First fatal on the roads for over a year

Repairing potholes saves lives, erecting Average Speed Cameras and Fixed Speed Cameras on wide, straight divided roads costs more, but allows politicians to “care”
Another fatality tonight allowed the police to threaten closure of Yamba Drive for “”several hours”..
That was the forecast of local radio.
I was stuck on Hindmarsh, behind an ambulance.. the ambulance driver was silly enough to imagine that he should have been able to drive along part of the four lanes of divided road to enter the hospital.. oh, no.. a u-turn back to the impossibly clogged Palmer Street was Plod’s prescription.
“Hours” of investigation.. access to the hospital blocked, so Officer Obvious could {eventually..} determine that a pedestrian had been hit by a car.
Had your home broken into? Been assaulted? If you’re lucky, you’ll be awarded a case number for your insurance claim..
But, give them a chance to block roads, take lots of photos, stand around for hours doing not much..

BelcoMan said :

Anna Key said :

astrojax said :

the cotter loop claims another one… at least he was doing what he loved, i’d guess.

A single vehicle motorbike accident on Tidbinbilla Rd. Might excessive speed been a factor? Or perhaps I’m being too judgemental from being overtaken by bikes doing well over 110 and crossing unbroken white lines.

Condolences to the family

Yes you are being too judgemental and assumptive about facts that haven’t been presented.

As a motorcyclist, I get cut across a number of times daily by drivers on the phone. I am not judgemental enough to think that all drivers are doing it.

This is hardly the place for guesses

Actually, I thought Riot Act is the place for guesses. Facts are for the police, coroner etc to worry about

Zan said :

In the first report – which I can’t find – it stated that it was at low speed. Why did I notice this – I am a motorcyclist.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/motorcyclist-dies-in-hospital-20120430-1xtu9.html
“…from an accident that, in a car, would barely have spilled the driver’s coffee…”
“…it was at generally low speed.”

One assumes these potholes are a result of recent wet weather, and that Govco are doing their best to repair them.

One does have to wonder how a Coroner might apportion blame for an accident such as this, where the presence of this particular pothole had such tragic results. Obviously rider ability and the presence of a nearby immoveable object would also contribute heavily to this tragedy.

Far be it from me to blame anyone, but perhaps a more proactive campaign to notify motorists of danger from degraded roads, and perhaps a rating system of road damage on higher speed limited roads resulting in earlier remediation could help.

This guy seems to be a real victim of circumstance. My condolences.

That road is shocking for potholes at the moment. I rode up to Corin Forest on Saturday and hitting some of those patches was sketchy even with the longer than normal suspension travel on my bike. Glad I wasn’t on a proper road bike.

I also noticed that all the damaged areas marked out for repair on on patches where an existing repair has already been performed. And there was a load of them. Maybe they need to reconsider the company doing their repairs. Doesn’t seem like good value to me.

Anna Key said :

astrojax said :

the cotter loop claims another one… at least he was doing what he loved, i’d guess.

A single vehicle motorbike accident on Tidbinbilla Rd. Might excessive speed been a factor? Or perhaps I’m being too judgemental from being overtaken by bikes doing well over 110 and crossing unbroken white lines.

Condolences to the family

Yes you are being too judgemental and assumptive about facts that haven’t been presented.

As a motorcyclist, I get cut across a number of times daily by drivers on the phone. I am not judgemental enough to think that all drivers are doing it.

This is hardly the place for guesses

From the Canberra Times report:

Mr Crow said the fatal motorcycle accident over the weekend was a freak accident that could have happened to anyone.
”It was just a multitude of bad luck – hitting a pothole at the wrong moment and then veering off the road. It just so happened where he did veer off the road there was something there and he ran into it.”

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/killed-motorcyclist-a-special-person-who-put-others-first-20120430-1xvht.html#ixzz1tgEObxCr

In the first report – which I can’t find – it stated that it was at low speed. Why did I notice this – I am a motorcyclist.

so very sad, condolences to the family.

Always sad.

As an aside, and not a presumption of the circumstances relating to this tragedy, I have to say that if young blokes have to get their kicks with speed, I’d much rather they did it on a motorcycle than in a car; far less collateral damage if they come unstuck. I know for personal experience that motorcycles can still inflict serious injury to the occupants of cars, but it’s definitely preferable to a speeding car.

Young men like motorbikes. Even within the bounds of the speed limit that is a (relatively) dangerous game (and who ever did the speed limit down that road)? If my grandfather had been less luck when he crashed his triumph in the ’30s I wouldn’t be here today, so this is nothing new.

My sincere condolences to his family and friends, your loss is unimaginable.

Anna Key said :

astrojax said :

the cotter loop claims another one… at least he was doing what he loved, i’d guess.

A single vehicle motorbike accident on Tidbinbilla Rd. Might excessive speed been a factor? Or perhaps I’m being too judgemental from being overtaken by bikes doing well over 110 and crossing unbroken white lines.

Condolences to the family

It was reported somewhere else – Canberra Times I think – that he hit a pothole and lost control and ran off the road and hit a tree. Quite plausible as there are quite a few potholes out that way after the recent rains.

My mate Doug stepped off his Suzuki Katana 1100 at speed one night down in Tuggernong many years ago. I think he was 22 at the time, and that was the end of him. Nearly 30 years later he still enters my thoughts regularly with a pang of sadness.

This is a terrible, terrible tragedy. My most sincere, profound condolences to the family and friends of this poor young man.

astrojax said :

the cotter loop claims another one… at least he was doing what he loved, i’d guess.

A single vehicle motorbike accident on Tidbinbilla Rd. Might excessive speed been a factor? Or perhaps I’m being too judgemental from being overtaken by bikes doing well over 110 and crossing unbroken white lines.

Condolences to the family

SnapperJack said :

krasny said :

Fatal. Adjective: 1. Causing death; 2. Resulting in failure or disaster.

Could someone please tell me why we’re nouning adjectives when a real noun, or a noun phrase, would serve as well?

I’ll tell you the answer after I see one of our athletes medal at the London Olympics or fail to podium.

Particularly if it’s during a friendly.

SnapperJack said :

krasny said :

Fatal. Adjective: 1. Causing death; 2. Resulting in failure or disaster.

Could someone please tell me why we’re nouning adjectives when a real noun, or a noun phrase, would serve as well?

I’ll tell you the answer after I see one of our athletes medal at the London Olympics or fail to podium.

but ex-swimmers commentating last time had our swimmers ‘final’ when they made it to this stage… bleuuch!

condollences to the man’s family. the cotter loop claims another one… at least he was doing what he loved, i’d guess.

Just to bring this whole thread back to what matters:

Stewart was an amazing, giving, loving and generous man. He is a significant loss. The full potential for his life has been unrealised but the relatively short life he lived had a disproportionately massive impact. He is irreplaceable and will be sorely and sadly missed.

Mr Gillespie said :

So, the perfect record is finally broken, after all this time. What a shame…..

Did you know South Africa has 10 times the number of road fatalities as Australia? I’d hate for our police to do a day’s work there!

That blew my mind when I was there… the xmas road toll was over 900 or something completely ridiculous. If you have seen how they drive over there, it is little wonder. If someone wants to pass, you pull over to the side of the road in the ditch and they zoom past, they dont wait for a clear spot in oncoming traffic. Not to mention that seat belts are not compulsory.

krasny said :

Fatal. Adjective: 1. Causing death; 2. Resulting in failure or disaster.

Could someone please tell me why we’re nouning adjectives when a real noun, or a noun phrase, would serve as well?

I’ll tell you the answer after I see one of our athletes medal at the London Olympics or fail to podium.

Mr Gillespie said :

So, the perfect record is finally broken, after all this time. What a shame…..

Did you know South Africa has 10 times the number of road fatalities as Australia? I’d hate for our police to do a day’s work there!

We need more speed cameras.

So, the perfect record is finally broken, after all this time. What a shame…..

Did you know South Africa has 10 times the number of road fatalities as Australia? I’d hate for our police to do a day’s work there!

using Fatal in this context sounds a bit like police-speak.

So very sad to hear of a 23 year old dying, whatever the cause.

RIP Stewart…

and yeh, why not Fatality?
It’s good enough for Mortal Combat…

Condolences to the family and friends of the young man lost.

krasny said :

Fatal. Adjective: 1. Causing death; 2. Resulting in failure or disaster.

Could someone please tell me why we’re nouning adjectives when a real noun, or a noun phrase, would serve as well?

Fark, does it really matter?????

FWIW, I think it’s very sad that someone died. I’m less interested in the semantics.

krasny said :

Fatal. Adjective: 1. Causing death; 2. Resulting in failure or disaster.

Could someone please tell me why we’re nouning adjectives when a real noun, or a noun phrase, would serve as well?

Laziness.

Fatal. Adjective: 1. Causing death; 2. Resulting in failure or disaster.

Could someone please tell me why we’re nouning adjectives when a real noun, or a noun phrase, would serve as well?