The AA Complaining Again

[mcshroom]

Also just to throw a light to the myth of having the most expensive fuel in Europe. As of the 21st February, we had cheaper petrol than Denmark, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden and were within a cent of France.

Source: http://www.drive-alive.co.uk/fuel_prices_europe.html

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Also just to throw a light to the myth of having the most expensive fuel in Europe. As of the 21st February, we had cheaper petrol than Denmark, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden and were within a cent of France.

Source: http://www.drive-alive.co.uk/fuel_prices_europe.html

see post #103

 

[snorri]

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.

You can do better than that mcshroom.
Anytime I have been working shifts, I have been working alone, as has my opposite number on the other shift.

 

[Brandane]

Just because you have made choices that have left you reliant on motor transport doesn't mean that everyone else has to have the same world view as yourself.

Exactly the same principle surely applies to those smug individuals on here who have made choices with regards to cycle use. One size does not fit all!

 

[mcshroom]

But you go further to say that we should change the tax system to make the choices you have made cheaper. There was no change in the fuel duty in the budget.

I haven't said fuel should be more expensive, nor do I particularly like the price I see when I fill up the petrol tank on my car, but I don't see why tax should be reduced on fuel just because it would make my driving cheaper.

 

[snorri]

One size does not fit all!

It appeared to some of us, well me anyway, that one size fits all is what you are arguing in favour of.

 

[Brandane]

It appeared to some of us, well me anyway, that one size fits all is what you are arguing in favour of.

That's not the way it is meant to come across! I have clearly stated that I love my bikes and cycling, but that I also use my car when necessary. Post #71:

I hope that justifies my car use to those of you who can't see through your rose tinted cycle glasses. I love my bikes and cycling; but the car is necessary if I am going to go to work.

I am not saying that people who don't use a car should start doing so; I respect their choice and in some ways would like to be in that position. However in the real world, I am not in that position and I can appreciate that the majority of other people are in a similar situation. What does wind me up a bit, is that some people won't respect our position and blindly tell us that we should not be using the evil motor car.

 

[Wobblers]

Well, to taint the thread with facts (sorry Greg!)...

Petrol is getting more expensive because oil is getting more expensive to extract. We're in the process of exhausting the cheap sources - crude oil production plateaued in 2005 and peaked in 2009. The new oil production projects in the pipeline (did you see what I did there?) are unlikely to halt the decline in production, far less reverse it. Non conventional oil sources are very much more expensive - and questionable as to the extent that they can make up lost production.

It's not a "war on motorists": it's geology. And thermodynamics. The era of cheap fuel is drawing to a close. I suspect whinging about it rather than looking for solutions is not going to be terribly helpful.

It also has to be pointed out that this is a small country, with a high population density and crowded cities. We simply do not have the space on the roads - or the space to build new roads - to accommodate everyone should they choose to drive. Hiking fuel prices is thus a means of rationing a limited resource. Not a fair means of rationing, certainly - but do you have any better, more equitable, solutions?

Finally, on a personal note, I don't have a car - I've never been able to afford one. I've always had to adjust my lifestyle in order get to my workplace - by walking, or cycling or public transport. An option that seems to be so repulsive to some of you here. I think I could be justified in being offended by that attitude, don't you think?

 

[Paul J]

No cycle paramedics out your way then? And as far as I know fire engines and ambulance aren't primary transport systems even in Cambridgeshire.

i don't wish to ban cars, just tax them heavily to discourage their use.

Nope no cycle paramedics. You want to pick and choose who pays greater taxes to use the roads just incase you need scraping up off the road it seems. Next you will be saying there should be a two teired system so only some people pay higher prices for fuel.

I have read some c**p on forums but this with your idiology of a car free world full of only cyclists on empty roads is getting to be a real teadious bore. Who do you think they would then tax? I think some of you need to live a little and find that cycling is fun what it isn't is the solution to transportation in the UK or an excuse to think fuel increases are fair.

You want less cars on the road easy ban all foreign trucks, cars etc. While your at it secure our tiny island from the invading East Europeans. Less people, jobs that are local for British workers, etc, etc. What you don't do is believe in a government that looks for ways of ripping people of with taxes because it made a cockup and target an easy group the motorist.

Some of you have a few bricks short of a load

 

[snorri]

Nope no cycle paramedics. You want to pick and choose ......................cause it made a cockup and target an easy group the motorist.
Some of you have a few bricks short of a load

Good rant,. Completely lacking in reasoned argument, but one of the best(worst?) rants I've seen on CC for a while.

 

[Brandane]

Finally, on a personal note, I don't have a car - I've never been able to afford one. I've always had to adjust my lifestyle in order get to my workplace - by walking, or cycling or public transport. An option that seems to be so repulsive to some of you here. I think I could be justified in being offended by that attitude, don't you think?

In my case, for "repulsive", read "impractical".

 

[subaqua]

Nope no cycle paramedics. You want to pick and choose who pays greater taxes to use the roads just incase you need scraping up off the road it seems. Next you will be saying there should be a two teired system so only some people pay higher prices for fuel.

I have read some c**p on forums but this with your idiology of a car free world full of only cyclists on empty roads is getting to be a real teadious bore. Who do you think they would then tax? I think some of you need to live a little and find that cycling is fun what it isn't is the solution to transportation in the UK or an excuse to think fuel increases are fair.

You want less cars on the road easy ban all foreign trucks, cars etc. While your at it secure our tiny island from the invading East Europeans. Less people, jobs that are local for British workers, etc, etc. What you don't do is believe in a government that looks for ways of ripping people of with taxes because it made a cockup and target an easy group the motorist.

Some of you have a few bricks short of a load

no need for a two tiered system.

all duty etc stays the same for all users i.e high
legitimate fuel use for essential haulage and essential use prescribed by government, i.e emergency services use, essential infrastructure staff use etc have fuel rebates quarterly or monthly if there is a need. a member of staff or department created to administer this . there is a myth perpetuating that we NEED to use cars for personal use . there isn't we have just become so lazy that we choose not to use it. people hop in cars to do journeys of less than a mile, the cost ofthis in wasted fuel, maintenace etc is horrendous. I was there 3 years ago as it was easy to do. its a mindset change thats all. if you think it can't be done it never will.

yes i have 2 cars in the household. wifey use hers for essential travel to work - the car is full of paperwork and by full i mean 3 or 4 boxesof 4 reams of paper full. she is discussing options for not having to bring that much paperwork home from september when youngest sub starts school and she can use her bike to travel to work.

my car did less than 6000 miles last year. the largest amount was the drive to cornwall for the 2 week holiday. it doesn't get used in London at all ( apart from the journey from home to M25) . it sits outside the housse for weeks on end. why 2 cars you ask. because the wifeys car won't fit the camping eqpt and doesn't have the grunt to pull a trailer with the camping kit and bikes on.

carbon footprint total is less for both cars (and one is ain the top band of CO2g/Km )than a car driver in a low emmision car doing 12K ( uk average) . so yes i can speak from experience.

when i started for current firm 5 years ago I was on a project over 20 miles from home - i thought it was only accesible by a car with only me in it. till i looked into alternatives and realised i could get within 5 miles using public transport/cycle even at 4 am for out of hours work. and the last 5 miles i was either picked up by 1 guy who picked up 2 others on the same site and we CAR SHARED. or I used bike. its doable if you realy want to and using I NEED is not a viable excuse anymore. whats going to happen when fuel is rationed as it becomes more depleted.

 

[Bman]

I was speaking to a dutch friend of mine the other day. He couldnt understand why almost everyone in the UK would take their children to school in a car. Even if it was a 3mile journey.

He says everyone in Holland attends the nearest school to where they live and all the children/parents cycle that journey. Why drive?!

 

[Red Light]

Fuel price is a genuine problem for some people but judging by the number of pick-up, SUVs and other big gas guzzling cars on the roads and the binary right foot driving of many of the smaller cars, petrol consumption and cost is clearly not yet enough of a problem for most.

A few years ago I swapped our two cars for fuel efficient ones and changed my driving style (fuel efficient driving style and not making unnecesary journeys). My monthly petrol bill is still much less than it used to be.

 

[TheDoctor]

That's the point I made a good few pages back. Anyone can save 5% of fuel costs by driving more economically. Unless you're already getting 70 mpg from an Octavia estate, I suppose!!