6p off diesel and petrol for next 3 months.....

[Wobblers]

I'm not suggesting that he actually drive it.

?

Are you hoping he'll wash it for you? (Because if you are, I fear you'll be disappointed: he's more likely to spill lager over it, then fall over it.)

 

[400bhp]

Sometimes I don't know what to think of threads like these.

There's a seeming intellectual bunch trying to explain the meaning of life to dumb animals.

Or is it

There's a seeming intellectual bunch toying with dumb animals.

Or is it

There's a seeming intellectual bunch who actually don't realise that by toying with dumb animals makes them a dumb animal.

I'm bored..

 

[srw]

Or perhaps....

...something of all three.

Once in a while, someone manages to transcend apparent dumbness, and that makes it worthwhile. And more often than you'd think someone comes out with something unexpected that arrests the attention.

 

[martint235]

I'm not suggesting that he actually drive it.

?

Are you hoping he'll wash it for you? (Because if you are, I fear you'll be disappointed: he's more likely to spill lager over it, then fall over it.)

Ok first off I can't drive or at least I can't drive anything that isn't a Land Rover and I'm not legally alllowed to drive anything on the road.

Secondly, I wouldn't waste lager on a car. And that's even when I'm not drinking.

 

[theclaud]

Shoot....I'll do my best to answer honestly - I do seem to live a lifestyle which you readily offer derisory comments on (so six of one/half a dozen of the other)

NB: Seeing as dissing Cheltenham is fair game, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to do the same for London, Swansea or anywhere else. Your old burb is on the doorstep of Reading (as you have already divulged so already in the public domain) so that is good enough for me if we are discussing people living further than practical as User482 observed.

Do better. I spent a few days once winding people up on the Safespeed forum, before I realized it was an irredeemably ignoble pursuit and wasn't really helping me think about anything. You've spent years indulging your hostility to cyclists here. So what do you want? It isn't me that's hanging around disparaging a community whilst pretending to be part of it - I don't owe you any explanation whatever. Prove me wrong, and contribute something positive.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Sometimes I don't know what to think of threads like these.

There's a seeming intellectual bunch trying to explain the meaning of life to dumb animals.

Or is it

There's a seeming intellectual bunch toying with dumb animals.

Or is it

There's a seeming intellectual bunch who actually don't realise that by toying with dumb animals makes them a dumb animal.

I'm bored..

This is one of those arguments where deep down inside we all know that the 'intellectuals' are right. The car is unsustainable and it's negatives are outweighing the positives. However (and here's the rub), there's a time and cost factor involved in getting from where we are to where we will need to be. That's uncomfortable and difficult for some, easier for others.

For example I've always lived near to where I work, however, I've always had company moves to sweeten the pill.
I have 3 children who have schooloing needs, this is a complexity in re-locating.
I've nearly always had company funded cars, this means I have more freedom of choice where I live relative to work.

However, for others it's different. For example, being single and renting gives more flexibility and less investment than having a family of five, in the short-term that's a far easier proposition to adopt to a car-less future, whereas for others it's much harder proposition.

To go back to the OP question. I think cutting car-fuel cost is NOT a sensible option even in these troubled times. Car fuel cost need to rise albeit gently to apply pressure on people to re-think their options and priorities, but it won't and it shouldn't happen overnight, but it needs to happen just the same.

 

[snorri]

Excellent summing up Fab Foodie, why did you wait until page 13?

 

[Smurfy]

Aaaah, the arcane art of apologetics for the motor car!

Nothing quite like it for defying any and all logic and fact. And indeed the laws of gravity and thermodynamics.

Why would I feel the need to apologise for contributing huge amounts of extra money to the economy, simply for being unlucky enough to have been unable to find a job closer to home. I currently spend ~2.5k per year on fuel for commuting, around 70% of which is duty and VAT. That's amounts to an additional 1.75k a year tax bill for having the audacity to go out and work! When you're willing to pay that tax for me, I'll start apologising to you!

 

[Smurfy]

They are to be applauded. Were there howls of anguish when they did so from the petrol heads?

The petrol heads fought it all the way. If I remember rightly, a judge overturned the Traffic Regulation Orders on a Technicality, only for the National Park Authority to immediately re-submit the TROs with the technicality corrected.

I guess being in a National Park may have eased the way.

I think National Parks may have been given a new power to impose TROs without recourse to the Highways Agency.

 

[growingvegetables]

Why would I feel the need to apologise for contributing huge amounts of extra money to the economy, simply for being unlucky enough to have been unable to find a job closer to home. I currently spend ~2.5k per year on fuel for commuting, around 70% of which is duty and VAT. That's amounts to an additional 1.75k a year tax bill for having the audacity to go out and work! When you're willing to pay that tax for me, I'll start apologising to you!

Ummmm - I didn't ask you to apologise for anything

Apologetics is something quite different. From wikipedia, "Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of information."

 

[snorri]

Why would I feel the need to apologise for contributing huge amounts of extra money to the economy, simply for being unlucky enough to have been unable to find a job closer to home. I currently spend ~2.5k per year on fuel for commuting, around 70% of which is duty and VAT. That's amounts to an additional 1.75k a year tax bill for having the audacity to go out and work! When you're willing to pay that tax for me, I'll start apologising to you!

Now give us the stats regarding the costs to the nation of your motoring.

 

[Smurfy]

Ummmm - I didn't ask you to apologise for anything

Apologetics is something quite different. From wikipedia, "Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of information."

Didn't realise driving a car was akin to following a faith

 

[Smurfy]

Now give us the stats regarding the costs to the nation of your motoring.

I just did! I pay a huge amount of extra tax, the vast majority of which is not spent on roads. I've never knocked anyone down with my car, and most of my miles are done on motorways, well away from non-motorised road users.

 

[snorri]

I just did! I pay a huge amount of extra tax, the vast majority of which is not spent on roads..

What do you mean by "extra tax"? If you as a motorist are paying your way in this country, then you are the only motorist who is.
Why should it all be spent on roads, what about the other costs your motoring is imposing on the nation?

 

[Smurfy]

What do you mean by "extra tax"? If you as a motorist are paying your way in this country, then you are the only motorist who is.
Why should it all be spent on roads, what about the other costs your motoring is imposing on the nation?

Fuel taxes raise huge amounts of revenue. If I and many other motorists didn't pay these taxes, all the non-motorists would have to pay an awful lot more tax via some other mechanism. What are these 'other costs' that you allude to?