Safe Speed Forums

Many, if not all, of those who regress to buses still keep the car taxed.
One source protected.
The car will still be mot'ed.
The car will still be insured.
It will still be driven.
It may not be driven as far, but as the majority of drivers don't do much more than a few thousand a year anyway it doesn't matter, and it won't fall much anyway.
Professional drivers (those whose work involves, and needs, travelling) drive the largest distance/s, they will still do the miles, and pay the [increased] taxes.
With road pricing, the average cost of travel will go up, for those using the most used roads.
The drivers covering the most distance will pay higher charges/taxes, more people using public transport means that subsidies can drop. Cost savings, equal to another tax ?
Do you see road tax going ?
No, neither do I.
Is the cost of driving going to drop ?
No.
Is it going to drop relative to average income (ie: income goes up 10%, cost of driving goes up 2%)...well, no.
So, people will use public transport because using the car is a major problem in stress (tell me driving in London is fun).
Make it more stressful and more will stop using it.
Make the speed limit in towns 20 mph, and the buses in their lanes 40 mph, and watch the stress factor go through the roof.
Even more fun, give cyclists the ability to out-time the traffic lights (they press a button and the lights go to stop to let them cross)....yes, happening soon....more fun....
You've already got buses stopping traffic to get through....and taxis....the final straw will be cyclists two-fingering as they stop the lot.

madroaduser is quite right - those in power absolutely HATE freedom of travel. However, they know damn well that their utopian dream of everyone using public transport is unrealistic, and that however unpleasant, inconvenient or expensive they contrive to make individual journeys by motor vehicle, many of us (most of us in rural areas) have no choice and will have to pay up anyway. My village has two buses per week (Wednesday and Saturday) – hardly a realistic option for anyone who has to travel more regularly – so I am a suitable milch-cow for the Government/County Council to bleed dry on the pretext of being “green”. Lots of stick and no carrots seems to be the prevailing philosophy.

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Save a cow - eat a vegetarian

Why do those in power "hate" freedom of travel?

Seems to me they are happy screwing the motorist, going by this in the Daily Telegraph today they certainly don’t want us to use public transport.

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

What!! you mean that the Government is screwing us all because they want more taxes? no never, I couldn't, wouldn't believe it.

Because control - of everything - is what they want. Just look at the present government's record!

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Save a cow - eat a vegetarian

This Government fear of people being able to move about freely goes back a long way. The Duke of Wellington in the early 19th century was opposed to railways because "they will only encourage the lower orders to move around the country"

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Good manners maketh a good motorist

I think they should have gotten over it by now!

I can understand the argument that they want to raise revenue out of motorists but I can't quite swallow the one about the public being mobile!

http://www.dti.gov.uk/about/dti-ministerial-team/page31148.html
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/automotive/pagesbackground/competitiveness/cars21finalreport.pdf

Because they make for a "thoughtful" read.
Personally, I think that having a car will be impossible for me in about 10 years time.
The costs are going to rise dramatically, road tax will be the same but fuel will be about £5.00 a litre, insurance is set to go-up by 300% in the next few years, the MOT will be £105.00 in a few years and the life of the car is going to be set by both legislation and increasingly strict MOT tests.....like, about 8 years maximum.
The amount spent on maintaining roads will effectively fall and rural areas will be worst hit, as usual.
Road pricing will be with us in about 7-10 years...if not sooner, and the optimists who predict a rush to use the back roads are in for a surprise, they ain't going to be cheaper.

Not always. Thames Valley Police operate a trap at the location shown in my picture, where the limit was reduced from 40 to 30 some years ago. As you can see, the road is more or less straight, there is a wooden fence down the right hand side for at least 200 metres which means that neither traffic nor pedestrians can suddenly emerge on to the road, and along the left hand side (not visible in the picture) there is a chain link steel fence for at least 200 metres, which also means that no pedestrians or traffic can suddenly emerge on to the road from that side either. The number of pedestrians at this site is negligible.

I don't see any awkward bends. I don't see any residential accesses. It's not that narrow, and it's used by heavy traffic like lorries and buses, in both directions.

But it's

There's a very similar road near me... it's currently 30 (needlessly) and the council are just about to reduce it to 20, with speed bumps. It's hugely fashionable at the moment to lower limits here there and everywhere, with no just cause. I did put an objection i, but just got steamrollered as you would expect.

I think you are spot on.

The more freedom you have to travel the more likely your are going to be discontent with our "lot", having seen better things out there.

Thats why 200,000 qualified working people are leaving the country every year.

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Speed camera policy Kills

In Wellington's day, the "great unwashed" were only likely to see what they were missing out on by travelling. These days, they have TV (satellite and cable too!) and the internet to show them that! I don't see the government trying to prevent them from using those - or indeed, for that matter, trains and planes!

Update: The council has finally seen sense, and the 30mph limit which was the subject of this thread has now been increased to 40. Could have been made 50 in my view (as it once was), but - baby steps...

Better late than never I guess !

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