Kickstart

Hi As i understand it with led lights it is deliberate to increase their lifespan. Their life isn't changed by turning on and off, but having them switch on and off rapidly means they are only on (and wearing out) for half the time. Presume that this also means that when on they are twice as bright, but light emitted averages out. Not sure most people see it, but some will see a series of dots as their eyes flick past an led light All the best Katy

Hi I hope so, but the flicker from many if them is annoying (notucable when you glance passed them quite often, most niticeabke around here with bus tail lights and some red man lights on pedestrian crossings) All the best Katy

Hi Mji. Afraid i have the same feeling. I tend to find led lights the worst, being very dazzling for the limited illimination they manage All the best Katy

Hi I have no massive objection to daytime running lights, but think many current ones are far too bright for what is really just a marker light. If the engineers even have to consider dimming them when the indicators are used then they are almost certainly too bright. Enough led rear lights render the indicators almost invisible when the brakes are used. Hired s newish Peugeot last week. That had drls fitted, and illuminated the conventional instruments even withouy the real light on. Silly idea All the best Katy

Doesn't help that some cars illuminate the instrument lights when the daytime running lights are on All the best Katy

Some people are tall. But you could use him for a shed cameo, looking down disapprovingly on a you kid found trying to cadge rides. Katy

Hi Portishead was bought by the GWR in 1940 (I think) and the roundel logo was used until 1942. That dates the paint scheme to the start of WW2. Suspect paint supplies would have been a bit limited then All the best Katy

Sorry, maybe I was a touch flippant, but not only the money as pay, but also the money required elsewhere to make the job appealing. Whether that is enough money to have enough spare crew not to have them away as much as possible, enough money for decent quarters, enough money for worthwhile training and prospects, etc. All the best Katy

Hi A few quick mobile phone snaps. I will try and dig out a proper camera and take some better ones. http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/DSC_0082.JPG http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/DSC_0083.JPG http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/DSC_0084.JPG http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/DSC_0085.JPG http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/DSC_0086.JPG http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/DSC_0087.JPG http://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/DSC_0088.JPG All the best Katy

Hi At Warley I was tempted into buying another Terrier; a slight 2nd of Portishead to go with the Southern loco I already have. Quite a few minor differences between them All the best Katy

A lot comes down to money. All the best Katy

The odd bit about the drink driving laws is the evidence they are based on. This was a US study , which showed a roughly doubled death rate when the blood alcohol level was around the current limit, but more to the point the rate rocketed shortly after that level. But the strange bit is the same figures also showed a reduced rate at a low blood alcohol count (a bit under half the current limit), which is a bit strange. Didn't say it was, rather than it makes the road appear to be narrowing and hence trigger a perception of an increasing hazard. This is taking advantage of risk compensation, and making people pay more attention. Trick is to increase the perception of a hazard without actually creating a hazard. Very few people keep to the limits anything like all the time (although many will claim to). A large number have succumbed to the idea of slow = good, and dawdle along at a lowish speed, then don't slow down when they get to a 40 or 30 limit All the best Katy

Problem is that things are far from that simple. For example there is the well known idea of risk compensation. That it you make someones task appear safer then they will compensate in other way. This pretty certainly applies on the roads with reduced speeds, with people paying less attention (even if many won't realise it, or even deny it). This is idea is used as the basis of some forms of traffic calming such as those where the central line in the road narrows the lane between pedestrian refuges, making the road feel like it is narrowing. Really not sure and probably loads of reasons. Some people do claim that they get far less people pulling out in front of them / changing lane onto them with noisy exhausts. Not sure that real or illusionary. There is the potential for more performance, but often not. Some standard exhausts are very badly designed power wise, although more realistically much of the time some people just think that as some exhausts are lousy all are. Doesn't help that some standard exhausts rot quickly and are hideously expensive. For example a Yamaha R1 silencer is a gnats under £800 +vat (manifold and collector box are a further £1150 / £1700 + vat respectively). True, chances are the impact speed wouldn't be 50 either. Idea is not to run them over in either case. No, I think you miss my issue with blindly sticking to limits. Especially when many are set with such contempt. One local to me 30 mph limit was implemented despite the objections of the police. All the best Katy

But the correlation between driving speed and impact speed is far from direct. 85 percentile speed was the accepted level to set limits. First google link:- http://onlinemanuals.txdot.gov/txdotmanuals/szn/determining_the_85th_percentile_speed.htm The reasons they can be set are varied and not just to do with safety. And these days with the obsession with speed with road safety local demands for a lower limit based on a flawed idea are taken as a basis to reduce limits a the expense of safety. Whether it annoys drivers or not is pretty irrelevant to the limits. All the best Katy

There is a known relationship between speed limits and the speed people travel in absence of that limit. Set the limit higher or lower than this level and accidents will increase. This relationship is routinely ignored these days. Setting speed limits at a lower level to irrespective of increasing accidents is pretty unbelievable. Then some people keep to them! Katy

Not really if it is truly a limit. If set too low or changing too regularly then it becomes at best a target, or something so silly that it is utterly ignored. This is often the case now. All the best Katy

If posted limits were set at the known safe level there would be far less need for them as very few would be breaking them All the best Katy

Hi It is known that the safest speed for a speed limit is the 85th percentile speed (ie, the speed that 85% will keep to in the absence of a speed limit). Setting the limit higher or lower will make it more dangerous. Part of this is that if a limit is seen as reasonable then people will make an effort to keep to it, but if seen as unreasonable people will just completely ignore it All the best Katy

While I agree, but plenty of other roads designed to confuse or upset peoples perceptions. I would suggest that patches of rumble strips across the road, getting closer to give the impression of increasing speed are upsetting peoples perception and ultimately increasing danger. This was a Renault Clio Zoom. Conventional 5 speed gearbox with a conventional clutch, but no clutch pedal. Used sensors in the gear stick and throttle / brake operation to decide when to operate the clutch for you. Actually worked quite well (we had it for 100,000 miles and only managed to confuse it a handful of times). But when changing a conventional H pattern gearchange it is natural to stamp on the left hand pedal. Quite a lot of them are likely not legally enforceable, neither being 20mph zones (no repeater signs required, but need to be gated) nor having repeater signs. All the best Katy

We used to have a clutch less manual car. Normal 5 speed gearbox bug no clutch pedal. First time anyone drove it they normally stopped quite violently when the first changed gear All the best Katy

Entirely possible to drive an auto with both feet. I tend to when parking, and my better half did most of the time when their right leg was very dodgy, resulting in difficulty moving there foot sideways reliably All the best Katy

Thank you Ric. Possibly going to see Hazel O'Conner again next year so no shame in that! Still got too many bikes. And I hate to think how many years ago it was. All the best Katy

I fully understand your concern, but as a counterpoint many people who are going through with it will be receiving hormones / blockers. These can and often will massively impact on emotions; in effect putting them through the emotional shocks of puberty while still having to cope with normal daily life. Add in several decades of character traits that have evolved to hide the other emotions and it can be very difficult when someone slips up (let alone when someone is saying the same thing but deliberately to cause offence and distress). All the best Katy

I can sympathise. I certainly used to see things in a very black and white fashion, and still want to regard them as such to a large extent. But oddly I also see almost everything as a range of greys, and trying to reconcile the 2 views is rather difficult; tends to be easier to just switch off to the thing that needs reconciling. Good luck, and would be interested to hear the process. I know I score pretty high on the basic test, but having had various sessions for other things recently, where the person involved often deals with ASD they said that it didn't seem obvious in me. They actually suggested ADHD , but while I do think there are signs of that which apply to me I think the same applies to most people and I suspect I am fairly normal on that. All the best Katy

Green one I am tempted with. Very early green with no wasp stripes. All the best Katy