Big story on TV today about some busy-body with too much time on their hands Big Noting themselves by taking a video of a young fella getting out of the boot of a car that had no seats spare, and "reporting it to authorities". Big Deal. Then we get some eggspurt waffling on about the huge dangers involved here. How you qualify as an "Eggspurt" on "The dangers of travelling in a car's boot" is beyond me. In my youth, putting a few mates in the boot was not uncommon, usually to gain entry to events without paying! Equally common was the practice of mates sitting on the back of a ute, drinking beer, sometimes while sitting in armchairs! We travelled hundreds of kilometres like this, but today's no-hoper do-gooders spend their lives dreaming up "safety laws" to protect us from ourselves, with these "safety laws" being enforced by other equally unintelligent individuals. Spare me! Get a REAL job.Cheers
P.S Should have said that carrying beer-drinking passengers on the back of a ute still occurs in some outback towns here in W.A.
-- Edited by yobarr on Thursday 22nd of September 2022 02:03:22 PM
So, contrary to your incessant bleating about safety hitches, blah, blah, blah, you're now advocating that people who use proper child restraints are stupid. Moreover, you're proposing that stupid people should kill themselves in accidents to eliminate themselves from the gene pool. While that might sound OK to some, the sad reality is that these accidents kill innocent victims, not the least of which are the idiots' own children. Or are you suggesting that the progeny of stupid people are better off dead, too?
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"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
I think the point is that many of us feel seriously over regulated by the state.
Thanks Mike, for pointing out the obvious to those among us who may struggle where logical thinking is required. Unfortunately, I prefer to not respond to posts by members who seem to not know their name. Cheers
I think the point is that many of us feel seriously over regulated by the state.
That would have been a valid point had he used a valid example. Throwing your kids in the boot is just mind numbingly stupid. Any parent who does that, or anyone who thinks that's OK, should be locked up for the safety of the community.
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"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
Should have got a Zeta, no boot to put the kids in, but can do 100 clicks in reverse.........
Lightburn Zeta 1963-66
The diminutive plastic-box-on-wheels Lightburn Zeta hit the market with quite a splash, appropriate for a car built in a washing-machine factory.
It was made by whitegoods maker Harold Lightburn, who had ambitions to knock Holden off its perch with this ugly fibreglass station wagon with no rear door powered by a two-stroke lawnmower engine. The gearbox was set up so that the car could go as fast in reverse as it could go forward - a frightening 100km/h.
Salesmen never took the whole family for a test drive because they couldn't be sure the Zeta would make it. Not surprisingly, only 343 Zetas made it out the showroom.
-- Edited by Bobdown on Thursday 22nd of September 2022 03:18:01 PM
The beautiful lake (3km x 2km) by which I'm camped in NW Victoria has, this weekend, been beset by locals who have been coming here for 50+ years in the case of the extended family camped next to me - a pleasant group of people.
However I have just observed children and gran sitting in their boat as it was driven around in order to get it into the water, not only that but once it was launched a young child was "driving" it albeit with gran giving instructions from behind as she consumed a beer.
I have no doubt at least 50 laws were being broken... but what the hell!? The kids and gran and the family were having fun and living life well and everybody was perfectly safe.
Busy bodies and the state... keep your damn nose out.
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
The beautiful lake (3km x 2km) by which I'm camped in NW Victoria has, this weekend, been beset by locals who have been coming here for 50+ years in the case of the extended family camped next to me - a pleasant group of people.
However I have just observed children and gran sitting in their boat as it was driven around in order to get it into the water, not only that but once it was launched a young child was "driving" it albeit with gran giving instructions from behind as she consumed a beer.
I have no doubt at least 50 laws were being broken... but what the hell!? The kids and gran and the family were having fun and living life well and everybody was perfectly safe.
Busy bodies and the state... keep your damn nose out.
The beautiful lake (3km x 2km) by which I'm camped in NW Victoria has, this weekend, been beset by locals who have been coming here for 50+ years in the case of the extended family camped next to me - a pleasant group of people.
However I have just observed children and gran sitting in their boat as it was driven around in order to get it into the water, not only that but once it was launched a young child was "driving" it albeit with gran giving instructions from behind as she consumed a beer.
I have no doubt at least 50 laws were being broken... but what the hell!? The kids and gran and the family were having fun and living life well and everybody was perfectly safe.
Busy bodies and the state... keep your damn nose out.
Good times growing-up in the country ........
And all was good, life was simple, people were having fun. Until some intellectually challenged office-bound Do Gooders decided that such people needed to be protected from themselves. You can't make omelettes without breaking eggs. Is tree-climbing, or swimming in rivers, or making bamboo bows and arrows still legal? Cheers
The irony in this thread is appalling. Never talk about towing limits and laws again Yobarr. You can't cherry pick the laws you advocate and condemn others for doing *exactly" the same thing. FWIW one of my sisters was killed at 17 in a traffic accident caused by a drunk driver ... three weeks before drink-driving become illegal. The good old days ???
The irony in this thread is appalling. Never talk about towing limits and laws again Yobarr. You can't cherry pick the laws you advocate and condemn others for doing *exactly" the same thing. FWIW one of my sisters was killed at 17 in a traffic accident caused by a drunk driver ... three weeks before drink-driving become illegal. The good old days ???
A friend lost his young brother to a drunk driver who ran him down after chasing him all over a park. He got away with a fine. Ah, those good ol' days. How I miss them not.
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"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
The family lakeside scenario I depicted in my previous post was most certainly breaking a number of laws relating to safety - are you seriously telling us you would think it a good thing for me to call the police and request the participants be fined, jailed perhaps, if that is the penalty?
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
I think it was Kerry Packer who said that they, meaning govts, introduce new laws and regulations quite regularly but very rarely repeal the old ones.
He said this with regard to tax regulations but unfortunately it seems to apply in other areas as well.
I think as a society we become very cynical generally caused by the way those in control seem to have new regulations introduced without very much publicity at all.
This is probably not so much with road safety issues but it certainly does with regs around national parks, fishing etc etc.
Nothing better that learning a new regulation at the coalface.
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Welcome to Biggs Country many may know it as Australia
The irony in this thread is appalling. Never talk about towing limits and laws again Yobarr. You can't cherry pick the laws you advocate and condemn others for doing *exactly" the same thing. FWIW one of my sisters was killed at 17 in a traffic accident caused by a drunk driver ... three weeks before drink-driving become illegal. The good old days ???
At the risk of confusing you I would like to point out that there is no irony in my posts as both the teenager who chose to travel in the boot of his mate's car, and the gran who chose to let kids enjoy themselves in a boat made their own decisions and were in direct control of their fate. The unfortunate death of your sister was beyond her control. Two totally different scenarios. Back in 1974 two mates and I spent 12 hours in a pub, drinking heavily at no cost because the barman knew us. Full of whisky and bad manners we headed off in my mate's high powered car, in search of female company in another suburb. We didn't make it there, with an "accident" resulting in me sustaining near-fatal injuries, including a broken neck, a smashed shoulder, crushed hand with many broken bones, and a head injury that went so far down into my head that the bone between my eardrum and my inner ear was broken. Fixed the head injury with 70 stitches, but still I was unconscious, and the doctors at one stage telling my mother that I was dead, but I regained consciousness 6 days later, before spending another 4 months in hospital. Like people who use lightweight cars to tow heavy vans, I made a bad decision when I should have known better. Both are perhaps examples of blissful ignorance, totally different from your sister being an innocent victim of another person's poor judgement, but I will continue offering my indesputable advice about weights in an effort to help others. Many members have shown their appreciation of my efforts, but still there are those who cannot, will not or do not want to learn. As the adage says "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink". C'est la vie. Cheers
Yobarr you are blind to the irony and hypocrisy of your posts. You may not see it but others have.
You can't repeatedly post about people's poor choices and often condemn them when it comes to overloading and misleading and then turn around criticizing and condemning others for choosing act when they see something they know to be dangerous and illegal. Especially when your justification is it's harmless fun. You may not support such laws but you're being hypocritical when you condemn others for their support of different laws. That's the hypocritical part.
My comments aren't about whether you agree with one law or another they're about your willingness to criticize and condemn others for exactly the same thing. That's the irony part.
I'm not going to bother posting here again because you clearly won't be convinced.
-- Edited by dabbler on Friday 23rd of September 2022 02:07:36 PM
It seems to me the law should (with certain narrow exceptions mainly in the employment area) only involve itself in personal safety where an individual's actions may reasonably be expected to affect others in addition to the individual performing the "unsafe" act.
Eg.
I should not be allowed to drive a car without brakes on the highway.
I should be allowed to ride a motorcycle or drive a car without wearing a crash helmet/seat belt.
Unfortunately the desire of governments (and busy-bodies) to poke their noses into individual's lives has been pervasive for 25+ years; the laws regarding behaviour within marriage have become so coercive, intrusive and weaponised that I now advise young men not to marry or consider raising a family.
The above is one of the reasons I have chosen a nomad lifestyle... I simply do not wish for society to attempt control of me in the manner it nowadays seeks to so do and i firmly believe, in the long term, such control will lead to a weak, dependent and unfocused society which, perhaps, is what some wish....
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
Yobarr you are blind to the irony and hypocrisy of your posts. You may not see it but others have.
Doug, sorry to say this but your post makes no sense at all. "Others have" you say, but those "others" are you and one other person who seems not to have a name. Hardly an overwhelming number.
You can't repeatedly post about people's poor choices and often condemn them when it comes to overloading and misleading and then turn around criticizing and condemning others for choosing act when then they see something they know to be dangerous and illegal. Especially when your justification is it's harmless fun.
Perhaps you could elaborate, as this paragraph makes absolutely no sense at all?
You may not support such laws but you're being hypocritical when you condemn others for their support of different laws. That's the hypocritical part. My comments aren't about whether you agree with one law or another they're about your willingness to criticize and condemn others for exactly the same thing. That's the irony part.
You seem to have completely misunderstood, or not even read, my explanation of why there is NO IRONY in my posts. Again, I would like to point out that there is no irony in my posts as both the teenager who chose to travel in the boot of his mate's car, and the Gran who chose to let kids enjoy themselves in a boat made their OWN DECISIONS and were in direct control of their own fate. Your sister's untimely death cannot in any way be attributed to her OWN DECISIONS, but was a direct result of negligence by another party. That is the difference. Chalk and cheese. Put simply, the people involved in the "boot" and the "boat" incidents made their own personal decisions regarding perceived risk. Your sister did not enjoy this privilege as her unfortunate and untimely death was NOT a result of any personal decision that she made. May she rest in peace. Cheers
I'm not going to bother posting here again because you clearly won't be convinced.
I think the posts are correct, Yobar is not getting it. To say it is ok to ride in the boot or sitting in the back of a ute back in the day was fun and done and spoiled now by EGG spirts seems funny when talking about 60 or 160 kg's overweight is catastrophic does seem a little bewildering, as for leading horses to water and not making them drink, I was told you can always feed them salt.
I think the posts are correct, Yobar is not getting it. To say it is ok to ride in the boot or sitting in the back of a ute back in the day was fun and done and spoiled now by EGG spirts seems funny when talking about 60 or 160 kg's overweight is catastrophic does seem a little bewildering, as for leading horses to water and not making them drink, I was told you can always feed them salt.
Gen Z (your age) don't know what fun we had back in the days.
Gearless bicycles with footbrake only, building bonfires for cracker night, land line only communication, tuck shops at school, swimming in dams and creeks etc...
All now regarded as dangerous and unacceptable.
Sitting in front of the telly with iPad on lap is safer.
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Cheers, Richard (Dick0)
"Home is where the Den is parked, Designer Orchid Special towed by Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited"
"4x250W solar panels, Epever 80A charger and 3x135Ah Voltax Prismatic LiFePO4 Batteries".
I think the posts are correct, Yobar is not getting it. To say it is ok to ride in the boot or sitting in the back of a ute back in the day was fun and done and spoiled now by EGG spirts seems funny when talking about 60 or 160 kg's overweight is catastrophic does seem a little bewildering, as for leading horses to water and not making them drink, I was told you can always feed them salt.
Gen Z (your age) don't know what fun we had back in the days.
Gearless bicycles with footbrake only, building bonfires for cracker night, land line only communication, tuck shops at school, swimming in dams and creeks etc...
All now regarded as dangerous and unacceptable.
Sitting in front of the telly with iPad on lap is safer.
This was "the life".......going to a property up the road to get a few rabbits...... KB
I think the point is that many of us feel seriously over regulated by the state.
Thanks Mike, for pointing out the obvious to those among us who may struggle where logical thinking is required. Unfortunately, I prefer to not respond to posts by members who seem to not know their name. Cheers
There are a number of anonymous squeaky wheels on the Forum.
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Cheers, Richard (Dick0)
"Home is where the Den is parked, Designer Orchid Special towed by Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited"
"4x250W solar panels, Epever 80A charger and 3x135Ah Voltax Prismatic LiFePO4 Batteries".
Not to mention milking the cow and drinking the milk immediately. Apparently that's not allowed anymore.
Especially if you have your bare feet in the bucket to keep them warm while milking ....pretty chilly out in a paddock in an early morning frost..... KB
Regarding the reference to a horse and water, this was Murphy's opinion,
"You can take a horse to water but, a pencil must be lead".
As a youngster who was at his happiest when climbing trees, pinching apples from the famers orchard, sitting in the upstairs window with my catapult (you call them slingshots I believe) trying to shoot out the street lights, putting pennies on the railway line, hiding the fishing rod so that I could twag school the following day, seeing how far I could walk on the top of a six foot fence without falling, pinching ciggies from Dad's packet, climbing over the fence to get into the footy ground on match days, tying the doors of two adjoining terrace houses together then knock on them both and beat it to hide behind the hedge and watch them both trying to open the doors, nicking tomato's from next doors garden to eat on the way to school, rode my bike without holding the handlebars. Most of these escapades were in company with my great mate Billy who passed away two years ago, we had some great times together.
There were some magical moments too, being taken by father on a night shift goods train ride when I was about ten, sitting on the footplate in the firemans seat wearing his hat. We got shunted into a siding to let an express train through. The fireman "cleaned" the shovel with newspaper and eggs and bacon were placed just inside the firebox on the shovel. One minute later, perfection! providing you didn't mind the odd piece of coal dust.
I have to agree with Yobarr, Mike et al: the kids of today miss out on a lot of fun outdoors because of the nanny state, helicopter parents, school teachers who are not allowed to chastise kids. ( tell that to old man Garner at my school who had three canes and was never afraid to use them, he was always referred to as the Marquis de Sade)
I am so grateful that I was born when I was, when kids were allowed to be kids but, the world is a different place today and thats a fact.
PS. I wasn't till I wrote this that I realised why our neighbour once referred to me as that little s*** next door.
It is was it is but it sure aint what it used to be.
-- Edited by Magnarc on Monday 26th of September 2022 09:47:09 AM
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Those who wish to reap the blessings of freedom must, as men, endure the fatigue of defending it.
This was "the life".......going to a property up the road to get a few rabbits...... KB
Nice one Kerry! We used to do similar chasing possums, but we all piled onto a tractor, with some sitting on the bonnet while others hung off the sides. I'm guessing the photo was taken about 1962? Cheers
I think the posts are correct, Yobar is not getting it. To say it is ok to ride in the boot or sitting in the back of a ute back in the day was fun and done and spoiled now by EGG spirts seems funny when talking about 60 or 160 kg's overweight is catastrophic does seem a little bewildering, as for leading horses to water and not making them drink, I was told you can always feed them salt.
Perhaps you would be kind enough to screen-shot and show where I posted " 60 or 160kgs overweight is catastrophic" as I cannot recall ever saying that? Primarily, my advice about weights centres on two main things .. Not exceeding the car's rear axle carrying capacity, which is a major problem for huge numbers of caravanners, and if safety is of any concern, always making sure that the weight on the car's wheels is at least 10% more than the weight on the van's wheels. Minimises the chances of "The tail wagging the Dog". Simple physics at work. Cheers
I think the posts are correct, Yobar is not getting it. To say it is ok to ride in the boot or sitting in the back of a ute back in the day was fun and done and spoiled now by EGG spirts seems funny when talking about 60 or 160 kg's overweight is catastrophic does seem a little bewildering, as for leading horses to water and not making them drink, I was told you can always feed them salt.
Gen Z (your age) don't know what fun we had back in the days.
Gearless bicycles with footbrake only, building bonfires for cracker night, land line only communication, tuck shops at school, swimming in dams and creeks etc...
All now regarded as dangerous and unacceptable.
Sitting in front of the telly with iPad on lap is safer.
Good post Dicko, telling how it was in the "Good Old Days", but probably all beyond the comprehension abilities of some? Like you, I remember all of those things, as well as many of the examples posted by Phil (Magnarc) and Kerry (KJB) from the "Good Old Days" Cheers
The good old days, when you hooked your caravan to your tow vehicle and you didn't have some busy body big noting himself by telling you how unsafe it was.
Salesmen never took the whole family for a test drive because they couldn't be sure the Zeta would make it. Not surprisingly, only 343 Zetas made it out the showroom.
