Drivers and their problems

Hirsute wrote:

There's not a lot to do in Bristol in the evening.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjmmj2k3n3no

A man who has written a 150 page report into a controversial bus gate has said the traffic measure is "unlawful" and "defective".

"This one is not normal. There is something wrong with the design."

umm

Sounds like he's found a lot of technical issues with the signage. On the one hand, I think signs and road designs should be consistent between various councils and areas, but on the other hand, Cumberland Rd is much nicer without having a long queue of traffic all the time. As the Chocolate Path was closed/collapsed, then Cumberland Road is the alternative route, though personally I usually go the other side of the river (Coronation Road with the famously bad shared usage that has massive trees blocking the cycle side) and tangle with traffic.

“Some vehicles also use my drive to turn. My dog just escaped being run over by a lorry reversing into my drive/garden."

@worldbollardassociation !

Hirsute wrote:

A court has heard how a drink driver would be unable to cope without a driving licence because she lives in a city "dominated by men" who "are not all very good boys".

“There are 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers in that town and they are not all very good boys – it’s very brave of her.

“It’s powerful mitigation – it’s compelling mitigation.”

But not that compelling

"Magistrates were not convinced by the Mr Clarke’s defence, however, and banned Raczynska, of Maldon Road, Colchester, from driving for 23 months. "

https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/24618267.colchester-drink-driver-iso...

I know grief does strange things, but driving drunk is a bizarre reaction to your brother dying in a traffic incident.

district judge Andrew Sweet banned the rapper, who was not present in court, from driving for nine months and fined him £2,010

Should have gone to BanSavers to offend- not accepted as an offence in Lancashire 

stonojnr wrote:

3 vehicles collide all by themselves https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/24488417.thedwastre-road-thurston-closed-thr...

Must be all those Teslas roaming around unherded, bound to be the odd collision.

Magnificent hordes, thundering across the plains of the Serengeti, type of thing.

Bloody muntjacs - appearing out of nowhere and speeding through red lights. They need to be licensed and made to wear hi viz.

Drugs?...moi?

Hirsute wrote:

Please tell me this is digitally altered

As a MINI enthusiast, thanks, I hate it.

David9694 wrote:

'It's my car - why should an under-21 not be allowed in it?'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgl5jvz0dqo

And so it begins. Isn't the idea of this that it would apply at night?

Well quite, Faye : "If this rule came into place, it wouldn't give me any motivation to drive at all," says the 16-year-old from Norfolk. "I want to drive because it gives me a lot more freedom."
Ever considered why public transport is "a nightmare"? Or thought of anyone but yourself? 

Agree something needs to apply to older drivers - regular re-tests. If you really cannot figure out Ringo, I don't see how you can claim to be safe to drive:

Exeter city centre car park bans cash and direct card payments

It's 'too expensive' to fix the pay and display machines

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/exeter-city-centre-car-park-96...

Interesting that in a city centre car park they've decided the fee/cut taken by Ringo is more economic than operating machines on the spot. 

I don't like the logic behind it - if they've passed their driving test and are old enough, then why can't they be trusted to be sensible? I also have doubts as to how this would be policed.

brooksby wrote:

Rod Stewart considers selling his sports cars because of local potholes

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/nov/14/rod-stewart-considers-sell...

Very public spirited of him, the tax he would have to pay on capital gains (I'm not a tax expert by any means but I believe the exemption for cars only applies to your personal vehicle, not collections or vehicles bought as investments) can go towards mending the potholes, thanks Rod! Chimes with one of my favourite quotes about taxation, would you sooner have enough money to own a Lamborghini but the roads be so bad you can't drive it anywhere, or would you rather pay a level of tax that meant you could "only" afford a Porsche but that meant you would have nice smooth roads to drive it on?

jenoola wrote:

Generally, whichever road user is nearest a passing place will pull in, reversing if necessary (even if going uphill .... I adopt the same rules when cycling ...

You sound more considerate than me - I'm not even sure my bike has a reverse gear.

jenoola wrote:

However, a cyclist coming the opposite direction (I happened to be driving today) declined to use the passing space right beside him and didn't slow down or make any attempt to share the road. For safety I just stopped completely, but is this now becoming a more usual practice in other parts of the country with single track road?

Good for you for thinking about everyone's safety and not just your own convenience - roads would be better with more people having that attitude. Presumably they hit your car?

If not ... sounds like you made a good choice, and everyone got home safe.... what was the question again?

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. 

Where logic or "theory" clashes with reality though - the stats apparently show this is a real thing AND when relatively simple measures are applied there is a measurable improvement.

https://www.roadpeace.org/working-for-change/graduated-driving-licensing/

https://www.racfoundation.org/media-centre/study-confirms-benefits-of-gr...

Policing - agree that a) needs police and b) a subtle approach to avoid "police stopping us just 'cos we're young".

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"...

chrisonabike wrote:

Where logic or "theory" clashes with reality though - the stats apparently show this is a real thing AND when relatively simple measures are applied there is a measurable improvement. https://www.roadpeace.org/working-for-change/graduated-driving-licensing/ https://www.racfoundation.org/media-centre/study-confirms-benefits-of-gr... Policing - agree that a) needs police and b) a subtle approach to avoid "police stopping us just 'cos we're young".

Well if there's a need for a graduated driving license (and it does look like there's a good case for it), then let's have a graduated driving license with additional tests to let young drivers take passengers or drive after midnight. Instead, we get a half measure that assumes that maturity is purely linked to age and develops at the same rate in people.

Beware of expensive German imitations.

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.

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.

https://slate.com/business/2024/10/cars-suvs-pedestrian-deaths-traffic-s...

US focused, but still…

Quote:

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.

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

Jogle wrote:

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

My weight is up at least 400% since I moved from the UK to the US at age 8. Must be from eating. Well, and breathing and drinking.

It does, doesn't it?

Were they aiming for a big flat open field, or did they misjudge how wide the road was?