Those of you who are fans of the BBC car programme Top Gear, will have been undoubtedly sad to see the news of Richard Hammond's (The Hamster) recent accident whilst test driving a jet powered car.Fortunately it seems that he may well make a full recovery.
However, in Nanny's world, expressions of sympathy and sadness for injuries incurred when driving a "naughty" car are forbidden.
This nasty little side of Nanny was discovered a week or so ago by Stephen Ladyman, the road safety minister. Ladyman, all due respect to him, actually had the temerity (in Nanny's eyes) to express sympathy for The Hamster's accident and to announce that he was "distressed" that critics had used presenter Richard Hammond's 300mph crash in a jet-powered car as an excuse to attack the programme.
He went on to say that The Hamster was an "adventurer", and that the programme did not encourage speeding among young men.
Nanny finds this sort of expression of sympathy and free will to be unhealthy in a government minister, as such Ladyman was dropped from launching National Road Safety Week.
The organisers of the forthcoming event are bleating, like the spineless sheep that they are, that his defence of the show glamorised speeding.
Mary Williams, chief executive of national road safety charity Brake, squawked:
"We are alarmed and disappointed that our road safety minister is taking the time to defend Top Gear
which quite blatantly glamorises fast cars
and in fact knocks the government's very own speed enforcement.
Research quite clearly shows that drivers' attitudes can be influenced by the messages similar to that which Top Gear can promote.
We also feel that distress was an inappropriately strong word to use,
given the distress suffered by families affected by road death and injury caused by speeding drivers".
In other words she is very happy that The Hamster had an accident. It seems that compassion is reserved only for those who follow the rules as laid down by Nanny.
Nice people in Brake aren't they?
Brake also has a bee in its bonnet about Top Gear "mocking" speed cameras.
That figures!
Feel free to send them an email via this link brake@brake.org.uk
Of course Brake are upset - the government's own figures (released last week) showed that speed cameras are pretty much pointless as most accidents are down to road users (pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders included) not paying enough attention. But that doesn't fit with Brake's one track agenda (i.e. all accidents are caused by speeding cars) so they are trying to drown out the bad news with such high profile vilification.
ReplyDeleteThis month's "sniffpetrol" makes a similar point about this sanctimonious type - although rather more satirically!
ReplyDeleteSee http://www.sniffpetrol.com/ under the heading lynd neilon