Sitting nose to tail on a disused airstrip, these cars form a tiny part of the massive backlog of vehicles destined for the scrap heap. The number standing idly on the runway has swelled to around 14,000 as mechanics struggle to cope with the popularity of the Government’s scrappage scheme, which ended last week. The former airfield in Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, is one of a number of ‘holding areas’ packed with vehicles sold through Lord Mandelson’s £400million incentive scheme. More
(AD Thoughts ~ Perhaps common sense could prevail and some of the these vehicles, could be resold to clear some of the national debt.)
Apr 032010
A council has been condemned for wasting taxpayers’ money after it built a cycle lane just 8ft long. At little more than the length of a single bicycle, the £2,000 road marking has left cyclists in Cardiff bemused. The feature, thought to be the shortest cycle lane in Britain, has been installed to encourage green transport. Cardiff Council claims that it will help riders safely navigate a turn on a new road layout. But riders in the city say the brevity of the red and white marked stretch of road renders it pointless. Kevin Hughes, 47, a cyclist from the Welsh city, said: “It’s just hilarious. I saw it as I was cycling past and couldn’t believe my eyes. “Obviously nobody could cycle in it because it is so small. You just have time to get in the saddle before getting off again.” Mr Hughes, a member of Cardiff Ajax Cycling Club, added: “I posted a picture of it on the club forum and it’s started a bit of a laugh. “I’ve got no idea why it would be there. You couldn’t ride a bike down there anyway because cars go flying past.” Campaigners also questioned why the local authority has spent money on the cycle lane, which takes less than a second to cover before rejoining the main carriageway. Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It is just this sort of waste that raises the hackles of taxpayers. More
(AD Thoughts ~ Unbelievable! Is of any use to cylists or good use of our money?)
Mar 262010
A fifth (20 per cent) of motorists have been a victim of a ‘crash and dash’ accident over the past five years as a result of a careless driver not owning up to damaging their car after a prang, reveals a new report by car insurer Direct Line. The average crash and dash victim is left with a £539 bill to repair the damage after the culprit left the scene of the accident without leaving their details, totalling £3.5billion nationwide since 2005. An unfortunate one in ten (9 per cent) victims of unscrupulous motorists has been left with damage costing in excess of £1000 to repair. Supermarket and shopping centre car parks are the scene of the majority of crash and dash incidents (42 per cent), as shoppers try to squeeze their cars into too-tight spaces and battle it out to be first to the next free spot. One in five (19 per cent) careless crash and dash motorists damaged another car while it was parked on the street outside the owner’s home, suggesting they are likely to have damaged a neighbour’s car. More
(AD Comment ~ Many of us have been victims, though no fault of our own. This is way premiums are much higher accross the board for everyone, and many no-claims bonuses been adversely effected as well.)
Almost 9,000 parking tickets have gone unpaid in a cash strapped town after a computer blip which went on for a year. An IT bottleneck meant the legal department collecting fines was not passed the essential information it needed about the £30 fixed penalties. The blip cost taxpayers in Oldham, Greater Manchester £283,000 in lost revenue as a result of fines not being paid. It was discovered whilst finance officials were budgeting for road improvements – but they claimed it could not be resolved due to technical difficulties. The Liberal Democrat run council – already facing a £5m legal bill for the bungled fraud prosecution of a local businessman – blamed ”system failure” and insisted the fines would now be pursued. But local Labour councillor Peter Dean said: ”This is clearly incompetence by the Lib-Dem-controlled council, who have failed to collect monies owed. ”This leaves a big hole of £283,000 in the council’s already very tight budget and is mismanagement on a gigantic scale.” More
(AD Suggests ~ Good news for many, who may have been surprised to have been let off!)
Feb 022010
Ambulance drivers face the sack if they ignore a ‘ludicrous’ diktat that they must not drive too fast to emergencies. NHS bureaucrats have decided that paramedics who go as little as 10mph above the speed limit should face formal disciplinary action. Repeat ‘offenders’ could be dismissed under rules drawn up by half of the 12 ambulance trusts in England, covering around 25million people. This is despite a police ruling that ambulance drivers caught exceeding the speed limit will be spared prosecution if they are dealing with an emergency. Roger Goss, co-director of Patient Concern, said the orders put lives at risk at a time when the NHS is struggling to cope because of the bad weather. He said: ‘I would have thought you employed ambulance staff who you trusted to drive safely without some diktat from HQ.’ Ambulance drivers say they should be trusted to use their discretion about how fast they can safely travel. A spokesman for the union Unison said: ‘If it was your mother or father who was in an ambulance in an emergency you would want them to get to hospital as quickly as possible. ‘Paramedics should be trusted to use their training and common sense to make the best decisions depending on the road conditions.’ More
(AD Suggests ~ Would the petty bureaucrats who sit in their offices dreaming this up, be happy with the ambulance drivers strictly following the rules, rather than using commonsense, if they were the ones needing emergency medical help?)
Taxi drivers applying for their Hackney Carriage licence are being offered the forms in Braille by a council. A notice at the end reads: “You can get this Portsmouth City Council information in large print, Braille, audio or in another language….” The council, a member of the Plain English Campaign, defended the forms. Head of customer services Louise Wilders said: “Obviously, a taxi driver would not need the Braille version, but they might find a foreign language version helpful. More
(AD Comments ~ This is amazing, what are the council thinking?)
Jan 052010
Parking wardens have issued more than £40,000 worth of fines in one small city street during the course of three years. East Street is just 400ft long but has been the focus of so many tickets one driver believes it is a “trap” for motorists. During the past year, 552 tickets have been issued to motorists parking on the single yellow lines in the road, with 223 of those handed out on Sundays. One of those caught out was Adam Krupa who was fined after parking there in November. He has refused to pay his £70 fine to Leicester City Council and says he will go to court to challenge the case. Mr Krupa claims the street is seen as a parking warden’s “bread and butter” and signs which warn drivers it is illegal to park there are too small and in the wrong place. After getting the fine, Mr Krupa used the Freedom of Information Act to ask Leicester City Council how much money it had collected from other motorists in East Street since it took over parking enforcement and discovered it was £40,000. He said: “One of the biggest shocks was the amount of revenue generated from this tiny street. “I’d parked for 10 minutes and went into Dunelm Mill opposite when I got back I’d got the ticket. “After speaking to people, I’m told this is happening day in, day out, and that everybody is getting caught because they think they can park there. “Double yellow lines should be painted and the signs are too small it really is a trap.” The fine for parking on yellow lines is £70, which is reduced to £35 if it is paid within 14 days. Kim Pelham, manager of Dunelm Mill, which sells soft furnishings and home wares in East Street, agreed. He said: “It happens all the time, especially on a Sunday. “There are usually three or four wardens out there waiting for people, they know it’s hard to tell if you can park there. The signs aren’t very clear and they should really paint double yellow lines.” More
(AD Comments ~ We all know that they will not paint new double yellow lines or make the signs clearer when this road is such a good earner!)
Government officials have banned Highways Agency staff from using the word ‘motorist’, saying they should say ‘road user’ or ‘driver’ instead. The edict is included in a lengthy set of guidelines issued by the Agency, setting out what language its employees should and should not use. Other terms to be avoided include “winter maintenance”, “off-peak hours” and “the travelling public”. The move has brought an angry response from motoring campaigners. Peter Roberts of the Drivers’ Alliance, a pro-motoring group, said: “This is an absurd and typically overly-bureaucratic piece of guidance that just goes to reinforce the belief that this Government has an ideological hatred of motorists and anything to do with the motor vehicle. “We’ve had years of increases on fuel duty and policies that have worsened road travel for the majority of people because ministers are wedded to the idea that public transport is good, while most forms of private transport are bad.” James May, the television presenter, called the guidance a “complete waste of time and money”. “It’s pretty preposterous,” he said. “It’s not the Government’s job to tell their staff how to speak. They should tell them not to be racist or not to incite murder, but not the correct word for someone who happens to be in a car. For God’s sake, we’re all grown-ups. “The word ‘motorists’ covers people driving cars very well. Admittedly it doesn’t cover people on bicycles but then we have the word ‘cyclists’ for that, and ‘pedestrians’ for people who are walking. More
(AD Comments ~ Perhaps the word “motorist” should be replaced with the phrase “cash cow”, or the word “road” with the phrase “ungritted, uneven wasteland”)
The large tree – covered with decorations – had been placed in the middle of a drab roundabout by residents in Dobwalls, Cornwall. But officers from the Highways Agency moved in overnight and took the fir down claiming it was an ‘unauthorised item’. The officials said they had taken the tree away because it could be a distraction or a danger to motorists. But residents have criticised the officials for having “no Christmas spirit”. Sylvia Crome, who helped erect the tree, said: ”It’s Christmas and with all the terrible things happening in the world they have to do something like this. ”A Highways Agency van drove past us when we were putting it up and they took it away in the dead of night two days later – they didn’t even tell us. ”I think they are being quite petty, they have no Christmas spirit. I think it’s absolutely pathetic, I really don’t believe it.” Robert Newton, chairman of the parish council, said: ”It’s supposed to be the season of goodwill – where is theirs?” The tree was put up by villagers on Sunday night but had disappeared by 6am on Tuesday morning. More
(AD Remarks ~ Seems very petty, the residents were only trying to spruce the roundabout up a bit! There are so many roundabouts with very limited visability, why not tackle those first)
A council has been ridiculed after contractors misspelt road markings on its new £116 million guided busway by painting the letter N back to front. The 3ft white letter is painted at the entrance of the route on Milton Road in Cambridge, which should read “GUIDED BUS ONLY”. David Steel, a software test manager his 50s, took a photograph of the sign, whose backwards N looks like a symbol in the Russian Cyrillic alphabet. Mr Steel said the error in the sign reading was “amazing”. He said: “It seems they have tripped over themselves again. “Despite having several examples of the letter ‘N’ painted on the road just yards away, the signwriter still managed to get it wrong. More
(AD Remarks ~ Its funny what happens sometimes!)
Dec 072009
Taxpayers have spent nearly £50 million on the Government’s plans to introduce pay as you drive charging for motorists, it has emerged. Despite announcing that national road pricing is off the agenda for the foreseeable future, the Department for Transport has also spent £7.2 million on “demonstration” projects, testing the technology. This is on top of £23.6 million the DfT used to persuade major urban areas to introduce some form of charging scheme by pouring money into the local economy. The only city, outside London, to consider this option to date has been Greater Manchester. But the plans were scrapped after being overwhelmingly rejected in a referendum. And this was only after the Government spent £16.1 million in an attempt to get the scheme off the ground. A number of places, including Cambridgeshire, Leeds, the Thames Valley and Bristol are reported to be considering some form of pricing. But with the exception of Cambridgeshire, no plans have been submitted. Even the embryonic Cambridgeshire scheme is facing fierce opposition and has yet to win Government backing. Although national charging has been ditched the Cabinet Office produced a report last month in which it still nurtured hopes that some form of road pricing should be considered as a way of tackling congestion. More
(AD Remarks ~ Thats a lot of cash when nothing has/or will happen. Perhaps a fuel tax increase is on the cards to cover the cost!)
He comes from an illustrious speed dynasty. And in trying to live up to the achievements of his uncle Donald Campbell and grandfather Sir Malcolm Campbell, Don Wales has gone for the cutting edge in vehicles. He is seeking to top 100mph – on a lawnmower. Mr Wales, 49, will attempt to break the U.S.-set 80mph drive-on lawnmower speed record by more than 25 per cent. His vehicle – which must also be capable of cutting grass – is powered by a conventional 26hp Kawasaki lawnmower engine, modified to run on high-octane racing fuel. Mr Wales, who holds eight UK land speed records for electric cars and broke the world record for a steam car in August, said: ‘It is a really exciting project. How often do you get to drive a lawnmower at 100mph?’ More
(AD Remarks ~ Always useful to have a lawn mower that can go that speed!)
Nov 092009
British motorists pay more tax on diesel than drivers in any other European Union country, according to Government figures which also reveal that we pay at least 12p a litre more than other nations.Fuel duty and VAT account for 66 per cent of the pump price, says the Department of Energy and Climate Change. In some EU countries, these taxes make up only 42 per cent of the price. The overall cost of diesel is also highest in the UK, with the average price of a litre 106.6p, of which 70.1p goes on tax and duty. One of the most expensive places to fill up is the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, where diesel costs up to 120p a litre.In the first three months of 2009, the Treasury collected a staggering £4.7billion in fuel duty. More
(AD Suggests ~ Everything connected with cars is taxed higher and higher these days. The motorists always seem to be just a larger and larger cash cow!)
A politician from Ireland’s governing party has said “jumpy” drivers might benefit from having a relaxing alcoholic drink to steady their nerves. “If drink is such a sedative, it can make people who are jumpy on the road, or nervous, be more relaxed,” said Mattie McGrath, Fianna Fail’s Tipperary South representative, speaking out in favour of a modest tipple. His comments, reported on the front page of most Irish newspapers yesterday, were met with outrage from road safety groups. More
(AD Notes ~ Crazy idea to encourage drinking and driving. Especially from elected officals!)
Oct 042009
The controversial Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has been forced to withdraw personalised numberplates from an auction after complaints they were offensive to the gay community. The two registrations – F4GOT and D1KES – were to have been among 1,600 auctioned at a sale this week.But Stonewall, the gay rights charity, objected to the DVLA profiting from the sale of the insulting numberplates and they were dropped from the auction, which is expected to raise £3.5million. More
(AD Notes ~ Does it matter what the plate says, these 2 would only offend those who wanted to be offended!)
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