Fuel Prices Increasing

[RobbieH]

Originally Posted by Strick

There certainly do appear to be less cars on the roads. More and more people i speak to are thinking harder and longer before "doing something" at the weekends, evenings etc.
Has anyone else noticed that the fewer cards on the roads also appear to be driving slower in general?

Agree with everything thats been said so far. Sadly i cant see a petition working, however I am about to click into it and sign it 'Just in case'. Its a bit like voting IMHO, if you dont try, you wont get....

Government needs money, simples. And now this country relies of the car and lorry so heavily the motorist is an easy target. The rot began in 1936 when Churchill abolished road tax (which was designed to fund the road network). VED now just disappears into the general government coffers. And look how much the last bunch of 'holes wasted. I really can't see any way out, except a radical change on taxation as a whole(see how Hong Kong started as an example) or a radical change to lessen societies reliance on the the car and lorry. It's going to painful...........

I have a foot in another camp though, as a cyclist, racing and touring, anything that makes the roads quieter is a blessing. Weekends, out comes the bikes, racing on Saturday, touring with friends on Sunday. It was popular years ago, families out on tandems with young kids, etc, Why did it all stop? We became too reliant on the car .

Mostly through the year, the car stays on the drive at least 4-5 days a week. I ride to work (Ok it's not that far forunately but I used to ride 25 miles each way when i was younger, in all weathers before I had a car - and I chose to live that far from work). I used to ride to races, but as traffic increased and we lost various local courses, I have to use the car to get to the races, adding to the congestion. Catch 22!

It's been great here this week, it's half term. Traffic has diminsihed significantly, probably by 75% and I actually feel safe riding to and from work .

Next week will no doubt return to the usual game of roulette

[Strick]

Funny you should mention cycling, I intend to do just that over the next couple of weeks. Dig my bike out, clean it up, new tyres, service, etc and start getting out on it.
I hope to build up enought stamina that by Easter i can use it for work (at least part of the week). Saves some cash, gets me some - much needed - exercise, and after a crap day, hopefully my frustrations will be worked out before i get hiome. Win win win situation.

[andymusic]

Seems the government will back down if enough people actually take to the streets and protest. They have backed down on selling off our forests - so - let's all get off our arses and protest against any further tax hikes in fuel - that should help dawn on them that this bloody government just like any other government were voted in by the people and if the people don't like what they are doing they can be easily voted out again with plenty of protests!

Anyone for a middle east style revolution?

[zetor160]

The problem is..once the fuel reaches the dizzy heights of what it is now and more,- who knows..we may well be not far away from the 10.00 gallon..then it will never come down again.
Something needs to be done..what..I don't know..but something..

[Oilydad]

I'm probably in a minority here, but I personally don't think cyclists should be able to use public roads at all without having the same insurance cover as Car Drivers.

If a cyclist runs into you, your only recourse is to sue him/her. Not a satisfactory state of affairs at all.

[johnjp]

Sorry to say Oilydad but many cyclists do have Insurance and are not even aware of it.
As cyclists are a very low risk it is often an extension of other policies, also, a family policy from a cycling organisation only costs about £30pa.
Realistically how many times do cyclists hit cars sufficiently badly to cause damage over excess?
The last time a car hit me, him speeding at 60 in a 30 limit, my expensive racer was totalled, I was knocked unconciuos and I still have the scars. I was riding to my delivery job! The car had no damage at all as most of the energy of the collision was absorbed by me! This type of `incident` is most common when bikes are involved.
Motorcyclists also usually come off much worse when in collision with a car.

[MacV70T5]

Originally Posted by johnjp

Sorry to say Oilydad but many cyclists do have Insurance and are not even aware of it.
As cyclists are a very low risk it is often an extension of other policies, also, a family policy from a cycling organization only costs about £30pa.
Realistically how many times do cyclists hit cars sufficiently badly to cause damage over excess?
The last time a car hit me, him speeding at 60 in a 30 limit, my expensive racer was totalled, I was knocked unconciuos and I still have the scars. I was riding to my delivery job! The car had no damage at all as most of the energy of the collision was absorbed by me! This type of `incident` is most common when bikes are involved.
Motorcyclists also usually come off much worse when in collision with a car.

My attitude to cyclists is that they do have a right to be on our roads and it is our responsibility as car drivers to be aware of them, in the same way that I am aware of motorcycles. As an ex biker of a few years ago (Kawasaki Z1100) I learned at a very early stage to drive defensively and never rely that a car driver had seen me, the same goes for cyclists who take it for granted that all car and truck drivers have seen them. Never take anything for granted.
Due to the increase in fuel costs I can see more and more cyclist using the roads and the programme of cycle lanes should be increased. Have a look at some of them that have not been finished and those that have the number of drivers that use them. Lets get back to good old scooter days, they were cheap to run.

[zetor160]

Oilydad..

You are not in the minority

I personally think these lot should now begin to contribute towards their use of the roads..especially as most of them behave as though they own them

Regards

[Oilydad]

I think Zetor has said what I think. I too am an ex motorcyclist (road, and racing..Bonnevilles) and I recently had a Suzuki RF900, so I have a good road awareness.

It just annoys me seeing cyclists riding through red lights, often being confrontational with car drivers (who DO pay their dues for road use) and rudely 'fingering' anyone that seemingly upsets them.

If I wrote here what I really think about them....I'd get banned

[owyn]

Blimey, quite interesting.
I am a bike rider, was a professional racer for around 4 years and ride every day, I'm also an advanced driver with the IAM.

Most mornings I have at least a couple of people try to kill me. I don't think thats overstating things, I am a vulnerable road user, if you hit me there is a good chance you will kill me.
Generally these murderous acts are so people can save a few seconds on the way to work. I can generally deal with this as most hazards are spottable and stereotyping of drivers is quite effective.
The worrying thing is the drivers who are like the few posting on here who just seem to have a dislike of cyclists. Generally the first you know about these people is when you are waking up in the ambulance.
Worrying, and I don't really understand the ethos but then again I think there are plenty of people on the road that I don't think should be. Fortunately most drivers are curteous and are quite happy that we are all just trying to get somewhere.