Mountain Watch

[Andy Onchan]

3 hours ago, Shake me up Judy said:

So why does the gov. not impose speed limits? Well, one possibility is that they believe that there would be a reduced number of visitors during the TT and MGP - i.e. the possible financial loss to the hotel trade and brewery outweighs the value of human life.

It's much more than a possibility. That's the reality. Local business interests have always trumped politics and the people here. The T.T. has been the golden egg that keeps laying for generations and anything that might jeopardise it - like speed limits - is bad for business. That perception will have to change first before there's any move towards speed limits. It just won't happen until then.

Or is it just that the brigade who are in a position to make the necessary changes (not the politicians, remember it's the CS that run the Island) like to hang on to the "it's the differences that make us different" (wasn't that a strap line or something similar that was used in a marketing campaign a few years ago?). Being a step behind our close neighbours marks Mann out as being unique. But there's going to come a point when IOMG will have to act in order to conform with everyone else's expectations. In pretty much the same way as the Birch. Ditto for the TT itself. 

[The Duck of Atholl]

Another one off the road this morning...

[The Dog's Dangly Bits]

We need a speed limit 

[WTF]

we need to learn to drive better

[Out of the blue]

3 minutes ago, WTF said:

we need to learn to drive better

When my boys get to the age that they can drive, any lessons, purchase of a car or access to a car will be dependent on them attending advanced lessons. A lot of people believe that speed limits are the panacea, whereas being able to read the road and drive accordingly is more important. And for those who support speed cameras, they obviously have never lived in the south east. They are ineffective revenue generating monstrosities. 

[WTF]

i think bad drainage has accounted for quite a few aquaplane crashes over the years , but even so people should be driving slower in those conditions,   after a few wet trips over the mountain you know where the puddles and rivers over the road can be expected and you should drive accordingly.

[Rhumsaa]

I drove past the car being pulled back onto the road, a popular place to crash it seems

Unsure if speed is the pure cause of it

[dilligaf]

6 minutes ago, Rhumsaa said:

I drove past the car being pulled back onto the road, a popular place to crash it seems

Unsure if speed is the pure cause of it

Unskilled drivers everytime.

[Barlow]

9 hours ago, WTF said:

i think bad drainage has accounted for quite a few aquaplane crashes over the years , but even so people should be driving slower in those conditions,   after a few wet trips over the mountain you know where the puddles and rivers over the road can be expected and you should drive accordingly.

Very true of course, but the real danger is when those puddles freeze over and the badly drained roads, of which there is an extra stretch every time the D.O.T.(sp?) does anything, become ice rinks.

[dilligaf]

9 minutes ago, Barlow said:

Very true of course, but the real danger is when those puddles freeze over and the badly drained roads, of which there is an extra stretch every time the D.O.T.(sp?) does anything, become ice rinks.

 Drive to conditions. 

[Barlow]

Just now, dilligaf said:

 Drive to conditions. 

True again, but it can be a bit of a bugger hitting unexpected ice when the rest of the road has been fine.

Every time a road is resurfaced on the Isle of Man there always seems to be sneaky bits where it doesn't drain as it should. Those bits become icy first.

[finlo]

11 minutes ago, Barlow said:

True again, but it can be a bit of a bugger hitting unexpected ice when the rest of the road has been fine.

Every time a road is resurfaced on the Isle of Man there always seems to be sneaky bits where it doesn't drain as it should. Those bits become icy first.

The DOI sent their spirit level back because they thought it was faulty as it had a bubble in it!

[dilligaf]

In fairness to the Gov. and “ Highway Board”. All our roads over here are basically country roads. We don’t have purpose built highways. We should never forget this and stop driving like we are on a motorway. I love driving quickly but am aware every second that there are farm gateways field gates, pedestrians, horses and cyclists that could be around every corner.

[WTF]

10 hours ago, dilligaf said:

In fairness to the Gov. and “ Highway Board”. All our roads over here are basically country roads. We don’t have purpose built highways. We should never forget this and stop driving like we are on a motorway. I love driving quickly but am aware every second that there are farm gateways field gates, pedestrians, horses and cyclists that could be around every corner.

none of that on the mountain mile most of the time

[The Dog's Dangly Bits]

Plenty of places on the Mountain Road you can push on safely enough.  I certainly do.