When it comes to raising the price of alcohol, the government expresses even-handedness: "We don't want to punish the majority for the sins of the irresponsible minority." Why, then, do we have to suffer lowest-common-denominator, one-size-fits-all regulation on the road?
Added by Martin Cassini on March 16, 2009 at 10:37 —
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Boris Johnson’s claim that the all-electric Tesla he borrowed represents clean motoring is rebutted by Oliver Marre in today’s Observer. According to the Carbon Trust, grid electricity releases 0.537kg of CO2 per kw/hour compared with 0.25 from diesel and 0.24 from petrol.
Added by Martin Cassini on March 15, 2009 at 8:45 —
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Ask a silly question. Here's a fairly serious answer. There is overwhelming evidence that if children are badly treated when young, they not only suffer emotional damage but
physical brain damage. Conversely, a nurturing upbringing produces beneficial brain chemistry (Oliver James writes about this in today's Guardian.) The neuropeptide oxytocin is the stuff we want. The stuff we don’t want is cortisol. The traffic control system as currently misconceived generates conflict and stress,…
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Added by Martin Cassini on March 14, 2009 at 18:10 —
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See Ross Clark's stimulating Times article
here. But like most commentators, he misses the point which Kenneth Todd made years ago and I keep hammering home: it's the rules of the road which turn roads into rivers of death. Restore equal rights and responsibilities, with no priority at junctions, and people will drive according to the context. If the road is clear, they can speed up. If they…
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Added by Martin Cassini on March 13, 2009 at 14:30 —
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The Standard ran
this about traffic lights by Andrew Gilligan. He quotes me without a name check (maybe the subs cut it). They published my comment, but removed my reference to FiT Roads.
Added by Martin Cassini on March 12, 2009 at 20:30 —
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A good friend of mine live in Staines, where I sometimes stay. Many a time we have poured verbal bile on the moronic system of traffic lights. Funny the way they catch up.
Shared space for Staines
Added by Martin Cassini on March 12, 2009 at 14:00 —
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There’s a four-letter word to describe FiT philosophy. K-I-N-D. Filter in turn allows people to be kind to each other. Main road priority, which forms the foundation of the current system, encourages the opposite. If you want to be kind and give way to a fellow road-user who was there first, you will be seen by the vehicles behind you as in breach of the rules, which say you should only slow down or stop for a red light or an obstruction. Slow down for someone trying to cross from a side road,…
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Added by Martin Cassini on March 10, 2009 at 20:30 —
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Ian has flagged up a couple of relevant articles,
this one about distracting signage, and (shock horror!)
this one about a new national 50mph speed limit to be enforced by average speed cameras. The assault on discretion, commonsense and individual responsibility gathers force. For Ian's (different) view, see Forum.
Added by Martin Cassini on March 8, 2009 at 12:30 —
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A review of Andrew Marr’s new series says that Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection gained a life of its own. The idea of solving congestion by natural dispersal is gaining ground. Will it gain a life of its own?
Added by Martin Cassini on March 5, 2009 at 20:00 —
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The corrosive effect of regulation, by Jenni Russell, Guardian Comment, 4 Feb 2009.
Recommended by Angelica. Some quality readers' comments too.
Here
Added by Martin Cassini on March 5, 2009 at 0:00 —
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Roundabouts are OK, but they still have the problem of directional priority, which at peak times can produce unbroken streams of traffic on the main flow and a "need" for lights (to interrupt those streams and enable others to enter). It also means people who arrived earlier have to wait for people who arrive later. Why should they? Could filter in turn (FiT), aka the all-way yield, be the best of all worlds?
Added by Martin Cassini on March 4, 2009 at 9:01 —
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There's a piece about the Ashford shared space scheme
here (back tab to return) ... Is it inevitable that a news report will always feature doubters and detractors? Also they don't address blind people's concerns about shared surfaces. It's only a mini-report, but even so ...
Added by Martin Cassini on March 3, 2009 at 16:00 —
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Another specious public-funded road safety ad can be seen
here (back tab to return). What gets me is the way the system puts the onus on
children to beware motorists, when it could and should be the other way round. The first step towards making Roads FiT for People is to replace priority based on status of road, which generates hostility, with equality based on time of arrival, which levels the playing-field and stimulates…
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Added by Martin Cassini on March 3, 2009 at 15:30 —
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The road ”safety” ad, where a car driver hits a motorcyclist, is a classic piece of official improperganda. Unwittingly, it illustrates the barbaric rules of the road, which condemn drivers at T-junctions to beware traffic from opposite directions, and to spot a suitable gap. Instead of devising a system in which humans can negotiate safe movement, the unmasked hypocrites of the TCD (traffic control dictatorship) preach safety, but contrive a system in which we must live, die and carry the can.
Added by Martin Cassini on March 3, 2009 at 0:00 —
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Difficult to defend Robert Bennett for doing 122mph on a wet road with his 14-year old son riding pillion. The judge said the bike would have been a lethal missile if Bennett had lost control. Isn’t that the case at 70mph, OK, not as potentially damaging but lethal all the same? The judgement is based on a hypothetical. There was no loss of control, indeed it looked a competent piece of riding. In the BBC TV news item, the reporter described the bend he was approaching, emotively, as “sharp”.…
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Added by Martin Cassini on March 2, 2009 at 16:00 —
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Above a harbour beach on a balmy Sunday in Devon, a family of four was sitting on a bench. One of the children got up and started running about in a little circle. “Oh no you don’t, Miss!” barked mother, nipping her daughter’s impulse in the bud. Just a few steps down, the sand rolled out a carpet of gold. Reaching the far side of the beach I looked back. Both children were still immobilised. (Yes, this can be seen as loosely analogous to parking controls.)
Added by Martin Cassini on March 1, 2009 at 15:00 —
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Just saw this: http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/sevenoaks/Danger-junction/article-725896-detail/article.html?cacheBust=PzXCPeE6A9u5&success=true#community and posted this: As ever, the root of the problem is the system of priority, which imposes anti-social rights-of-way. In all other walks of life we take it in turns in the sequence, not the direction in which we arrive. Why not on the road? When lights are out of action, and there is uncertainty about priority, we do what is natural, safe and…
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Added by Martin Cassini on February 28, 2009 at 15:00 —
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If we could show how – at minimal cost and virtually overnight – road accidents could be eliminated, traffic congestion could be eased, road rage resolved, police time freed up, fuel use and journey times cut, environmental targets met, life on the roads made safe and civilised, not just for drivers but pedestrians and public transport as well – would you be interested?
We propose a demonstration project that could provide a blueprint for an efficient road network and a convivial…
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Added by Martin Cassini on February 28, 2009 at 0:00 —
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A recent RoSPA press release states: “... the ultimate aim is the continued reduction of road deaths and injuries.” Amberlight says that 35,000 KSIs a year (killed and seriously injured) is unacceptable. Any hint of self-congratulation at the annual death count dropping below 3000 (seen in some press pronouncements at the time) is unspeakable, especially when you consider the point made by John Adams: "accident figures are distorted because old people hardly dare cross the road and children are…
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Added by Martin Cassini on February 26, 2009 at 17:30 —
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Bad parenting is like traffic control. Put a toddler in a house with breakable knick-knacks, be intolerant about its need to explore, then scold it when the inevitable happens. In the same way, our traffic control system sets the stage for conflict by making us operate within a framework based on directional priority, which negates social custom and fosters aggression. Then the puppeteers deflect blame and hand down punishment when the inevitable happens.
Added by Martin Cassini on February 25, 2009 at 13:00 —
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Drink and driving
