Motoring in the UK

[tegwini]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/fair_deal_for_drivers/2017868/The-end-of-the-road-for-British-motorists-as-cost-of-petrol-hits-new-high.html

Old news perhaps, but important  for those in the UK and obliged to drive.  And for those in France - enjoy your first world roads.

Here in rural Wiltshire our roads are appaling - pot-holded, crowded, mini-landslides if wet (and flintstone rips tyres as I discovered recently),  and forever covered with a multitude of cones and stationary  'work' men.  All these delays,  jams,  and road chaos costs, and must have a huge effect on UK Plc.

Downton, just down the road,  has had a bridge  re-built over the Avon, more a stream here not a river, and this road was blocked for about a year as they re-built the bridge.  And,  grim conditions on the detour roads.  At times the alternatives were flooded  The new bridge is nothing special.   The Tarn viaduct went up in three years.  Some contrast! 

This clearly proves the tolerance & complacency of UK motorists.  The French would not put up with this.    It does convince one that  UK state & local politicians have no respect whatsoever for motorists.

for example:

Britain has built fewer miles of motorway in the past 40 years than any developed country, with the result that the narrow, inadequate motorways we have inherited are more congested than any in Europe (and, consequently, are in constant need of the repairs that cause even greater congestion). Only a British government could have countenanced the further narrowing of the M4, one of the capital's vital arteries, with the introduction of the preposterous and maddening "Prescott lane" for buses and taxis.

Spain has built tens of thousands of kilometres of superb new motorways in the past 20 years. Ireland, Italy, France and Germany have all benefited from improved motorway networks, which appear to have been largely funded by the EU. The UK has 8,000 cars for every kilometre of motorway. Germany has half that number. Spain has a third.

and:

A culture of hatred towards the car has been engendered that is unique to Britain. Nowhere else in Europe is the ownership of an expensive car such an active hazard.

 

So enjoy your driving - those who are in France, here in the UK we drive with gritted teeth.

Regards

Tegwini

 

[KathyF]

Having read the article, I have to say that I find it one-sided and badly argued, like rather a lot of Telegraph journalism. [:)] Of course there aren't as many motorways in the UK as in France or Germany or Spain.  The UK is much smaller than these other countries and there simply isn't room to keep on building new roads, not if we want to go on having any decent countryside to hand on to future generations. I live in rural Mid-Wales for most of the year, where a car is essential for everyday life.  Even so it seems to me good that we have now got to the point where we're starting to have to think before we use the car, rather than hopping in it to do errands at the drop of a hat. Oil is a finite commodity and it's about time we all started to use it with more care.

Back in the 50s (which is where I think all Telegraph journalists live in their hearts[;-)]) my own family didn't have a car, despite living in the country. We used public transport to get into town and we children walked a mile each way to school in all weathers.  Nowadays it seems that children would apparently shrink or dissolve if they got wet and so are driven to school every day, even when they could easily and safely walk.

Better stop there - I'm starting to sound like Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells. [:D]

[tegwini]

Hi Kathy

Yes I agree that children should walk to school etc -  this would reduce the number presently overweight.  I certainly always walked and then biked, and  occasionally got very wet, or skidded on ice  in the 50s.   These days we certainly think twice before going out via car, & nowadays combine various tasks when out in the car.   And,  we don't have a gas-guzzler of any kind.  I really can't understand why diesel costs so much more in the UK,  since I am told it costs less to produce.

BUT, we surely deserve better than we have ?  - potholes, gridlock and cones and more cones,  and loads of stress and tension.  The crux of the problem is that the UK is  so overcrowded & it seems to be the government's aim to allow the number living here to increase further by another 17 m  by 2050.  That's one reason many of us have homes in France.

I can't imagine what it will be like here in a few decades, but then I probably won't have to drive by then - or be able to!  I know what you mean by 'Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells' - but  then they would probably be a Telegraph reader.

Regards

Tegwini