Fidgits

have I injested hallicuijens, or is the conversation that bizarre...

Were having a convoy from Chippenham :P

and yet...

whats the betting they would complain if there was too much road noise, or intrusive engine noise...

The Camera Partnership behind the revenue-generating speed cameras on the M4 has been caught trying to rake in more money -- by charging for information on the causes of accidents on the motorway.

As soon as the M4 cameras were announced, the Association of British Drivers (ABD) approached speed camera bosses to find out what had caused the accidents that justified them. The Wiltshire and Swindon Speed Camera Partnership (WSSCP) initially told the group that they did not hold data on what causes crashes, an admission which the ABD called "astonishing", and calls into question the WSSCP's claim that the cameras were installed for safety reasons.

When the ABD pressed the point, the partnership said that it would have to search its database - and would charge £111.63 "per positive search result".

The ABD said it believed the Partnership may be deliberately trying to conceal the causes of crashes on the M4, perhaps because so few of them were due to drivers exceeding limits.

ABD road safety spokesman Mark McArthur-Christie said, "Many people are unaware that Partnerships are allowed to impose cameras no matter what the causes of accidents -- even where they have not been caused by exceeding a speed limit. But it is stunning that first they admit they don't know what causes crashes, then they try to charge £111 to reveal information that should already be in the public domain. They should have these figures at their fingertips. What are they trying to hide?"

ABD Chairman Brian Gregory said, "We've found time and again that camera partnerships will do anything to conceal the causes of crashes, because so few are down to exceeding a speed limit. It's time for the Partnerships to end their culture of secrecy and spin and just come clean. We want to see each partnership showing on their Web sites the causes of accidents that have led to cameras."

The ABD said that this shows that camera partnerships are unaccountable and running out of control. McArthur-Christie said, "The UK's road safety policy has become obsessed with speed to the detriment of everything else. Having a camera policy which runs down traffic police departments and takes no account of the causes of crashes is like abolishing the NHS and replacing it with machines in every high street that just dispense aspirin no matter what the patient's complaint, and about as effective."

Clicky for news story

The foundation's Sue Nicholson said the government collected £42bn in road taxes and charges, but reinvested only £15bn into road and transport maintenance.

missed off the option - I like football, but couldnt care about this match.. after all, Chelsea just prove money CAN buy you silverware...

p.s. Great vid by the way!

I hope Wosket and/or Zee dont mind, but I had a little 'fiddle' with the movie, so its now only 13Meg - and all thats missing is the last 30 seconds or so.

Right click here and 'save as'

If anyone has any objections, let me know and I will pull it...

i only gamble with my life.... never my money..

congrats...

personally, in your case I would reccomend the Peco - free's up the engine a lot, gives a nice deep growl, but its not much louder, and looks very OEM...

The best way is spend a week talking about 'is that the exhaust blowing'.. 'you know, i think somethings up with the exhaust'.

Alternativley, try the 'you know the standard exhaust is actually really bad for the engine, being very restrictive to meet EU regulations, ideally I should put on an exhaust to free up the engine to run how it was designed to'

;)

well... I have to reccomend Maui...

Went there in Decemeber, and I have to say it is the nicest place I have ever been too!

The only downside is the flights (11 hours to California, then another 5 to Hawaii), but its well worth it..

It has an inactive volcano from which you can watch the sunrise, a rain forest (including the waterfall from Jurrasic park), some of the best beaches on the planet (really - and backed up by the rough guide)

and, every speaks english, and it hasnt lost too much culture, some places are slightly over developed though... but all in all, i wouldnt hesitate to go back..

I wanted either a M3 or S4, but couldnt afford the new M3, and I dont really like the old shape 3...

The 330, considered it, but for similar reasons to the 325 thought against it..

Dunlop SP9000 (OEM 17's)

First set: 26,000 with 50% motorway crusing 50% enthusiastic.

Second set - 18,000 so far, with most tread left - 75% cruising, 25% semi-enthusiastic..

(worth mentioning, the first set went on the edges due to, *ahem* pushing it a little on corners, I take it much easier on this set)

both the IS300 and Tezza will look the same as i already have, and while both are faster, neither make me want to rush out and buy one..

I will see what the 250 looks like.. either that or try and get a cheap LHD 996....

if there was a manual or coupe version, then i probably would look at doing so..

I'm not sure - the look doesnt grab me as much as the original did..

but i will see when its out...

Okay..

I've had my IS 3-4 years, and it took me all of 5 minutes of driving it to decide it was the car I wanted...

For the last 12 months, I have been looking for a replacement... and I have come to the conclusion that the IS200 is the best all-round car on the market...

Proof? with a budget of £25,000, I set out to find a replacement for the IS, with the simple target of finding something a bit faster, a bit 'sportier looking' (e.g. coupe) and a little less practical..

So, starting with the usual suspects I looking at:

325 coupe - very expensive, low equipment, and not much faster or better to drive

C230 - again expensive, very smooth, but the drive was as involving as watching TV

A4 1.8T (quattro) - best of the bunch, but slightly uninspiring drive, and equipment levels tiny compared to IS.

So, i thought perhaps I needed to look at a different sort of car, as these just didnt compete.

Nissan 350Z - very fast, interesting style - but the same size as the IS with only 2 seats and a tiny boot.

Audi TT - great handling, a bit small, shame about the image

TVR Chimera - fast as :tsktsk: , great noise, great looks, inpraticality and reliablility worries..

So, I thought perhaps I went too far into the 'sports area', and I needed to look at comprimises.

Mitsubiti EVO VIII FQ-300 - well, it was fast according to the speedo, not exactly exciting though, and the interior was terrible, not to mention servicing schedule..

A3 3.2 Quattro - probably the closest I came to finding a replacement, it was very well specified (turned out to be a rareity though), reasonably priced, and a nice all-round comprimise. The IS was still more fun though.

So, my conclusion was simple, I'm keeping the IS for the near future, as for every new and nearly new car I have looked at for under £25k, while it may be so much better than the IS in one area, as an all-round package, nothing even comes close...

was just wondering will my car still be under warranty?

y-reg...2001..lexus is200 sport.

cheers

←

not unless you bought it from a main dealer in the last year...

I use spybot, ad-aware and spyblaster...

yeah, the mail has calmed down a lot... the calls didnt seem to change for the first few weeks - but although i still get some, they are less often.

hey, i just posted it, nowt to do with me...

as far as im concerned, im avoiding the M4 that day...

as i said earlier, no matter what happens from now, they will manipulate the statistics to make the cameras stay..

if someone sent me a naked picture of her - I would get it...

I dont get why the hell these are doing the rounds?