Buses, Buses Everywhere!
I’d arrived home on Saturday night to a lot of chaos due to road works on the Balls Pond Road.
But today, it was still chaos as these pictures show.
At least though the police weren’t about, as on the Saturday night, where they were giving a wonderful demonstration of how they have forgotten their point-duty skills. They may have kept the cars moving, but it took me and a few others about ten minutes to cross the road, before a gap appeared.
A Car Is Not A Luxury, It’s A Necessity
Danny Alexander has just said this on television.
In my view, after not driving for three years and going everywhere by public transport, a car is a complete pain in the arse. And when you give up your car and stop driving, it’s a total change for the better.
More Money Than Sense?
I like these two stories on the BBC web site.
One is about expensive motors parked outside Harrods and the other is about a Lamborghini clamped for no insurance in Newham.
I say bring on the crushers.
How about a portable crusher which lifts the car in and then crushes it whilst everybody watches? It has some of the fascinations that used to be associated with public executions centuries ago. But it is very humane and no-one gets physically hurt!
Two Non-Drivers
You don’t meet many people, who have made a conscious decision not to drive, especially when they are successful businessmen, without any disabilities in their forties and fifties.
But I’ve met two this week. Both use trains, taxis and buses. Neither were originally from London, where non-driving is a lot easier to manage.
I think it’s a choice many more will take!
Lost In Translation
This story from the BBC illustrates the perils of translating.
Two years ago I saw a really mixed up sign in Swansea.
Mixed Up Signage in Swansea
I think road signs should be in one language only and understandable to everybody who drives past them. Obviously in this one, it should only be in metric units.
How To Beat Car Price Depreciation
The title of this post came from one of the most read stories on the BBC web site. It’s here.
It’s something I don’t suffer from. I don’t have a car any more and don’t miss it one bit.
Take today and Bank Holiday Monday.
I have a list of places, I’d like to visit and every one is an easy journey by public transport, where I’ll probably sit on the top deck of a comfortable bus, enjoying the view and looking for little oddities to photograph. I’m also going to try out a new restaurant, where my son and I, will celebrate his birthday. Parking at one of the places would be impossible, except for a bike, but the bus virtually stops outside.
Cutting the cost of motoring is a bit like cutting the cost of smoking!
Just give it up!
Cash-For Crash By The Busload
This story must be the ultimate cash-for-crash story. Here’s the intro.
A bogus bus crash was staged in Sheffield so 26 passengers could make fake whiplash claims – all set up by organised conmen trying to defraud insurance firms, a court heard.
As I don’t have a car or car insurance, I’m glad that I don’t have to pay for these crooked claims.
Lib Dems Get It Right On Cars
There has generally been negative reaction to the Lib Dems proposal to ban diesel and petrol cars by 2040. The story was reported here in the Telegraph. This is the first paragraph.
Nick Clegg’s party has unveiled proposals to only allow ultra-low carbon vehicles on UK roads by 2040.
The controversial measures would mean millions of petrol and diesel cars being forbidden.
Only electric vehicles and ultra-efficient hybrid cars would be allowed on UK roads under the Lib Dem plans.
However, petrol and diesel vehicles would still be allowed for freight purposes.
I don’t think they will or should be banned, but by 2040, most vehicles will not use fossil fuel.
I’m not speaking here as a wishful thinking non-driver, but as an engineer, who follows innovations and economics strongly.
Various developments will gradually eat away at the market for conventional vehicles and new ultra low emission vehicles will in the next couple of decades be cheaper to buy and run than anything else.
One thing that will help the transition is in cities like London, where there is a large market to replace the black cabs. This article in the Guardian describes Nissan’s first attempt. Seeing and using viable and well-liked electric taxis will convince people, that electric cars can work.
However any party that wants to bring in a ban on petrol and diesel cars would be committing political suicide.
All politicians need to do, is provide the infrastructure that ultra-low emission vehicles will need.
You Don’t Get Behaviour Like This On The Dalston Omnibus!
This tragic tale from Biggleswade, shows what you get when you mix two men of my age, shopping and an argument over parking.
You certainly don’t get any behaviour like this on the Dalston omnibus to or from Waitrose at the Angel. The most outrageous behaviour I saw, was a guy laughing at two ladies sitting beside each other who were probably about fifty years old; one black and one white, who’d both hurt a leg and their hospitals had furnished them each with one crutch. Everybody saw the funny side! Especially the ladies!
I do wonder sometimes, why people bother with driving. I miss it like a hole in the head!
I’ve actually never been to Asda and if you get killed in their car parks, I doubt I will now!
Why Should I Subsidise Fuel For Drivers In Remote Areas?
The government has announced that it might subsidise fuel for drivers in remote areas, as is reported here.
If people want to live in areas where costs are high, but perhaps they like the area, they should pay for the consequences of their actions.
The Anonymous Widower 