Safe Speed Forums

Leaving aside the obscene amount of money collected under the guise of building and maintaining roads....
The government is now proposing that private companies not only build, but finance the roads. Doubtless collecting the money back...plus interest.
So at the moment the gov does the work and pays, in future the gov pays and others do the work. Apart from the ruinously expensive private finance initiative, which this still is, how does it differ from the status quo.
At the moment the gov can borrow at no cost......literally.....zilch interest....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17423693

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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

Road taxes have increased above inflation .
Fuel duties are through the roof.
There are comparatively very few new roads being built nowadays (we're fortunate enough to have had previous generations build them for us). Maintaining should be considerably cheaper than building.

Yet road pricing is being mulled. Who said the motorist isn't a cash cow!

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

As I understand it, only new build by private companies would be included in any road pricing scheme - much like the M6 toll.

However, that is not to say that if it looks successful, that the scheme my slide into private road maintenance funded by tolls.

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

In case you had failed to notice....roads are already maintained by private companies.
In Beds it is courtesy of AMEY...roads are patrolled by their fleet of roving hole-spotters and repair teams targetted onto them.
New roads are built, as are all roads, by private companies, and they always have been. Councils no longer have the money to employ the manpower needed or to afford the pension costs...
What we are talking about is the sale, or long-term "letting", of existing roads to private companies who then proceed to maintain or improve them at cost to the taxpayer/council.
It may even be that whole sections of m/ways may eventually be "owned" by various companies who charge you to use them....and the charge will not be via toll-booths...that is SO 20th century....
But then..what the cringing fools in the lamentable Parliament are not telling you, is that a EU directive exists towards a unified EU-wide road tolling system, which has been under development since 2004.

So everything Call-Me-Dave is telling you has already been decided, and not by him or his kind.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2004:200:0050:0057:EN:PDF

http://eureferendum.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/another-reminder.html

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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

I wonder if this means that any road built or owned by private business will not be subject to government or local council authority’s regulation? After all, if the ultimate goal is to ease congestion, and they own them, they can presumably speed things up a little too as well as just build new roads and filch old ones.

We may see the :80: sooner than we thought; just need a smilie for it 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.

You could put the 80 on it's side and it looks like a smiley...even got a catchy phrase..."80's Matey"...wonder if BRAKE will use it???

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

Of course, when you're driving at 80mph your fuel economy will be worse.......and fuel tax and vat is nearly 70% of total cost (never forgetting that you/me/us are also TAXED on TAX) (at 56mph my vehicle does 42mpg...at 70mph it does 28mpg...at 80 it will do 19mpg)
So we would be better to slow down...to 56mph...everywhere.
Watch how long it takes them to start prosecuting people for being too economical...sorry....slow.
Now, how much am I going to be charged (remotely) for travelling over roads I have already paid for...several times...meanwhile, when the NHS is privatised (sorry, it passed last night...so it is now)...you will be billed directly for accident injuries....

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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

Trust me, you may as well issue everyone with a cyanide pill so if they fall ill they have the better option.

If we adopt a car pool system and share the fuel bill it could be cheaper and faster, even at 19 mpg. My mate has an electric motorbike and he reckons it costs the equivalent of 50 pence for a full charge which will take him 40 miles. Not bad, especially when he plugs it in at work. I wonder how the gov will tax him without putting the price of electric up such that it wont persecute Mrs Miggins making her cuppa?

I’m sure they’ll find a way once it becomes more popular, just like they did with diesel..

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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.

In Warks ,we still have county surveyors to look at potholes reported,and a van ( same person ?) roans around marking up defects. At Christmas, I reported a nasty pothole ,which was not fixed after a month. Second report,CC county councillor got the reply that blamed the Contractor for the error. Don't know who contractor is as I see differently marked trucks filling in potholes and trenches .Now if it's a trench, they try to get some compensation from the utility company that originally opened it ,and were supposed to fill it to a standard, or so they tell me .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

And thats the thing....

Cutting the consumption of, (well) Anything wont save you in the long run!

The B'stards will just put the price/tax/whatever up to cover any losses of revenue that consumers savings might have reduced!

This is why the argument that the "AGW Sceptics" are somehow financed by "Big Oil" is a complete red herring!

AGW is "Big Oil's" biggest proffit centre! "Big Oil" will, over the next century or so, not only secure its future but also make Trillions of dollars on the back of AGW!

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

So they are planning ISA through 'funding' for roads then.
What of the massive costs that this scam will charge the Government ? And all for what? Certainly not for anything other than a tax on travel ?!
We pay a very very large portion already towards travelling. This will easily register all vehicles speeds and simply add on all the various speed offences !
Just appalling and really, sad.
As for all the privacy issues ! Not doubt it will all be rolled out as 'safer' and 'better' ...

I can clearly see Campaigning strongly against all in-vehicle devices that send any record that is outwith my direct control or my choice or preference banned. If enough people object and refuse to place the item in the vehicle then their intentions will be scuppered.
I see they say : So perhaps they already know that their system is useless and the compatibility is in pieces already. No doubt a massive chunk of money will be required from the citizens to pay for this pointless scam. And just what is it truly meant to achieve ? If it was just about money for roads then surely a simple additional cost to each person (at worst) could have requested, without all this admin (etc) overhead!

The fact that they want all bank details so automatic payments can be made is also very, very worrying! And yet they state in part K page 8, they

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

Ah here we go : How can or has any 'toll system' contribute to road safety? Where is their evidence? Higher density and volume of traffic is worse not better !
The thought that this service (which I am convinced from what I read) will be used to monitor speeds, or might contribute in any way to road safety is so short sighted, it beggars belief! From what possible evidence can they have based these ill founded decisions on !

Surely far better to spend the money that is already in existence more wisely and more carefully, than waste gobsmacking amounts on 'new (un-necessary) systems, that require massive overheads, and destroy a persons privacy. Who do they think they are kidding, if they think that the system is going to be able to keep individual movements private !

And ... what about the absolute fundamental problem that GPS is not that accurate and not consistently accurate ! What if it thinks you have joined a motorway at a higher rate when you didn't as all you did was drive by it it under/over it ?

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

Simple: galileo.
22 satellites already contracted and under construction.
Higher power and more accurate. More precisely, not under US control either.
Or maybe you thought that forward thinking was not a government thing ?
As for the hardware....loads of anpr systems exist now....and they can all be used for pricing travel, as can any reasonable-quality video system.
Want your details ?
Taxed your car online recently ?
Insure your car online ?
Details got.
Soon every M/way exit/entrance will be anpr'ed.
Many dc/ways are as well...
Or maybe you thought that a nationwide fibre-optic data system on all trunk roads was useful for operating low-tech matrix displays.
14 million hits-a-day on the current anpr system....recorded and available.
Planning for charging started over 20 years ago, continues now unabated, and will continue irrespective.
Or maybe you forgot the rather rigid numberplate design....some 30+ years ago.
Good for extraction from video stream though...

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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

What the hec do you do for a living Jom? MI5 mole?

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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.

Writing's been on the wall for a long time. Current spec system looses you if you comply with limit. But, it wouldn't be difficult to use it ( and ANPR) to track vehicle movements. Distance covered on various classes of road =bill. DVLA gives out RK address. Who needs satellites ?

Interesting thing is on the fuel pricing front that gas doesn't seem to have rocketed. Usual HMG ploy is to price things like this low ,and wait for massive take-up.Then ramp up the price to recover the losses, as it's possibly too expensive to return to old ways. But possibly the fact that it's a duel fuel system has deterred them .Just my 2d

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Everything is available if you look for it, but you have to want to know/find it first.
The press, and the rest of the news media, don't want to know things that may make them governmentally unpopular. Just look at how the bbc bends over and changes for each successive government.
"letting" the roads to private companies isn't even news, it was mooted decades ago, many decades ago.
All the m/ways and most of the dc/ways could be put-up for rent....the model exists, the technology exists and the will exists.
Where that leaves single c/ways I don't know. Road maintenance is minimal around here....a recent change was made to a 4wd solely because of the damage frequently caused to the nearside suspension of my previous vehicle, and the component-life of same if not damaged. A front suspension radius arm costing 35 quid was being replaced every 10 months/1-year....25000 miles...a component life reduction of 25000 miles.
Maybe the road tax will decrease, but that is a minor cost anyway. Fuel tax is going up 3.2p/ltr in August...and maybe more soon after.
I don't know about you, but 150p/ltr is when I seriously consider just keeping a vehicle and not using it much, if at all.
And many others are going that route. According to people like the AA, fuel use is down some 14-20%....
AND the budget just levvied vat on most hot fast food.....m/way caffs are going to have a hard time....not forgetting the granny/grandad taxes....in fact George has alienated just about everyone this time.
Maybe he knows something about the next election that we don't ?

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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