This made me think... Read it slowly...

[CSP]

Read This Slowly



Jack took a long look at his speedometer
Before slowing down: 73 in a 55 zone.
Fourth time in as many months.
How could a guy get caught so often?















When his car had slowed to 10 miles an hour,
Jack pulled over, but only partially.
Let the cop worry about the potential traffic hazard.
Maybe some other car will tweak his backside with a mirror.
The cop was stepping out of his car,
The big pad in hand.



















Bob? Bob from Church?
Jack sunk farther into his trench coat.
This was worse than the coming ticket.
A cop catching a guy from his own church.
A guy who happened to be a little eager
To get home after a long day at the office.
A guy he was about to play golf with tomorrow



















Jumping out of the car,
He approached a man he saw every Sunday,
A man he'd never seen in uniform.
















'Hi, Bob. Fancy meeting you like this.'

















'Hello, Jack.' No smile.




















'Guess you caught me red-handed
In a rush to see my wife and kids.'

















'Yeah, I guess.' Bob seemed uncertain.
Good.















'I've seen some long days at the office lately.
I'm afraid I bent the rules a bit -just this once.'

















Jack toed at a pebble on the pavement.
'Diane said something about roast beef and potatoes tonight.
Know what I mean?'












'I know what you mean.
I also know that you have a reputation in our precinct '
Ouch.
This was not going in the right direction.
Time to change tactics.



















'What'd you clock me at?'




















'Seventy. Would you sit back in your car please?'




















'Now wait a minute here, Bob..
I checked as soon as I saw you.
I was barely nudging 65.'
The lie seemed to come easier with every ticket






















'Please, Jack, in the car'



















Flustered, Jack hunched himself through the still-open door. Slamming it shut, he stared at the dashboard.
He was in no rush to open the window.


















The minutes ticked by.
Bob scribbled away on the pad.




















Why hadn't he asked for a driver's license?




















Whatever the reason,
It would be a month of Sundays
Before Jack ever sat near this cop again.













A tap on the door jerked his head to the left
There was Bob, a folded paper in hand
Jack rolled down the window a mere two inches,
Just enough room for Bob to pass him the slip.





















'Thanks.'
Jack could not quite keep the sneer out of his voice.


















Bob returned to his police car without a word.
Jack watched his retreat in the mirror.
Jack unfolded the sheet of paper.
How much was this one going to cost?























Wait a minute.
What was this? Some kind of joke?





















Certainly not a ticket.. Jack began to read:


















'Dear Jack, Once upon a time I had a daughter.
She was six when killed by a car.
You guessed it - a speeding driver.
A fine and three months in jail, and the man was free.
Free to hug his daughters, all three of them.
I only had one, and I'm going to have to wait until Heaven
before I can ever hug her again.












A thousand times I've tried to forgive that man.
A thousand times I thought I had.
Maybe I did, but I need to do it again.
Even now.
Pray for me.
And be careful, Jack,
my son is all I have left.'












'Bob'

















Jack turned around in time to see Bob's car
pull away and head down the road.
Jack watched until it disappeared.
A full 15 minutes later, he too,
pulled away and drove slowly home,
praying for forgiveness and
hugging a surprised wife and kids when he arrived.











Life is precious.
Handle with care.

[minux]

First thing I thought. Why was a child hit by a speeding driver, why were the parents so irresponsible to let her play on the road?

More education needs to be put onto pedestrians and the dangers of car vs human speeding or not. Fact is, had the driver not been speeding the girl probably would have died anyway...or worse, been a vegetable all her life.

[TVR-190]

lol minux, i love your replys sometimes

[CSP]

lol minux, i love your replys sometimes

+1

Although my OP was from another forum and it did get me thinking. Minux makes a VERY valid point. Hahaha!

[pow3rslave]

First thing I thought. Why was a child hit by a speeding driver, why were the parents so irresponsible to let her play on the road?

because her dad was too busy defecting people for empty washer bottles
j/k

[JBDrifter]

First thing I thought. Why was a child hit by a speeding driver, why were the parents so irresponsible to let her play on the road?

More education needs to be put onto pedestrians and the dangers of car vs human speeding or not. Fact is, had the driver not been speeding the girl probably would have died anyway...or worse, been a vegetable all her life.

So we should just speed anyway and if we hit a child and kill them we can just blame the parents for not being responsible for them? I think the message was quite clear, don't speed and you reduce the risk of that happening.
I love your arrogance at times mate, but not this time.

[minux]

So we should just speed anyway and if we hit a child and kill them we can just blame the parents for not being responsible for them? I think the message was quite clear, don't speed and you reduce the risk of that happening.
I love your arrogance at times mate, but not this time.

Where did I say speed anyway, nice way to twist some words to suit what you wanted to say?

I simply said, if parents were more responsible for their children speeding or not the child wouldn't be dead. It is hardly arrogance it is truth. Hard to hit a child when they are not on the road. Fact is, had parents been watching their child no motorist would of hit them.

Apparently we can blame the police for being heavy handed when dropping dead a ******** wielding knife bandit, never mind the fact that had the parents been doing their job this kid would of been at home doing schoolwork instead of robbing shops and threatening the lives of local citizens(albeit police officers) but god forbid we blame parents for not looking after their children. It seems ot never be the parents fault these days.

[Jo3_Blo]

Lol @ Minux, Ask, and JBD.

But I have to say, I don't think it was the right time or place to make that point, it's a bit out of context. Like, you don't know the real situation, (and if it is even real) so how can you make that judgement.

But each to their own eh.

[minux]

Lol @ Minux, Ask, and JBD.

But I have to say, I don't think it was the right time or place to make that point, it's a bit out of context. Like, you don't know the real situation, (and if it is even real) so how can you make that judgement.

But each to their own eh.

If this were proven to be a real story, I'd be more sympathetic, but this about the 10th version I have seen. So to me it is all hypothetical

[CSP]

OK Minux, how about this?

Life is precious. Handle with care.

The Kelsey Briggs Story

[CSP]

First thing I thought. Why was a child hit by a speeding driver, why were the parents so irresponsible to let her play on the road?

More education needs to be put onto pedestrians and the dangers of car vs human speeding or not. Fact is, had the driver not been speeding the girl probably would have died anyway...or worse, been a vegetable all her life.

[ImAHoon!]

speed doesn't kill though...

stupid f*cking people walking out in front of moving vehicles does!

and whats with all the talk about longer stopping distances in the wet, so leave a greater gap between you and the car in front...

if stopping distances are increased, then the person in front will take longer to stop too, and therefore the non wet stopping distance will be just as safe!

[minux]

OK Minux, how about this?

Life is precious. Handle with care.

The Kelsey Briggs Story

Completely different scenario mate and it is bloody disgusting.

speed doesn't kill though...

stupid f*cking people walking out in front of moving vehicles does!

and whats with all the talk about longer stopping distances in the wet, so leave a greater gap between you and the car in front...

if stopping distances are increased, then the person in front will take longer to stop too, and therefore the non wet stopping distance will be just as safe!

Apparently this world is all out of logic, it is now easier to blame someone else rather than the real reason for something happening. You only have to view some of the responses to my post to see this.

[commsirac]

and whats with all the talk about longer stopping distances in the wet, so leave a greater gap between you and the car in front...

if stopping distances are increased, then the person in front will take longer to stop too, and therefore the non wet stopping distance will be just as safe!

some logic in all of that, though it requires you to form some judgement about the stopping potential of the vehicle and of course doesnt cater for the problem of the vehicle in front of you stopping quicker than anticipated due to colliding with a vehicle in front of it!
Actually based on the numbers it would be safer to follow closer in wet weather than dry: the reaction time of drivers wont change whether its dry or wet and the car in front cant actually slow down as fast before the driver behind has had time to react.
However, I think the basic cause of more tail enders/accidents in the wet is inattention to what is happening in front, drivers can get away with it in the dry and haul on the anchors to save the day.

Stop press: to the person who left a comment in my usercp about this, please read what I write carefully. No where have I advocated that people should follow closer in the wet.......most follow too close in the dry to start with. All I have done is shed some facts on the matter, though I agree facts made available to idiots can be dangerous, which is probably where you are coming from.

[CSP]

OK... If this doesn't make you think twice about what you do behind the wheel, NOTHING will! At least not until it's too late.

Consequences

[minux]

First Accident, well not sure why they werent crossing at the intersection, it is sheer lunacy to cross on such an open piece of road. AT the same time, the knob should of been paying attention, but again if the parent did the right thing and crossed at a pedestrian crossing the accident wouldn't of happened.

Second accident, this is why i say and continue to say that governments need to convey and teach the importance of concentration. Speeding is not the cause of death, concentration was here.

Third accident, well I blame the wanker who is parked half on the roadway. The guy was doing 120 km/h, hitting a solid pole even at 100 would of wiped out the family. Am I condoning speeding? Not at all, simply saying speeding again was not the main factor.

Accident 4, well self explanatory, do they not teach kids to look left then right then left before walking out from behind a parked vehicle, hardly the poor van drivers fault.

Accident 5, again, what has speed to do with it? Training people to lock up their dogs or to not swerve for animals would be a better option. Those sort of accidents cannot be helped, how do you guess that an animal will run in front of you as you overtake?


Last aussie ads, well its a stationary burnout that a couple of street scrags didnt like? Big deal, can someone list the deaths on Australia roads due to a burnout at the lights?


In every one of these videos, except the stupid aussie one at the end, ther eis one major factor that is missed in all licence testing and seems to be lacking from many many people these days. Concentration.

It is rarely mentioned in licensing and is the cause of most road accidents in Australia. However, governments cannot make money off fining people for lack of concentration how can it be proven? So we have to continually be told that because someone was doing over a speed limit that speed was the main factor, even though latest reports prove that in some 90% of accidents concentration is the number 1 contributing factor.

It is time the government and many of the population got this into their heads instead of blaming everything else.


*puts on flame suit*

[LightningVP]

I have to agree with Minux on this...

The other week I was listening to a road saftey add and the officer was saying that a woman went to overtake a turning truck while speeding and hit the truck and died...

Well sorry, I only have one thing to say about that, she is just a dumb ***** for overtaking a turning truck, speeding or not, it's posted all over the back of them "Do not overtake turning vehicle"[/rant]

[CSP]

I don't think you need a flame suit. What you say makes perfect sense.

I just think stuff like this is a good wake up call to get people to think about their actions on the road and what can happen. Unfortunately some things are unavoidable, but as you say it's a concentration issue mostly so if people start to think about consequences, perhaps they're concentrate more....

[commsirac]

However, governments cannot make money off fining people for lack of concentration how can it be proven? *

As soon as you can find a way of figuring out if people are concentrating, other than crashed cars then it could be done, but how are you going to change what they do anyway, some just have limited ability to concentrate. How about we just stop all the kids that couldnt stay focused at school from driving? who knows, perhaps there are stats that tell us they have more accidents.

In a perfect world we could all travel as fast as we like, but people make mistakes, misjudgements........thats one of the major reasons why we have speed limits, to actually keep in check the consequences of the mistakes....and of course to get revenue from the completely stupid.(sarc)

[policehoon]

Where did I say speed anyway, nice way to twist some words to suit what you wanted to say?

I simply said, if parents were more responsible for their children speeding or not the child wouldn't be dead. It is hardly arrogance it is truth. Hard to hit a child when they are not on the road. Fact is, had parents been watching their child no motorist would of hit them.

Apparently we can blame the police for being heavy handed when dropping dead a ******** wielding knife bandit, never mind the fact that had the parents been doing their job this kid would of been at home doing schoolwork instead of robbing shops and threatening the lives of local citizens(albeit police officers) but god forbid we blame parents for not looking after their children. It seems ot never be the parents fault these days.

As a police officer I attend loads of accidents that are attributed to speed. Most end up off the road in someone's front lawn against another parked car or a tree.

Now just imagine if your son our daughter was playing in the front yard at the time the speeding motorist came crashing thru your front door.

Not so long ago in WA a drunk speeding motorist struck a mum and a baby in a pram who were just retreiving the mail from the mail box.

Sadly the baby died. In your widsom, was it the mothers fault for taking the baby with her to check the mail or the speeding driver who lost control of his car............

[LightningVP]

As soon as you can find a way of figuring out if people are concentrating, other than crashed cars then it could be done, but how are you going to change what they do anyway, some just have limited ability to concentrate. How about we just stop all the kids that couldnt stay focused at school from driving? who knows, perhaps there are stats that tell us they have more accidents.

In a perfect world we could all travel as fast as we like, but people make mistakes, misjudgements........thats why we have speed limits, to actually keep in check the consequences of the mistakes.

but their are also the situations where the police or who ever is in charge of the situation, will "manipulate" it...
A) You are doing 80 in a 60 zone and a child runs onto the road, you kill her, charged with speeding and possibly murder.
B) You are doing 80 in a 60 zone and a cat runs onto the road, stiff ****...

Both are the same thing, but because one is "just a cat" they don't believe it's worthy or anything...

[minux]

As a police officer I attend loads of accidents that are attributed to speed. Most end up off the road in someone's front lawn against another parked car or a tree.

Now just imagine if your son our daughter was playing in the front yard at the time the speeding motorist came crashing thru your front door.

Not so long ago in WA a drunk speeding motorist struck a mum and a baby in a pram who were just retreiving the mail from the mail box.

Sadly the baby died. In your widsom, was it the mothers fault for taking the baby with her to check the mail or the speeding driver who lost control of his car............

So the mother was checking her mail on the road? had the mother left the bay on the road then yes I would blame the mother...clearly she wasn't on the road which is a different kettle of fish. The fact the driver was drunk, should make it murder. Speeding however, I doubt was the cause, the fact he was drunk was probably the main factor. Thanks for proving my point on it though.

Perhaps read what I actually said instead of flicking and guessing.

[Stressball]

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[LightningVP]

As a police officer I attend loads of accidents that are attributed to speed. Most end up off the road in someone's front lawn against another parked car or a tree.

Now just imagine if your son our daughter was playing in the front yard at the time the speeding motorist came crashing thru your front door.

Not so long ago in WA a drunk speeding motorist struck a mum and a baby in a pram who were just retreiving the mail from the mail box.

Sadly the baby died. In your widsom, was it the mothers fault for taking the baby with her to check the mail or the speeding driver who lost control of his car............

not to jump into an argument that isn't mine, but a speeding DRUNK driver that loses control is alot different from a speeder in control that his someone running on the road, or another obsticle that comes into their way

[policehoon]

So the mother was checking her mail on the road? had the mother left the bay on the road then yes I would blame the mother...clearly she wasn't on the road which is a different kettle of fish.

Once again, way to twist words.

How is it a twist of words, the mother simply went to her letter box with her baby.

The speeding driver lost control of his car, mounted the kerb, slid across the verge and struck two innocent persons going about thier normal lives.