For me the journey tax has removed my last bit of admiration of Britain.
To give an idea to the Americans on here:
*We pay just over $300 dollars for a circular piece of paper to go on the windscreen.
*We Pay over $7 a gallon of petrol (gasoline)
*Most people of around 20 years of age pay at least $1260 of insurance if you have a 1.3 litre engine or less. For Americans that's a measly 79.33 cubic inch. I got quoted $3060 for a Peugeot 106 (which i think is a 1.1 litre or 67.13 ci) and i passed (first time ) when i was 17 (i originally learned in a 70's British Leyland car, a Vauxhall corsa handles and stops a lot better, and power steering is a miracle of technology ).
The news said the road charge will be on top of all that! The charge will be between 3p a mile and £2.50 depending on the time and road! (£2.50 is roughly $4.50)
We already pay for everything else (road tax and petrol tax) so why the should we pay for more of everything else?
I think I'm going to buy a 440 cubic inch (7.2 litre goodness) 1974 dodge Monaco if the law comes in, just to say bugger off to those who introduced it and run it off methane, hell most the people who decided this talk substances which produce methane after a while.
If public transport was a viable option (instead of the urine coated rubbish old buses we have, that take an hour to do about 6 miles...) maybe just maybe people would shift out of their cars.
I mean if you wanted to do any decent distance on buses, it would take you all day - they are that slow in the UK. The trains seem have trouble keeping on the tracks and are always delayed. There was riots when poll tax was introduced, and if this gets in, there may be uprest again.
Anyhow Mr Noodle And Mr Branch you all said the economy was fine and i was wrong. A few weeks have passed and mysteriously it was on the news that Britain is now in a recession, surprise surprise on the release timing of that news.
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Pete Nattress Cheesy Bits img src/uploads/sccheesegif
Registered 23/09/2002
Points 4811
9th June, 2005 at 18:27:24 -
Jesus Christ, Hagar, you sound like a Daily Mail columnist.
Insurance is a bitch, but that's not the government's fault, it's the insurance companies. It's OK once you're older. My mum pays £100 a year on her 1.3L Fiat (she has about 35 years' no claims). You just have to bite the bullet with it.
Although I will agree that I think this scheme is a stupid idea. I can drive but I don't have a car, I just use my mum's. I'd be very annoyed if I was a regular driver facing a £2.50/mile charge just to commute to work. But, equally, congestion is getting a real problem. The infrastructure can't handle the volume of traffic on it. We can't sit back and do nothing about it.
I seriously doubt this scheme will get off the ground. They're going to have to install a tracking device in every single car in the country. Talk about a logistical nightmare; and think of the expense. Raising petrol tax seems like a simpler route to take. You're right that no one will take this legislation seriously until public transport shows the improvements needed - but guess what. The other day Network Rail were praised for meeting targets: train delays are down. Simple fact. So it IS getting better, slowly and surely.
I missed this bit about a drastic economic recession though. Slowing spending, higher customer debt, yes, but we're not going back to the 80's quite yet. Compared to some European countries Britain is flourishing.
Holy fucking shit that is a crappy deal, jesus christ i feel bad for you. Man... I mean we have to ship every gallon of gas over 3,400 miles and it still costs less than $2.60 per gallon.
Steve Zissou: Anne-Marie, do all the interns get Glocks?
The fact that they'd have to put traking devises on every car just to enforce the law such a law is very dodgey indeed... The loss in privacy due to the government knowing where anybodys car is going at all times is something to question. I don't think people realise or even question the possibity of further losses of freedom heading in this direction. Its madness i say.
Well its changed to £1.34 a mile on the worst roads at the worst times, still doesnt make it any better though.
Anyhoy why not spend more on roads, buses and other transport, the enconomy is up the creek, so the only logical thing is to reduce taxes and build more transport infrastructures (trains, roads, buses etc), to get the enconomy going again.
Rox Flame has a very good point as well, we are losing our liberties, and whenever your car does 31 in a 30 mph limit you'll get nicked.
And yeah i probably should be a daily mail columnist .
Britain is not in recession - indeed there in negative growth, but that's in check with the rest of the world.
And for your information Hagar, the train companies are now passing the government-set targets - with about 85% of trains running on time, depending on your region.
I really don't know why you do this Hagar - exaggerate the truth to make Britain seem like a dump. Are you just one of those people who find the grass greener on the other side?
If you don't want to pay to pollute the world, get off your arse and cycle.
One of the main problems with public transport is that for many, it's inconvenient.
Where I live, there are miles of countryside and fields interspersed with towns and villages. The only bus stops are in the villages and towns, and the only train stations are in the largest towns. There is no demand for public transport, since everyone between the age of 20 and 75 has a car.
This means that bus services are sloppy, sparse and irregular - for goodness' sake the busses don't even have seatbelts!
The only places that public transport is *really* relevant is in a high population, high traffic town or city.
People can't and shouldn't judge the whole country based on traffic measures that may work in London. Because what alternative do we have? London has the busses, the taxis, the trains, the tubes. What do we have? A couple of small stagecoaches and few hundred sheep.
Hopefully this idea and whichever idiot thought of it will get laughed out of office.
Noodle Britain is in recession and none of those figures are exaggerated, look up the independent department of fiscal studies. Instead of blindly believing what your favourite party says, try reading items from independent sources.
If you honestly believe the trains are better try catching one, you may be in for a surprise...I know a person who works on the railways and according to him, the best train system was in the mid to late 70's when the Intercity 125 came out. Ever since then the average speed has decreased and journey times increased ( i read the last bit today ).
Oh and I'm not one who believes the grass is greener the other side, i'm a person who is absolutely fed up with people telling me what to do in Britain (you cant have a bonfire, use fireworks, you must believe our ideals, you must use rubbish public transport blah blah blah).
Like your comment, you seem to think i should think i should bike everywhere, and made a decision without knowing any of the distances i do, this attitude of the UK public is really annoying me. Where i have to go takes an hour and a quarter on the bus. So there is no way i could i could bike it there unless i get up at 4 or something ridiculous. Funny thing it takes about 15-20 minutes in the car. And many times i have been waiting for a bus for upto 3 hours. The once we had approximately 3 flakes of snow as well, i only just got back the same day.
Whats to like about britain when they are talking about refusing smokers treatment? (and other such gems) we all dislike animal cruelty, but when we are talking about sentancing a human to death (tough look mate, you smoked) many people seem to think its perfectly acceptable, even though for every pound a smoker takes out of the NHS, they put £3 in from taxes on ciggarettes (i dont like smoking, recommend smoking or smoke myself), i just believe in treating people equally.
And what if i don't want to cycle who is it for you to decide? if i want a want to drive, look as if i drifted out of the seventies and use records (records have been superior to everything, but i guess you'll disregard that as well ) its my decision not yours or anyone elses.
Dines buses do not need seatbelts, when something ways at least 6 tonne (some are 12 tonne), you push what you hit out the way, and use it as a very effective crumple zone - The momentum change is gradual compared to a car hitting something .
Seriously, i'd be soo pissed! We have 3 holidays where fireworks are legal: New Years, Chinese New Years, and 4th Of July and you can bet your last dollar I'm going to be attaching GI joes to exploding ground blooms until 2:00 in the morning.
Last year's 4th of july, me on the left, white hat, statue of liberty pose. You haven't lived until you have experienced a firework fight.
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Steve Zissou: Anne-Marie, do all the interns get Glocks?
Yeah seriously, I live in Texas and I was launching fireworks just a few weeks ago....
A bit of insanity with every bite!
Pete Nattress Cheesy Bits img src/uploads/sccheesegif
Registered 23/09/2002
Points 4811
11th June, 2005 at 05:26:42 -
Hagar's talking BS. Fireworks and bonfires are perfectly legal. Some councils don't like you having them as they're a MASSIVE SAFETY RISK and there's always the inevitable idiot who kills himself by pouring petrol all over a pile of wood or something. They're not illegal.
I repeat BRITAIN IS NOT IN RECESSION. The official definition of recession is: "specifically, a decline in GDP for two or more consecutive quarters." This has not happened yet.
And in reply to your comment about trains, I do regularly catch trains, almost all of which are on time. Admittedly they aren't the cleanest, but then again, that isn't the current government's fault is it? .
Pete's right - you are talking a load of bollocks. It's perfectly okay to buy fireworks, provided they are not professional-strength ones, and it's okay to light a bonfire.
If you are so damned stubborn to refuse to use greener, safer transport, go and live in America where they don't give a shit. As Sean Lock said on a programme last night: "I recycle stuff, but I wonder what the point is, when America just starts drilling for oil in Alaska."
If there's one group of people I hate more than people like you, it's the American capitalist-fueling government.
they should put a label on gasoline that says "ATTENTION: THE FUMES FROM GASOLINE BURN, NOT THE GAS ITSELF" specifically for those idiots who douses a wood pile in gas then tries to light it from 5 feet away... after the fumes have spread 15 feet. anyway i'm glad bonfires and fireworks are legal.
Anyway noodle, be very careful what you say about america. Anyway why are you hating on Hagar, he's just pissed that his golfcart-of-a-car is being over taxed and overcharged at the pump, nothing wrong with that. He didn't say he was going to go drill for oil or pollute the earth.
Steve Zissou: Anne-Marie, do all the interns get Glocks?
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) when i was 17 (i originally learned in a 70's British Leyland car, a Vauxhall corsa handles and stops a lot better, and power steering is a miracle of technology 
).
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