[David9694]

A new catch-all Tea Shop thread for those miscellaneous new stories that don’t quite fit with parking, crashing into buildings or trapped/prisoners in their homes. 

Topic

[mattw]

The objections to that

The objections to that proposal are weird.

The NT are proposing an uncontrolled pedestrian crossing over a B Road, and they are all claiming it will be dangerous and clog up the traffic and damage the business of the ferry – where that road traffic goes.

The capacity of the ferry is 28 vehicles max, and it goes about twice an hour in each direction.

So the flow is maxed out at about 2 cars per minute.

They are whining about 4 minute delays for motor vehicles casued by the pedestrian crossing and how pedestrians will “make it dangerous”, yet the ferry only goes every 20-30 minutes, and they charge cycles disproportionately high fares. They are also objectinkg to a bit of traffic calming, and a slightly longer 30mph limit on a narrow road.

TBF the proposdal is also strange, given that the NT is working on increasing active travel.

[Jogle]

David9694 wrote:

According to federal data, the average American now weighs around 30 percent more than they did 40 years ago.

I know that I’m not American but I think that I’m a lot more than 30% heavier than I was 40 years ago, probably more than 300% heavier

[David9694]

According to federal data,

According to federal data, the average American now weighs around 30 percent more than they did 40 years ago.

[Hirsute]

I wouldn’t put that much
I wouldn’t put that much reliance on a local paper report ! All cut and paste with no questions asked.

[brooksby]

Hirsute wrote:

There is legislation to ban for any offence

So they just chose not to… 

[brooksby]

https://slate.com/business

https://slate.com/business/2024/10/cars-suvs-pedestrian-deaths-traffic-safety-lidar-computer-vision.html

US focused, but still…

I use the term car bloat to describe the ongoing expansion of vehicle models over the past 50 years. Although car bloat is a global trend, it is especially pronounced in the United States, where sedans and station wagons have been largely replaced by the SUVs and pickups that now account for about 4 in 5 new car purchases. At the same time, individual models have grown heftier. A 2024 Chevrolet Silverado pickup, for instance, is around 700 pounds heavier and 2 inches taller than the 1995 edition. According to federal data, the average new American car now weighs around 30 percent more than it did 40 years ago.

Car bloat creates numerous costs that are borne by society rather than the purchaser, or “negative externalities,” as economists call them. These include increased emissions, faster road wear, and reduced curbside parking capacity. But car bloat’s most obvious and urgent downside may be the danger it presents to anyone on the street who isn’t cocooned inside a gigantic vehicle.

[Steve K]

andystow wrote:

andystow wrote:

mark1a wrote:

Steve K wrote:

andystow wrote:

As a MINI enthusiast, thanks, I hate it.

If you are a proper Mini enthusiast, you’d hate it even if it had normal wheels. 

To be fair, he did say “MINI” and not “Mini”…

I like both, but the very new ones have got big and ugly. Here’s mine with my brother’s.

The problem of car size growth in one easy picture.  I still regret selling my final proper mini back in 2000.

[Hirsute]

There is legislation to ban

There is legislation to ban for any offence

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/17/section/163

CPS : The order provides both an additional punishment and a preventive measure. However, there must be sufficient reason for the disqualification. The following are examples of cases in which such orders have been imposed:

Cliff [2004] EWCA Crim 3139 – the offender had admitted that before committing affray he had driven a car whilst affected by drink or drugs or both.
Bye [2005] EWCA Crim 1230 – disqualification for 12 months in conjunction with a prison sentence of 8 months was upheld where the offender got out of their car and attacked another motorist.
Waring [2005] EWCA Crim 1080 – disqualification for 18 months in conjunction with a prison sentence of 4 months for escape from lawful custody was upheld. The offender had been stopped by the police, provided a positive breath test but, in the process of being taken to the police station, had jumped from the police car and escaped. He thereby avoided a secondary breath test and any possibility of being prosecuted for driving with excess alcohol.
Sofekun [2008] EWCA Crim 2035 – disqualification upheld where the offender had cannabis concealed within the bonnet of their car in small bags ready for supply.

Certainly fits the Bye [2005] example.

 

[David9694]

The flooding is pretty bad. 

The flooding is pretty bad. 

[brooksby]

David9694 wrote:

“Parking issues” – what cars do to people:

East Malling man jailed for GBH after squashing man between car and lamppost in Kings Hill

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/malling/news/driver-jailed-for-squashing-man-between-car-and-lampost-afte-313817/

Kent Online wrote:

Two days after the incident, Arnold, who was 23 at the time, handed himself in at Sheerness Police Station and claimed during an interview he had been scared of the victim and hadn’t meant to harm him.

He insisted his foot had slipped on the accelerator as he tried to drive around him.

Scary thing on this story is AFAICS the motorist got jail time for GBH, so it was accepted that he used his car as a weapon to assault the other guy, but there’s no mention of a driving ban.  Is that because he was convicted on a non-driving offence?

[David9694]

Chippenham free parking plans

Chippenham free parking plans vote splits residents

Residents were split over the decision to scrap plans for free parking in a Wiltshire town centre.

Were they? Town councillors say they received a “deluge” of messages from residents ahead of the decision, which were overwhelmingly against the proposal.

Natasha Giddings said: “What about disabled people who have no choice but to drive and park?

(A: Wiltshire Council included blue badge holders in parking charges a couple years ago, but there’s a political fudge that gives them an extra hour free.)

Graham Knight – bad loser much? 

https://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/24620352.chippenham-free-parking-plans-vote-splits-residents/

[David9694]

“Parking issues” – what cars

“Parking issues” – what cars do to people:

East Malling man jailed for GBH after squashing man between car and lamppost in Kings Hill

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/malling/news/driver-jailed-for-squashing-man-between-car-and-lampost-afte-313817/

[andystow]

mark1a wrote:

mark1a wrote:

Steve K wrote:

andystow wrote:

As a MINI enthusiast, thanks, I hate it.

If you are a proper Mini enthusiast, you’d hate it even if it had normal wheels. 

To be fair, he did say “MINI” and not “Mini”…

I like both, but the very new ones have got big and ugly.

Here’s mine with my brother’s.

[Steve K]

Beware of expensive German

Beware of expensive German imitations.

[mark1a]

Steve K wrote:

andystow wrote:

As a MINI enthusiast, thanks, I hate it.

If you are a proper Mini enthusiast, you’d hate it even if it had normal wheels. 

To be fair, he did say “MINI” and not “Mini”…

[Author]

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