Safe Speed Forums

A familiar complaint of the anti-car lobby is that the roads are choked with commuters driving one-up in cars that can accommodate 4 or 5.

But, as discussed in various threads, the average person can only afford to buy (and only has the room to store) one car. That vehicle has to meet all possible needs. Even if I only carry 3 or 4 people for 2% of my mileage, it's still useful to have a 4-seater car.

This is borne out by the car market where, apart from Smart Cars and a few sports cars, virtually all models, even the cheapest, have 4 seats.

It would be great to have a garage full of cars for every eventuality, but that isn't realistic. So I have to have a car that does everything I need it to do over the course of the year.

And if that means commuting one-up, then it's not a waste of space, it's just a fact of life. Any comparison with bus occupancy rates is simply irrelevant.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Agreed, but I think we have them beat anyway. As I recall the national average bus utilisation is 7/56 = 12.5%

The average car utilisation must exceed 1/4 = 25%, with average occupancy of 1.6 frequently cited.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

What is more, on most routes Public Transport, even when fully utilised, will be hard pressed to exceed 50% occupancy!

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"