Simon Jenkins in the Guardian today..

[hellymedic]

You survived sitting on an adult's lap.
One of the 6-year-old twin girls who lived next door to us in Harlow did not.
The twins were only a little older than me.
My father's oldest sister died after being hit by a drunk driver in 1961.
I'm not unhappy that the nanny state has stepped in in some places.

[bobajobrob]

Pete, what the hell are you banging on about?

One the one hand you condemn the sitting of a child on the handlebars and on the other you say it's safe to sit on the lap of your father and steer a car.

I would say that either you like talking bollocks or you're hopelessly confused.

Hope this helps.

[Jon P]

My father's oldest sister died after being hit by a drunk driver in 1961.
I'm not unhappy that the nanny state has stepped in in some places.

You must have missed the one about a 1-yr-old being killed by a drunk driver just a couple of days ago, then?

Plus ca change ...

[hellymedic]

My father's oldest sister died after being hit by a drunk driver in 1961.
I'm not unhappy that the nanny state has stepped in in some places.

You must have missed the one about a 1-yr-old being killed by a drunk driver just a couple of days ago, then?

Plus ca change ...

Yes and no. The breathalyser has not eradicated drink-driving but it has reduced it.
Likewise, there are fewer fatalities on the road nowadays than 40 years ago, despite much heavier car use.

Things have improved but there's still much room for further improvement.

The driver who killed my aunt was never punished and my bereaved grandmother did not have the strength to pursue a private prosecution. If the same had happened now, it is unlikely that the driver would be unpunished.

[Pete]

I would say that either you like talking bollocks or you're hopelessly confused.

Hope this helps.

Rather, I would say that one changes one mind over the passage of time.  I don't feel embarrassed to admit to that!  What I thought was perfectly OK 50 years ago, I now roundly condemn.  And vice versa.  The point I was making.  Enough said?

And sorry if this has caused upset.

[Hot Flatus]

Actually the slowest descender was the Gayest one! 

Um... I don't think Malvolio will be too chuffed when he reads that!

[Treewheeler]

Mal Volio isn't gay.
 He just looks like a poofter

[border-rider]

he was also the rider with the laws of physics working against him on the descents  )

Did Newton die in vain then ?

[border-rider]

Mal Volio isn't gay.
 He just looks like a poofter

You should know, mon ami.   You've made your feelings clear on so many occasions, and to so many people, and been so cruelly rebuffed

Actually it's not my sexuality tht makes me reject you.  It's that you're more of a little hairless monkey-thing than a real man

[Wendy]

He does!

[Hot Flatus]

he was also the rider with the laws of physics working against him on the descents  )

Did Newton die in vain then ?

One of the less well known of Newtons Laws.  The Law of Gut-size versus Bicycular Descent.  Only taught in the most prestigious of Universities, Mal 

[Jasper the surreal cyclist]

There is only so much momentum that a set of bike brakes can bring to a halt. Are we pushing at boundaries here?