HIT THE BRAKE!


It is remarkable how much platform the BBC extends to the faux Road Safety charity, Brake. These fanatics were immediately quoted here by the BBC in response to the suggestion by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond that the speed limit on motorways may be raised to 80mph. Apart from the fact that this alleged “initiative” by Hammond is little more than a cute way to implement EU wishes, why on earth does Brake get the first word of response? Who voted for them?

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20 Responses to HIT THE BRAKE!

  1. matthew rowe says:

    Nice selective headline BBC well done got the message out  that only one point of view covers the whole debate ?? lol
    Mind after hearing the hysterical ranting of the woman on C4 news it’s hardly surprising the morons are running the coverage as apparently this will destroy the planet while killing everyone !oh the humanity !

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  2. DJ says:

    But surely the real question is whether or not Brake constitutes a ‘political pressure group’?

    Maybe Matt Prodder could help us out with where the dividing line is here?

    At least the Taxpayer’s Alliance are using their own money. Fake charities like Brake take state money to lobby the state in favour of giving the state more power, and our state broadcaster interviews them as though they represent any kind of meaningful segment of the public. 

    Don’t we at least deserve some evidence that Brake has more members than, say, the number of people who’d turn up on a Tuesday night to see Bradford play Southend in League Two?

    And what’s with the labelling anyway? Who decided that the best description for a unlovely collection of extreme leftists, luddites and econuts was ‘road safety charity’? Sure, that’s what they claim to be, but if ever there was a need for ‘impartial broadcaters’ to use the phrase ‘so-called’ this is it.

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    • Martin says:

      Yes I was going to make the same point about ‘fat togger’ and his political pressure group.

      The Government is elected, they should be able to do what they want, shouldn’t they?

      It’s the usual nanny state crap from the BC, I notice they were having a go at Eric Pickles this morning over bin collections, with the dozy green hag from Brighton. If Brighton wants bin collections only once a fortnight fine, but sod off you dozy lefty and leave everyone else to make their own decisions.

      Personally it’s not the 80mph that I want, but I want all the road works on the M25 and M1 ended now. The lazy bastards have been digging up these motorways for 10 years now (another Prescott screw up) and getting no where.

      How long now have they had those roadworks on the M25 by Luton up to Milton Keynes? Have you ever actually seen anyone working? miles of speed cameras and cones and not a lazy bastard in sight.

      The Government should give these idle contractors 3 month sot complete the works or kick them off

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      • Natsman says:

        Livving in France, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly they get on with roadworks, and remove the cones.

        A couple of weeks ago I was driving north towards Limoges, and several kilometres of both carriageways were coned off.  On my return, a couple of hours later, not a cone in sight.

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      • david hanson says:

        Dead right, Martin. Near where I live it has taken the best part of 2 YEARS(!) to change a busy roundabout to a traffic light controlled crossroads. Adjacent to the site, in March this year Tesco demolished an existing large store and have built a huge new one about three times the size – it opens next week! Then again I suppose there is no public money involved.

        Regarding these pillocks from Brake, I would have thought that if they were so concened about road safety they should be a bit more worried about gangs of “you know who” driving around Luton, Oldham, and Sparkhill staging fake “accidents”. Surely that is a tad more dangerous than someone doing 80 on a deserted motorway.

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      • Derek Buxton says:

        Bloody hell, you expect them to risk straining their  backs by actually doing some work, ohhhh you are awful.  It is not only on the motorways though, despite the “cuts”, there has been a whole spate of roadworks around Stockport since early spring.  Not that a whole lot of work happens but it allowa them to close off lanes and sometimes whole roads.  It shows no sign of ending as yet….mind you they are neglecting to repair potholes!

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        • NotaSheep says:

          More importantly on motorways it enables them to put in place 50mph average speed cameras and rake in more money from the <strike>cash sponge</strike> motorist.

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    • john says:

      Poor choice of Bradford City though !
      They are recognised by FIFA as the best supported team in England’s 4th tier.
      😎

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  3. Geyza says:

    They are only legalising current driving practice, so there should be no change in behaviour.  The only change will be, that you WILL get nicked for doing 85 under the new law, whereas currently it is unlikely.  So in safety terms it is an improvement.

    What this faux charity failed to mention, and the BBC failed to remind them (or the audience) is that the more numerous reductions in speed limits in towns to 20 MPH would more than off-set the alleged increases in accidents and emissions which the motorway limit increase would cause. SO the overall effect should please BRAKE, but that would mean congratulating a tory led government on something and we could never counternance that, now could we!

    The fact is, that political pressure group (who do I mean? BRAKE or the BBC? Both) will not be satisfied until all cars are banned!!!

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    • Roland Deschain says:

      Except their own, of course.

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    • jazznick says:

      What all the BRAKE nutters seem to assume is that every car on a motorway MUST go at 80mph.

      As Geyza points out, 80mph is regarded as an unspoken limit anyway.
      However, this should now be maintained and all drivers above that should be nicked, otherise just scrap the limit entirely.

      All those who want to drive at the most economical
      level for their car will still be able to do so as before, so no real change then.

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    • Derek Buxton says:

      But Geyza for small cars there will be an increase in emmisions especially as to negotiate the “speed” humps means third gear not top.  Our council are doing it and they, poor dim idiots, think they can slow the traffic and reduce emmisions.

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  4. cjhartnett says:

    A lot of mission creep from a bunch of creepy missionaries…well evangelists perhaps?
    These people are state-funded wristbands and scented oil burners…accountable only to themselves and the state funding “civil partners” that pick our pockets in order to pay their mouthpieces.
    They don`t want anyone to drink(unless it`s from the DGs wine cellar after dark) …nor to drive(unless its from the chauffeur pool available to the great and good). Buoyed up by fox hunting and smoking bans: they seem now to want to encroach into food, families and anywhere else that the BMA thinks is now some of their business!
    As for the supermarkets or the television, the obsessions with sport and crawling round all things Islamic?…well these are not for discussion and belong in the other box…unlike white trash, Jews and Yankis blokes…who are always in season!

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  5. David Preiser (USA) says:

    Nice to hear the BBC actually asking about better enforcement of laws already on the books.  Why wasn’t that question in ol’ Justin’s script during the last riots?

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  6. Natsman says:

    I bet someone chucked in the magic words “climate change” and “CO2 or emission reduction” somewhere,

    CO2, as we all know, is not an issue and shouldn’t even be mentioned, but just about every programme on the BBC, including their plays, and wildlife programmes tell us that the climate is changing, and it’s all our fault.  How I want to scream at these cretins.  It seems to be part of the vocabulary now, and no-one bats an eyelid.  Mind you, it has got so commonplace, that nobody takes any notice anyway, any more.  Good job too.

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  7. MarkE says:

    According to fake charities Brake receives about 20% of its funding from the taxpayer; it is about as much a charity as the department of transport, Ford or the BBC.  I guess the BBC likes dealing with taxpayer funded bodies like itself as the culture shock from dealing with a real charity or even (shock, horror) someone producing the wealth that subsidises their cosy sinecures, would be too great.

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  8. John Horne Tooke says:

    Why did they not ask these people for their views.
    http://www.abd.org.uk/index.htm?mode=dashboard

    After all if the BBC want to be seen to be impartial….

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  9. grangebank says:

    Brake was started by Mary williams who was a journalist for Commercial Motor , a trade magazine for the trucking industry .
    She started it after her mother was killed by a runaway truck that carreered into mothers house . She then immmediately left the magazine (who gave her lots of coverage ).
    The haulage industry , beleive it or not , is actually a very weak industry when it comes to protecting itself . Hairdressers would be more manly about protecting their interests . So it was easy to blackmail the industry into giving her plenty of support , and the unions to use it as a leverage as well .
    Money poured in and plenty of shows and publicity were given .
    It seems that Brake became like a lot of charities and pressure groups , self aggrandeisment meant it needed new areas to lobby about . Thus it became a general road safety group , with access to the BBC .

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  10. PacificRising says:

    The Any Questions audience were aked for a show of hands by Jonathan Dimbleby to find out if they ever exceeded the 70mph speed limit themselves and did they support the increase to 80mph.

    Overwhelmingly, they did not break the speed limit and did not support an increase.

    Since the audience are a representative cross section of the country as a whole, then who are the unrepresentative drivers I see on the M25, M1, M6 and M5 every week?

    Could it possibly be that the Any Questions audience are not representative of the population as a whole??

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    • cjhartnett says:

      The Dimbleby lads are never happier than doing their vox pops surveys amidst their own kind…Labour supporters and bussed-in quangos for the unemployed…who clearly can`t be available for work when they`re spending so much time in the TV studios!
      That we never see the results?…well, trust the Dimbleby lads!

      In the same vein I was pleased to see the BBC re-enact the Jarrow March for us all…using grandkids of the nemeses of Stanley Baldwin…I`ll not complain about rap artists blagging 10CC tracks…oe Jude Law doing “Alfie”…every day is a history lesson at the BBC!
      Presumably the BBC is one long recreation of Lord HawHaws infotainment project…no wonder they seem so exercised by not bringing back the death penalty!

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