote the 'cool' image of driving fast to young people, but I personally don't agree with it. I'm of the opinion that people who want to drive fast will do, regardless of what TV presenters say. I don't think a couple of warnings during a show will do anything to change that - which is where the immaturity issue comes into it again.

Is Clarkson a prat for both going that fast on the Limehouse Link, and admitting it to a journalist - yes, he is.

Will that influence others to do the same - in my opinion, no.

The problem with this arguement is that ultimately it is down to differences of opinion between the two of us. I think that this would be a fascinating debate to watch between Clarkson and someone (ROSPA?
Police?) who has more of the bare facts at their disposal, and the experience of dealing with RTA's.

But one thing I do disagree with you strongly on is the influence of role models on young people. I think that young men in particular (though I have personally witnessed an increase in fast/aggresive driving from young women lately) are massively influenced by media people like JC, and he gives people carte blanche to drive fast when they are the very group who most need to be told that it's OK not to be Lewis Hamilton.
 
The problem with this arguement is that ultimately it is down to differences of opinion between the two of us. I think that this would be a fascinating debate to watch between Clarkson and someone (ROSPA?
Police?) who has more of the bare facts at their disposal, and the experience of dealing with RTA's.

But one thing I do disagree with you strongly on is the influence of role models on young people. I think that young men in particular (though I have personally witnessed an increase in fast/aggresive driving from young women lately) are massively influenced by media people like JC, and he gives people carte blanche to drive fast when they are the very group who most need to be told that it's OK not to be Lewis Hamilton.

And that's again back to where I started. I don't have the figures, so most of what I think is based on my own (for want of a better word) hunch. Completely agree, watching a debate between Clarkson and ANO armed with figures would be fascinating.

I just think back to when I started driving (like a prat, I ashamedly add). I didn't drive like a prat because I was knowingly influenced by what someone said/did. I drove like a prat because I was a 17yr old who thought he knew best.
 
I drive through the Limehouse Link every now and then, it has several speed cameras in the tunnel itself not to mention the ones on the entry/exit road so I doubt JC would be driving any motor vehicles for the foreseeable future if he was being serious.
 
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