Moron Motorists #3

[Mr Purple]

I'm no expert, but I would have thought that his negligence commenced by taking insulin without an immediate plan to eat & without a backup plan - the diabetics I know always carry a quick source of glucose (fruit juice, jelly beans etc) in case they're caught out because they know how dangerous a hypo is. This is even more so for a person who knew he been having hypos before dinner.

You've nailed it. The negligence began when he took presumably his evening dose of short acting insulin without any food nearby or any plan to eat.

There is a chance a bit of long acting insulin was still in his system to cause it, but even then it should have been anticipated.

The whole thing has a lot of 'but the sun was in my eyes' defence about it. If only that could somehow be anticipated and accommodated for...

[Cyclophiliac]

This is Australia, where driving a motor vehicle is a right, not a privilege. Oh, won't someone please think of the poor dear who's right to drive is being threatened?

<in case someone misses the point: yes, it's sarcasm. Bitter sarcasm>

[Andy01]

My mate's CGM issued the first alert at 4, and frequently after that. I can't remember the exact numbers but at 4 the person is generally not considered to be impaired, but needed to do something to address the drop in sugar before impairment started. I seem to remember (but not sure) that impairment was expected to start around 2.5 or 2.8, and got worse quite quickly below that.

I cannot understand how a court cannot find the person culpable if they were a long "experienced" diabetic and ignored multiple warnings from the CGM - in my opinion that becomes willful negligence at the very least. This shows how bizarre and ineffective our justice system has become.

As I understand it the CGM alert level is a setting that can be adjusted. Any information I have is what filters through the media reports so could be inaccurate. As best I can figure he was 7.9 at 4:00 pm at Clunes, had insulin before he left Clunes at 4:50 pm, was down to 2.9 at 5:17 pm, tried to eat at 5:21 pm but was turned away & resumed driving at 5:36 pm, crashing at 6:07 pm.

The magistrate was critical of the Crown case that the negligence BEGAN at 5:36pm when he got back in the car. The problem with that is that it appears he was already at a point where his judgment was impaired. I'm no expert, but I would have thought that his negligence commenced by taking insulin without an immediate plan to eat & without a backup plan - the diabetics I know always carry a quick source of glucose (fruit juice, jelly beans etc) in case they're caught out because they know how dangerous a hypo is. This is even more so for a person who knew he been having hypos before dinner.

The Director of Public Prosecutions could still directly indict him, but who knows if he will or not.

Exactly right. The first thing my mate did after having most of his pancreas removed and being put on insulin was to put a stash of jelly beans in his car, my car, and my house (and obviously his house), as well as full-strength Coke in both house's fridges - to deal with those exact situations. This was based on the extensive advise and information pack he was given before even leaving hospital.

Sounds like the driver is a true moron - a reading of 7.9 isn't high enough to warrant a "decent" shot of insulin (my mate was told that if it gets over 10 (as a spike) it is getting concerning), and it sound like he just took too much, causing his sugars to crash to 2.9 from 7.9 - rookie error, except he wasn't a rookie and should have known better.

And yes, I do think that the there is some latitude on adjusting the alarm points (because different people respond differently) - I don't think it can be adjusted too far below the default 4 though, but my mate was strongly recommended to stick with 4 (as the lower limit) to be safe.

[Bunged Knee]

What a moron motorcyclist who had held his NSW provisional licence for less than 24 hours when he was caught speeding????

NSW provisional rider loses licence less than 24 hours after it was issued

Good to have his motorcycle seized in ACT.

https://www.policenews.act.gov.au/news/ ... was-issued

[g-boaf]

What a moron motorcyclist who had held his NSW provisional licence for less than 24 hours when he was caught speeding????

NSW provisional rider loses licence less than 24 hours after it was issued

Good to have his motorcycle seized in ACT.

https://www.policenews.act.gov.au/news/ ... was-issued

Nah, he’s just enjoying some freedom, or having some fun. Or any of the other excuses motorbike riders come up with to defend this.

Oh and something about “nanny states”

[elantra]

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/eme ... 1727315096

Tragic loss of a bright young mind as a result of another person’s dangerous driving behaviour.

The driver of the car that struck and killed her was allegedly travelling at over twice the speed limit.
It is also alleged that the driver only had a L -plate Learner’s Permit and was driving the car unsupervised

https://7news.com.au/news/man-19-charge ... 158487.amp

[skull]

Don’t blame the technology. This charge was successfully defended because the driver had his phone in his pocket, so therefore argued that he didn’t receive the 9 alarms.

Looking at the manual for the device it sends the hypoglycaemia alarms without needing to scan your phone over the device.

So what he’s saying is that his actions weren’t voluntary because he was stupid. Why is this a defence?

I thought this was illegal, it is in QLD because you can't have it on your person whilst driving?

Foo

it is not illegal to have a phone in your pocket whilst driving in Qld.

[jasonc]

Mr Purple and g-boaf will like this
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-30/ ... /104401024

[Mr Purple]

Mr Purple and g-boaf will like this
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-30/ ... /104401024

I have a Mini that may set that off through induction noise alone. Should be safe for the other cars though!

[g-boaf]

Mr Purple and g-boaf will like this
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-30/ ... /104401024

I have a Mini that may set that off through induction noise alone. Should be safe for the other cars though!

I bet it's not nearly as loud as the usual Japan and Euro turbo shopping trolleys around my area that are tuned for bomb explosion sound effects on lift-off.

They are all slow as heck, usually sitting in the middle lane with a line of people behind them.

This "pilot" won't do anything in my area because they are only dealing with a couple of council areas, not mine.

Heidi Lee Douglas, who lives in Kyeemagh in Bayside Council, said cars and motorcycles "hooning" kept her awake at night, particularly during summer.

Oh you poor thing, that's the normal thing most days of the week in my area, worse on Friday/Saturday/Sunday till midnight or later. You get noise cameras, residents in my area get nothing except to be told by hoon drivers "we should move elsewhere". There are a heap of residents in my area that are furious about this and the lazy attitude of authorities to palm the issue off to someone else.

You can't listen to television because they are so loud, they interrupt meetings and phone calls. You can't leave windows open. This is only a relatively recent thing in the last few years.

One way to solve the issue is to find where these people live and then take the noise to them so they can't listen to TV or other things and ensure they get woken up at 1am in the morning, preferably with nice recordings of their own cars.

[Mr Purple]

I bet it's not nearly as loud as the usual Japan and Euro turbo shopping trolleys around my area that are tuned for bomb explosion sound effects on lift-off.

I justify it by knowing it's loud, but it's 'necessarily' loud. It's a 1275 running the quieter twin box RC40 exhaust setup, all the noise comes from a sidedraft weber and a crazily aggressive cam with a 20% overlap meaning that a fair bit of the combustion in the cylinder head happens with both valves open.

This is just a side-effect of what happens when an engine is making twice as much power as it was originally designed to.

Tuning a modern electronically controlled engine to spit burning fuel out of the exhaust without necessarily making more power is just annoying.

That's how I justify it anyway! Mind you I do get people in the street waving at me to slow down when I'm doing 40km/hr.

[warthog1]

Bring on electric to stop the incessant noise at least.

[g-boaf]

I was surprised to see Bayside council's map seems to be getting use by people in other areas of Sydney. Looks like Rhodes is a bad area too.

[Retrobyte]

Looks like Rhodes is a bad area too.

Many ricers there.

[nezumi]

I had a curious one today - driver trailing behind me on a dual carriageway that comes from a single lane/roundabout choke point (so not exactly high volume) where I was maintaining 45 in a 50 zone gave me an aggressive honk - just as they turned off into a side street. *facepalm* I don't even know what the point of it was supposed to be?

On the plus side I had a good tram driver who had seen me holding pace beside them for 3 stops and slowed down at the next stop so that I was just ahead of them. Tram stopped, cars stopped behind, and I got a nice clear road - then later on I had a bus driver that I had to almost force to pass me going the reverse direction on the above 50km/h street *shrugs*

[zebee]

Mr Purple and g-boaf will like this
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-30/ ... /104401024

I have a Mini that may set that off through induction noise alone. Should be safe for the other cars though!

Years ago when there was a lot of thing about motorcycle exhausts my bike at the time - a 1975 Moto Guzzi - measured 91db at the tappets.

But as all Guzzi riders know, a rattly tappet is a happy tappet and that bike was a very happy bike.

Zebee

[jasonc]

Travelling along a service road, a van pulls out of a service station without looking. Didn't indicate either. I braked. Tell him to look next time. All of a sudden I've broken every rule in the book. After lots of swear words he pulls out his phone and takes a photo of me. Go for it. You're sitting in the driver's seat, with the engine running at traffic lights using your phone. Yep, I'm the law breaker

[jasonc]

close passed by a person from my work this morning. I've submitted the case to the police already. Need to work out if I need to submit a HR case

[Arbuckle23]

close passed by a person from my work this morning. I've submitted the case to the police already. Need to work out if I need to submit a HR case

Would that person recognise it was you?

[find_bruce]

Had a run in with Hell's Accountant today - taking the muffler off his scooter makes it sound angry, but it doesn't go any faster, nearly took me out doing the no look lane change then back across a motorbike, before coming across me again. Of course none of this made him any faster than a fat old bloke on a bicycle.

He left me alone after I gave him a free and frank assessment of his character

[jasonc]

close passed by a person from my work this morning. I've submitted the case to the police already. Need to work out if I need to submit a HR case

Would that person recognise it was you?

I hope they did when i approached them at our carpark entrance. either way, the police can deal with it for now.

[mikesbytes]

close passed by a person from my work this morning. I've submitted the case to the police already. Need to work out if I need to submit a HR case

Would that person recognise it was you?

I hope they did when i approached them at our carpark entrance. either way, the police can deal with it for now.

Did the close pass feel deliberate?

[jasonc]

Did the close pass feel deliberate?

I don't believe the driver would have known it was me. It felt somewhat deliberate

[nezumi]

I had a prize fool today. Stopped his truck 3/4 of the way over the line into the bike box, then when I came around in front of him and called out his poor driving, his response was that I should have a number plate - why? He does, and it's not stopping him from breaking the law.

This was followed with a close pass, before running a red arrow to turn right. *facepalm*

[Retrobyte]

Two IDGAFs in 30 seconds yesterday ....