An increase in traffic - or not?

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Slick

Guru
Thanks HRH Nicola for your announcement last night that lockdown rules are being relaxed as of today. The relaxation didn't amount to much, in fact in reality you TIGHTENED them for cyclists with the "advice" that everybody should stay within 5 miles of home.

Predictably, the great Scottish public have taken the word relaxation to mean do exactly as we please. Overnight, traffic levels have jumped enormously. Can't wait to see what the weekend will bring, traffic wise, to our sleepy seaside town with its closed car parks and no public toilets. Ach well, it was good while it lasted.
It made a difference to me but obviously not everyone will benefit. I also didn't take the 5 mile guidance as a maximum that I can cycle, especially as I do 32 just getting to and from work. I certainly don't won't to gloat when people are obviously still suffering but for me, today felt like a very small first step back to whatever normality is going to be.
 

rliu

Veteran
Not having read every prior post in this thread, I was driven (no pun intended) to look for a thread amongst this topic after coming back from a 2 hour ride round South London just now. Some frankly farcical queues of traffic out there around nearly every high street in the area (Dulwich, Sydenham, West Norwood, Streatham etc). Clearly there is now a mentality of I spend x amount of money as a fixed cost on my car (insurance, maintenance, leasing costs or hire purchase etc.), I'm going to get my money's worth out of my car now that more than half of people don't care about the lockdown anymore. This has been exacerbated by the re-imposition of the congestion charge, as the likes of Bond Street and Oxford Street is still as deserted as it was a few weeks ago, people are not driving into central London or across London but absolutely packing their local parks and green spaces.
 
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