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macrumors 68030
Norwich Union do Pay As You Drive insurance, so that if you drive less you pay less. Unfortunately, it looks like you have to drive a LOT less.
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UK: Motorists 'must pay for road use'
- Thread starter bigandy
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Norwich Union do Pay As You Drive insurance, so that if you drive less you pay less. Unfortunately, it looks like you have to drive a LOT less.
OnceUGoMac
macrumors 6502a
If cars were 'invented' today, there would be road pricing. Organisations such as the RSPCA and the emergency services would have exemptions/special agreements. We have to move forward just to stay where we are.
It was a civil war to us! Bunch of terrorists, sorry freedom fighters. 😉
NATO
macrumors 68000
Don't you think you're being a little naive? Do you think the TV Licencing guys really have vans filled with expensive detector equipment to seek out a television set in peoples houses? Come on.... When it's more or less mandatory for every house in the UK to own a TV licence, all they need to do is get a list of households which don't have a TV Licence from their computer system then keep hounding them until they either find they have a TV and are breaking the law, or find they don't actually have a TV and then move on.
This notion of vans filled with futuristic equipment driving around the country seeking out rogue television sets makes me laugh. The fact that people believe it makes me cry a little inside...
combatcolin
macrumors 68020
Whoops!, sorry, wrong scrap! Anyway a good half of people who at the time called themselves American decided that they wanted to be ruled by Americans.
The other half who still considered themselves Americans but were loyal to the British Crown were having none of it.
Although the end result was that America replaced the rich tax collecting British with rich tax collecting Americans.
Sort of like the T-Shirt slogan, "same s**t, different day"
And regarding UK TV licensing, we don't have vans patroling the streets packed full of hi-tech listening gear a-la CSI - The reality is nowhere near as intresting.
It is assumed that everyone in the UK has a TV, so everyone should have a license.
Anyone who is registered as owning or lives in a home who dosn't have a TV license...well its not rocket science to check if they have a TV is it?
MacRy
macrumors 601
So basically i'm just stuffed then. With no viable alternative means of public transport and a £300 per week bill to drive to and from work I guess my only option would be to get another job closer to home then. Fantastic!
AndyR
macrumors 6502a
Nah mate, I'm the same boat as you and would be facing a £300-£400 per week bill just to get to work. Public Transport is a no-no as there are no bus / train stations within 10 miles of my work.
Best bet if this happens, jack in the job and claim benefits! Everyone does it over here so screw the country thats screwing us. 😱
God I hate the UK.
millar876
macrumors 6502a
All in all a nice centiment if you live somewhere that has something that resembles good public transport. Generally this is only the case in the greater london and south east England area and the majhor English cities, once you go anywhere north of Birmingham (except for arround the town centers of glasgow edinburgh pearth inverness and aberdeen) public transport SUCKS. and when i say sucks i mean it. If i want to go to my work (5 milae away) i have to take a 5 minuite walk to a bus stop, get a bus to the center of town, wait to change busses, sit through a 25 minuite bus ride, walk 5 mins to the gate of my work then walk another 30 minuits to get me to my actual place of work, the busses either get me into work 1hr30 mins early or 45 mins late (bus time only not including walking time) whereas i can meet others from my work on the way in my car (4 people lift sharing) and it takes 15 minuits door to door. My wife takes the train to work most days, but train times are also CRUDDY, she leaves the house at 0630 (the days when its not my turn to drive) drives to the station, (35 min walk <5mins drive), gets on the train that leaves at 0641, arrives in aberdeen 65 miles away at 0814. SHE STARTS WORK AT 9 AND ONLY WORKS 2 MINS FROM THE RUDDY STATION. finishes at 5 has to sit arround doing ****{male chicken}all until the nekt train home which leaves at 1821 and gets here home at 1945. and what do you know those are the peak time trains. so the people that think this is a FANTASTIC idea need to take a stepp outside their bubble and look at the REAL world. People in my part of the UK NEED their cars, especialy in winter. 2 x-masses ago the ONLY SINGLE trainline betweel Aberdeen and Inverness was closed (partially - the big chunk of it in the middle)for about 6 months due a land slide and debris damage, busses between the 2 are a joke and are frequently suspended during the winter due to high winds and incliment weather. not everyone can abide by whats best for the one part of the uk where the people that make these kinds of decisions live. its just another ploy to bleed money from people, we already pay more taxes for our cars and road use than anyone else in europe (IMO possibly the world). over 60% of fuel costs in UK are TAX, Road tax is 100% TAX, VAT on your MOT=TAX. AND if they have a little black box in your car that knows where you are and when you are there, what is to stop them dooing a little maths (GCSE physics people, Speed=distance/time) and issuing speeding fines to somone driving on a proposed (possibly in trials by now) Variable speed limit road.
is summary... BAD IDEA, unless you live in the south east of england and like your bubble.
backsidetailsli
macrumors 65816
wow thats such garbage!
if you already pay taxes what this additional?
i feel for you guys, that blows
if you already pay taxes what this additional?
i feel for you guys, that blows
combatcolin
macrumors 68020
Doing nothing is not an option.
Doing nothing will cripple the UK economy.
Doing nothing will continue to increase carbon emissons.
We have no choice but to take action, but we do have a choice as to what action we do eventually take.
Doing nothing will cripple the UK economy.
Doing nothing will continue to increase carbon emissons.
We have no choice but to take action, but we do have a choice as to what action we do eventually take.
SpookTheHamster
macrumors 65816
You live 5 miles from work? On yer bike, son. It's what I do. You'll feel better for it in so many ways.
You're wife arrives at work 40 min early? If she has opposable thumbs, I'd tell her to read a newspaper/book. A good way to expand your mind.
It may seem awkward, but there are always good things to come from situations like this.
That doesn't mean I'm for road pricing, worst idea for a long time.
millar876
macrumors 6502a
have you ever tried cycling through 2 ft (winter only) of snow with a 20MPH (average year round) headwind along THE ONLY ROAD BETWEEN 2 TOWNS with no level parts and 1 in 20 gradients aling the entire length and 1 part with a 1 in 15. and in cace you havnt guessed im not an olympic cyclist or artic mountineer.
millar876
macrumors 6502a
the point i was trying to make is that public transport in many areas of the UK, particularly the nort of scotlsnd is **** (4 letter word rhymes with TANK). do you honestly think she would make a 140 mile 4 hour round trip daily to work for penuts in a job any idiot could do, NO she's an accountant. Cycling is nice in the hight of summer but highly impractical any time outside summer due io inclement weather and the ammount of stuff i need to take to and from work daily at this time of year. i just cant help but think the increece in public transport funding will NEVER be felt in the ares where the infrastructure is already unbelievably poor and will only benefit those areas that already have great transport networks in place.
combatcolin
macrumors 68020
Hi
Some words of encouragement to the British: you're not alone in the "60% of my fuel costs is tax club". Over here in Portugal it's the same, additionally we pay tolls for most highways, some 60% of people's income is also spent in paying for their house, there's no proper suburban train network, etc., etc.
I gues the main difference is that on our way to work it doesn't rain on us all year 🙂 and that we have in 1/3 of your average income 🙁 . Since you guys have a proper real estate market, you'd better use it. Instead of complaining that work is too far away from home and that places where you live have poor public transportation, just move to a better place - or re-build your city with public transportation in mind. After all everybody knew that suburban sprawl would never create cities that would work, so now here's the result. And I'd wager that things will not improve as oil becomes scarce.
Some words of encouragement to the British: you're not alone in the "60% of my fuel costs is tax club". Over here in Portugal it's the same, additionally we pay tolls for most highways, some 60% of people's income is also spent in paying for their house, there's no proper suburban train network, etc., etc.
I gues the main difference is that on our way to work it doesn't rain on us all year 🙂 and that we have in 1/3 of your average income 🙁 . Since you guys have a proper real estate market, you'd better use it. Instead of complaining that work is too far away from home and that places where you live have poor public transportation, just move to a better place - or re-build your city with public transportation in mind. After all everybody knew that suburban sprawl would never create cities that would work, so now here's the result. And I'd wager that things will not improve as oil becomes scarce.
you really think that complaining to his MP would stop the 2ft of snow each winter?
SpookTheHamster said:
yeah, you've never been to northern Scotland have you? It's rather hilly. And cold. And wet. Or covered in snow.
You have it easy in London. try getting out of that 'bubble' and seeing what it's really like in the rest of the country (especially here in Scotland) and you'll see the huge problems we all have with public transport.
I currently live 2 miles from University - yet the busses, when they turn up, can take about 45 min to get there. And 'walking' often isn't an option - it rains in every direction here (including upwards) and thoroughly soaks you in seconds, no matter how rainproof your coat is. It's often too cold to walk/cycle, and where does that leave us? And trying to read a book on a bus anywhere near Elgin? omg. roll out the sick bags!
Before you get on your horse and gallop round shouting that people should walk/cycle or read a book on a bus remember that not everywhere's as flat as the capital.
Well, if the Government refuses to tax jet fuel and wants to price us off the roads, there's only one solution. Let's all get our pilot's licenses and fly to work 🙂
SpookTheHamster
macrumors 65816
No, I've never ridden bikes in Scotland. But I've ridden them in Wales, the Lake District, and where I live in Hants (not London, that's just uni). Strangely enough, it rains and snows in those places, and there are hills there as well.
People here seem to avoid things because they're awkward or difficult, I dread to think what it would be like if we actually had it bad in this country with regards to weather.
People here seem to avoid things because they're awkward or difficult, I dread to think what it would be like if we actually had it bad in this country with regards to weather.
combatcolin
macrumors 68020
Yes, by all means complain to your MP because its a bit drizzly this time of year.😉
Look at it this year, congestion and carbon emissions are the big two items the goverment want to deal with.
Now congestion and London go hand in hand, but congestion and Scotland?
Drive around all bloody day and not see another soul.
😛
Look at it this year, congestion and carbon emissions are the big two items the goverment want to deal with.
Now congestion and London go hand in hand, but congestion and Scotland?
Drive around all bloody day and not see another soul.
😛
dops7107
macrumors 6502a
This is true. Wake up people, life is difficult. No one owes us an easy time, or a living, for that matter.
And, joy of joys, the petrol tax has just been increased again today - as if 200% tax on fuel wasn't high enough (approx 30p/litre being the fuel cost, and around 60p/litre tax). Surely we're effectively paying by the mile already, through fuel duty, without introducing more tolls too?
I rather wish the politicians would look beyond the boundaries of London, and realise that there's little alternative for people in much of the rest of the country other than to drive, due to the lack of a sensible public transport infrastructure. And maybe they could try to resolve the issues through methods other than taxation - perhaps consider ways to move freight off roads and back onto railways? The reduction in the number of lorries can only reduce congestion, pollution, accidents, etc.
Now, if only they hadn't closed all the railway branch lines back in the day.... 🙄
I rather wish the politicians would look beyond the boundaries of London, and realise that there's little alternative for people in much of the rest of the country other than to drive, due to the lack of a sensible public transport infrastructure. And maybe they could try to resolve the issues through methods other than taxation - perhaps consider ways to move freight off roads and back onto railways? The reduction in the number of lorries can only reduce congestion, pollution, accidents, etc.
Now, if only they hadn't closed all the railway branch lines back in the day.... 🙄