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MP wants an end to petrol power
A HAMPSHIRE Liberal Democrat MP has said his party wants to see petrol powered cars banned from all UK roads by the year 2040.

Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne, the Lib Dems Environment spokesman, said the move was needed if the country was to effectively tackle climate change over the coming decades.

Mr Huhne said that under his party's proposals, cars would be powered by hydrogen fuel cells, improved battery technology or other new technology not yet developed.

Speaking alongside party leader Sir Menzies Campbell at Liberal Democrat HQ in central London, Mr Huhne told reporters there had been "far more dramatic changes" in Britain's economic history.

He said such a change compared with the shift from the steam engine to the internal combustion engine or from the gas light to the electric light at the start of the 20th century.

1:00pm Wednesday

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

What a stupid comparison. Does he think the Victorians banned the steam engine? The transition was one based on the technical and economic benefits. This is the usual politician's "we know best" and "let's ban it" thinking.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

In 2040 chris will be 86, Ming 99.

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

I'll vote for the lib dems if they can pass a law for me to have a hover board, jet pack and TARDIS.

Hidden agenda alert!

Trying to dispose of millions of batteries and fuel cells instead is no solution at all so what's going on? What's wrong with an internal combustion engine using clean renewable fuel? What's wrong with Huhne's brain?

Here's a thought I just thunk of if car manufacturers simply built cars which last longer there would be no need to dig into Earth's precious resources or waste energy in recycling stuff to make ever more cars. They have the ability to do this, always have, (remember the Volvo 340 series?). But they deliberately build in a predetermined life span to make more money from us over time and build up the scrap car mountain.

So why not put pressure on them to improve the life span of vehicles? I've heard that car designers can actually get into trouble if a component has been over-designed and outstays it's welcome.

(I think Paul should give me the 8 out of 10 I so richly deserve now)


You wont need a Tardis CE, the way we're going we'll end up back in time complete with horse and cart

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

i suspect in 33 years time economics will be pushing us away from petrol anyway, indeed it already is.

it may not be in the manufacturers interest to build long lasting vehicles, but then they provide to an extent what the market demands, which is still mostly the newest latest shiniest styling & snazziest gadgets.

The problem with most scrap cars is not that they can't be physically repaired, but they can't be economically repaired.

In fact in many respects (particularly bodywork) cars are more durable than they ever have been.

But it is a feature of a prosperous society that people are able to buy things they may want, but don't, on a narrow definition, actually need. It is the aspiration to improve our lives rather than just drudging along that has raised us from the level of subsistance farming and living in mud huts.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Agreed, but I'm talking purely of longevity; reliable cars which last 20 years as opposed to unreliable ones which completely fall apart after 10 years.

It's easy to see the benefits of moving from a mud hut but it's hard to justify the benefits over last year's Focus with the next generation of Focus Mk? complete with the all new must-have triple overhead underhang.

If we were more content with less, enough would be as good as a feast.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

10/10.

Stainless steel. It'd always be worth a respray, new upholstry or a new engine if the body was rot-free forever.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

You need a DeLorean. Just make sure the flux capacitor works before you buy it

Wasn't that all aluminium?

No, the DeLorean was stainless. There were fantastic problems with finish and weld discolouration in production.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

What about wood? I'm sure they used wood for a chassis on an old something and I bet it's as good today. (I'm thinking Morgan but I could be wrong) It's renewable and green but I suppose H&S would have something to say about it these days

Okay then, how about using wood on the none-critical bits instead of plastic everwhere? The canal locks are made out of oak and I was told they harden and get beter over time. No rust there. The wood was the last thing to deteriorate on those Moggy Minors, remember?

Artificial isn't always better. For instance, they preferred wooden pillars in coal mining because they would creak, as a warning, before they crack and squashed the men. (I think I've lost the plot now cuz I've got a ten ) Cheers Paul

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

The benefits are in the incremental updates with each new version which, when taken over time, add up to something more worthwhile. No-one needs to replace their current car just because the slightly better one has been released, but given that we presumably do want cars to get better over time, and that we need x new cars to be built each year just to satisfy the baseline demand (i.e. ignoring "vanity" sales), isn't it then better to have the car companies building any new updates into the cars as they become available, rather than holding onto them all and continuing to build the exact same spec car for a few years, THEN releasing a completely new design with all the accumulated updates since the last one?

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Chris

The stainless steel is stuck on to a plastic composite body.
maybe that is the way forward. shell and stickon pannels with this years shape. Iso slots for this years gadget...

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

How about a composite body on a nice alloy chassis?

Wait a minute that'll be an Elise then

or a Tesla if you want a pseudo-green car.

In general, keep the chassis and replace the body/engine/interior/gadgets as required. I wonder if it would be possible to make the bodywork out of recyclable plastics rather than GRP?

I assume that replacement/refurbishment is not economically viable as this would be labour intensive compared with automated mass production (not the Elise obviously).

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May

I agree we want progress and improvements built in as they become available but, by enlarge, the car market technology has saturated. More so today than ever I think.

I see a lot of what's known in America as 'creeping elegance' (it's finished, it works, now leave it alone). I see it in both cars and motorbikes. It's not better, it's just new and different - and some things I could mention are in fact worse, IMHO, like digital speedometers (Ugh)

Since the introduction of ABS, lean burn engines and air bags, I see very little advances in technology which are all that much better than what we had, let's say, 15 years ago.

Anyway, rant over. I had to work on my birthday, the Tuesday just gone, and yesterday I went with my girlfriend looking for shoes and things.

I'm going home to watch Friends and have a drink now...

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

I like the sort of law that forces me to use something that doesn't exist.

i presume the white paper will have a copy of Eagle in the appendix along with an order form?

But that's because the value of the car is affected by the degree of rust in the body/chassis. Rustless cars are extremely unlikely to be beyond economic repair (except due to crash damage).

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

There are other factors to consider too, principally advances in engfineering rendering older cars less desireable and therefore less cost-effective to repair, Case-in-point: the world is not full of Scimitars.