I almost hit a dog once whose owner was standing right near the edge of the street not paying attention and the dog shot out into the road.

It was on a standard leash.

I've seen plenty of dropped leashes when a dog lunges and I've even gotten rope burn from a standard leash because I had wrapped it around my hand to keep Dahlia close while I was picking up her poop, she saw a dog she wanted to go greet, and tried to take off. Hurt like HELL. At least with the flexi if I lock it down, I don't have to wrap it around my hand! (Granted, she now doesn't bolt like that anyway -- this was in the first few weeks we had her.)

Stupid people are stupid, no matter what kind of leash they put on their dogs.

I must say I hate Flexi's... and I hate how little control you have with one... that being said, my paranoid little rescue, Zoe, must be walked on one. She has to feel comfortable that she can get away if need be. On a 6' leash, she's terrified of everything, on a flexi, she's quite happy.

However, Zoe is trained off leash, and the flexi is only for form sake (dogs not being allowed off leash except in dog parks) I could easily walk Zoe off leash along a road, as her wait command is 100%, and that's not an exaggeration. I cannot call her to me, she's afraid to come, but if I say wait, she will not even twitch until I touch her. Odd, I know, but she is an odd dog. I would never consider using flexi's on any of the other dogs.

There's nothing wrong with flexis but they should not be relied on near roads. If yours ever fails you will have no control at all, I have first hand experience of this. You will get a very nasty burn trying!

Leather leads don't burn, thats why I use them. At least with a lead you do have control and are not relying on a mechanism. The use of leads and the length of them is down to the owners common sense and you will always get idiots and people who are away with the fairies.

If the lead failed, I'd just tell her to stop and she would. In reality I could walk Dahlia off leash near roads with no problem, but I don't because it's illegal.

Sometimes late at night when we go out for her "pee walk" I do walk her off leash (carrying the leash just in case I see someone). She stops and waits on command, goes on command, slows down on command. She's an amazing off leash dog and so the flexi just allows her to be "off leash" while on leash.

I personally don't like flexi leads as they encourage dogs to pull and I've also seen dogs on long leads come running up to my dog and barking in his face while he's on the lead but if used sensibly ie in a field where not many people are, other dogs etc they can be useful tools for dogs who can't go off leash.

I'm not sure if you mean that sometimes late at night you walk your dog off leash near roads etc. Again just a personal opinion, but I do not think any dog should ever be off leash around roads. Even dogs who are amazing - I know owners who learned tragically that their dogs would occasionally disobey and they learned the hard way.

Again, just an opinion.

And you may have your opinion. I happen not to share it for my dog. At night our roads are very quiet and it's rare to see a car. The walk is down the road (on a sidewalk) and back and takes about 3-5 minutes at most. I'm more likely to do it in the winter as well, as there are huge snowbanks on either side of the sidewalk.

I know my dog. And I know what she's capable of. She stops on a dime when told to, even in high distraction/high drive times (e.g. when she wants to chase a squirrel or greet another dog).

Yep, I have only ever used one with one dog I had - my last staffie. And not in built up places.

It was quite a faff to hold and carry I always thought. And if there were no dogs about he could go offlead so there weren;t many advantages to it.

In cities and towns, he went on a normal lead with a Halti or Gentle Leader.

I personally don't like flexi's - not only because of lack of control, and rope burn etc, but because a few years ago, we saw somebody's dog lunge forward while on one, the owner lost grip as they are bulkier than normal leads, and the dog bolted.
Sadly the noise of the plastic "flexi" handle dragging behind, spooked the dog even more, and it ran out in front of traffic.

Fortunately the quick thinking driver managed to stop (just), but both dog and driver could have been seriously injured or worse.

I can???

Gee thanks!!!