Max Power Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 I totally agree, and agressive irresponsible riding should be clamped down on without mercy. But surely it is better to have a few hundred vehicles going in one direction instead of rushing into each other. Don't forget that the volume coming over the mountain is going to present problems of it's own, and you can be knocked off a stationary bike by a car coming the other way on a blind bend at 30mph, so I'm afraid any argument against does not hold water! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Surely if they turn the whole T.T. fortnight into Mad Sunday it will result in an unprecedented number of deaths on the Mountain Road. Maybe there will be safety measures in place up there or it hasn't been thought through. I would dearly love to be wrong about this. Thankfully you are wrong. The statistics show there are many more serious accidents involving two way traffic. I fully expect we will be seeing a variety of traffic calming measures on the mountain (cops and cones in at least three places etc.), police cars dotted around, a large number of flagging's down and spot checks - and that this approach will be hailed a success after the event - by the police, motorcyclists and drivers. Given enough notice, even Doris and Doreen can reschedule their day trip from Douglas to Ramsey or join Dave Lobotomy on the coast road back to Ramsey when he finishes work. For those that think their journey time is going to be affected, the news is it will be anyway, as another 20K plus vehicles will be arriving on the island for the event. If people have problems about the TT they should go on holiday (it's half term folks!) or stay in and hide behind the settee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stookie Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 But that doesn't address where the people who want to watch the TT are going to go does it? More traffic will be funnelled onto (2 way) roads even less suited to the volumes because people either have to go about their daily business or want to spectate somewhere along the Mountain section. Where will the police and cones be at 1 in the morning? And what has the schools being closed got to do with anything? I have a business to run and no children in school - I suppose that's a real minority group!! Here's another suggestion - tell all road users to take responsibility for their actions. Is it PC to do that these days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donk Posted February 26, 2007 Author Share Posted February 26, 2007 During the TT period trying to get home after work between 4-6pm is an absolute nightmare. On a bad day it can take about an hour just to get out of Douglas. Christ only knows what it will be like this year with so many extra bikes coming over jumping to the front of traffic queues like they do. I live in the north of the island and so have to use the coast road when the mountain is closed or one way after a race and usually take this route anyway during the fortnight but find it does not feel much safer than being on the mountain going against the flow anyway. Assuming that the roads aren't already closed for racing, why not make the mountain one way as proposed however during the hours that most people are commuting ie 7-9am and 4-6pm make the mountain 2 way but bikes are banned. They can still have their fun, just not while roads are at their busiest. It would only need a few coppers at the hairpin, the Creg and the Bungalow to turn them around. Fair enough there are a few other places bikes could get on to the moutain but so long as the numbers are kept down there should be much of a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman8180 Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 .........on what is essentially a B road and quite narrow. ......... Sounds like the kind of road that should have a speed limit on it, about 50 maybe? If they're really serious about it, they should keep traffic both ways, but stick a 60mph speed limit over the entire mountain road, and have two or three coppers policing it at various different points for the entire fortnight. That won't happen of course, because we all know that a lot of bikers just come here to rag the arse out of their bikes with legal impunity, and the powers that be won't want to upset the financial apple cart that much. Great point Chopley. They really aren't that serious about it, otherwise they would do it. As usual, they are pussy footing around it. [OT] How is it that when the Govt introduces measure to 'protect' the public, like, lets say......Banning smoking in Public (enclosed)places, we are living in a Nanny state with our Civil Liberties being slowly eroded and yet when the Govt introduces this measure (allegedly to protect the public?) we should bend over and take it up the arse like good manx people? Well they seem to have won AT over anyway. [/OT] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 [OT] How is it that when the Govt introduces measure to 'protect' the public, like, lets say......Banning smoking in Public (enclosed)places, we are living in a Nanny state with our Civil Liberties being slowly eroded and yet when the Govt introduces this measure (allegedly to protect the public?) we should bend over and take it up the arse like good manx people? Well they seem to have won AT over anyway. [/OT] This solution is a sensible and safer compromise for everyone. They are not stopping people driving to Ramsey - just limiting one route people normally use to travel there, and which this year represents 100 years of our culture. The smoking analogy would be to make ALL roads from Ramsey one way only! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman8180 Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 The smoking analogy would be to make ALL roads from Ramsey one way only! Au contraire! That would be like saying all smoking should be banned. Which of course, they are not proposing. They are not stopping people from smoking, just proposing making it safer for others. Which is what these one way proposals are about. No? This solution is a sensible and safer compromise for everyoneI'm sure we will see whether that is the case or not. By using the word compromise we are already acknowledging that there are safer solutions available. But for whatever reason, they choose not to use them, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 I think people are just being bloody minded here! What are these so called safer solutions? Nobody has come up with anything remotely more sensible as far as I can see. Yes let's impose limits?? That does not answer the problem of the sheer volume of traffic coming over the mountain and generally in the Douglas direction, leading to the extreme liklihood of head on collisions. As I said before, speed is not always the problem, you can be seriously hurt on a bike at 30mph. All the negativity really is a bore now. Perhaps we should just impose stupid rules everywhere, finish the TT and close up the Island completely. Then we can become the inbreds that everyone thinks that we are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
When Skies Are Grey Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 All the negativity really is a bore now. Perhaps we should just impose stupid rules everywhere, finish the TT and close up the Island completely. Then we can become the inbreds that everyone thinks that we are! Hurray now you are getting it....well done...took a while though!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gags Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 The only reason they are putting this out to vote is in case anything bad happens, then they can say well we proposed making it one way etc etc.. Maybe we could claim some overpriced road tax back as we can only go one way on the road! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hboy Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 All the negativity really is a bore now. Perhaps we should just impose stupid rules everywhere, finish the TT and close up the Island completely. Then we can become the inbreds that everyone thinks that we are! A great idea. The whole two weeks of death and carnage has got a bit pathetic now. I don't see how the TT can possibly be compatible with the gutless health and safety culture that exists on the Island for the other 50 weeks of the year. Its like allowing seal culling between certain times only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddBod Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 One way over the mountain is the craziest idea i have ever heard. This will not save lives it is sending out a message to the general biking public that the Isle of Man should be considered a race track & i mean the whole Island not just a way one section over the mountain. I reside in Peel but work in Douglas & at least 3 times every trip into Douglas i have a near miss on a normal TT what happens when the bikes are rushing around the course to get back to Ramsey for another unlimited bash over the mountain. If there is a problem it is purely a problem with speed, the island should not be a free for all track day. My suggestion would be to introduce a blanket speed limit of say 50 mph and enforce it religiously, keep the one way following practise & races but keep the speed limit in place. If people want to race let them enter the TT Races an entry is not that hard to acomplish instead of standing outside Bushies bragging how fast thay did an open roads lap. If the Island is to continue to benifit from the TT Races we need to encourage people who have a passion for just that & not the speed freak element. Finally what is even more incredible is that the majority of visitors to the Island come from a country (England) where the maximum speed they can legally drive is 70mph so what is it that gives them the ability to drive at such high speeds on our country roads??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stookie Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 One way over the mountain is the craziest idea i have ever heard. My suggestion would be to introduce a blanket speed limit of say 50 mph and enforce it religiously, keep the one way following practise & races but keep the speed limit in place. Finally what is even more incredible is that the majority of visitors to the Island come from a country (England) where the maximum speed they can legally drive is 70mph so what is it that gives them the ability to drive at such high speeds on our country roads??? It is a crazy idea and should be allowed to wither away - health and safety bollocks as usual! How exactly would they police a 50 mph limit - they already introduce a limit at certain points for the races and then those same roads are treated like Santa Pod by visitors. They can't/don't want to police it is the only answer. 70 mph? Presumably you've never driven on a motorway - the legal limit is only half the story, but then the English roads are a 1000% improvement on our shoddy 'tarmac'. I wouldn't call the Mountain Road a "country road" though with plenty of good visibility (weather excepting) and long straight bits the only thing to spoil it is the excessive use of solid white lines (health and safety bollocks again) and perhaps the lack of 'cat's eyes' for driving it in the dark. And nobody has an answer to the question of how the expected masses of visiting bikers and spectators are going to get to vantage points on the Ramsey to Douglas stretch of the Course without negotiating far more hazardous roads than a 2 way Mountain Road!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddBod Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 One way over the mountain is the craziest idea i have ever heard. My suggestion would be to introduce a blanket speed limit of say 50 mph and enforce it religiously, keep the one way following practise & races but keep the speed limit in place. Finally what is even more incredible is that the majority of visitors to the Island come from a country (England) where the maximum speed they can legally drive is 70mph so what is it that gives them the ability to drive at such high speeds on our country roads??? It is a crazy idea and should be allowed to wither away - health and safety bollocks as usual! How exactly would they police a 50 mph limit - they already introduce a limit at certain points for the races and then those same roads are treated like Santa Pod by visitors. They can't/don't want to police it is the only answer. 70 mph? Presumably you've never driven on a motorway - the legal limit is only half the story, but then the English roads are a 1000% improvement on our shoddy 'tarmac'. I wouldn't call the Mountain Road a "country road" though with plenty of good visibility (weather excepting) and long straight bits the only thing to spoil it is the excessive use of solid white lines (health and safety bollocks again) and perhaps the lack of 'cat's eyes' for driving it in the dark. And nobody has an answer to the question of how the expected masses of visiting bikers and spectators are going to get to vantage points on the Ramsey to Douglas stretch of the Course without negotiating far more hazardous roads than a 2 way Mountain Road!! I never said the TT should wither away i dont mind either way whether there is a TT or not, i am however against people visiting the Island and driving beyond there capabilities (because we let them due to no speed limit). I have driven on plenty of motorways @50K miles in the Uk alone & will not argue the fact that the fast lane can average around 95, but your still breaking the law and will face prosecution if caught, I have also driven in Norway, Austria, Slovakia, Cech Republic, Poland, Germany, Canada, America & Cuba all of which have enforced speed limits with on the spot cash fines and i would argue that the majority of places with the exception of Cuba are a lot safer to drive. I have also raced motorcycles since i was 8 (scrambling) & my first mode of transport at 16 was a bike and the last 23 years of driving i have owned you guessed it bikes of various degrees of capacity. I, you nor anyone else has the right to drive in a way that a reasonable person would cosider to be dangerous, & 150 up over our mountain road is dangerous, thats why the roads are closed when the professional, licenced road racers take to the course. There is only one way to prove how fast you are or how good you are and that is to get yourself a ACU Race Licence do the short track events until you have the required points to enter the likes of the TT. Justify in anyway what possible right anyone has to decide that they have the right to ride or drive in a fashion on open roads whether one way or not that endangers the lives of my friends and families lives. As for people wanting to get to vantage points, as previous suggestion after the helicopters have dropped off the marshals, slap on a Bourough of Douglas taxi plate and let them do high priced short hops up and down the mountain though i still think it would be hard to find one that would do the run out to Peel..!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mission Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 I quite like the suggestion of making the road two way (minus the bikes) during peak hours to allow workers to go about their business. We all have to make sacrifices during this two week period so why should the visitors be exempted from this too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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