BS: Why do some people have a death wish?

Subject: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 05 Jul 09 - 07:41 PM

I will apologise first for bringing controversy, racial, or possibly religious, predjudice, sexism and ageism!

It seems to be generaly accepted that some peoples views on traffic do not fit in well with the laws of physics. There are those that assume that if you glare hard enough at a car travelling towards you at 20 or 30 mph you cannot possibly come to any harm.

I am, of course, refering to 'yoofs'. Those of an indeterminate age, somewhere between 9 and 25, who believe that they are invunerable. The worst, in my experience, seem to be young women or girls. Particulary when they have a phone glued to their ears. Young men or boys are pretty close and seem to have some sort of propensity for sauntering across busy dual carriageways while looking the opposite way or texting their mates. OK - I know I am an old git but I can well remember being of that age and I am pretty sure my self preservation instanct was a lot stronger.

Anyhow, that is not now the end of it. I car share with a friend who lives in Higher Broughton, Manchester. Since I have been picking him up these last six months or so I have noticed something particularly alarming. Maybe it is just about my character and I would be happy if someone was to prove it was! The area, for those who do not know, has a high proportion of Hassidic, or maybe just orthodox, I am not sure, Jews. Those who have long cotas and big hats with curly bits coming out of them. Esxcuse my ignorance but I am realy not sure what the particular sect is.

The disturbing thing is that the good men and women of this sect seem to have not grown out of throwing them in the path of oncoming traffic. Twice in the last week I have had to brake realy hard to avoid running someone over. It is not just isolated incidents but traveling between Bury Old and Bury New Roads is like an obstacle course most times and even worse on the Sabbath for some reason.

Maybe it is my imagination. Can anyone explain this phenomenon for me?

Cheers

DeG

(Who is related by marriage to some non-orthodox Jews who seem to treat traffic pretty much as I do btw!)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: jeddy
Date: 05 Jul 09 - 07:50 PM

maybe it is those with very strong faith in that area.
"if god(?) wants me to die today i will"
i have the same problem with someone texting your talking on the phone, they seem incapable of looking up once in a while.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!

be careful

jade x x x

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Rapparee
Date: 05 Jul 09 - 07:59 PM

You're supposed to look out for them.

Orthodox Jews walk to the synagogue on the Sabbath. Therefore you will have more pedestrians. I do not, however, know of anything in the Torah or Teachings that prohibit them from obeying traffic laws or even failing to exercise good sense.

As for the texters -- honk. They're a danger to themselves and others.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 05 Jul 09 - 08:03 PM

It's the drivers who text or phone while they are going along who are the real problem, because, unlike these foolish pedestrians, they are liable to kill other people as well as themselves.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Sorcha
Date: 05 Jul 09 - 08:07 PM

I'm so glad I don't have a cell/mobile phone! I pure D hate the damn things.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 05 Jul 09 - 08:08 PM

Survival of the fittest and all that.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Ebbie
Date: 05 Jul 09 - 08:42 PM

This brings to mind what my roommate (who later went on to become my sister in law) told me when she was young: "I know I shouldn't but I can't help feeling there is an invisible wall between me and my car and the oncoming traffic and that they can't get through it. It makes me feel safer."

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Jul 09 - 08:56 PM

Yoots' brains are actually very different from all-grown-up brains. They do not actually know, in the same way a slightly older adult does, that they are not invincible. No matter how many times they have been told or how logically they know it-- they do not know it viscerally in the part of the brain that control risk-taking.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 05 Jul 09 - 09:25 PM

Darwin Awards Candidates ?   Clickie

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Rapparee
Date: 05 Jul 09 - 09:48 PM

Concentrating on what you're doing is a nice trait, but only at the right time and place. Likewise not concentrating.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Midchuck
Date: 05 Jul 09 - 09:50 PM

David, you betray yourself as someone who Does Not Walk, and therefore considers Motorists a Higher Life Form than Pedestrians.

Not that there are not pedestrians who are idiots. It's just that there are vastly more motorists who are.

Every morning I cross a fairly busy road - what passes for the main north-south highway in western Vermont - to get my mail and morning paper. I cross at a marked cross walk; and Vermont law specifies that motorists shall stop at such cross walks to allow pedestrians to cross.

About one in twenty drivers stops when he/she sees me waiting to cross. I don't start to cross unless someone has stopped, or there is no one approaching from either direction, close enough to be a danger to me. But I swear some of them speed up when they see me step off the curb.

What's really sad is when someone does obey the law and stops or slows down to permit the pedestrian to cross, and gets rear-ended by the driver immediately behind him or her.

I have read, although I don't have the cite to refer to, that the accident rate involving motorists using cell phones is at the same level as those driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The fact that the law continues to permit it, while making so many harmless actions illegal, is just one more confirmation of my opinion of the mental prowess of legislators in general.

Peter.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Rapparee
Date: 05 Jul 09 - 09:59 PM

Talking on the cell phone while driving is not permitted everywhere, even with a "hands free" setup.

Thinking back, I often read while I walked to college (and still read while I walk sometimes). I was very aware of my route, however, as I took it at least twice every day AND I checked before crossing the streets at the corners. (There were also sidewalks.)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 12:14 AM

i am pedstrian and cyclist and ciderhead
and somehow managed to survive to be 50 years old
I rckom my inate sense of seff preservation keeps me alive.

this new generation are really thick stupid solipsistic shitheads
with lemming sense of survival skills..

i blame modern corporate media culture and non apple based jive juices..
oh, and the parents and teachers and comics and tv shows and pop music and pet cats and monkeys..
and that song i heard about 35 years ago..

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: meself
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 12:25 AM

What about immigration?

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 12:32 AM

my mum told me i am 1/4 jew.
so therefore i should hve been run over
1 in 4 times i went out on my bike..???

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 12:41 AM

David, you betray yourself as someone who Does Not Walk, and therefore considers Motorists a Higher Life Form than Pedestrians.

Midchuck. I was going to come back with some witty or clever comment about how I perambulate around 3 miles a day on foot, be it walking or running. Then at least every 2 weeks, walk around 10 miles in the Peak district or Yorkshire dales. Maybe a comment about about how I have spent a good part of my life on two wheels, both pedal and engine powered. Then I decided I realy just could not be bothered even to think of a witty remark in reply to such a stupid comment. I think two words would suffice. I'll let you decide on which ones:-)

How on earth did you come to that ridiculous conclusion???

DeG

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 01:43 AM

OK - I know I am an old git but I can well remember being of that age and I am pretty sure my self preservation instanct was a lot stronger.

Unfortunately, memory is selective and I suspect that it more reflects your own feelings of invincibility at that age rather than the deteriorating standards of today's youth. In thirty years' time, those who have managed to survive, more by good luck than good sense, will be saying "It was never like this in my day!"

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 02:13 AM

I had to brake hard to avoid someone using a mobile phone whilst driving this morning... and in doing so I dropped my razor into my cereal bowl.. infuriating!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 03:01 AM

some ignorant c@nt nearly hit me and my wife
when he speeded round a tight blind corner
in the middle of town shopping centre
with phone gripped tightly to his dimwit head.
he had one hand on steering wheel
and eyes looking sideways off road across towards pub
on corner of road.
me and wife were already starting across road
when he spead out of blind turning,..
we had sudden direct eye contact with his woman
sat in front passenger seat.
she was shocked.. he was oblivious..

there were 2 little kids unstrapped in back seats..
we jumped out of way..
and he never even noticed we were there
in front of his car as he f@cked off with his family to oblivion..

i guess he'd be the kind of bloke
who'd get aggressive nasty to pedestrians
who try to cross road if he's in a hurry..

c@nt !!!

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Anne Lister
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 03:02 AM

Round here it is mostly young males who consider their testosterone will protect them from all accidents - not even with the excuse of using their phones at the time. Sometimes fixing the motorist (quite legitimately driving down a fast dual carriageway) with a hard stare before launching themselves off the pavement. We've noticed the phenomenon over the years and we feel it's getting worse. On the other hand, we have got an over-population problem and perhaps it's good to remove certain individuals from the gene pool - but I'd rather not have any injuries or deaths on my own conscience so would prefer not to be involved in this drastic solution.
At Glastonbury on my arrival (when I had to drive through the festival hordes to reach my camping spot) I was astonished how many people couldn't hear the car engine and seemed amazed to see the vehicle, despite using the horn and having stewards yelling through megaphones. And how many thought that simply standing still in front of me would solve the problem.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: GUEST,punkfolrocker
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 03:30 AM

i am a road battle hardened urban and fast coutry road cyclist
of more than 40 years experience..

I despise this new genration of thickshit kid & adult cyclists
who ride too fast on pavements around town
and in shopping centes..
they need to be swiftly skull cracked off their bikes
by any decent citizen with a concealed cricket bat in her handbag.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 03:38 AM

Aye, you are probably right, Doug. But in my day there were only 3 stage coaches a day going past. Besides, I realy WAS invincible...

:D (eG)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: KEVINOAF
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 04:25 AM

if death is their wish -then grant it them ,,,

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 04:31 AM

Being neither young nor old, I see terrible driving from both ends. Elderly drivers calmly driving along in the middle of the road, pulling out into oncoming without so much as a turn of the head, failing to give way at roundabouts and junctions. At least doing all these things at twenty miles an hour, gives others time to brake for them I suppose...

I'll confess to crossing very busy roads in the style Anne describes. The reason for making eye contact, is to ensure that the driver has seen you, and also has plenty of time to slow a little so you can cross.

Thing is, majority of motorists will leave a pedestrian standing at the roadside forever, so one is forced to be assertive sometimes. Though I do only do it when I know the driver has seen me, and s/he has plenty of time to slow up enough.

What I DON'T do is suddenly leap into the road, and then slowly limp the rest of the way.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 08:46 AM

After years of driving, I have formulated the rule of "Never trust a pedestrian." I have seen peds, some of them adult and presumably sane, do the maddest things.

One day I was driving down the street past Kansas University Medical Center, which has a low speed limit. Ahead of me, and with her back to me, a woman was jogging on the sidewalk. Suddenly she leapt sideways into the street in front of me. She hadn't checked for traffic, and she paid no attention when I braked behind her.

That's just one example. Never trust one.

Then there are the people who stand on the very edge of the curb with their toes projecting into traffic. As if they never, never might lose their balance and fall into the side of a moving car...

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Will Fly
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 09:08 AM

I was crossing the road the other day, to buy a paper, and this damned motorist went hurtling past me at well over thirty miles an hour, silly sod...

And, do you know, some idiot just stepped off the pavement in front of me while I was driving to work - never looked once...

Bloody cyclists just don't pay any attention to traffic lights or any kind of traffic - weaving their way from left to right, in and out of cars - just look at 'em...

If this feckin' bus gets any closer to me, he's going to knock me off the bike altogether...

(Random thoughts I have thunk from time to time.)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Midchuck
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 10:25 AM

How on earth did you come to that ridiculous conclusion???

Based on your starting the original post in the thread by complaining about pedestrians, and complaining about motorists as an afterthought.

Since I spend a lot of time as both, I notice idiot pedestrians when I'm driving, and idiot drivers when I'm walking. But, IMO, the idiot drivers vastly outnumber the idiot pedestrians. And an idiot driver is vastly more dangerous than a idiot pedestrian.

Considering idiot pedestrians to be the greater problem, to me, indicates that one never walks, at least not on or adjacent to the highway. If one did, one would be aware which element is the greatest danger, overall.

Since I evidently misjudged you, an apology on my part would be in order at this point. Your statement that "I think two words would suffice. I'll let you decide on which ones:-)" indicates that you aren't interested in an apology, you just want to fight. So I'll just stop.

Peter.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 10:54 AM

I personally witness vastly more incidents of dangerous/thoughtless motorists than same with pedestrians. On the motorway, in towns, in car parks, or in my own village.

Though I must admit, one of the things that seriously gives me the willies is the unbelievable number of young Mums who shove the front wheels of little Timmy's pushchair over the curb and into the road! Terrifying... Especially when they're chattering away to their mate.

One of the things my driving instructor always encouraged me to do was watch for pedestrians waiting to cross at junctions (especially Mums with kids) and stop for a moment to allow them to cross.

I'd encourage more drivers to be far more pedestrian aware and to consider adopting the above policy more consistently. It takes long enough to walk somewhere in the first place, without also having to wait for ten minutes at the side of the road, while a constant stream of (often slow moving!) vehicles completely and utterly ignore you.

If you are considerate of pedestrians while driving, you won't always receive thanks from ignorant pedestrians, but there are those of us who do greatly appreciate thoughtful courtesies from drivers!

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: olddude
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 11:39 AM

My gosh how many times have I pulled up to a traffic light and see a person (not just young person) texting with their cell phone. Like the drunk driver it is usually the mom and a bunch of kids that gets killed when an accident occurs. The drunk driver is usually without a scratch. Likewise the cell and text folks. In NY you get bigtime fined. I wish more were caught for their safety and those of others. I also wish people would understand that they are behind the wheel of a 3000 lb bullet that can kill far faster and far more than any handgun I know of. Yet many treat driving as if it were watching TV ... I lost my dad, I held my best friend in my arms as he died when his car crashed. I lost my neighbor and a host of others I know. I get teased for driving slow and careful ... I accept it cause I have seen the results first hand when careful gets side tracked

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Royston
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 11:40 AM

I'm with Crow Sister on this one. Sometimes you have to make a gap in the traffic by forcing it to stop - once you have made that eye contact which hopefully clues-up the driver that you are going for it and which tells you the driver is not either blind or in some way discernably murderous. Alternative: Spend a lifetime on the pavement waiting.

I get the sense that Yoofs fall into two categories; stupid/invincible or full of testosterone-fuelled bravado. The latter secretly check out oncoming drivers in the same way as Crow Sister, then having made the risk assessment they saunter across slowly and with a John Wayne swagger, so as to make the world slow down at their whim.

Now as for orthodox jewry, it has been my experience of working with Haredim (black frock-coats, dress-hats, ringlet hair) in East London, that because they are utterly immersed in their religion, to the exclusion of almost all worldly concerns, they can appear either a)totally pre-occupied with observing the tiniest detail of every religious law and practice that they would be oblivious to a charging elephant in Newington Church Street and b)that they are always running late for something, in the style of Alice's white rabbit. Some of the most naively charming people I have known have been Haredim, I just hope not too many get run over 'cos they are in a rush and assume that goodwill alone will save them!

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: 3refs
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 12:38 PM

As a P/T cabbie, I can assure you that people in general, but the younger ones in particular, don't scare easy when it comes to vehicles. 4 abreast, walking down the middle of the road, is the usual practise around these parts.

Three years ago, we had just bought our first brand new car. After leaving the golf course, I had to travel through a construction zone in the middle of town to get home. I was gingerly navigating through the bumps and fresh gravel(20-25kms) when this 20 something came flying out of our Canadian Tire gas bar on a bike and cut me off. I had to hit the brakes hard enough for the anti-lock brake system to engage. I let that slide. He plants his bike right in the middle of the road, with no way for me to get around him. I gave what I considered a friendly toot-toot on the horn and he proceeds to give me the "one fingered salute" over his shoulder. I let that slide. Then, just when I figure I can get around him, he hangs a left turn about 10 feet(3 meters)in front of me and again I hammer on the brakes. Now I'm pissed! I put my window down and yelled at him to "get off the road". He replies with a "F--- You Old Man"(I'm prematurely grey). With that, I reply with "Shit like that will get you punched out"! To which he responds with "Bring it on "Old Man"! I stopped the car, and, after ducking the bike he threw at me, proceeded to show him that he shouldn't let the grey hair fool him. The only thing that stopped me from really laying a beating on this guy was a honk from a car horn. Sitting on his chest with my left thumb stuck in his throat up to the second knuckle, I look over my shoulder and I've got the traffic stopped in both directions.

The only comment I heard from the 4-5 cars was "I'd have just run him over the first time he cut you off"!

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 01:13 PM

Your statement that "I think two words would suffice. I'll let you decide on which ones:-)" indicates that you aren't interested in an apology, you just want to fight. So I'll just stop.

Thank you for the apology, Peter. Accepted and I can assure you that I am more than interested. Had I wanted to fight I would have not given you the option of choosing the words. But I do agree with the just stopping bit:-)

Royston - Thanks for the info. I have learned what this sect is called and, maybe, why they act so in traffic. It does make perfect sense as, unlike the aforementioned yoofs, there is obvious surprise rather than disdain on the faces of those who eventualy notice the car. Funny about the running as well. I have noticed that lots are always in hurry - particularly the men!

Cheers

DeG

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Peace
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 02:19 PM

In Alberta, pedestrians have the right of way. Sometimes they are dead right.

Cell phones: many companies have policies that if you are seen using a cell phone while your motor vehicle is in motion, then you can expect a pink slip when you get back to the shop/office. Damned good policy.



Drivers with cell phones: I wish they would get the damned things stuck up their arses where they seem to keep their consideration for others.

Pedestrians with cell phones: I wish they would get the damned things stuck up their arses where they seem to keep their consideration for others.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Paul Burke
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 02:59 PM

I see terrible driving from both ends

If you can drive them from both ends, they are probably trams, not cars. They usually stay on their tracks, so don't expevct them to swerve to avoid you.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 03:13 PM

One of my favourite Uncles is an ex-insane motorbiker, bit of a tough-nut, and still a bit insane BUT now with kids and more err careful. He has a bad policy with other members of the road who are wandering all over the road or just doing thoughtless stuff: he accelerates towards them and suddenly brakes within a half inch of their bumper (and lots of other such stuff that will infuriate Mudcat members...)

He only gets away with it because of confidence born of native driving skill and ridiculous God-given accuracy - one of the only people I trust driving at very high speed..

But as they say, you never know what's coming round the corner.
The badness in me does find it bloody funny though!

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: gnu
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 04:52 PM

Dave... "Maybe it is my imagination. Can anyone explain this phenomenon for me?"

Ahhh, most people are of average or above intelligence. That still leaves a shitload below. Including those of average intelligence that think the are above and are out of their league in some way.

That may be more than is "safe".

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:29 PM

"Why do some people have a death wish?"

Well....

Maybe they're trying to escape rap music?

Or avoid having to sit through the entire next USA presidential election?

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: olddude
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 05:51 PM

Little Hawk
or JELL-O

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Bill D
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 06:37 PM

Since many pedestrians do also drive, and most drivers have to walk at times, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the stupid behaviour in BOTH areas comes from many of the same people. Face it...there are folks who just have a bad attitude and bad judgment most of the time.

As a driver, I expect jaywalking and other dumb behavior from pedestrians, and I know that in crosswalks they do have right-of-way, so I watch carefully. Then, when walking, I know that some of those people drive, and can't be trusted, and I know that I, as a pedestrian, can stop walking almost instantly, while cars take many feet, even when they ARE being careful....so I don't challenge cars.
   Because of these attitudes, I am able to type this opinion with no injuries and only one minor traffic accident..(52 years ago, at 3MPH). I do not consider myself a slow or overly timid driver...just realistic.

As to ethnic/religious persons with attention deficit issues, ......well, I have little tolerance for such excuses from ANYONE who will not use basic prudence, no matter what their excuse.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 07:27 PM

"It is not just isolated incidents but traveling between Bury Old and Bury New Roads is like an obstacle course most times and even worse on the Sabbath for some reason."

Good grief, man. In my youth, some 30-40 years ago, :-( I staggered home to Radcliffe pissed as a rat up those roads, as did my Grandad (Salford/Whitefield man he was) before me. Never came to any harm!

wibble...

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 09:45 PM

I look at it this way: if you're stupid enough to drive while talking or texting on the phone, or stupid enough to do those things while crossing the road, it would be best if you didn't reproduce. Please have yourself spayed immediately, preferably with a sledge hammer or a chainsaw. I really don't care what happens to YOU, but you might cause others to be in some way disturbed by your passing (EMTs, damage to someone's vehicle, etc.).

(Yeah, I have a cell phone. I've turned OFF the texting ability and if I get a call or must make a call while driving I pull over. It is not difficult to figure out how to do these things.)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Amos
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 10:09 PM

In the spectrum of possible mental states, passing below a certain midpoint begins to turn one into an anti-survival force instead of a survival force, a saboteur instead of a maker of better lives, and a destroyer of communications instead of a communicator. This happens when a person becomes too weighed down by suppression or guilt to fight back anymore, at which point it becomes clear to him or her that the best path toward the future is by succumbing and taking others with him. The details, of course, vary from person to person, but the general answer to why some people have a death wish is the same. Their burdens (caused by themselves or by others or by happenstance) have gradually overhwlemed them to the point where they turn turtle and head south, like a boat that has swamped, rolled, and headed for Davy Jones.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Shanghaiceltic
Date: 06 Jul 09 - 11:14 PM

This guy seems to be getting near ro be a Darwin Award winner..


Arm, licence lost; Joshua Shelton's still hooning
By Brendan Roberts and Padraic Murphy
Herald Sun
July 07, 2009 07:06am
A YOUNG hoon who lost his arm in a car crash remains unrepentant after he was involved in two hoon-related offences in less than two hours.

Joshua Shelton's arm was amputated this year after he crashed his car at high speed on the Calder Highway in Ravenswood, Victoria.

Less than two months later, while still recovering from the crash, the Bendigo 19-year-old lost his licence after being caught by police doing doughnuts.

On Sunday morning he proved he still hadn't learnt his lesson when he came under police attention twice in 90 minutes for his involvement in separate hoon-related activities.

Mr Shelton claims he is being victimised by police and denied he was placing himself in further danger, the Herald Sun reports.

"We weren't doing any harm, I've got to live with this for the rest of my life," he said.

"The cops have put a target on my head, I would sue but I haven't got a leg to stand on."

>>SC: And I thought he had only lost an arm...

Mr Shelton's most recent run-in with police was at 2.30am on Sunday when he was a passenger in his own late-model Holden Calais.

The driver of the car, a 19-year-old friend, was pulled over by police after he was caught doing burnouts in Bendigo East.

A second car carrying several of Mr Shelton's mates was also impounded under anti-hoon laws.

Just 90 minutes later Mr Shelton was the passenger in another vehicle caught performing burnouts.

Again, the car was seized and impounded.

Bendigo traffic Sgt Peter Beaman said he was shocked by Mr Shelton's repeated behaviour.

The senior traffic management unit officer said: "Apart from dying, he has experienced one of the worst possible outcomes from a road accident.

"That's what makes it even more baffling, he has first hand knowledge of what the possible outcomes can be.
"I'm at a loss to explain what they were thinking. It's typical of what young people today think, they seem to live for the moment.
"I just don't understand that, they don't seem to understand the seriousness of it."

Mr Shelton's mother, Ruth Gray, said her son deserved a second chance.
"He's had massive health problems," she said.
"People don't understand what he's been through with his health . . . he gets very frustrated."

>>SC: Like driving one armed ;-)

It is believed Mr Shelton's car was bought with the proceeds of a TAC payout stemming from the road crash that caused his arm to be amputated.

>>SC: So you can hoon and get compensation :-O

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: curmudgeon
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 09:12 AM

WTF is a "hoon"?

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Amos
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 09:58 AM

Hoon is a derogatory term used in Australia and New Zealand to refer to a person who engages in loutish, anti-social behaviour. In particular, it is used to refer to one who drives in a manner which is anti-social by the standards of contemporary society, that is, fast, noisily or dangerously. ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoon

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 12:43 PM

I just saw part of one of those TV programs which exist only to show crashes and disasters.

One older guy races power boats....like at 150 MPH. He flipped, broke his boat and much of himself... So, he fixed the boat, some one fixed most of him and, in spite of warnings, and went out a few months later.....yep, did it again! That stopped him, you say? Nope...got a new boat and went BACK out and did one almost identical to # 2 crash. (Oh...and in crash #2, the boat went onshore and nearly got a pack of spectators.)

I didn't finish watching the one about the guy who was determined to do backflips in a snowmobile, 'cause I've seen what happens to many of the ones who do similar things on skateboards, bicycles and motorcycles.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: RangerSteve
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 02:29 PM

We used to be taught in school that you should wear light colored clothes when walking along a road at night. But light colored clothes aren't cool. Black is cool. I was stopped at an interseciont, waiting to make a left turn. The light turned green, and I turned. All of a sudden, there's this kid, all in black, directly in front of my car. I didn't hit him, fortunately I wasn't going very fast. He had the right of way, being a pedestrian, and I would have waited for him to cross if I had seen him. He started yelling at me and I could have explained the situation to him, but since he was a teenager, he was obviously smarter than anyone else on the planet, so I just drove on.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 08:06 PM

TRUE: I have very little recent memory these days.

That said, my death wish came after I blew out the candles on the cake, and then couldn't think of anything else to wish for!

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Peace
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 08:11 PM

Joshua Shelton: Has he read Hemingway? Seen the Venus de Milo?

Subject: RE: BS: Why do some people have a death wish?
From: Peace
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 08:14 PM

Dare we pass his name on to Richard Kimball?

Stay tuned . . . .