Top Gear under fire

[dkmech]

http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/sto...457717,00.html

a couple quotes

Other features in the last series saw Clarkson drive a Ferrari almost non-stop from London to Switzerland in a bid to beat Hammond and May, who were making the same journey on public transport

The public transport in question being an amasingly environmentally friendly plane...

Another feature ended with the three presenters deliberately driving second-hand cars into a brick wall at 30mph to see how they could withstand an accident.

How is that encouraging a yobbish attitude? If boy racers stacked their cars into walls for fun because of this there'd be less of them on the roads surelly.

I consider myself a considerate driver, i let people out of side streets, do my best to let them overtake me, etc. And yet i really enjoy watching programmes about fast cars.

Calrkson may not be the best advocate for the environmentally friendly options but he has his place. And it keeps the boy racers inside for an hour while the watch the show

[Stoo]

Meh, it's the guardian.. must be a slow news week..

(Top Gear) should be replaced by a programme promoting "sensible driving in sensible vehicles"

Oh yeah, that's going to make for *really* great TV..

Hello! It's an entertainment programme, not a bleddy public information broadcast!

[dkmech]

I think there are a lot of programs much more silly and severe, like jackass. Tbh ban all tv and reintroduce knitting.

[Shad]

Top Gear is far too popular to ever be removed from TV alltogether. It's censorship, and people won't stand for it. Even if the BBC are forced by the nanny state into removing it, the same show/concept/presenters will popup again on some other channel.

[[GSV]Trig]

Likes already been said, its enterntainment...

Saw this the otherday on MIG, someone posted it there and the actual T2000 link to there page, somewhere in it there was mention of replacing Top Gear with something like 3rd Gear as it pushes the sensible driving more, yes I'm sure it does, and all these cars doing 70-90 down the motorway in 3rd would be so much better for the environment...
******s tbh....

[Rave]

Top Gear is an utterly crap program but glamorising bad driving? Nah. Glamourising laddish idiocy and rubbish humour, maybe.

[ozzyo99]

I couldn't disagree more. Both myself and my father enjoy Top Gear immensely these days, the trio of presenters complient each others humour brilliantly. The structuring of the current show is also fantastic.

To stop a show for encouraging OTT driving would be nothing short of dictatorship, i haven't yet seen a chapter in the Top Gear program on how to wreak havoc on the UK roads along with a 3 easy steps to causing accidents.

This to me is an extension to the state of our nation today, the PC crew killjoy's who seem to run this country really do enjoy making our live's nothing short of tiresome. Frankly if they don't wish to watch Top Gear then it's hardly forced down your throat.

Honestly though i think people should plow their resources and time into things which would actually make a difference to this country - better public transport/better immigration policy/crime reduction instead of constantly pissing all over the motorist enthusiast.

[dkmech]

Not sure if it was about 50 years or a bit later, but the empty derestricted motorways + e-types sound nice

And yes, because it was legal to do 150 in an e-type it must've been safe. Until they made it illegal that is

If I had the power the way to get people to drive at say 70-75 (if it indeed was for safety reasons) would be to set limits at 60 and fine people who do near 80. This way people have the warm fuzzy feeling that breaking the law gives them and yet would actually be doing safe and appropriate speeds.

However this idea obviously will not work because it cuts off a nice stream of revenue.

There is occasional talk of setting limit at 80 on motorways - don't, leave it at 70 but don't fine people doing 80-85 and bob's your uncle. You have traffic moving at 80, everyone's happy.

[Butuz]

Lol Clarkson and Top Gear are not going to give two hoots about that article. Neither do I!

Butuz

[ozzyo99]

I actually think that most of the current limits need reviewing anyway, which is something the government is mean't to be doing.

Variable speed limits are the way to go, at 5pm theres loads of traffic on the motorways, therefore 70mph is perfectly well and good (provided ofc you can even manage 70), however i made a trip down to Brighton last week and was practically the only car on the motorway the whole way there (was 1am) and the signage is still telling me 70mph is the limit. Frankly variable speed limits would be a fantastic addition whereby you could legally do a ton down the motorway if conditions were good and the road was empty - a la Autobahn.

Theres a brand new e-type in Leicester Sturgess garage, looks bloody gorgeous!

[Steve A]

The people who complain about programs like Top Gear and Eastenders ETC should maybe find a hobby or summat, Like nitting, i mean get a life, fair enough such programs are not to everyones likeing but i mean come on, its pathetic, i might complain about last of the summer wine or groundforce and see how well that goes down because it probably from most people how watch those sort of programs. heaven forbid if those TV shows were cancelled, there would be a uproar in the complaining massys.

[dkmech]

Think about damage to backs that the elderly suffer while doing gardening! Ground force should be stopped! Ban that filth!

[[GSV]Trig]

Variable speed limits on motorways is the way to go IMHO...

What they should also do is look at the speeds lorrys are restricted too, 56mph causes tailbacks due to them being @15mph+ slower than everything else, if they could do 70 then that'd help, maybe a good idea I dont know....

There should be less camera's and more police, thats not even a hard one to figure the reasons out for so I'm not gonna go into that one..

There should be points/warnings for people that drive too slow as well as there driving without due care and attention in my book, no doubt this mite fray a few hairs but hey its a discussion forum right

The state of the roads should be looked at countrywide and local governments fined/warned/named and shamed for roads that are sub standard, potholes, tramlines and the likes, how many times have u put your foot on the brakes and the cars gone one way or the other due to road surface issues?

All schools should have humps outside them and 20 limits when the school is in use.

All traffic lights and roundabouts should have that gritty stuff on them.

Kids should be taught road safety from primary school, we used to get it when I was a kid but these days you just dont see it, instead you see the blame shifted to the drivers, how many goth kids are there thesedays, your doing 32mph down the road in an area thats not brilliantly lit and some goth with his/her headphones on walks out infront of you, they cant hear u cos of there stereo, you cant see them cos there wearing black, smackdown.... and who always gets the blame?
Drivers, yeah ok so theres people out there that speed in the wrong places but jsut having a go at drivers isnt the way to solve the problem, come at it from both sides, roads are not parks, there not footpaths, kids shouldnt be playing on the street or walking out infront of cars cos they think it makes them look hard or cool to there friends...

That'll do for now, theres more than enuf there for people to get there teeth into

[Steve A]

Think about damage to backs that the elderly suffer while doing gardening! Ground force should be stopped! Ban that filth!

LOL very true, I say ban Fast Bassy music thats what makes me drive faster, or just ban car radios. or even better ban music altogether.

[sybrows]

It would have been ok if they had'nt repeated every episode loads of times (the nurburg ring one ffs!!!) and then at the end of the series they had a "best of" were they repeated all the ones they had repeated already (the old porshe one, the people carrier racing etc) ....does driving badly/dangerously cause memory loss?
BrOw

[Lee H]

All this whinging about top gear. Stuff banning top-gear what we ought to ban is mothers who pick up johnny and Jane in their fuel guzzling 4x4's and they only live 400m from the school gates. Now Mother has the kids in the back whinging about how Johnny wants 3 pounds tonight so he can go to the youth club - Read buy 10 lambert and Butler and a bottle of Pulse Cider, and how Jane wants a new set of hoopy earrings so big she can hoola them.

Now add to this the fact mothers totally lost once she gets passed the end of her gate and sort of drives like she is lost stopping sporadically and somewhat haphazzardly with the car positioned right in the middle of the road.

Its crazy loonies like this that cause the most crashes in my local area, numpties that think they drive while taking to her friend discussing what dress they are wearing to the pub tonight, and applying lipstick, blusher, mascara and eating an apple while retuning the radio from radio 2 to radio 1 so the kids can listen to Scott Mills.

Leave Top Gear alone its a "fun" show and should not be taken as the bible according to the Reverand Jeremy Clarkson