What a 1st week at new job!

[StuKeith]

Started my new job this week! :D not a bad 1st week. Got there Monday had induction dvds etc. tues the same.

Today! manages to write the company car off! only been there less than a week!

Already an accident on the motorway (Behind) and also something in front (hence que) I was stopped in the traffic on the right! THEN BANG!!! hit at about 60 I wreckon.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r232/stuartkeith/DSC00008.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r232/stuartkeith/DSC00005.jpg

[Buleste]

Had your P45 yet???

[J T]

I'd expect more damage at 60 TBH. A mate's RS4 hit an Escort van at around 30 (she pulled out in front of him) and that looked like carnage, the Audi was quite trashed.

Unlucky, BTW. Can only get better, right?

[Harrison]

Ouch! Not a good start to the new job. How are Comet about the accident?

[StuKeith]

prob was slower than that when he hit! but must have been doing that when he saw me stopped to the speed when he hit!

[Harrison]

At least someone going into the back of you is 100% their fault, so none of the blaim can be attributed to you.

I'm always worried about such things happening when I'm stopped in a traffic queue on the motorway. I tend to always stick my brake lights and hazzards on when I'm the last car slowing to a stop to try and warn those behind that I'm stopping.

[AlexJ]

I'd expect more damage at 60 TBH. A mate's RS4 hit an Escort van at around 30 (she pulled out in front of him) and that looked like carnage, the Audi was quite trashed.

To an extent, a write-off coming out of an accident looking trashed tends to be a good thing. This would indicate that the crumple zones have done their job, sacrificing metal to dissipate energy over a longer period in order to protect the people inside.

Motorway hits in slow/stationary traffic like that are probably what I fear most. You can't do anything about it, and in worse conditions, it can soon turn into a big pileup.

[Harrison]

Looking at the damage in those pictures I would be very surprised if the car is a write off. That damage looks like it would cost a total of less than £2K and the car is worth much more than that, so it wouldn't get written off.

[J T]

[QUOTE=J T;18486]
To an extent, a write-off coming out of an accident looking trashed tends to be a good thing. This would indicate that the crumple zones have done their job, sacrificing metal to dissipate energy over a longer period in order to protect the people inside.

Motorway hits in slow/stationary traffic like that are probably what I fear most. You can't do anything about it, and in worse conditions, it can soon turn into a big pileup.

Oh, for sure. We were amazed at how well the car had protected it's occupants as after a short while they all happily -in a physical sense- went off for cream-teas. No more than what you'd expect from a modern (and 'prestige') car brand, though, as it wasn't a high speed impact. I was just using it as a comparison for Stu's estimated car speed at impact.

The escort van on the other hand had little in the way of apparent safety features, and the girl was taken to hospital in shock. She took a massive bang (fnarr fnarr).

[StuKeith]

ITS OFFICIAL!!!! I have THE WORST LUCK EVER!!!!

Got a nice new twin top astra with 8mile on the clock! Yesterday the roof jammed and had to get the AA out. Took 2 hrs to get the roof back up.

then today while I was in Asda, some nice sole decide to brake the front windscreen!

So this car is only 2 days old from the factory and its roof id broke and the windscreen is trashed!!

WHY ME!!!!!

[Buleste]

:new_year_party: It's great when at the start of the New year it lets you know what kind oif year you're going to have. That way you have low expectations so when something good happens you appreciate it even more. Hope things do get better for you though.

[TiredOfLife]

Time to investigate the wonders of public transport I think

[Stephen Coates]

Time to investigate the wonders of public transport I think

Yes. Busses can probably be safer than cars. I usually feel safer on busses than in cars, although busses have been known to crash. Not always much good when you need it for work though. Or for lots of shopping.

We do have an Asda bus, which goes from the interchange to Asda via virtually every street in herringthorpe. It is funny the amount of people that get on at the interchange and get off before Asda. Luckily for me, there are some busses which go past Asda and Morrison's, and also go past or near to my house :). Still not quite as conveniant as a car though.

Speaking of supermarkets, I was at the Tesco at Doncaster the other week, and in the car park, there was a big wall with some small stairs which went up to the road. There were no gates or anthing for another 20 feet at least. At the bottom of the stairs, there was a sign which says 'Your trolley will stop here'.

I'm assuming by the logos on your car stuart that you work for Comet?:unsure:

[StuKeith]

I'm assuming by the logos on your car stuart that you work for Comet?:unsure:

How you guess? :whistle:

[v85rawdeal]

I'm assuming by the logos on your car stuart that you work for Comet?:unsure:


Nah, he just drove it like he stole it!!! ;)

[AlexJ]

Time to investigate the wonders of public transport I think

Yes. Busses can probably be safer than cars. I usually feel safer on busses than in cars, although busses have been known to crash. Not always much good when you need it for work though. Or for lots of shopping.

I dunno, there don't tend to be seatbelts on buses so crash suddenly and you're flung forwards with your head smashing into a wooden panel. In a car you'd be mostly held in place with your head hitting a cushion of air. But the size of the bus means that unless it hits something equally large (like a lorry or a tree) the above scenario is unlikely to happen.

[v85rawdeal]

Or a bridge, as seems to happen near my parents' house about once per year! (You'd have thought they would learnt where the bridges are, by now)

[J T]

I dunno, there don't tend to be seatbelts on buses so crash suddenly and you're flung forwards with your head smashing into a wooden panel. In a car you'd be mostly held in place with your head hitting a cushion of air. But the size of the bus means that unless it hits something equally large (like a lorry or a tree) the above scenario is unlikely to happen.

Ooh, lah-di-dah! Wooden panelled buses, how very swish. In London they are all bare metal poles, vomit stained and slashed upholstery. I'd hate to be in an accident on a bus and end up headbutting a thick steel pole.

[Stephen Coates]

Where are the wooden panels? The only thing I see directly in front of me is the windscreen, which is some distance away. Unless you mean the wooden panels on the back of the seats on old busses. In which case, my head wouldn't bang into it unless i was alot less tall.

[Harrison]

"A lot less tall"? That's a rather roundabout way of saying "shorter" steve!

[AlexJ]

I dunno, there don't tend to be seatbelts on buses so crash suddenly and you're flung forwards with your head smashing into a wooden panel. In a car you'd be mostly held in place with your head hitting a cushion of air. But the size of the bus means that unless it hits something equally large (like a lorry or a tree) the above scenario is unlikely to happen.

Ooh, lah-di-dah! Wooden panelled buses, how very swish. In London they are all bare metal poles, vomit stained and slashed upholstery. I'd hate to be in an accident on a bus and end up headbutting a thick steel pole.

I say wooden panel, I mean the bit of chipboard they call a seat. Like this style seating (I can't believe I Googled this...)

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museumstudies/websites06/shields/Images/moqseat3.jpg


Where are the wooden panels? The only thing I see directly in front of me is the windscreen, which is some distance away. Unless you mean the wooden panels on the back of the seats on old busses. In which case, my head wouldn't bang into it unless i was alot less tall.

Yeah, but when the bus comes to an abrupt halt from 30-0MPH, you're still going to be traveling forwards at some speed and that windows which was some distance away will soon be behind you.

[Harrison]

I've often wondered who designs the upholstery on coaches and buses? They all seem to be from the 60's and 70's, even the new ones! Look at the picture Alex posted for example. Someone had to think that looks good and given it the go ahead.

You really have to wonder about the human race sometimes. And it seems these patterns are universal. You go on holiday to a distant land, and the patterns are still the same!

OK, some of the patterns in newer vehicles have adopted more subtle blues or greens into the patterns, instead of the horrible browns, yellows and oranges, but they are still the same patterns!

[AlexJ]

From the same website that picture came from:

"As a type of material moquette is extremely durable, however its strength lies not only in being resistant to ‘wear and tear’ but also remaining visibly pleasing when dirty! This is achieved by the optical trick of combining geometric patterns with bright contrasting colours which disrupt and mask the presence of dirt or stains."

"Although the design of patterns used for moquette can be both beautiful and complex, there is a rationale between what types of designs can be used on different modes of public transport. The opportunity to use dazzling and garish patterns is limited to vehicles or railway rolling stock that carries large volumes of passengers over short distances. Design patterns used for long distance travel, such as intercity train journeys have to be toned down due to the greater time spent traveling in the design environment."

So there's your answer, it's so they don't have to clean them. And they wonder why a lot of people don't like public transport.

[Harrison]

The really disturbing thing about that is that someone must have actually spend a lot of time developing those public transport pattern theories. Do they work? The seats always look and smell dirty on most public transport I've been on!

[sarek2k]

I always say that when i get the ****ed / computer / console anything else electronic but i don't drive so at least i don't get bad luck on cars (every silver cloud etc...) ;)

[Harrison]

I couldn't imagine not being able to drive.

[AlexJ]

The really disturbing thing about that is that someone must have actually spend a lot of time developing those public transport pattern theories. Do they work? The seats always look and smell dirty on most public transport I've been on!

Well imagine what they'd be like without the disguise patterns then. :sick:

[TiredOfLife]

Time to investigate the wonders of public transport I think

Yes. Busses can probably be safer than cars. I usually feel safer on busses than in cars, although busses have been known to crash. Not always much good when you need it for work though. Or for lots of shopping.

I dunno, there don't tend to be seatbelts on buses so crash suddenly and you're flung forwards with your head smashing into a wooden panel. In a car you'd be mostly held in place with your head hitting a cushion of air. But the size of the bus means that unless it hits something equally large (like a lorry or a tree) the above scenario is unlikely to happen.

A wooden panel?

Do you live in the seventies?

[AlexJ]

A wooden panel?

Do you live in the seventies?

See above. (I meant chipboard, but couldn't remember the name for it)

[J T]

I say wooden panel, I mean the bit of chipboard they call a seat. Like this style seating (I can't believe I Googled this...)

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museumstudies/websites06/shields/Images/moqseat3.jpg


Wow! Check out that borwn-leather look vinyl! Awesome. And the pattern. So retro.

(In fact, reminds me a bit of Life on Mars. What a good series that was).

Also, on the subject of crashes - I was on the bus a few months ago and some dozy bint stepped out right in front of it. Luckily (for her) the bus driver absolutely STOOD on the brakes and she wasn't hit. Everyone on the bus, however, was slung forward with quite some force. I was sitting upstairs at the back - right in the middle seat, reading the Metro. I ended up on the floor (not sprawled, I kind of caught myself and only went down to one knee). Annoyingly, my copy of Metro went whizzing along the floor towards the front where some git picked it up and starting reading it :mad:

I'm just glad I had finished eating my pan au raisin breakfast. I would have been mega-pissed if that had ended up on the floor.

[Stephen Coates]

"A lot less tall"? That's a rather roundabout way of saying "shorter" steve!

I couldn't think of the right word to use at the time.

Some of the old busses which we have here are just grey with three red/yellow stripes down the middle. The new busses are all purple and grees and blue though and the back of the seats are plastic.

Talking of colours,I don't know why First Mainline had to paint their old red and yellow busses in their new pink and white. I think the old ones look better in the old red and yellow whereas the pink and white should be reserved for the new busses. Also, they had some really old busses (which were like B reg (how old is that?)) and the seats on those were really comfortable. And they had a piece of string which you could pull to ring the bell as an alternative to the one push button.

As for things flying all over the place, I always seem to fall over on the number 4 bus. I never seem to on others. Odd.

[Harrison]

Maybe 4 is your unlucky number? :unsure:

On the last couple of buses I went on I think the seats were plastic with plain red vinyl seating. Very basic and made me wonder if EasyJet has taken over the transport system.

[Harrison]

(In fact, reminds me a bit of Life on Mars. What a good series that was).

Brilliant series. I was so sad when it ended. They are making a follow up series though, set in the 80's and still featuring Hunt.

[Buleste]

The reasoning besign the "design" on the seat covers is for hiding the vomit of late night revellers and kids with travell sickness. Seat belts in buses has always unnerved me. The buses where i live have all the power of a milk float with a flat battery so the seat belts can only be in there if there is a psychopath running around deliberatly ramming buses.

[Harrison]

In contrast the bus drivers in my area are quite mad. I had to brake hard the other night as a bus came flying out of a junction in front of me and hammered it down the road. He couldn't have slowed below 40MPH taking the corner, and it was in service too! I hope there were no passengers on board. But rural buses have always been like that around here.

[Stephen Coates]

(In fact, reminds me a bit of Life on Mars. What a good series that was).

Brilliant series. I was so sad when it ended. They are making a follow up series though, set in the 80's and still featuring Hunt.

I never got to watch that, but it sounds good. Can you buy a video of the series?

I have been on a few fast busses. I thought the X78 went quite fast once. The 19 also went quite fast the other day, and I was standing up. Just glad it didn't have to stop suddenly.

Sitting at the front of the top of a double decker bus easily beats going anywhere in a car. Especially on a nice day.

[Harrison]

Sitting at the front of the top of a double decker bus easily beats going anywhere in a car. Especially on a nice day.

Unless the driver decides to take a detour under a low bridge, then you are buggered!

[J T]

I never got to watch that, but it sounds good. Can you buy a video of the series?



My mum gave me both series on DVD, so yes you can get them (not sure if available on VHS, price etc). Well worth checking out. Great music for that series too. Hope the new one (Ashes to Ashes) set in London in the 80s is as good. 80s music wasn't so good as 70s rock.



I have been on a few fast busses. I thought the X78 went quite fast once. The 19 also went quite fast the other day, and I was standing up. Just glad it didn't have to stop suddenly.


It's the 'X' that makes it fast, just like the XR4x4, XKR, CCX, Bell X-1 and Fireball XL5.

[AlexJ]

I never got to watch that, but it sounds good. Can you buy a video of the series?

I'm pretty sure BBC Worldwide are done with VHS so it won't be available on video, but DVD's are available either separately or as a box set (buying the 2 series separate is slightly cheaper on Amazon for some reason):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Mars-Complete-BBC-1/dp/B000E9X0A4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=gateway&qid=1200425454&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Mars-Complete-BBC-2/dp/B000JIH6SM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=gateway&qid=1200425454&sr=8-1

[TiredOfLife]

Buses on subsidised routs often hammer it.
The reason being, they usually get heavy fines for not keeping to the timetable.