h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I think there needs to be a combination of increased fuel taxes, tolls on busy roads and renationalisation of the public transportation system.

Although I don't live in the UK, I know that other governments are watching and waiting to see how it works.

for me: I'd use public transport like a shot if it didn't involve a 3 hour journey to go 35kms. (and the problem isn't my wee village, for a change, it is the the industrial estate where I work)

Last time I commuted by public transport, I managed to use the time to take my English A-level.

For those of you who see this as a step too far in taxing the motorist please sign the petition on the 10 Downing Street website

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax/

...... for once the Government have road charging installed and enforced the prices will rise for sure and don't ignore the facility that satellite tracking motorists will give to the speed camera people ... satellite tracking could mean an instant fine whether a camera is there or not!

"and don't ignore the facility that satellite tracking motorists will give to the speed camera people ... satellite tracking could mean an instant fine whether a camera is there or not!"

Crikey who would have thought that enforcing the law would be so controversial.

I'm with you there - people should remember that traffic violations are against the law. If you don't want the fine - don't go too fast. And certainly don't go too fast trying to get into my boot because you think I'm not going fast enough even though I'm doing my 10 over the limit...



I put up with it here because I'm invariably overtaking a gazillion lorries on a 2 lane Autobahn with about a bazillion big-fat-BMWs behind me. But on a 3 lane, nearly empty very early morning M1 in the middle lane overtaking 1 Sainsbury's lorry....

er sorry... got abit there

A succinct description of why people prefer cars to public transport.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz37H9YV5pw

Personally I speed all the time.

I just cant really see how people can complain aobut being caught when they know they are speeding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz37H9YV5pw

- literally... I clicked on that link and forgot about it because it opened in the background of Firefox... All of a sudden the music starts all on its own and I start wondering why iTunes has started up on its own (I've got the original version on my computer).

Morning FB

1984 ring any bells with you
Novo

Right well lets just say the government ofund a way to implant secretly all the heroin coming into the UK with cameras and minature gps devices so they could locate all the dealers in the UK and the chain of supply.

Would you be opposed to this on the gorunds that it was "Big Brother" ish?

The reason I make thisp oint is that I feel Novo that middle class people on the right have this incredible hypocracy. THey tend to feel that action against crimes they might perform (speeding, leaving rubbish out on the wrong day, taking their kids out of school to go skiing) constitutes "authoritarian, orwellian awfullness", yet when applied to their own personal criminal bugbears becomes "damn right, if only we could bring back flogging".

I'd wonder how many people die each year due to someone else speeding, compared to how many people die due to someone else's heroin use?

Catching drug dealers involves a modicum of police work though. Catching motorists is a lot easier. And if they can do it from the comfort of a padded chair with doughnuts to hand ....?

Am sure they'd prefer (as would I) if they could catch drug dealers that way too.

I'm not against road charging in principle, but I do object to having a tracker in my car as I don't trust the govt to implement a secure system and I don't want just anyone to be able to find out where my car is at any given time.

I also worry about the accuracy of the DVLA data.

Won't this push us towards increased car ownership too? People might be les inclined to share vehicles if they get the bill for everyone's use.

With this one I think it will be horrible to implement - I don't know how they'll do it really.

George Monbiot proposes an interesting solution to transport costs/ problems. What does everyone think?

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1963957,00.html

That really does sound like a good idea.

Presumably their must be some sort of drawbacks, but off the top of me head I cannot easily think of one.

Potholer the point of my post was not to say there was any sort of equivilance between heroin deailing and speeding, but rather to point out incosistancies in peoples attitudes towards law enforcement.

My opinion is that if you diagree with a law then try to get the law changed, don't complain about it being enforced.

FB

By far the greater criminality isn't carried out by people who speed, inadverently or deliberately, nor by putting their bin bags out on the wrong day.

However it is precisely the 'normal' people of the country who are , and will be with the road charging proposals, regularly filmed, photographed, etc AND I OBJECT TO IT.

I pay my taxes, drive with care, consider oyhers and as far as I am aware, break no laws. I do not want government bodies tracking my moves - that is Orwellian - and what my question alluded to.

If the Govt,. police . security services etc etc want to track criminals by any method. Fine. Get on with it. Don't talk about it , just do it, and keep the law abiding average citizen safe.

IN passing, I am in favour of ID Cards. but I don't recall supporting flogging. However naming and shaming has a certain appeal , and I'm thinking of asking for our 'stocks' to be reintroduced.

Novo

FB, I wasn't arguing with you.
I was wondering out loud what the impacts on other people of speeding and heroin use were.

Thing is Novo I cannot see how a rational sensible "supposedly law abiding" person (and I know it wasn't you who orgionally raised this point) can use as an argument against road charging is that it would allow the authorities to catch people breaking the law.

I have no doubt that there are many, many good arguments in favour and against such a radical scheme, but the speeding one just does not seem to make sense to me.

SWL: >they can do it from the comfort of a padded chair with doughnuts to hand ....?<

Now there you go again ... cutting straight to the heart of the matter...

Novo: >1984 ring any bells with you<

Please note my post # 39 ... it's just a matter of time before we'll have tracking chips implanted in us at birth ... at least given the current trend of things.