[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

[OnYerBike]

✔️ Picture of “victim”

✔️ Picture of “victim” holding parking ticket

[David9694]

Plans to offer free parking

Plans to offer free parking in Cardiff met with fury

Cardiff Council recently announced it would change its plans on car parking charges to allow stays of up to 30 minutes free of charge

Slightly misleading headline – plan A was for no free parking, plan B – you might as well paint a target roundel on it – is 30 minutes free which will please no-one (not least if the idea was to encourage more cycling and walking trips)

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/plans-free-30-minute-parking-32277903?int_source=nba

[David9694]

Driver hit with first ticket

Driver hit with first ticket in 33 years says strict parking rules deter visitors from Folkestone

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/folkestone/news/driver-hit-with-first-ticket-in-33-years-strict-parking-ru-328599/

✔️ Had no choice, forced to park in a residents bay, she was 

✔️ surely the 1 hour limit doesn’t apply on Sunday 

✔️ not everyone has a bus pass 

✔️ nowhere to park without payment (church car park was full) 

✔️ theres nothing in Folkestone (so not sure what visitors there’d be – best stick with the one story, eh?) 

You may meet the KOL paywall. 

[David9694]

So it’s somewhere between

So it’s somewhere between being another driver Straw Man and a “Government told to do x” story.  

If only there were alternatives for Richard like E-scooters and e bikes/trikes – but I get that if he doesn’t fall foul of the police he’ll fall foul of his erstwhile friends, drivers.  

[chrisonabike]

Tom_77 wrote:

Tom_77 wrote:

I don’t think even The Telegraph would suggest that it’s OK to drive with defective eyesight because the buses are crap.

“Clearly drunken, drugged up louts shouldn’t be driving!  They’ve chosen to be antisocial.  But blind people can’t help being blind.  Banning them from driving smacks of discrimination.  And further, this column is sponsored by Waymo / Tesla, so …”

[mdavidford]

They’ve been told to by ‘an

They’ve been told to by ‘an expert’. Said ‘expert’ turns out to be, er, “John Kushnick, National Accident Helpline’s Legal Director”. Hmm.

[Tom_77]

David9694 wrote:

And so it begins. I haven’t read the article, but he appears to be saying he wouldn’t pass the eye test – if there’s any logic to the headline at all. 

I think it’s in response to the suggestion that there should be an upper age limit for driving – UK told to introduce maximum driving age limit ‘somewhere in 80s’

I don’t think even The Telegraph would suggest that it’s OK to drive with defective eyesight because the buses are crap.

AFAIK an upper age limit has never been seriously suggested in the UK, and I’m not aware of any other country that has one – although medical tests for older drivers are quite common.

[chrisonabike]

David9694 wrote:

David9694 wrote:

And so it begins. I haven’t read the article, but he appears to be saying he wouldn’t pass the eye test – if there’s any logic to the headline at all. 

Well – that’s the thing with change – if done effectively some things will not stay the same…

I could see this change failing to make it because of the a) the older driver lobby b) the even bigger “I’m a great driver so there’s no way you’re making me change my driving” lobby.

It turns out that we can’t have alternatives to driving (like cycling, or buses that don’t get stuck in traffic) for (a) – mostly because “so many people driving”, but partly because (b) actually aren’t that great…

Countryside is a slightly different challenge – because there motoring has hollowed out or completely removed local jobs, services and amenities AND permitted more people to be there and expect fairly ready access to a good quality of these. (Of course that’s part of a bigger change and been going on for centuries if not millenia…)

[David9694]

And so it begins. I haven’t

And so it begins. I haven’t read the article, but he appears to be saying he wouldn’t pass the eye test – if there’s any logic to the headline at all. 

There’s longer story behind this that since cars kill off public transport and cycling, the Richards of this world have very little to fall back on.  Let’s hear the driver lobby address that one. 

see also https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/25351813.a303-crash-inquest-elderly-couple-die-medical-episode/

[Backladder]

David9694 wrote:

We’re a disgrace in the developed world for the alcohol limit – equal only to America in that regard – for all the difference it makes to some people whom the system does nothing to stop getting into a car and attempting to drive it, as you say

The limit isn’t the problem, you could lower it to zero but if there are no police on the roads testing drivers then you’re only going to catch people after they hit someone or something. Here in Scotland I haven’t seen the police stopping and testing drivers since they lowered the limit and I doubt that there are fewer drunk drivers on the roads because of the lower limit!

[David9694]

We’re a disgrace in the

We’re a disgrace in the developed world for the alcohol limit – equal only to America in that regard – for all the difference it makes to some people whom the system does nothing to stop getting into a car and attempting to drive it, as you say.
 

Isn’t one of the usual excuses for this the side effects of certain medicines?  Why does the pub car park even exist?

The young people / passengers thing is pretty unpoliceable, I’d have thought.  The stories of them coming to grief seem to be from hurtling around together late at night.  The young driver’s car shuts down at 9 pm is the only serious solution if we have to go on living in a world of access to cars for all, with the consequence that that all other options are much reduced (see also below).

I guess the eye tests would be a start – at least it gets a person into a consultation room and might start a conversation about whether they should carry on driving or not. 

[chrisonabike]

… oh – and apparently young

… oh – and apparently young folks aren’t part of the plan, even though there seems to be some data that a) that is a big issue and b) the proposed change has helped where implemented.

[chrisonabike]

Goodness – could this be a
Goodness – could this be a new road safety strategy, after only a decade and a half, or so?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yllgezjk3o

BBC wrote:

Motorists over 70 could be banned from the roads if they fail compulsory eye tests, as part of a radical shake-up of driving laws in England and Wales.

The two countries’ drink-driving limit is also set to be tightened to be in line with Scotland’s, with penalty points to be introduced for passengers not wearing a seatbelt.

The changes are expected to be included in a new road safety strategy set to be published by the government in the autumn, with ministers believing that the current safety messaging is not working.

Welcome, but alas, it’s pretty much “safety for motorists”. And won’t change much of anything – new rules are only a good as the feedback loop that makes them happen eg. reporting / policing.

Probably churlish of me to point out that while the eye test regulations sound good they don’t touch “SMIDSY” – better or worse vision but can’t see if you don’t look. Nor will the booze ones do much when we’ve IDGAF “NOZ at the wheel” types.

Never mind “I swear I wasn’t doing more than 35mph – what do you mean, it’s a 20 zone?”

Nor the fact that “drivers are well-behaved, honest” makes about zero difference to “but I *have to drive*” – which is the ultimate source of “motoring issues” and why we can’t have good public transport or active travel provision.

[David9694]

It’s a relentless war on

It’s a relentless war on motorists! If only there was a way for drivers to thwart cash crazy CCC’s scheme

Drivers say ban on industrial estate parking is ‘all about the money‘

The Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to restrict on-street parking was proposed due to concerns about parked cars obstructing businesses

Milton123 simply states: “It’s all about the money.”

Skipper says: “Relentless war against the motorist continues. It would be nice if, just occasionally, they did something to support Britain’s favourite/essential mode of transport instead of making its use ever more expensive and difficult.”

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/news-opinion/drivers-say-ban-industrial-estate-32225119?int_source=nba

[mdavidford]

More accurately, he says he

More accurately, he says he still hasn’t ‘had confirmation’ it’s now sorted.  Has he remembered to tell them about his change of address yet? Maybe they sent him a letter…

[Author]

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