Dave Berridge

"Car trouble, oh yeah" (Adam Ant 1979)

Road wars? No need. Read on....

Road wars? No need. Read on....

The UK traffic eh. There’s a touchy topic for many. It’s getting worse. The old buggers driving to the garden centre, eco warriors biking it double sided, tractors causing dual carriage ways to grind to a sudden halt. I could keep going…….

Traffic (in the UK at least) could be easily reduced with some draconian but much needed measures:

Between 7am and 930am then 4pm to 7pm the following modes of transport or drivers should be banned from using the UK road network:

OAPs

Big trucks that need escorts

Cycling clubs

Farm vehicles (country lanes aside)

Driving schools (country lanes aside)

It’d free so much time for the genuinely required journeys and help industry.

How to police it?

Easy. It’s self policing. Is there a more compliant law abiding citizen than an OAP? Exactly. Commercial vehicles will have the threat of huge fines as a deterrent and cycling clubs are apparently full of sensible chaps so they won’t want to be breaking a law will they.

Obviously a few exceptions need making. Old Ted driving to his doctors would only need to show proof of his appointment to PC Pickerton to avoid a fine.

What about school run traffic I hear you shout? Tricky one that. I’ve left it alone as whichever way you try to alter it, without serious policing and causing even more traffic build up, it’d be actively encouraging poor parenting to force em to walk.

For example, when I was a kid I can’t remember any two car families. Dad went work in the family car and we had to walk to school, rain or shine. The point is, that some changes to our life are actually for the good. Nowadays on a lovely autumn or spring morning make little Johnny walk to school (if it’s safe of course) but on a wet and windy January morning, when Johnnys mummy has access to a car, are we really going to say Johnny should walk to school? Nah.

Some things we can all moan about but in the end we can do nothing about it.

The UK traffic eh. There’s a touchy topic for many. It’s getting worse. The old buggers driving to the garden centre, eco warriors biking it double sided, tractors causing dual carriage ways to grind to a sudden halt. I could keep going…….

Traffic (in the UK at least) could be easily reduced with some draconian but much needed measures:

Between 7am and 930am then 4pm to 7pm the following modes of transport or drivers should be banned from using the UK road network:

OAPs

Big trucks that need escorts

Cycling clubs

Farm vehicles (country lanes aside)

Driving schools (country lanes aside)

It’d free so much time for the genuinely required journeys and help industry.

How to police it?

Easy. It’s self policing. Is there a more compliant law abiding citizen than an OAP? Exactly. Commercial vehicles will have the threat of huge fines as a deterrent and cycling clubs are apparently full of sensible chaps so they won’t want to be breaking a law will they.

Obviously a few exceptions need making. Old Ted driving to his doctors would only need to show proof of his appointment to PC Pickerton to avoid a fine.

What about school run traffic I hear you shout? Tricky one that. I’ve left it alone as whichever way you try to alter it, without serious policing and causing even more traffic build up, it’d be actively encouraging poor parenting to force em to walk.

For example, when I was a kid I can’t remember any two car families. Dad went work in the family car and we had to walk to school, rain or shine. The point is, that some changes to our life are actually for the good. Nowadays on a lovely autumn or spring morning make little Johnny walk to school (if it’s safe of course) but on a wet and windy January morning, when Johnnys mummy has access to a car, are we really going to say Johnny should walk to school? Nah.

Some things we can all moan about but in the end we can do nothing about it.

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