Level crossing stupidity...

[peanuts]

Worn tyres cover less distance for each revolution of the wheel so you will be travelling slower at any speedo reading than you would on new ones. The same applies if they are under-inflated so, in neither case will you travel as fast as you would on a set with the full rolling circumference at any indicated speed.

 

I also swapped wheels on one of my cars, a Peugeot 205XS which had 165-70 x 13 tyres as standard. I fitted a set of alloys with 185-60 x 14 tyres which raised the gearing significantly. I didn't go to the trouble of getting the speedo recalibrated so had to remember that 60 on the clock was nearer 70 on the road.  

 

I drove a few old Heralds back when they were fairly new and I don't remember any of them being capable of 85mph other than when travelling down a fairly steep hill (the much later 13/60 model certainly would do so, though); On cars of that age and engine size (1200cc), raising the gearing by fitting big tyres would usually prevent the motor hitting maximum power in top gear and actually reduce the top speed on a level road.

 

John

old trick of the haulage industry send your truck for tacho and limiter re set on a very worn set of tyres  comes back all set up for 56mph  bang the new tyres back on and you can gain as much as four mph when sat on your limiter may not sound much but in that is 25miles + further between driving breaks a signifcant advantage over your rivals 

[Titan]

old trick of the haulage industry send your truck for tacho and limiter re set on a very worn set of tyres  comes back all set up for 56mph  bang the new tyres back on and you can gain as much as four mph when sat on your limiter may not sound much but in that is 25miles + further between driving breaks a signifcant advantage over your rivals 

 

Are you sure? I thought it was 4 hours max between breaks, 4 x 4mph = 16 miles, not even close to 25, let alone 25+

[peanuts]

ok so my maths is out and its four hours thirty between breaks  16 miles can be the difference between getting to a drop/collection and not and thats a competative edge  

[Poggy1165]

One problem, certainly, is that society has become more competitive than it used to be, people (not least business drivers) are under more pressure, and sometimes, as a result, bad decisions are made. I might add, mental health is often destroyed too. If you think you might be sacked if you don't make that important appointment fifty miles away, you might do stupid things to get there.

[SHMD]

Company car values are usually in proportion to the salary of the driver so that doesn't constitute an anomaly. 

 

As for your own example, tricky - depends on how much self-discipline one can muster when presented with something rather more sporty than ones own car to play with. We all have a free choice as to how deep we plant the right foot.

 

So long as the rules/process is well publicised, everybody knows where they stand before any offence is committed then I don't really see any difficulty.

 

John

 

Just like everybody knows how to use level crossings now....

 

 

Kev.

(My underlining.)

[jcm@gwr]

Worn tyres cover less distance for each revolution of the wheel so you will be travelling slower at any speedo reading than you would on new ones. The same applies if they are under-inflated so, in neither case will you travel as fast as you would on a set with the full rolling circumference at any indicated speed.

 

I also swapped wheels on one of my cars, a Peugeot 205XS which had 165-70 x 13 tyres as standard. I fitted a set of alloys with 185-60 x 14 tyres which raised the gearing significantly. I didn't go to the trouble of getting the speedo recalibrated so had to remember that 60 on the clock was nearer 70 on the road.  

 

I drove a few old Heralds back when they were fairly new and I don't remember any of them being capable of 85mph other than when travelling down a fairly steep hill (the much later 13/60 model certainly would do so, though); On cars of that age and engine size (1200cc), raising the gearing by fitting big tyres would usually prevent the motor hitting maximum power in top gear and actually reduce the top speed on a level road.

 

John

 

My point was that they have to give the 10% leeway to allow for the difference between

new and worn tyres, and the difference between under and over inflated tyres, and still

keep it vaguely accurate.

 

Regarding the Herald and it's performance, once you get a fair number of miles on the

clock, and it has been looked after/serviced, the engine does tend to 'free-up' quite a bit.

This I noticed on a few of mine with higher mileage, it also depended how long you were

prepared to spend getting the 'tuning' spot on (really fussy with valve clearances, used a

dwell meter, colour-tune and timing light, also making sure the drum brakes didn't bind!) 

 

Mind you, one of my 1200's definitely went a lot better with a Spitfire Mk2 tubular exhaust

manifold, and then I made an inlet manifold with a Stromberg from a 13/60, finally it ended

up with twin SU's on a Spitfire manifold (then I finished rebuilding my Vitesse 6!)

[96701]

My point was that they have to give the 10% leeway to allow for the difference between

new and worn tyres, and the difference between under and over inflated tyres, and still

keep it vaguely accurate.

 

Regarding the Herald and it's performance, once you get a fair number of miles on the

clock, and it has been looked after/serviced, the engine does tend to 'free-up' quite a bit.

This I noticed on a few of mine with higher mileage, it also depended how long you were

prepared to spend getting the 'tuning' spot on (really fussy with valve clearances, used a

dwell meter, colour-tune and timing light, also making sure the drum brakes didn't bind!) 

 

Mind you, one of my 1200's definitely went a lot better with a Spitfire Mk2 tubular exhaust

manifold, and then I made an inlet manifold with a Stromberg from a 13/60, finally it ended

up with twin SU's on a Spitfire manifold (then I finished rebuilding my Vitesse 6!)

Still . I keep expecting to see something about level crossings, not the ins and outs of speedometers on old or new cars!

[rab]

Still . I keep expecting to see something about level crossings, not the ins and outs of speedometers on old or new cars!

Didn't you know, that's how RMweb works now.

Keeping threads on topic is old hat.

[Colin_McLeod]

Talking of old hats. Has anyone seen mine? I need it and my coat for a quick exit.

 

Edit to reduce the cost.... Bloomin predictive text. lol

Edited August 10, 2016 by Colin_McLeod

[Titan]

Talking of old hats. Has anyone seen mine? I need it and my cost for a quick exit.

 

£1.37

[beast66606]

Another collison

 

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/live-major-incident-after-train-smashes-into-car-on-level-crossing/story-29613661-detail/story.html

 

A train has hit a car this afternoon in Stretham, Cambridgeshire, on the Cambridge to Ely line.

A man in his 40s has been airlifted to hospital in a critical condition after suffering very serious head injuries".

 

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) was called at 2.34pm, and dispatched an ambulance, three ambulance officers, the East Anglian Air Ambulance and its hazardous area response team (HART) to the scene.

 

The man required critical care at the scene and was flown to Addenbrooke's.

 

 

[96701]

 

Another collison

 

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/live-major-incident-after-train-smashes-into-car-on-level-crossing/story-29613661-detail/story.html

 

 

It seems that the road vehicle driver was lucky to only be suffering from injuries that are not a threat to his life.

[The Evil Bus Driver]

There is also another very cost effective way - tear up the roads leading to the level crossings.  

 

That would have had a genuine and very real effect on level crossing incidents and casualties - for example if it had taken place at Ufton Crossing when originally proposed (but stopped by a handful of local residents) at least 8 lives (in two incidents) would have been saved and injuries suffered by  many more would have been avoided.  Those lives and the memory of them plus those still living with the after effects of injury and trauma owe it all to the selfishness of not many more folk who would have had to drive less than 2 - 3 additional miles had the planned closure gone ahead.

It's been done at Beddingham near Lewes. i did the training for my PCV test along this stretch of the A27, which at this point is a 60mph road (50 if you're driving a bus) that previously had an AHB on it. Needless to say both delays and misuse were frequent. Anyway, When they built the bridge (Which I had the pleasure of watching happen) they managed to almost surgically remove the road from the landscape with only a few trackside remnants, which now mark where the crossing was and are best viewed from a passing train.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.856253,0.0467582,148m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Edited August 12, 2016 by The Evil Bus Driver

[Shadow]

Looks like beating the barriers is nothing new! From 1939 in Worthing, Sussex

 

player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-glimpses-of-pre-war-worthing-1939/

 

 

 

Taken from South Farm Road crossing at west of Worthing Station

 

(Updated link, original invalid)

Edited October 16, 2016 by Shadow

[melmerby]

Looks like beating the barriers is nothing new! From 1939 in Worthing, Sussex

 

player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-glimpses-of-pre-war-worthing-1939/

 

 

 

Taken from South Farm Road crossing at west of Worthing Station

I get "Errror 404 File not found" when I click the second link.

 

Keith

[Shadow]

I get "Errror 404 File not found" when I click the second link.

 

Keith

Me too!

Hopefully this one ok!

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.8184968,-0.378513,3a,75y,317.14h,70.78t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sKuAmfAi0MpQAYUKiQ2wn1A!2e0!5s20090301T000000!7i13312!8i6656

[PhilJ W]

Looks like beating the barriers is nothing new! From 1939 in Worthing, Sussex

 

player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-glimpses-of-pre-war-worthing-1939/

 

 

 

Taken from South Farm Road crossing at west of Worthing Station

 

(Updated link, original invalid)

Fascinating film, to many little details that need to be modelled to count.

[Gary H]

Looks like beating the barriers is nothing new! From 1939 in Worthing, Sussex

 

player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-glimpses-of-pre-war-worthing-1939/

 

 

 

Taken from South Farm Road crossing at west of Worthing Station

 

(Updated link, original invalid)

 

What a lovely piece of film.

From a much simpler time and more civilised  to I'd wager!

[phil-b259]

What a lovely piece of film.

From a much simpler time and more civilised  to I'd wager!

 

That rather depends on what you call 'Civilised'

 

While many may hanker after those days based on films or personal anecdotes the reality is rather different. Healthcare only for those able to pay - a rigid class system keeping people in their place, racism very much a part of daily life, plenty of appalling slums still in existence, long working hours, a distinct lack of what are pretty fundamental health and safety measures etc are all things that we don't tolerate now - yet are pretty fundamental to whether a society is 'civilised' or not.

 

In short, while some things may have got worse as time has passed, Todays society is actually far more 'civilised' than at any point in the past - something that frequently gets ignored by certain sections of the press and their readership.

[Reorte]

That rather depends on what you call 'Civilised'

 

While many may hanker after those days based on films or personal anecdotes the reality is rather different. Healthcare only for those able to pay - a rigid class system keeping people in their place, racism very much a part of daily life, plenty of appalling slums still in existence, long working hours, a distinct lack of what are pretty fundamental health and safety measures etc are all things that we don't tolerate now - yet are pretty fundamental to whether a society is 'civilised' or not.

 

In short, while some things may have got worse as time has passed, Todays society is actually far more 'civilised' than at any point in the past - something that frequently gets ignored by certain sections of the press and their readership.

Yep, ups and downs to all times but the world today at any rate seems to have been getting more unappealing throughout my lifetime and there seems little to suggest that that trend won't continue. I often hear people complaining that some look on the past through rose-tinted spectacles, but an awful lot of people seem to view the current world through them too.

[lmsforever]

I thought that the film of Worthting interesting and the way vehicles raced the barriers very much showed that drivers then were as impatient as now ,casualty figures on the roads were high in the thirties as it was a free for all then.Life was different then as were expectations my father always said he would not go back to then under any circumstance.I bet some people would recognise that scene now, also I liked the fifties and am not keen on nowadays!

[96701]

We couldn't have this sort of thread without the technology that has appeared since the fifties. Fatalities on the railway have plummeted. I'm all for progress. Particularly now the central heating is on. Much better than the smog from coal fires that kept one room warm.

[Reorte]

No delete post option?

Edited October 28, 2016 by Reorte

[PhilJ W]

No delete post option?

Just report it and request 'please delete'.

[dhjgreen]

Or use hide, mod will remove the post