Is this useful?

platemessages

I'm new to these forums so please be gentle

I've very recently set up a website that aims be a global messages directory for all road users. Its USP is that it allows anyone to leave a message against a registered/licence plate so that the vehicle's owner can pick up the message at some later date. Message can be of praise, or of the type that names and shames. Despite there being no guarantee that messages will be read, it does at least provide a chance for a vehicle's owner to be contacted. With greater awareness about the site the better the chance messages will be read by the intended recipient. The website is:

http://www.platemessages.com

As an occasional cyclist, I have had my fair share of near misses with careless drivers who I wished at the time I could give a piece of my mind. I've learned some bike commuters regularly use headcams, so I would imagine any captured near-miss incidents could be real eye-openers for those drivers involved. Regular offenders might also receive more messages about them posted by other road users.

So the question is would you find this website useful? If so, how would you choose to use it? If not, what do you think are the shortcomings and how could it be improved? The site is still in its embryonic stage and will be allowed to develop organically with feedback and suggestions from early users.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I look forward to your replies.

Robin

jonny_trousers

Sorry Robin, but...

Blue Meanie

http://www.ragingbike.co.uk/

Blue Meanie

http://www.ragingbike.co.uk/

The Rookie

Yawn another site doing the same thing, "another" somehat shooting down your "USP", had you bothered doing a google search you'd have known this, oh and I guess you get money back from adverts?

SPAM

Simon

tptvmbircn

I see your guys points but platemessages is far more user friendly, if i were to choose one it would have to be that site by far. I can't see a removal of ISP in this case, just live everyone killing off the social networking market.

I like it

shouldbeinbed

What's the incentive for motorists to bother logging in? Realistically how many care what people think of their driving good or bad.

Its solving a problem cyclists don't have (theres any number of ways to vent or if you like, give feedback.) and drivers won't / don't care about.

jonny_trousers

stealthelite1986 wrote:

I see your guys points but platemessages is far more user friendly, if i were to choose one it would have to be that site by far. I can't see a removal of ISP in this case, just live everyone killing off the social networking market.

I like it

Eh? It's utter gash!

tptvmbircn

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

stealthelite1986 wrote:

I see your guys points but platemessages is far more user friendly, if i were to choose one it would have to be that site by far. I can't see a removal of ISP in this case, just live everyone killing off the social networking market.

I like it

Eh? It's utter gash!

Haha, opinions opinions, but i mean does anything really get done with these sites honestly? it did cross my mind at one stage as developing websites myself or do you just do the get to the traffic lights section and throttle the driver malarky?

I think the best one i've seen was the guy (unfotunetly) having a crash on you tube where the car cut up the lane. As you tube being a powerful tool for public eye viewing it demonstrates what we encounter everyday, in all honesty id rather spend time setting up a helmet cam purely for this reason then the evidence (as far as im aware) can be used to back you up on these nasty little occasions.

jonny_trousers

I'm sure Robin is a nice guy and well meaning, but who on earth is going to think 'I cut-up a cyclist today; I wonder if he has left me a bollocking on platemessages.com'? It's absolute nonsense. Like you say, if you really want to go down the humiliating-crappy-motorists-online thing then a helmet cam and YouTube are far better tools than a web forum no one will ever visit.

lemoncurd

No

tptvmbircn

Agreed, i guess i have a wierd view of websites now, bring on the go pro hd

platemessages

Ok, cheers for the replies. I'll try and answer the various points raised...

>Yawn another site doing the same thing, "another" somehat shooting down your "USP",
>had you bothered doing a google search you'd have known this
I thought this was a bit presumptious. I am aware of other community sites dedicated to various commuters groups. Plate Messages is intended for all road users. I have gone out on a limb to ask a biking forum, a group that doesn't even use licence plates, but I wanted to hear opinions from all road users.

>oh and I guess you get money back from adverts?
What's so clever about figuring that adverts will be used? Look at the top and right side of this forum...there are adverts used throughout. Hosting space and domain registration needs to be paid for, advertising is the lifeblood of most websites. The key is picking adverts that are relevant to the readers and this can only be done once the audience is understood, hence the obvious absence of any ads at present.

>http://www.ragingbike.co.uk/
This is a great site, but is obviously dedicated to cyclists and has a very specific goal and readership which Plate Messages is not trying to compete against. The name itself would also put off most drivers from reading so it would be difficult to relay anything across the different commuting communities. For the audience here RB is likely to be an popular choice, but not for everyone, as honourable is its cause.

>platemessages is far more user friendly
It one of its goal to be easier and intuitive to use. The site aims to be open and unbiased, hopefully encouraging positive postings and not just rants. We have only just started, there's still a long way to go.

>What's the incentive for motorists to bother logging in?
Good question. It'll take time to build up to be useful, but hopefully people will one day be interested in what others have to say about them...good or bad, due to curiosity, guilt, inquisitiveness or other, it doesn't matter. For now, it will serve to capture anything anyone has to say about another road user to be read in the future.

>Its solving a problem cyclists don't have (theres any number of ways to vent or if you like,
>give feedback.) and drivers won't / don't care about.
Can you really say that on behalf of all cyclists? As a cyclist and driver and I would like to think I am more conscious about other road users, particularly cyclists, than the average driver because of my experiences on two wheels. If had the misfortune to nearly cause an accident and noticed someone messaged my plate, I'd certainly want to get in touch with that other person. So your generalised statement that drivers won't/don't care is unfair.

>Eh? It's utter gash!
Thanks for that enlightening and insightful comment...

>does anything really get done with these sites honestly?...
For those types of nasty scenarios, it would be understandable that throttling the driver would give some instant gratification Other may prefer a different approach, Plate Messages provides some of those other options.

>(youtube) id rather spend time setting up a helmet cam...
You can't argue that video is powerful and YouTube is a fantastic site to upload and watch vids easily. The problem is that it is for a global audience where the majority is watching it for entertainment. Plate

Messages could help link relevant videos to specific incidents and vehicles.

>who on earth is going to think 'I cut-up a cyclist today; I wonder if he has left me a bollocking
>on platemessages.com'?
See my previous comment. In cases of near-misses, if someone was a repeat offender I would be surprised if they were not at least a little concerned that a lot of incriminating videos showed up highlighting their actions which violated part 1 section 3 of the 1988 Road Traffic Act.

>if you really want to go down the humiliating-crappy-motorists-online thing...
No, this is not what Plate Message plans to be, but what you describe could be one use for it.

>a helmet cam and YouTube are far better tools than a web forum no one will ever visit.
Site visitors will grow over time, so in the future it can be used in conjunction with existing websites (YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, to name a few) to give road users a more logical way to leave and retrieve relevant content. At the end of the day it's horses for courses, no-one's forcing anyone to use anything if it's not useful to them.

>SPAM
I don't think a spammer would spend this much effort answering posts.

spen666

shouldbeinbed wrote:

What's the incentive for motorists to bother logging in? Realistically how many care what people think of their driving good or bad.

Its solving a problem cyclists don't have (theres any number of ways to vent or if you like, give feedback.) and drivers won't / don't care about.

+1

tptvmbircn

I can see your point, also the dedication you are willing to put into the site. I suppose its like anything you create something and it either works or it dose'nt so i'd say good luck and if you cant beat them join them

Clank

Some questions to consider.

On the whole, the concept of website is good - a 'one stop shop' resource for information about roads and transport. Then we get to the bit where the forum is allowed to police traffic. Naming and shaming is fine until someone takes exception to it, or abuses it. And they will.

Question 1)
Either as a forum user or as a member of the road using public, what protection can I be given from false, misleading or malicious postings?


From experience, I can say that there are certain individuals and organisations out there that respond to perceived deformation and libel with legal recourse. And yes, I am on about the contents of web forums, email lists and web sites.

Question 2)
As an owner/operator of the website, what protection can you offer yourself?

.

jonny_trousers

It's just a waste of your time, I'm afraid, Robin. It really won't work and there's no way you will get the 1000 unique hits per day you require to attract even the most basic of advertisers. Motorists - bad or otherwise - will simply not log on, and if cyclists want to rant then there are several perfectly good, slick web forums, such as this one, where they can do so already.

Honestly, good luck with your endeavours, but don't spend too much of your energy on platemessages.com

snailracer

Isn't there a "report bad driving" iPhone/android app already doing the rounds?
The idea is that insurance companies check it to help assess a driver's risk profile - a car insurance equivalent of a money-lender's credit check. The information is not very reliable, but to an insurance company it's better than nothing.

Valy

snailracer wrote:

Isn't there a "report bad driving" iPhone/android app already doing the rounds?
The idea is that insurance companies check it to help assess a driver's risk profile - a car insurance equivalent of a money-lender's credit check. The information is not very reliable, but to an insurance company it's better than nothing.

Interesting point.

jeremyrundle

Of no interest to me either I dont use facebook or the other one

The Rookie

platemessages wrote:

>Yawn another site doing the same thing, "another" somehat shooting down your "USP",
>had you bothered doing a google search you'd have known this
I thought this was a bit presumptious. I am aware of other community sites dedicated to various commuters groups. Plate Messages is intended for all road users. I have gone out on a limb to ask a biking forum, a group that doesn't even use licence plates, but I wanted to hear opinions from all road users.

There are loads of such sites, so you have no USP, they are too similar for you to state that coming to a cycling forum gives you a UNIQUE (not kind of unique, that isn't after all unique) product.

Bad drivers don't read them anyway.

Simon