Safe Speed Forums

You are just as likely to encounter some madman trying to kill you on the train as on the motorway. At least on the motorway I have a reasonable chance of defending myself and am unlikely to get prosecuted for any self defence I carry out.

Plus, for a trip to London I'd take my old Volvo, it's big and comfy and it's amazing how people try to avoid you if you're driving an old Volvo covered in dents and scrapes and filth.

Oooo, I'd like to see some stats on that, I bet mad men on motorways trying to kill you outnumber mad men on trains trying to kill you by 2000 to 1!

Admittidly the former are probably not actually trying to kill you, but then if I run down the street juggling knives I might not be trying to kill somebody, but that may well be the outcome that I should've seen coming.

I have kept meticulous records of expenditure on the cars I've had. I do all my own work and tend to "recycle" (i.e. buy a car, maintain it well until I scrap it, then take all the good bits off and buy another car of the same make and model. For the initial purchase, depreciation (100% because I always keep them until I break them), parts, servicing, consumables like tyres etc, MOT tests, it works out at about 4.5p per mile. On top of that there's fuel, insurance, VED, etc. I've had this one for 100,000 miles and I guess that on average it's done about 28MPG. Over the 7 years I've had it, fuel costs have changed a fair bit so I'm not sure amortising them is that sensible, but at today's prices, I've spent nearly £14k in fuel!! 7 years insurance at (say) £200/year is another £1400. I'm looking at about 20p / mile and that's paying no labour and not charging anything for my own time. It's a practically worthless car but not really what you'd call a "banger". For instance, there are pleny of items in there like a decent stereo and a leather interior that weren't actually necessary to keep it going.

Getting back to the original question, would it be reasonable to talk about VAT on the fuel, parts, labour etc, insurance premium tax, and all the other little wee chunks that we give the government?

Also, did you want to count company car tax (and fuel benefit tax) for the company car drivers?

My employer, who does not have a reputation for generosity, pays me 33p a mile for using my car on company business so that is the figure I use when comparing costs.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Maybe I was being a little pedantic. These days I'm so used to dumb people on the roads that I can pretty much avoid them on autopilot and thus it doesn't really bother me any more, the only one that's difficult to avoid is getting rear ended which happens to me about once every one or two years (and I do a lot of miles) and thanks to companies like Helphire still manages to inconvenience me less than a rail replacement bus.

Regarding people actually intending to cause you harm, I suspect it's more likely to happen on a train, though it's most likely just some chav who wants your mobile phone.

You're just as dead whether they intended to kill you or not. Perhaps I should have said that you are more likely to be killed in a motorway accident than by violence on a train.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Like for like ?
You are more likely to be murdered on a train than a motorway !

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

No. You are more likely to die on a motorway. And when you are dead it doesn't matter how you died - murder or accident.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Well, the seats were just wooden benches, and small people rode in the luggage racks.The the toilet was just a hole in the floor, that you could see the tracks through. But we went 1st class from Cairo to Luxor (500 miles) for 6 pounds or so. That included free cold drinks from the waiter, and modern carriages.

But are you more likely to be manslaughtered on a motorway than a train? In either case, it makes no difference to the dead.

Ooo! Ooo! I've got a cost... security, though depending on what you drive and where you leave it that can be essential or irrelevant.

barkstar

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The difference between intelligence and stupidity is that intelligence has limits.

If the cause of the [rta] death does not involve reckless or dangerous driving then manslaughter will not be the charge. Neither will it be causing death by dangerous driving.
However, getting pushed in front of a train, knifed, beaten-to-a-pulp, thrown down an escalator, or any one of a large number of criminal offences occur on the underground, and the rest of public transport, every day.
Not to mention the rapid spread of infectious disease.
And the fact that most travellers possess substantial personal odour.

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

But I'll still be dead

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Dont' forget being under constant suspicion and likely to get arrested/shot if you happen to possess brown skin, a beard and a rucksack.

Yes, but that wasn't a criminal offence.
Now, if they'd have pushed him in front of a train.......................but they shot him in the head..................seven times.
I forget the last time a police hit squad shot a motorway driver in the head seven times.................mind you, they've shot loads of drivers....on camera.....
Being dead on a m/way seems better than being anywhere near an underground, let alone on one of their "trains".

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

In the long run you are dead anyway!

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The only thing that should be prohibited is prohibition.

Yeah, dunno bout you I'd rather not go mixed up with accelerator pedals, gear sticks and body panels whilst driving to Slough to see the in laws...

It's being chased down and eaten by lionesses every time for me.

What about MOT/Testing/Plating and New Registering?
And driving lessons, test fees?

And the cost of personalised number plates

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

I don't get this.

Are people saying that people who choose to buy personalised number plates and therefore don't purchase insurance because they've got no money left are victims?