Petrol prices..

[Davidc]

But...i see all the usual reps and company cars hammering along just like they always used to...they havnt got to worry about the cost, they're not paying for the fuel. They cant be doing 30mpg .

They, and many others in the commercial category, can't meet the timetables imposed on them by current business practices without 'hammering along'

Price increases in fuel will eventually change company policies and practices, but it'll take a long time.

 

[eldudino]

I'm not particularly bothered with petrol prices going up, they're going to go up to the point where driving will become prohibitively expensive during (most of) our lifetime and the sooner alternative technologies are put out on the market the better.

My personal experience is that I now use the car once or twice a week, my wife doesn't drive (nor does she drink - it's a sore point in our relationship!) so it sits unused for a lot of the time. I think as this becomes the case with more and more people, the government are going to have to look at alternative VED as my yearly total isn't representative of the mileage I do.

Part of that is my fault - I bought a petrol car when petrol was much cheaper than diesel. Now all I want is an estate that I can fit the family and all our crap into when we go visiting family/holidays that will do >50-60mpg at 65-70mph and be cheap on tax.

 

[Downward]

Not too fussed myseld but the Wife is reliant on the car working 15 miles away and working around picking the kids up at school.

 

[downfader]

..well. At least monks wont be able to burn themselves for rock album covers.

 

[J4CKO]

My 25 mpg Saab sits there, never use it, ok everything will go up in price, people use theeir cars too much and if food goes up the obesity epidemic will be solved !

 

[Crankarm]

Judging by all the fat to$$sers still steaming around at 100mph in their metal boxes fuel is still way too cheap. I think only when it hits £15 a litre will people consider altering their driving styles or frequency that they use their vehicles. I walk 1.5 miles to the supermarket most days. On sundays a lardy ar$ed fat woman who lives 30 yds from the supermaket steams out of her drive nearly running me over with her big car revving it to within an inch of it's life into the supermarket car park. She invariably only buys milk, white bread and fags. I onced asked her if she had ever considered walking to improve her health "No" she grumpily weased back polluting my air space with smoke.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Me personally would like fuel to go up - It'll push companies to develop more renewable cars..

....for those that can afford them

The rest of us who drive P-registered Skodas because we have sense enough not to be swayed by badge snobbery when buying a car with less than 35K on the clock for under £700, are in a different league and can't just go "hey, I feel like buying my green credentials with a new car"

I don't use it much but there are occasions when the bike won't do and either will public transport. Enough of them to make car hire an impractical solution.

Whan I ran my eBay business as a sideline to my day job, I NEEDED a vehicle to make daily trips with 3 or 4 large post sacks to the post office in my lunch break, and to get from work to suppliers to replenish stock.

Some cars, even single-occupanrt ones, aren't just being driven through laziness. Just MOST of them

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Judging by all the fat to$$sers still steaming around at 100mph in their metal boxes fuel is still way too cheap. I think only when it hits £15 a litre will people consider altering their driving styles or frequency that they use their vehicles. I walk 1.5 miles to the supermarket most days. On sundays a lardy ar$ed fat woman who lives 30 yds from the supermaket steams out of her drive nearly running me over with her big car revving it to within an inch of it's life into the supermarket car park. She invariably only buys milk, white bread and fags. I onced asked her if she had ever considered walking to improve her health "No" she grumpily weased back polluting my air space with smoke.

errr ... what will happen at £15 a litre that won't happen at, say, £14.98 a litre? Why is fifteen quid the magic figure that will somehow mean no one will need their cars any more? And why, if you didn't want "your" airspace "polluted with smoke", did you go near this woman in the first place? presumably you could see she was smoking.

 

[simongrant]

greedy petrol companies put prices up whenever they want to,monthly,weekly even daily and there is hardly a murmer from the general populous.Watch all hell break loose when 3p duty goes on

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

it is a simple fact that we are running low on oil therefore demand will outstrip supply ergo prices will soar. i think we will see the electric car come good in the next decade possibly the hydrogen fuel cell, tho that may have terrorist implications?

 

[downfader]

Anyone notice how the US seems to be stock piling oil and waiting for the Arab oil to run dry? Someone's after a high demand pricing strategy...

 

[Arch]

it is a simple fact that we are running low on oil therefore demand will outstrip supply ergo prices will soar. i think we will see the electric car come good in the next decade possibly the hydrogen fuel cell, tho that may have terrorist implications?

Why any more so than petrol?

I was reading something the other day, apparently of all the US states, Alaska has a very high rate of cycling and walking. Why? It's not connected to much the intercontinental highway network, so the cost of fuel, and buying a vehicle, is high. So maybe it will eventually get into people's thick heads. Long term, we need to stop living a life reliant on the private car. People shouldn't live so far from work that they have to drive. Small local shops should become viable again. People should rediscover the ability to walk and cycle - and that with the right bike or trike you can carry a lot of stuff. Hell, even just having the foresight to take a rucksack instead of amputating your fingers with a plastic bag seems to be beyond some people.

It's the transition period that will be hard, and no political party will have the guts to put us through it. So 'they' will cushion us from the worst and plug alternatives that allow us to try and carry on the same...

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

because the hydrogen bomb is far more powerful than a petrol bomb don't you think?

 

[Arch]

because the hydrogen bomb is far more powerful than a petrol bomb don't you think?

Um, but it's not really made out of a big lump of hydrogen is it? I mean, you need plutonium and stuff. Anyway, anyone can make hydrogen if they want, we did it at school. You don't need to steal tanks of it.

 

[Davidc]

because the hydrogen bomb is far more powerful than a petrol bomb don't you think?

No. Hydrogen would be a most impractical bomb fuel for a terrorist! Even if you're thinking of trying to blow up a large scale store it would be less effective as a target for them than a petrol store. Diesel has been used a lot for home made terrorist bombs.

If you're confusing chemical explosions with nuclear ones then think again. Construction of a uranium bomb might be possible for very sophisticated state sponsored terrorists but nothing beyond that would be. Stealing one would be a much easier option.