John Newell & the street racing legislation book

[gullyfourmyle]

First of all to answer Pete E's statement about the motorcycle helmets - That law exists because a friend of mine; Ian Walters, was killed in a gruesome motorcycle accident at Jane St. and Sheppard Ave. back in the late sixties, early seventies if memory serves me correctly. His father went on a crusade that was taken seriously by governments all over the world.

Motorcyclists objected vehemently. One friend of mine received eight helmet infraction tickets along with further charges due to several police chases through backyards all on the same day.

The reality is that even today, there has still not been a helmet invented that would have saved Ian. But his death did highlight the need for helmets - not just on motorcycles but plenty of other sports too. There are lots of statictics to support the validity of the legislation.

By contrast, the street racing legislation has no statistics to support the legislation and the speeding offences also don't have the statistics to support them. It turns out that speeding is only a minor issue when the total motor vehicle accident picture is looked at and street racing is a microscopic fraction of that.

Street racing and speeding tickets are about collecting revenue, not saving lives. If the legislation were intended to save lives, it would have been written completely differently.

As mentioned earlier, the legislation was passed on a fraudulent basis. As far as I know, only seven members of the legislature voted against it. One of those was apparently Howard Hampton - showing once again that he is one of the few public figures that uses his head for something useful besides holding up a hat - thinking.

As for putting a piece together to bring the media to us, I've initiated that with a retired OPP officer who is now a paralegal. We are going to produce a YouTube documentary on the subject.

The hiccup at the moment is getting the rest of the information out of the Ministry of Transport. They don't want to cough up.

On another note, those of you who bought my book and have read it know that I make a connection between nutrition and motor vehicle accidents. That information although theory, is agreed to by the Police and the Chief coroner's office. Last night I came across information in the form of meticulously recorded industrial data that will confirm my theory to the nth degree.

Part of that theory is that coffee and/or sugar consumption holds the unofficial title of the number one killer in vehicular and industrial accidents - not alcohol.

That is not a finding that most people want to even think about. But since most people eat dangerous simple sugar diets instead of healthy complex sugar diets, most people are at risk as their pancreas deteriorates over time. This is not rocket science and any doctor will tell you that when you abuse your pancreas with the typical western diet, sooner or later, you are going to pay a horriblie price one way or another.

You start with intermittent hypo or hyper glycemia. That escalates to diabetes. It's all explained in my book. This physiological downside of the typical diet is not something anyone but me has ever talked about in terms of accidents but there are no doctors who disagree with me despite the so far unpublished data.

It turns out that large companies keep records of when accidents happen. They also have records of what their employees eat to a compelling degree because of in-house vending machines that sell nothing but nutritionally injurious foods.

The records indicate that accidents happen shortly before breaks and lunch - in other words; when blood sugar is low.

Those of you who work for large companies and have access to these records can check the data for yourselves. You may even want to look at it in terms of improving your company's health and safety records since every accident shows up on the profit and loss statement. Correcting nutritional intake costs nothing by comparison with the impact of even minor accidents.

The provincial government has never given a single thought to the fact that accidents could be related to nutrition. Poor nutrition translates into drowsiness, inattention and driver distraction - especially eating and drinking while driving - and usually all the wrong stuff.

Pete E's position is easy to understand and I've come across it a lot - especially at vintage car shows. These people have been conditioned to believe that the government always acts for our best interest and that the laws are made to protect us from ourselves. That has never been the main intent of Canadian legislation. Canadian legislation has, from the outset been all about facilitating business. Public safety is a front that justifies the doing of business. Scrutiny of the actual legislation, any legislation, reveals the truth of that.

Here in Pickering we have the Seaton Land Deal. My research has shown conclusively that deal was conducted by the Ontario government on a faudulent basis. I've had it investigated by the RCMP. The investigation was shut down without explanation. You have to have a pretty compelling argument before the RCMP will take on a case of this nature. The amount of money involved all told amounts to 20 Billion dollars. There is a huge public safety factor involved that will see 100% of the eastern GTA population intentionally chemically injured beyond the prevailing levels at the time. I explained that in detail to the then Environment Minister, Larel Broten, Housing Minister John Gerettsen and Premier McGuinty via a book I wrote titled Land Grab in North Pickering. That was followed up with letters to the Minister. The science is beyone dispute and the Criminal Code offences are as well. But the "Honourable" Minister steered clear of any reference to either in her responses.

Anyone who has read my book, Abuse of Power know how detailed my work is. The Seaton Land work was at least of the same calibre. The Seaton Land issue is for me an on-going situation. It's similar to the street racing thing in that the media doesn't want to go there either. When I ran for Mayor of Pickering and started talking about the fraud, the media blacked out my campaign right across the GTA and thereby tampered with it. When I went to the police, they invented new meanings key words in the Ontario Election Act and refuse to investigate on that basis. It's all documented.

So for anyone to tell me that I should unquestioningly obey the law, well, experience and research have shown that doing so is not necessarily in anyone's best interest. If you have concerns, it's always best to check. Frequently, what you thought was the law is something entirely different. That is the case with Pete E. He thinks the law says something but the language does not mean what he thinks it does.

People who think like Pete E are the people most commonly charged under Section 172. That is a fact.

And as for the law, the street racing legislation was not enacted properly as required by Section 33.1 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. So the law is not really the law. It is without effect and in its language overreaches in that it creates other problems that have as much or greater negative impact on society than the benefits the law was supposed to confer. That contravenes the constitution in a number of important ways, some of which can not be made public yet.

So Pete E, I do understand where you are coming from but your basis for making your comments are totally irrelevant - something like complaining about nitrous in funny cars on a motorcycle forum.

If you really want to understand what's going on, buy the book.

The speed limit is a seperate issue. All speed limits are set to enusure the clumsiest, most ungainly vehicles on the road can do so in a safe manner even when conditions are not optimal. They are not set with cars or motorcycles in mind. Consequently, any competent driver of a car, light truck or motorcycle should be more than capable of travelling much faster than the posted speed limit on all but the sharpest corners.

As for the comment about whether or not I or anyone else is smarter than the legislators - the reality is that legislators don't pass an IQ test to get elected. They pass a popularity contest called an election. You don't have to be intellectually gifted to achieve that.

The Hansard of the 3rd Reading of the street racing legislation shows for all time that the sitting members of the Ontario legislature are endowed with average intelligence that is tempered with an acute persecution complex. The street racing legislation was a knee jerk circus with none of the participants learning anything of value from the exercise. They started with misconceptions and finished with those same misconceptions. Lots of effort went into understanding the issue but no effort was expended in analysing the data that the govenment already had at its disposal to ferret out the truth. Instead, they relied on apparently doctored information supplied by the OPP - none of which stands up to critical public scrutiny.

In addition, there were several other avenues of research that could and should have been identified and included in the final work that were not identified at all because the members of the standing committee charged with doing the work of writing the legislation didn't know enough about the subject matter to ask the right questions. It was exactly like asking a caveman to write a thesis about the internet. At the end of it neither the caveman nor the legislators could have the faintest idea of what they had just done.

As for tickets - I have none and my insurance is very low. While I do have reasons for my investigations, they as I've noted before are related to another book I wrote - 'The Rebel Machine Identity - the evolution of a car nut'.

I started my investigation as an armchair exercise. It grew out of proportion as I found evidence of government criminal code offences and grew from there. If you had done the research yourself, you might be writing this instead of me.

[Pete E]

You can show quite a number of roads where 50 over is safe !? Who made you an expert?? ** I am a licensed mechanical engineer - nearing 20 years of experience.

An engineer...why doesn't that surprise me....almost as bad as lawyers. Look up "Know it all" in the dictionary and there's a picture of an engineer.
You still insist you're better at deciding road safety for millions of people, rather the people who actually do it?
Speed limits are not set with the fastest possible speed that might be safe...they are set with the majority and reasonable averages in mind.
I'd hate to se the carnage if you ever got your way.

[Brian P]

Your disdain for engineers in general is rather uncalled for.

Next time you drive over (or under) a bridge, thank a professional engineer.

Next time you go 50 stories up in a skyscraper, thank a professional engineer.

If you so happen to crash your car and the airbag and crumple zones save your life, thank a professional engineer.

And you can thank the engineers that you were able to purchase that car at a price that could be afforded, and the city could be able to afford that bridge.

I could go on, but can't be bothered. It is obvious that you are set in your opinions and that nothing anyone else says or does will ever change it.

And that is *not* the mark of a good professional engineer.

[Chubby]

I'd hate to se the carnage if you ever got your way.

I'd hate to se the incarceration if you ever got your way, you should be locked up for butchery of the English language.

[Metastable]

Take it to the track...that's where it belongs...unless of course you can only go fast in a straight line.

LOL!!! That's the funniest comment. You have NO idea who you are talking to. Now I don't want Brian's head to get too big, but let's just say that at the track he has BLACK numbers. Plus his track bike is one of SMALL displacement... so I'll tell you..... he doesn't really care about straight line speed.


Pete I tell you what... if you think our speed laws are GOOD... I guess the rest of the world is WRONG.... because I don't know of a SINGLE country that has speed limits as low as ours. In most countries you will see speed limits in the 120-130 range. You wouldn't have received your ticket with those speed limits. They ARE SAFE.... unless everywhere else is wrong and we are right.

Drove and rode a combined total of over 5300kms in 2 weeks all over Europe. I FELT way safer both in the car and on the bike on all sorts of roads.

[delaware]

An engineer...why doesn't that surprise me....almost as bad as lawyers. Look up "Know it all" in the dictionary and there's a picture of an engineer.

Why do all people with no post secondary education think that the rest of us spent 3-7 years in college/university learning nothing.

[Pete E]

I'd hate to se the incarceration if you ever got your way, you should be locked up for butchery of the English language.

a) I wonder if you know what 'incarceration' means?
b) I wonder if you might recognize a typo should you ever se one?

[Pete E]

You assume a lot...(but then so did I...) most notably - that you're smarter than I am and I have no post secondary education. In addition to a good education, I also have 40 years riding full time, including road racing & X-country. I have worked, and continue to work in the MC industry for a major distributor / manufacturer for 25+ years...15 years before that for dealers. I know my way around motorcycles, roads and hazards just fine.fficeffice" />>>
You say - twice I believe "People like me get charged under this new law" >>
What please do you base that crock on? Sorry to disappoint you ... I am not one of those people...nor will I be.>>
Who, in your humble opinion, are people like me?>>
>>
You claim to have all the answers to all the traffic, road and traffic law woes for the world. I think otherwise...that merely means I have a different outlook and I disagree...it does not make you, or I, any more or less relevant, or smarter than the next guy. >>
Admittedly you appear to have more fans than I do...such as “chubby”>>
>>

[mxs]

I think your smiley is stuck ...... I wonder why. Anyways, I think the only thing missing in your post is to list your MotoGP stint, otherwise you appear to have seen it really all.

It's not about your resume, but rather inability where this law can turn against a "perfect" guy like yourself.

[Chubby]

a) I wonder if you know what 'incarceration' means?
b) I wonder if you might recognize a typo should you ever se one?

No need to wonder Pete, I know the meaning, surprisingly my post went over your educated head.

Whatever online distributor you work for, is it possible that I get a 50% off code?


(P.S) Don't use email to check you're spelling!

[Pete E]

No need to wonder Pete, I know the meaning, surprisingly my post went over your educated head.

Whatever online distributor you work for, is it possible that I get a 50% off code?


(P.S) Don't use email to check you're spelling!

Funny...I don't recall saying I worked for an on line distributor. In point of fact, I don't.
Check your statement...there is difference in the way "your" and "you're" are spelled and used. I believe you meant to use "your"..as in "your spelling". If you're (that's short for "you are") not familiar with use of apostrophes, maybe you shouldn't use them.
Engaging a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent is getting old...it was fun for a bit. Maybe you should ask your Mommy for some help if you're going to keep at this...

[Rob MacLennan]

I strongly recommend that the insults stop, from all sides, before I break out the red pen.

[Metastable]

Rob is going to put a BIG RED X on y'alls foreheads!

[gullyfourmyle]

"What please do you base that crock on? Sorry to disappoint you ... I am not one of those people...nor will I be."

What I base that crock on is the vast number of people who have been charged with street racing who said prior to being charged "I am not one of those people...nor will I be." or words to that effect.

Most of those charged with very few exceptions belong to that group. Hardly any street racers have been caught and charged. Most of those who could be said to be street racers were charged with suspicion of being street racers. That means they weren't doing anything. Some weren't even on the street. To get charged under this law, your car doesn't even have to be running. It just has to look like it will be used for street racing.

Yesterday I returned to Pickering from Brockville. It was dark. Until just west of Kingston, visibility was poor and the road was wet. Traffic moved at or a little above the speed limit. There were no accidents. After Kingston, the road was dry and visibility was unobstructed though of course it was still dark. Traffic speed increased to between 120 to 130 kph. There were no accidents; no close calls. Didn't see any police.

The day before by contrast, the weather was clear and sunny. The police were visible and the traffic in their vicinity moved at the speed limit - until the police exited the highway. Then traffic speed increased to approx. 125 - 130 kph. No accidents.


But while the police were on the highway, I observed a number of potentially dangerous evasive manoevers by people who were going to pass the patrol cruiser until they understood it was an actual cruiser they were about to pass; suddenly hit the brakes and cause a predictable chain reaction behind them. In bad weather at least two of these incidents could have caused accidents. The cop wasn't doing anything wrong according to the speed limit but if there were an accident, he would have been part of the cause regardless of what speeds anyone was travelling at. As a witness I'd have stated that fact since the officer was travelling well below the speed that copless traffic was moving at. He was an intentional road block trying to control speed in a location that didn't require it in a location that didn't require it.

The thing is, the 401 was designed for 80 mph not 70 mph and for the most part, speeds of up to 90 or 100 mph have been relatively normal for years despite the speed limit. High speed accidents are extremely rare and in the year 2004 - non-existent.

The people who by far have most of the accidents are those travelling at or below the speed limit in clear weather on dry roads while distracted, not speeders despite the hysterical claims by the OPP. Their own numbers do not support their claims.

Most of the accidents happen in and around the GTA; especially the bad ones. They are often attributable to road or interchange design, not speed, driver inattention or carelessness. The OPP never say that because that would leave the province liable.

The Don Valley/404/401 interchange is an excellent example of a series of design elements that contribute aggressively to road deaths. When does Fantino ever talk about that?

The 401/400 interchange is another beauty as is the new and truly bone-headed interchange on the 401 westbound between Dufferin and Keele Street. It was fine the way it was. Now both westbound passing lanes in the collectors empty into the centre core. How stupid is that? There are lots more examples. The police are very good at blaming everything on drivers but there are times when road design is the fatal flaw.

Certainly speed can and is a contributing factor. But when you have travelled hundreds of miles on predictable roads, a sudden unpredictable, and inexplicable change in road design format can be missed through simply blinking, coughing, choking or wiping sweat out of your eyes. You can miss informative signs due to obstructions such as other trucks or buses between you and the all-important signs. You only have to miss one and it could be the difference between life and death when you are hauling freight. Passenger distractions can happen as well. These things don't require excessive speed to translate into fatalities and the statistics show that's the case.

It's a fact that some people cannot judge speed and the relationship between objects. It's called spatial relationships. Do these people deserve licenses? Most of those people are women. Do we take all of their licenses away? Most of the people who cause accidents are men because men tend to be risk takers. Do we implement psychology tests to weed out those people? It turns out the risk takers are also the people who are most inventive and most likely to start new businesses. So do we put another road block in front of the people who drive the economy into new territory?

There are no easy answers. But lying to the public about moving violations is not the way a government or a police force is likely to build necessary relationships based on trust.

As for the road carnage if I had my way - forget it. The accident rate would go way down. See the thread on road carnage.

Thanks for bringing that up Pete.

[Pete E]

Gullyfourmyle...I can't wait to hear what the women have to say about your comment...that should be fun! You forgot to mention Chinese, Jews, Lithuanians & Brazilians...sorry if I misssed another group that isn't as good a driver as you are.

And John...congratulations..I'm truly impressed at the scope of the following you've managed to build. I had no idea how many people believed the poorly designed roads and low speed limits, as opposed to the drivers, are the problem.
Aren't I the perfect fool!

[gullyfourmyle]

Don't worry Pete. I'll think of something to offend a wider range of people shortly.

We haven't talked about my driving skills so far. But if you buy a copy of my book, 'The Rebel Machine Identity - evolution of a car nut' you can read all about them. It's a fun book. 300 pages of outrageous automotive adventure and all true. Lots of photographs, paintings illustrations and so on. You'll even get to see how I unwittingly predicted and painted 9/11 three times decades before it happened. One of them looks like I painted the image from a photo that was taken right after the towers collapsed rather than back in 1970.

Only $40.00 plus postage.

I asked one of my readers to write me a book review when he was done.

All he said was: Terrific!

Some people just pack so much into a single word. (unlike you and me)

[camber]

I had no idea how many people believed the poorly designed roads and low speed limits, as opposed to the drivers, are the problem.
Aren't I the perfect fool!

Funny you should mention that...

The EU has recognized that road design, is one of the largest contributors to traffic fatalities. They setup an organization that takes a look at european roads, rates them and suggest ways to improve them.

EuroRap (European Road Assessment Progam)

http://www.eurorap.org/

[Pete E]

Funny you should mention that...

The EU has recognized that road design, is one of the largest contributors to traffic fatalities. They setup an organization that takes a look at european roads, rates them and suggest ways to improve them.

EuroRap (European Road Assessment Progam)

http://www.eurorap.org/

Like the roads are going to taken apart and rebuilt any time soon. In the meantime is there another way to avoid fatalities? Hmmmm....let's think about that for a while...any suggestions?
I've got one!! Stick to a speed that all the deadly roads will support.
Nahhhh..that'll never work.....
No one is denying some of the roads in this country are god awful...especially for a bike! The point I'm trying to make is, bitching and complaining about the laws, speed limits, enforcement and police is as counter productive as it get's. With roads as bad as they are, what other option is there but to stay at a speed that won't kill you or anyone else??
Maybe with some progressive thinking and a staggering amount of money we could see road improvement.
BUT - What is more important? Fixing the Civic eating pot holes we have now or building roads that will support a sustained 140kph? Fer damn sure we won't get both..so choose!

[camber]

Like the roads are going to taken apart and rebuilt any time soon. In the meantime is there another way to avoid fatalities? Hmmmm....let's think about that for a while...any suggestions?
I've got one!! Stick to a speed that all the deadly roads will support.
Nahhhh..that'll never work.....
No one is denying some of the roads in this country are god awful...especially for a bike! The point I'm trying to make is, bitching and complaining about the laws, speed limits, enforcement and police is as counter productive as it get's. With roads as bad as they are, what other option is there but to stay at a speed that won't kill you or anyone else??
Maybe with some progressive thinking and a staggering amount of money we could see road improvement.
BUT - What is more important? Fixing the Civic eating pot holes we have now or building roads that will support a sustained 140kph? Fer damn sure we won't get both..so choose!

Well, if you bother to take a look at what EuroRap does, its really more about simply things rather then rebuilding roads. For instance, removing trees that are close to the road or putting guard rail in front of the tree and making sure that road lines are painted properly/make sense.

Many sections of the 400 series are designed and in better condition then most of the Autobahn. In fact, a lot of motorways in Europe are in a poorer condition, then most 400 series highways. I would argue that it's Ontario road design/up keep that makes it the safest place to drive in North America. Also, when Montana went to unlimited daytime speed, limit with their crappy interstates, they saw traffic fatalities dramatically drop to all time lows. They didn't even increase driver training!

http://www.hwysafety.com/hwy_montana.htm

[BlueVFR]

Just tell the guy why he rides his bike if he thinks engineers are so bad. After all, it is the engineers who design and build his damn it.

Your disdain for engineers in general is rather uncalled for.

Next time you drive over (or under) a bridge, thank a professional engineer.

Next time you go 50 stories up in a skyscraper, thank a professional engineer.

If you so happen to crash your car and the airbag and crumple zones save your life, thank a professional engineer.

And you can thank the engineers that you were able to purchase that car at a price that could be afforded, and the city could be able to afford that bridge.

I could go on, but can't be bothered. It is obvious that you are set in your opinions and that nothing anyone else says or does will ever change it.

And that is *not* the mark of a good professional engineer.