Justin Smith

Accurate statistics are never "lies" but below are the best, most recent, examples which prove that (without careful terms of reference) statistics can be grossly misleading to put it mildly...... 1 Midland Mainlines train service has improved, the official statistics prove it. The main figure used to indicate train performance is the proportion of trains which are "late" (we`ll ignore the fact that "late" only means something like more than 10 mins) so what do Midland Mainline do ? They add time to all the services so more are on time ! Result, an improved service ! But it isn`t really, the trains are only about as fast as they were twenty years ago. First Great Western (London to the West) are even worse, their trains are now slower than they were thirty years ago ! 2 More mail is delivered "next day", the official statistics prove it. One of the main figures used to indicate Royal Mails performance is the percentage of first class letters delivered the following day and the target is 95%, so what do RM do ? They make the collections earlier and the deliveries later ! Result, an improved service ! It isn`t though is it. If you miss the last post then your letter has a zero % chance of being delivered next day, and if you`ve gone to work before the post arrives then in many cases it may as well arrive the following day anyway..... Lies, damn lies and statistics, perhaps there is something to it...... Can anyone add to the above list ?

I`ve been a TV engineer and I can tell you now they really don`t build them like they used to...... I`m specifically referring to "brown goods" here but in my experience it applies to most products these days. One of the reasons that videos used to be far more expensive than they are now is they were built like tanks rather than like Christmas cracker presents....... Most things are made down to a price and the build quality is absolute s**t. Apart from anything else, this throwaway society is not exactly environmentally friendly is it ?

Here are the real facts, as opposed to what the government propaganda says. Digital Swithch Over (DSO) isn`t not all negative but it`s NOT all positive either and I get a bit sick of people with an axe to grind (ie the broadcast authorities and the retailers) failing to give the full story...... http://www.aerialsandtv.com/digitaltv.html

I don`t think it`s just down to these reasons. Men tend to be far more aggressive drivers than women, though there are worrying signs that women are starting to catch up...........

I suspect one of the main reasons is that a fair number do not indicate because they`re on their mobile phones, paricularly (but not exclusively) if they`re the hand held variety. In the last few weeks I`ve seen at least two drivers execute right turns around roundabouts all whilst chatting on their mobiles. I`m not quite sure how it`s possible to accomplish the latter, perhaps they`ve got automatic gearboxes or they go all the way round in the same gear ? However they do it they`ve obviously not got a spare hand to operate the indicators, or to put their brains in gear either......

I do not have a problem with drivers (as in all drivers) but I do have a problem with arrogant selfish motorists who feel the rules are for everyone else and not themselves. I would have thought that is a reasonable position to adopt and at a loss to understand how anyone could be offended by it. My comments are not personally directed at you as I have no experience of your driving. However if, in the unlikely event that, you were driving that silver Passat I mentioned earlier (about 6 years ago near Swann Mortons) then I my attitude would not be quite so positive !!! Incidentally this is not just driving it is about the consistent application of the law and the possible effects that this has on disrespect for the law.

Surely you would turn it down if it was annoying your fellow travellers and one of them asked you reasonably nicely ?

Speaking as someone who owns a business reparing TVs (amongst other activities) consider yourself lucky to have a more easily repaired analogue unit. Any analogue TV/VCR etc will work digitally but will need a set top box. The details http://www.aerialsandtv.com/digitaltv.html#UnreliabilityOfDigitalSTBs

I can empathise. My wife experienced the same thing and to add insult to injury the arrogant b*****d had the nerve to hoot her ! I`m sure they`re a lot of decent courteous motorists out there but unfortunately it`s the retards who tend to stick in your mind....

If the plates can be read and the law makes it clear that only readability is the standard then it goes without saying that the relevant motorist should not be prosecuted. At the moment that is not the case so the law should be applied consistently to everyone. As a rule I have big problems with inconsistency in the application of the law (or any set of rules come to that) as I feel it generates insidious disrespect and ill feeling generally. For those who are interested the figures for prosecutions in Sth Yorks (1 Apr 05 to 1 Mar 06 ie 11 months) are: Plate not fitted correctly 579 No plate 249 Plate obscured/unreadable 382

It is not just aimed at drivers, the number plate thing is just the most obvious example I can think of. I suppose one point is consistent through most of my posts, it`s about fairness and consistency. As I said in the original post, if I fitted a non standard plate on my car and then got prosecuted, I`d be fuming as I saw all the others driving around quite blatantly. Where is the fairness and consistency in that ? What is the point in having a law and then ignoring the vast majority of those who break it ? Incidentally it should not cost anything (nett) to prosecute non standard number plates as the fines should pay for it.

If by "self righteous" you mean standing up for what is right, then I plead guilty with all my heart and I am proud to be guilty.

Absolutely, but the point is that I`ve had car drivers shouting and balling at me before over this very issue, obviously they (and me as well to be fair) didn`t realise that the car driver was in the wrong !

I don`t think "willman" is appreciating the essential point I`m making. We should not be able to pick and choose which laws we follow so if the police don`t prosecute people they should scrap the relevant law(s). What`s the point in having a law then not enforcing it, that just promotes disrespect for the law.

I have often wondered how so many car drivers can get away with having non standard number plates, I mean it`s not exectly hard for PC Plod to track down the offenders is it ? If I decided to put a non standard plate on my car, and then got caught, I think I`d get pretty angry about it because I`d see all the others driving around "un-prosecuted". Surely this deciding which law to abide by must help to foster a lack of respect for the law so if there are going to be laws, surely they should be enforced, if not they should be scrapped.

The Highway Code is the ultimate and final arbiter of driving in this country. Anyone who disagrees with that should not have a driving licence and by implication should not be driving on the roads. The foreword to the HC states (in so many words) that even the rules which are not compulsory can be used to "identify liability" , eg in an accident or in a court of law. Incidentally the fact I have been motivated to look at my HC has been instructive because I did not realise that if a pedestrian has started to cross a road (into which a car is turning) the pedestrian has priority (rule 146). I`d warrant that most car drivers probably don`t even know that, not that it`d make any difference as car drivers never admit they`re in the wrong anyway......

Incidentally one of the worst pieces of driving I`ve ever seen occured at that junction in front of Swann Mortons. I won`t bore you with the details but it was 6 years ago, I can still remember part of the reg (it started TX51) and it was a silver VW Passat, a German car....... I was very keen to tell the imbecile just what I thought of him but the lights at Hillsborough corner stopped me....... The incredible thing is the guy had his wife in the front seat and if I hadn`t swerved out of the way it was her who would have made intimate contact with the rear of a parked truck. I just hope she was so angry with him that he didn`t get his grunties all week !

Some of the Highway code is advisory and some (like the speed limit....) is compulsory. I have no objection to people "getting in front of me" provided they are sticking to the same set of rules (and showing the same degree of courtesy....) as I am. Anyone involved in any game will get upset if anyone else fails to stick to the rules, and lets face it driving is definately far more serious than any game, potentially lives are at stake.......

The Highway code states (for good reason) that one must not overtake on the inside unless the traffic on the outside is in a Q, or words to that effect. If anyone is in the outside lane and is doing the speed limit no one should be overtaking them, either on the inside or anywhere else for that matter. The situation outside the Hillsborough football ground is that one knows that one will have to pull out into the outside lane (due to parked cars) and using anticipation ((and not wanting to rely on others to let you out........)) one gets in the outside lane early. I actually prefer driving on the inside lane wherever possible but I also realise that having to constantly change lanes (and rely on others to let you....) is not conducive to safe or stress free driving. Every time anyone changes lanes there is a risk (admittedly a small one) of an incident so unnecessary lane changing is bad driving. Is Darbee one of those who thinks obeying the Highway Code is only for others, or have I got the wrong end of the stick, which is perfectly possible....

I know I shouldn`t take it personally (my wife is constantly telling me not to....) but I can`t help it. There is another point though, these cretins are cocking a snook at everyone else, saying (effectively) "They all have to stick to the rules `cos they`re just ordinary people, I`m special so I don`t have to". It`s so `effing ARROGANT !

I agree with you if the drivers in the outside lane aren`t doing the speed limit but that particular stretch of Penistone Rd is a 30 limit (and it`s dangerous to cross, as a pedestrian, even at that speed.....) so the argument doesn`t apply. As for not complaining I could not disagree with you more. If no one ever complained, or rebuked, these arrogant retards they`d do it all the more. I have a theory that if every time any driver did something aggressively wrong on purpose (anyone can make a mistake) such as going through a red light, if every single other car hooted them they`d soon stop doing it. Unless they`ve got a personality disorder of course, but if they have then they shouldn`t be on the road at all.....

Driving home last night along Penistone Rd by the Wednesday ground, the place where cars are always parked on the inside thus forcing drivers into the outside lane. There was a Q of vehicles in the outside lane but one cretin decided he didn`t want to stick to the rules of the road, so pulled onto the inside lane, accelerated to break the speed limit, overtook 2 or 3 cars on the inside then cut back in again. Guess what, a German car (a silver BMW actually).........did he know he was driving like an arrogant t****r ?....... I hate this piece of road, which ever lane you pick you just can`t win. Pick the inner lane and you nearly always have to pull out and rely on the generosity of other drivers to let you do it. If you pick the outside lane (and stick to the speed limit) you often get selfish arrogant morons overtaking you on the inside which just winds me up. It`s at times like this I wish I had a car with variable width........

Results of our (unbiased) tests on batteries : http://www.aerialsandtv.com/tvrepairs.html#Batteries

Oh woe, woe and thrice woe, those wanting blissful silence (or at least something approaching it....) may as well go and shoot themselves. Why ? Well I was in Marks and Spencers (that paradigm of the middle class silent majority, pun intended) the other day and they were selling an M & S branded toy car badged as a "BOOM BOOM CAR". Gordon Bennet we`ll have a generation of kids growing up thinking blaring music from their cars is normal, as opposed to the reality that it`s not only anti-social but it makes them look like people with learning disabilities..... sorry, that`s an insult to people with learning disabilities..... To be honest I went off M & S a bit when I discovered that the purse I`d bought for my wife (for £15) was made in bleedin` China ! Marks probably paid about £1.50 for it, that`s what I call a profit margin. No wonder they`re making so much money now.... (Noise Abatement Society http://www.noiseabatementsociety.com )

This man (or woman ?) deserves a medal because so few drivers admit that they`re anything but perfect. Ironically the fact he (or she) does admit it, most importantly to themselves, means he (or she) is almost certainly one of the safer drivers on the road....... OK I realise "jabberwocky" may be using irony but my point still stands !