Posts by Bart Janssen
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creation museum = oxymoron
It's a theme park which I wouldn't mind if they made it R18.
Really - impressionable minds should not be exposed to this kind of stuff.
Can't say I'm keen on lowering the drink/drive limit, seems to me those that drive drunk are well and truely over the limit. Anyone know how to get the figures for these questions?
How far over the limit are the drink drivers who are caught?
How many accidents caused by drivers just under the limit? -
Brent and RB both state that Auckland isn't a great city to cycle in. And I see their point.
I agree that the traffic on the roads is worse than it was. SUVs are a real menace for bikes because they generally can't see the bike.
But it doesn't need to be like that.
Yes we have hills, but downhill is lots of fun on a bike.
The key to making cycling fun is to separate bikes from busses and cars. Bike lanes can be narrow and a bike path that runs under a road looks remarkably similar to a large drain pipe and is as easy to build. Most of suburbia could have bike paths between the backs of houses ie you alternate streets with bike paths. Anyone who has been to Davis CA will know what I mean.
Make some of those changes and Auckland would be fun to ride in again. It would take the will to do it but it wouldn't actually cost that much.
cheers
Bart -
Sorry Ben to pick this out
Holland is cool, but it's flat, small and well populated, and has been urbanized for several hundred years. Their suburbs aren't like ours, because they don't have the space for it, and cars weren't even invented when their town planning had pretty much set it's current shape.
But that is quite wrong. Most of the Dutch cities were pretty much flattened 1939-1945. Even the stuff that was built after that has been renovated several times.
If anything it's because the cities were built recently that they are so friendly towards public transport. But also it's a matter of will. If you really wanted to you could build cycleways around Auckland (not Taranaki) that would separate cyclists from cars. If you wanted to you could build public transport. If you wanted to you could prevent young people from driving cars until their brains develop enough to cope.
Oh and by the way yes it very probaably is the DNA and even probably the Y chromosome. There's been some cool studies done that show yoof actually get endorphins released by going fast.
cheers
Bart -
Ben wrote
The way I see it, learning not to kill yourself is a part of growing up and you can do it so many more ways than driving a fast car that it's pointless to try to filter out that side of it.
And the harsh comment that would go along with that is ... since it's young folks we're talking about they haven't had the chance to breed so natural selection is working?????
Worth rembering that every death is back up with a whole bunch of "minor" and major injuries.
As an aside when I was riding all over Auckland - I lived up in Titirangi and rode to and from Auck Uni and visited girlfriends on the shore - so I do know what it's like to ride a bike an hour to visit friends. And yes I know what a crap bus service is like having caught late night buses to Titirangi. A car is NOT needed.
cheers
Bart -
So when you've banned everyone under 19 from owning a car, will you be transporting them to and from jobs everywhere in the country there isn't public transport? What's your message to kids in rural Taranaki who'd like to go to a movie or enjoy a social life? "Get fucked"?
Do what I did. Ride a bike all over Auckland and ride the buses.
The solution isn't driving cars but improving public transport which can partly be achieved by getting more folks used to the idea that public transpot is viable.
cheers
Bart -
I have some sympathy for the idea that we focus a lot on rights and less on responsibilities. But I seriously doubt that Sawyer and his pack of donkeys actually understand responsibility in terms of societies. It's not trivial to learn or teach, personally I'd be happier with better science education than have a course in civics.
As for fast cars and young drivers, the numbers are clear the fast cars aren't the problem. Mind you compulsory 3rd party insurance isn't a bad idea but it is a licence for insurance companies (foreign owned) to gouge more money out of us all. While boy racers cars would attract high 3rd party premiums, don't imagine for a second that premiums on your urban assualt vehicle would be that low.
Now if you could figure out a way of getting them to pay carbon tax on the diesel spread over the road for burnouts....?
For me a much better idea is making sure that if you must have children driving cars then perhaps we should invest in compulsory driver training of a high standard. It might just improve life on the roads for everyone if a new generation of drivers grew up knowing why it was dangerous to do a U-turn on Dominion road in peak hour traffic...
One nice effect of raising the driving age might be to get young folks used to idea of using public transport. At the moment from the time kids are old enough to party they are old enough to drive to the parties. If those ages were separated (by raising the driving age) maybe kids would develop a culture of using public transport to get to and from clubs, pubs and parties? Just a thought.
cheers
Bart -
Robyn siad
I always pay off my credit card by the end of the month and I save up for big purchases
Saving for things? I'm with Chaos on this. Having had a brother die of cancer in his early thirties makes you realise that there is no guarantee of making it to 65 -75 to need that money you've saved. Add to that the fact that things you want to do at 30 your body may not let you do when you are 50, means I've spent my fair share on the credit card.
It's about finding a balance you can live with. Right now we are in saving mode but I can undersstand why some folks would be spending rather than saving.
cheers
Bart -
Just to echo Paul and RBs comments
When I worked in the US as an employee, I actually could not understand the tax form instructions. Seriously my wife and I sat and tried to figure it out but there was one question int eh form that we could not figure out if we were meant to answer yes or no. The rest of the form took about half a days hard work to get through. And we were simply employees with no kids!
NZ tax system is wonderfully simple, and probably saves the govt a bunch in staff costs at the IRD.
cheers
Bart -
if there's one way to reduce the number of Remuera tractors on the road without punishing drivers who actually go dirt-bashing
Well you could take the attitude that folks who want to go "dirt bashing" should use their vehicles off road only. There really is no reason for a 4WD vehicle to be on the city streets at all. Even farmers mostly don't use their 4WDs on the roads they usually have a street or town car that is easier and cheaper to drive than their farm vehicles.
Whether that would take the form of a complete ban from the roads or merely a ban from town or city roads wouldn't make much difference. For those who wanted to "dirt bash" they'd have to get a trailer or store their dirt bashers near their play area.
cheers
Bart -
For your geeky pleasure
the geek test