Safe Speed Forums

When will motorists on mass just stop and say enough.

I myself am not sure but I have no doubt in my mind its coming, probably in the next four years after Labour win the next election.

I personally have no doubt a breaking point is near but what would trigger it, what would be the final straw?

Labour are treading dangerous ground, it takes only one car to block one lane.

it won't happen. In september 2000 the whole country ground to a halt because of the price of fuel, but the protesters did not have the bottle to keep protesting. Ever see the French stop mid protest?

I think there are many walks of life and areas of life that politions (sp) are interfering with when they have no idea what they are talking about.

Certainly the temperature is rising.

There's a huge increase in the number and percentage of speed camera cases going to court. It jumped from 100,000 one year to 200,000 the next (2001 to 2002 I think from memory).

There's a devloping resistance to register vehicles and to exist within the legal system generally. The National Audit Office just said that one third of DVLA records are inaccurate, and much of that must be deliberate. It was supposed to be 20% about a year ago. Is it rising fast or was the earlier figure optimistic?

When speed cameras were first introduced I was amazed that motorists didn't throw away their number plates en mass. But they didn't.

I've seen absolutely no sign of developing or impending mass action. I can't say why that is, nor can I say it won't change. I suspect that somehow we've become a nation of grumblers. We pay up and moan to our mates about it.

The biggest chance for mass protest seems to be taking the tickets to court. It's a fast growing trend and the system is very vulnerable to overload.

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

I suppose seeing as there are only 6500 cameras it would be possible for every single one of them to be covered over.. if enough people bother then it becomes tricky to keep sending out people to check whether it has been bagged or not. Bagging wouldn't cause damage so the criminal damage route probably wouldn't be open to them as prosecution. Perhaps one could place a large cardboard cutout right in front of them which blocks the camera's ability to take a photo but doesn't immediately touch the camera. I wonder what the charge could be then.....

"Preventing normal operation" is definitely criminal damage. There does not have to be physical damage to meet the legal definition.

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

The direct and indirect cost of motoring, slowly but surely, creeps up and I reckon because this happens so slowly then people rarely notice or question the costs incurred-what I think is even worse is the amount of motoring revenue spent on the roads, if even half was used we would be much closer to a quality roads system and the rest could still be just enough to fund B'liars cash pot public transport dream (while being chauffered around in his 12MPG ministerial limo )

Regards

Andrew

_________________
It's a scam........or possibly a scamola


Homer Simpson

Yeah. The "boiling frogs" effect.

Apparently if you gradually heat frogs in water from cold they simply don't notice the rise in temperature if it goes up slowly enough.

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

To be honest, I don't think the cost argument actually holds water. Fuel prices are no more expensive in inflation-adjusted terms than they were 20 years ago, and in real terms the cost of buying cars (both new and used) has actually fallen. A new car is no more expensive in money terms now than the equivalent model in 1998.

As far as the general experience of motoring goes, the great majority of drivers do not feel the same sense of oppression that many who frequent motoring forums do.

In general, the users of this forum are likely to drive further, and on a greater variety of roads, than the average, and so are likely to get a better overall picture of what is going on.

Most people will find their experience of cameras, humps etc. an irritant, but not, to be honest, something that is about to bring them to boiling point.

The most frequent grumble, in my conversations with people, is the cost and difficulty of parking.

_________________
"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

I agree with your main points, but the gradual increase in oppression is EXACTLY the boiling frogs effect and also explains why people aren't "boiling over" in general. The temperature IS rising, but people AREN'T noticing.

[edited to fix the first "are" to "aren't" Doh!]

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

Yes, I think we're pretty much in agreement there. People now grudgingly put up with things that would have been unthinkable 15 years ago.

The fuel crisis was an example of things actually boilding over, as fuel prices had increased very rapidly over the previous 5 or 6 years, although they had fallen in real terms over the 10 year prior to that.

What could, I think, bring things to a boiling point is the government pushing their luck in terms of the number of speeding fines meted out (especially if combined with the use of hidden mobile cameras). 3-4 million doesn't do it, 10 million might.

_________________
"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

oh, I think you'll find the cost of motoring has gone up. My previous car cost 24 pence per mile to run. That's every thing, purchase cost, insurance fuel, maintainance, the lot. My current car, has less power, a smaller engine, lower insurance group and the running costs are 36ppm excluding purchase price.

The price you pay for your food keeps going down. We get less for a tonne of wheat than we did 20 years ago. TVs are dirt cheap, phones are free. Plane tickets might as well be free...

The latter figure sounds a bit unlikely unless either it's a vehicle that is very thirsty and expensive to service, or you have a particularly bad insurance record.

Excluding depreciation, I would say the typical cost of running a car over an average mileage of 10,000 a year is about 20p a mile.

_________________
"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

In £sd I'm paying more than when I first got on the road, but in real terms I'm sure it's a bit cheaper overall. Except the fuel. The week I passed my test it was only £2 a gallon or so, and I remember not long after that the Tesco near my dad was doing £1.99 a gallon for a short while. (This isn't a metric whinge, but it wasn't long before it was all priced per litre and I think a lot of people began losing track.) Now it works out around £3.60 or so, which I suspect is higher in real terms than 15 years ago. Can anyone confirm that hunch, or alternatively put me right?

_________________
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

See this webpage - in real terms the price of fuel is about the same as it was 20 years ago.

If you passed your test around 1988 it would be more expensive now, though.

_________________
"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

Ta, Peter. Sure I've said this before, but nice site BTW. Passed L test about 1989/90, so not much in it. But dammit! it needs to be loads more expensive so I can have a good bitch about it next time I'm in the pub . Perhaps it just seems that way because other things have come down a lot.

_________________
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein