The totally off-topic thread

[drron]

We stumbled on a great way to make sure our son would find it hard to be caught speeding but also kept him safe.He got our old 240 diesel which we purchased in the year he was born.

 

[bass_ke]

I've gotta jump in on the Subaru love, it's all we've ever owned since I was 21!

Odd coincidence, I always loved black wagons and for some reason I had to travel to Melbourne to find both my old Forester GT in a black luxury pack and my Liberty GT in a black premium pack wagon.

It seems black wagons are all the rage in Vic!

 

[JessicaTam]

Don't get me wrong, I like Subies too - I have had 6 of them. And I will probably go back to one after my current lease is up. The speedo was one of those niggly things that irked me.

 

[JohnM]

yes but... it goes on to say this (my bolding for emphasis):



So if the speedo indicates 100 - your vehicle's true speed cannot be higher than 100. When your actual true speed is 100k/hr, your speedo may tell you that you're doing 114km/hr. You would then slow down so that your speedo reads 100 - but in effect you would be doing 87km/hr.

(it's totally confusing though right????)

One of the things that I notice in the country particularly is cars where I am sure the driver is cruising at 110 kph according to their speedo but their actual speed is 5-10 kph less because of the over-registering that is so common. It can be very annoying, as they must think I'm speeding when in fact they are under the speed limit.

Maybe digital speedos are more accurate? I recall renting a Ford Falcon with a digital and analogue display and it was spot on with my GPS.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

now i have heard it all!!!

going back to the political correctness thing... my mom was talking to her friend about another mutual friend just returned from hospital and has a carer assigned. They cannot have their small lap-dog at home because....

wait for it...

health and safety rules consider the carer could trip over an animal and therefore it is a potentially unsafe work environment

 

[erkpod]

No, the fine and points is for exceeding speed by 10 kph and the 3month suspension is automatic upon payment of the fine as she is on P1 licence.

So in theory, she could delay paying the fine for a couple of months (if she pays it at all - some people wouldn't) & keep driving. I don't like that idea.

 

[blackcat20]

Don't get me wrong, I like Subies too - I have had 6 of them. And I will probably go back to one after my current lease is up. The speedo was one of those niggly things that irked me.

I drive a Subie sometimes, its speedo is the same. As is the one in my Mazda. Seems to be pretty common.

 

[erkpod]

Well that was strange....

My ISP just phoned me. The credit card I was using to pay my account expired in March this year & it is November. Today they tell me that I need to update my details.


I ask "If the card expired in March, why are you only telling me about this for the first time in November? The account has been paid each month."


The response was "The bank obviously have been letting the payments go through."


Hmmmm.

EDIT: Spoke to the bank - it's obviously (to them) a record keeping error at the ISP's end.

 

[NM]

I very much doubt that if you were being correctly instructed by a pro that you would need anywhere near 100 hours of tuition.
With correct tuition and testing you might be able to get away with 20 hours for example, cost say $1,000. I think that $1,000 for a correctly educated driver is cheap compared to the damage a poorly educated driver can cause. Even $2,000 I think is cheap. If a young person has an accident in my vehicle, the excess alone is $1,500.

You cannot "get away" with anything less than 100 hours logged in a logbook, with the only exception that time logged by a qualified professional driving instructor counts at a rate of 3:1 for a maximum of 10 hours (30 hours credited). At least that is the way it is in Queensland. So unless the laws change, learner drivers will be supervised by non-professional drivers.

Yes, as a parent I know it is/seems expensive but what if it is one of your family that is seriously injured? Or worse.....

Professional instruction does not imply stupidity is removed from the equation. I suggest that the majority of accidents caused by young/inexperienced drivers have little to do with the instruction they received and more to do with their attitude towards the responsibility of driving after they have received their license - and I think that is unlikely to change through less supervised time behind the wheel that would result from enforcing only professional driving instruction. As I noted above, I believe a combination of professional lessons and non-professionsal supervised driving is still the best option for most people.

 

[Katie]

My early driver training was done on the property airstrip.

Me too! At age 10 in my grandparent's falcon. I preferred it to the brown Toyota utes on the property, as their gearboxes were shocking.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So in theory, she could delay paying the fine for a couple of months (if she pays it at all - some people wouldn't) & keep driving. I don't like that idea.

I think they have wised up to this in some states now and demerit points will accrue automatically irrespective of whether or not the fine is paid (unless of course you contest the fine and it is in proper appeal proceedings). Apparently people were exploiting this 'loophole' to continue to drive.

 

[rogerkambah]

We stumbled on a great way to make sure our son would find it hard to be caught speeding but also kept him safe.He got our old 240 diesel which we purchased in the year he was born.

I take it that's the Benz 240D rather than the Massey Ferguson 240 diesel?

 

[erkpod]

I've gotta jump in on the Subaru love, it's all we've ever owned since I was 21!

A few years ago, I got into rallying. I navigated in a couple of events in the ACT series (came 7th in the ACT series in my first event - I think that was more to do with the driver than the nav!) & then turned my hand at being an official. Normally I'd do road closures (often a great way to get a great spot!) but towards the end of my involvement, I was working at on finish controls. I decided early that I needed something that was good on & off road & my Forester certainly does that!

 

[Princess Fiona]

So in theory, she could delay paying the fine for a couple of months (if she pays it at all - some people wouldn't) & keep driving. I don't like that idea.

She definitely won't be doing that. We are away for two months of the suspension period so it's in her best interests to get it paid ASAP.

 

[QF WP]

Another converted Subaru lover - after Mazda and 2 Honda's.

 

[rogerkambah]

Xmas gift idea (personally monogrammed) for shintaro10x

https://www.estore.com.au/shintaro-4gb-bottle-o-pocket-disk-sku-shi0079?utm

 

[drron]

Just home from a nice long lunch at Pitchfork,Peregian.
Wonder if anything important has happened.

 

[Major]

Just home from a nice long lunch at Pitchfork,Peregian.
Wonder if anything important has happened.

Was it as good as last time ?

 

[erkpod]

Crew training has started on the new QR line to Springfield. The nice QR social media team tell me that the Station Manager at Springfield Central is not called Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, Moe or Apu. According to the video, trains can hit 140kph which is fast for an Australian suburban network.


Springfield driver training on track - YouTube

 

[drron]

Was it as good as last time ?

It certainly was.
And got home to an EDR offer-12 wines for $69 and 1000 bonus QF points.