The AA Complaining Again

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col

Legendary Member
I have to travel to work, or be unemployed. There is just nothing around suitable. Part time wouldnt be enough. Not for lack of trying either.
 

Night Train

Maker of Things
I cycle and drive.
I don't (well didn't) have a choice as to where I worked as the subject I taught was only available at a college 30 miles away. I didn't move closer as the cost of that would out weight any benefit I got from the job and the job was only on a short annual contract with work elsewhere in between times.
I bought a new car (high depreciation alert!) but after 12 years it has lost, perhaps £700-£800 per year and that figure is reducing the longer I keep it.
I drive to achieve near 70mpg on average. My fuel cost to get to York and back is less then the train ticket for the same journey. The other motoring cost are already paid for regardless of whether I use the car or not for that journey so they don't count.
Often I am seen in the car on my own. What isn't seen, when I was fit for work, is the two tool boxes and other working kit in the back of the car.
Sometimes I drive with a big heavy and empty trailer behind my car. That is because I am either going to collect, or returning from dropping off, something big and heavy.

Sometimes I ride my bike when I could walk. The bike I ride is often considered to be rather over priced for what it is. Frequently I ride for no other purpose then to go from point A back to point A via the scenic route. I get through a lot of cake and Haribo to fuel that. Sometimes the cake is very over priced compared to a chocolate biscuit, which is subject to VAT. When it is cold on a ride I like a hot pie or pasty instead of cake, they are now subject to VAT if I understood the budget correctly.



Stereotyping others and criticising them when their assumed lives don't fit your own ideal is a poor argument.
 

Manonabike

Über Member
Why are some on here determined to make it a case of "us and them" on the roads? The vast majority of cyclists that I know are also drivers, myself included. I would say the price of petrol is already way too high, thanks to the tax on it. If you really think that motorists/hauliers are out there driving for the hell of it, then you are sadly mistaken.

It is a fact of life that the car has become pretty much a necessity for most people. Maybe they are not fortunate enough to live close enough to their work to commute by bike. If they are solo in their car, perhaps they don't work in the same location and do the same shifts as people who live near them.

If your own personal circumstances suit you being able to cycle everywhere, then lucky you. But please don't wish the worst on the rest of us. If I was a non cyclist reading your post, it wouldn't do my attitude towards cyclists a whole lot of good.

Why? Cause some can be such peanut.... it's all about me me me.
 

TheDoctor

Noble and true, with a heart of steel
Moderator
Location
The TerrorVortex
Jesus!!
All I'm saying is that there are options. If fuel goes up by 5%, then it's possible to drive more economically, and use 5% less fuel. It's possible to live closer to work. It's possible to run a more economical car.
It's not the end of the world...
 

Bman

Guru
Location
Herts.
Pretty much what happened to me. From living 12 miles from work, I went to commuting 50 miles each way. I am glad I didn't move house though; got made redundant from that one. Not working now, and refuse to take a job any more than 25 miles away as a direct result of the extortion that is fuel prices. I point blank refuse to work the first 2 or 3 hours of every shift just to pay for the petrol. And don't start me on public transport as an alternative when you work shifts....

I suspect those that don't care about petrol prices work and live in large cities where everything is to hand, jobs are plentiful, and public transport is good. Good for you; but you can keep your concrete wonderland, thanks.

Excellent, so its working then.

I would rather be in a situation where the majority of people cannot afford to commute a 50mile one way commute, than the other way around (petrol being so cheap that anyone could drive a 100 mile commute or more, when they could get a job closer). Its called efficiency.

I dont have a choice. I dont have a car, so have to take work within a certain range of where I live. I can factor in cycling, walking and public transport. Even in North Herts where jobs are not exactly in abundance, I can find something that I am capable of travelling to.

If my current employer moved offices, there would be relocation allowances to take into effect. I could either move with the job or (try to) get another one.

People do not NEED to drive, they WANT to.
 

Bman

Guru
Location
Herts.
It amazes me how many people I see on my commute, dressed in their uniforms (meaning I can identify where they work), getting into their car for a < 3mile commute. That is a rediculous situation to be in.
 

subaqua

What’s the point
Location
Leytonstone
what did we do when fuel was rationed well after the end of 2nd world war ?

no problem with fuel going up for personal use . duty wouldn't have to change for eligible users as they would get a rebate back when they submit the quarterly VAT returns ( do companies still have to do this) so no long wait . now for somebody else to sort out the who etc.
 

Night Train

Maker of Things
People do not NEED to drive, they WANT to.
Well, the bus driver wouldn't let me on the bus when I bought a tin of paint. I'm sure that he wouldn't let me on with two tool boxes, a couple of power tools, a stack of timber and a ladder.

I could use a Maximus but I would struggle to visit two clients 20 miles from me, in different directions, in the same day and still have time and energy left to do the job in hand.

I suppose the world would be better if all new bikes were ridden cross country from the factory in China to the LBS in the UK.
Roadies out on their Sunday morning ride could hitch on a trailer and help deliver the goods from the distribution depot to the local Tesco's too. That would save a few people from wanting to drive trucks about.
 

col

Legendary Member
Jesus!!
All I'm saying is that there are options. If fuel goes up by 5%, then it's possible to drive more economically, and use 5% less fuel. It's possible to live closer to work. It's possible to run a more economical car.
It's not the end of the world...
I wish it didnt feel like it.
 

Brandane

Legendary Member
Location
Costa Clyde
1778765 said:
If it is the real World, which may or may not be the case, then we need to change it.

By doing what? Going back to the days when we were on horseback, and nothing could travel further than a horse and cart could carry it? Or perhaps someone could come up with a viable alternative to the internal combustion engine. Hang on; perhaps they have, but are being well paid by the oil companies to keep it quiet (I do not know the answer to this question before anyone asks for proof of this theory).

Excellent, so its working then.

What is working, exactly? Are you one of those people who believe that the Government increases fuel duty to try and save the planet :rofl: ? Don't be fooled into believing that the Government want us to use our cars less. Au contraire - it is a nice little earner for them, and they will cack themselves if for whatever reason they don't have that fuel duty + VAT income. They know exactly how far they can push it.
 
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