The AA Complaining Again

[Cletus Van Damme]

I was cycling to work on my 9.5 miles each way commute. Unfortunately my knee is knackered again and I am looking at a major op, my 3rd in just over 2 years. So I have to use my car and it is killing me financially. In fact I am looking at selling it as it only does 30mpg and rip-off road tax is £245 a year (1.6 petrol Ford Focus). I know I am going to have to fork out for a newer smaller car but I would rather pay that than give this government anything more than I have to through tax. Public transport is out of the question due to my rural location.

It annoyed me recently listening to that knob Cameron on the radio stating that he proposed investment in new roads to be done by private companies, whom would in-turn charge tolls to use these new roads. Being old enough to remember when Thatcher privatised British Rail, this is not a great thought as apparently rail travel in this country is now the most expensive in Europe. Still at least the rich will be able to use the new roads no problem. Most of the existing roads around here are in a terrible state let alone building new ones.

Maybe we have just got too soft as I remember in the 70's having to all squeeze into a mini or an allegro. Most average families should now be squashing into Citroen C1's or something similar.

 

[Brandane]

- and I sympathise. My reply was to Brandane, who said he had a choice and was bragging that he had chosen to live somewhere rural.

Not "bragging", just stating that I don't live in a city. Which hardly makes my small town "rural". It is however, a fair distance from any places offering meaningful employment, and it does not have good public transport links.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

But you would'nt be quids in would you .. because if your weekly shopping bill doubles then YOU would be paying the extra fuel duty for the haulier that delivers all of the goods to the supermarket, so effectively you are volunteering to pay extra taxes on fuel even though you dont drive .. what an amazing outlook you have

IF. But it isn't going to any time soon due to fuel taxes is it? You see, the cost of transporting my shopping is shared with 100's, if not 1000's, of other customers. It's pretty fundamental to the average supermarkets business model.

 

[col]

I dont think anything privatised works for most of us, the new owners have to make a worthwhile profit or whats the point for them?

 

[Brandane]

Maybe we have just got too soft as I remember in the 70's having to all squeeze into a mini or an allegro. Most average families should now be squashing into Citroen C1's or something similar.

The problem now being that the law won't allow that. Seat belts, each occupant must have a proper seat etc., so families numbering more than 5 are conned into buying some form of mega expensive (to buy and to run) people carrier type thing.

 

[Orange]

Petrol and even diesel is not that expensive really - it's the ridiculous rip-off tax that's applied to it that makes it cost so much.

 

[Belly]

Greg, I took up cycling in 1968. I've done the whole lot, cycle touring with tents and panniers, racing, commuting to work, and just riding a bike because I love it. But I also rely on my car. I need a car as much as I need my bike. That's about it, really.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

The problem now being that the law won't allow that. Seat belts, each occupant must have a proper seat etc., so families numbering more than 5 are conned into buying some form of mega expensive (to buy and to run) people carrier type thing.

Yes never thought about that mate.

 

[RedRider]

Painful indeed but we may as well face up to it.

Agreed. The government should take the same approach to petrol it does to taxing tobacco and (withdrawal symptoms aside) make both these habits a less attractive option. I say this as a still (sadly) smoking non-motorist.

 

[Brandane]

Vast majority of motorists are driving through choice. Hauliers ultimately pass their costs on to the rest of us.
Not a fact merely an opinion

The vast majority of the population have choice over where they live and work.

The vast majority are solo in the car through choice. They make a choice to park close to their workplace. Very few as in a single digit % of the people employed hereabouts work shifts, according to the economic unit of the local council.

cycling is my choice.

If you were a non cyclist and someone's posting in a forum would damage your attitude to cyclists as a group/whole then you'd be a exercising a choice to be a numpty.

So many choices. So what happened to the motorists choices which you feel should incur such huge financial penalties?

Clearly we do not live on the same planet. In 34 years of work, I have NEVER worked in a job that did NOT involve shift work.

 

[subaqua]

I was cycling to work on my 9.5 miles each way commute. Unfortunately my knee is knackered again and I am looking at a major op, my 3rd in just over 2 years. So I have to use my car and it is killing me financially. In fact I am looking at selling it as it only does 30mpg and rip-off road tax is £245 a year (1.6 petrol Ford Focus). I know I am going to have to fork out for a newer smaller car but I would rather pay that than give this government anything more than I have to through tax. Public transport is out of the question due to my rural location.

It annoyed me recently listening to that knob Cameron on the radio stating that he proposed investment in new roads to be done by private companies, whom would in-turn charge tolls to use these new roads. Being old enough to remember when Thatcher privatised British Rail, this is not a great thought as apparently rail travel in this country is now the most expensive in Europe. Still at least the rich will be able to use the new roads no problem. Most of the existing roads around here are in a terrible state let alone building new ones.

Maybe we have just got too soft as I remember in the 70's having to all squeeze into a mini or an allegro. Most average families should now be squashing into Citroen C1's or something similar.

shurely you mean VED.

and nobody seems to realise there is a a way to ensure hauliers don't get stung for extra duty on fuel. tax fuel for personal use to the hilt. then maybe essential journeys would be that rather than the trips of less than 2 miles which make up a huge percentage of unneccesary car journeys.

 

[Brandane]

Why is the time of day you go to work relevant?

If you go back to post #2, GregCollins was having a go at people driving cars as solo occupants. It then evolved to reasons why some people cannot car share, such as SHIFT WORKERS not starting/finishing work at the same time/place as others.

 

[mcshroom]

Shift work by definition says that a number of people are going to turn up at the same place at the same time and leave at the same time. A whole shift full in fact.

 

[col]

If you go back to post #2, GregCollins was having a go at people driving cars as solo occupants. It then evolved to reasons why some people cannot car share, such as SHIFT WORKERS not starting/finishing work at the same time/place as others.

None of our shifts work out close enough to do this.

 

[subaqua]

If you go back to post #2, GregCollins was having a go at people driving cars as solo occupants. It then evolved to reasons why some people cannot car share, such as SHIFT WORKERS not starting/finishing work at the same time/place as others.

so if you work shifts you work on your own and nobody could car share at all . damn gonna have to sack all of shift except one person .

as far back as the 80s people in the same factories car shared, unless the 3 blokes who shared a car that lived on the same road as me as a kid were up to shenanigans . No 7 , No 2 and No 14 they lived at. and it wasn't a huge town either.

3 years ago I would have been in the I NEED a car camp. it can be done and cheaper than using a car. the car gives a huge convenience factor thats all. a little planning and it can be done