The PH (balanced!) transport manifesto

[V8mate]

So, can the collective might of PH come up with a balanced* manifesto to improve the lot of everyone who uses this country's roads? Cars, goods vehicles, buses, cyclists and pedestrians all, somehow, need to get along; so how do we best share our road resources.

Here are a few of my initial thoughts; feel free to add/edit/remove/debate these ideas together with your own.



General driving
- The enforcement of zip-merging where lanes merge. To be supported by a TV/media campaign in the old 70s public infomation style, i.e. cartoon demonstration of how to do it. If motorists persist in refusing to zip-merge, the introduction of monitoring cameras at such locations. Fines for motorists who refuse to merge correctly.

- Vehicles heading uphill to always have right of way over those heading downhill where road is narrow.

- Holders of foreign driving licences to be prohibited from owning or driving any motor vehicle in the UK. (Exception: Holders of foreign driving licences from approved countries may hire cars from bona fide hire companies for short periods (<1 month?))


Motorway and Dual Carriageway driving:

- The enforcement of zip-merging at roadworks (details as above). Fines for motorists who refuse to merge correctly; short-term bans for drivers of HGVs who block multiple lanes in the approach to merges.

- Keeping to the left. A similar media campaign to educating as for merging, 'demonstrating' the requirement to pull straight back to the left following an overtaking manoeuvre. To be a focus issue for traffic Police - spot-fines; repeat offenders to be banned.

- Maximum speed limits to be raised on motorways outside of the travel peaks during good weather. (100mph?)


Goods Vehicles:

- No HGV movements between 06.30-10.00 and 16.30-20.00


Buses:
- Buses to have right of way over other vehicles, i.e. if a bus is indicating to pull away from a stop, cars must stop to let it out (not movements which contravene junction/roundabout rules!)

- Bus lanes to be duration specific; local authorities would need to prove that the restriction is absolutely necessary for the 24/7 approach most seem to take and lift the restriction outside of peak bus flows appropriately.


Cyclists:
- Where a cycle lane has been created by simply painting a white dividing line along an existing footpath, that footpath to be returned to pedestrian-only use. No cycle lanes to combine pedestrian and cycle users.

- Cyclists over the age of 10 who use a footpath to be spot-fined.


Pedestrians:
- Pedestrians to be strongly advised to use a controlled crossing wherever one is within sight (should it be an offence to cross a road if you can see a crossing but don't use it?). Where a pedestrian is involved in an RTA whilst crossing the road away from but within sight of a controlled crossing, there will be an automatic presumption of innocence on the part of the motor vehicle driver.





*I realise I'm asking a lot, but in no way expect anything less than harsh words and abuse between the various contributors. Possibly as early as the first comment

[Balmoral Green]

A lot of that manifesto is already on the books, in terms of the Highway Code and the law, it's just that it's not observed, and it's not enforced. The problem is that seemingly no one cares (apart from most PH'ers). The average road user needs to be made to care.

[AndrewW-G]

Could you please add:

Fog Lights Drivers using fog lights when no fog is evident, to attend driver re-education, where they will be required to memorise the 1970's "don’t drive with your fog lights on, you selfish fking wker" adverts

[kambites]

V8mate said:

- Holders of foreign driving licences to be prohibited from owning or driving any motor vehicle in the UK. (Exception: Holders of foreign driving licences from approved countries may hire cars from bona fide hire companies for short periods (<1 month?))

That would be a disaster. You might as well put up a bit sign in every airport saying "The UK is not open to multinational investment".

[XitUp]

Balanced as long as you're not foreign or a pedestrian.

I like the fog light idea.

Can I add road tax and insurance to be mandatory for horses please? You don't have to pay tax if your horse was born before 1973.

[Negative Creep]

kambites said:

V8mate said:

- Holders of foreign driving licences to be prohibited from owning or driving any motor vehicle in the UK. (Exception: Holders of foreign driving licences from approved countries may hire cars from bona fide hire companies for short periods (<1 month?))

That would be a disaster. You might as well put up a bit sign in every airport saying "The UK is not open to multinational investment".

I agree, daft idea as there are plenty of foreigners who aren't just here for a 2 week holiday so the idea of a hire car is nonsensical. I'd like to add

- Strict enforcement on cyclists who jump red lights, supported by a government backed media campaign

- Dipped beam, not just sidelights, mandatory in the hours of darkness

- Reform of the DLVA. Introduce a computer system where ownership can be instantly transferred at any Post Office

- Current RFL system scrapped and the cost added to fuel prices. The more you drive, the more you pay. Simple.

[kambites]

Oh and add "big fines for drivers that park on pavements".

[V8mate]

kambites said:

V8mate said:

- Holders of foreign driving licences to be prohibited from owning or driving any motor vehicle in the UK. (Exception: Holders of foreign driving licences from approved countries may hire cars from bona fide hire companies for short periods (<1 month?))

That would be a disaster. You might as well put up a bit sign in every airport saying "The UK is not open to multinational investment".

So how do we manage the disaster of foreign nationals for whom the driving test is asking 'Uncle' to get you a licence coming here and driving around without the first clue of controlling their car, let alone understanding the basics of traffic regulation? You can spot these drivers from 500m+.

Is it so bad that we ask foreign nationals who are sticking around for longer than, say, 3 months to sit a UK test?

[XitUp]

Treat them the same as the thousands of terrible drivers with a full uk driving license. Catch them doing something stupid and punish them for it.

[kambites]

V8mate said:

Is it so bad that we ask foreign nationals who are sticking around for longer than, say, 3 months to sit a UK test?

If you want any kind of economy left, then yes, it is too bad.

I've seen no evidence that foreign drivers are on average any worse than UK ones, anyway. Lets face it, it would be quite hard to be worse than the average UK driver.

Edited by kambites on Saturday 27th November 15:52

[Asterix]

I'd fly all motorists to the Middle East and Asia for a fact finding mission and tell them all to STFU and get some perspective.

You can't get it perfect - there are humans involved and they tend to be a bit random.

Trust me, the standard of driving in the UK is among the best in the world.

[V8mate]

Asterix said:

Trust me, the standard of driving in the UK is among the best in the world.

I disagree. The prevalence of intolerance/'road rage' alone puts us well down the list.

[Asterix]

V8mate said:

Asterix said:

Trust me, the standard of driving in the UK is among the best in the world.

I disagree. The prevalence of intolerance/'road rage' alone puts us well down the list.

Ok, then - you win because you say so.

Sorry that having lived,travelled and driven extensively around the world hasn't given me a pertinent view point.

[kambites]

Asterix said:

Trust me, the standard of driving in the UK is among the best in the world.

Yeah OK, you're right really, but that doesn't change the fact that they have as much right to drive here as we do there (wherever there is) and that international business relies on people being able to easily visit other countries and get about when they do.

[plasticpig]

V8mate said:

Asterix said:

Trust me, the standard of driving in the UK is among the best in the world.

I disagree. The prevalence of intolerance/'road rage' alone puts us well down the list.

The road crash fatality rate puts the UK very near the top of the list. Unless you believe that driving standards have no affect on road deaths then you cannot discount that.

[kambites]

plasticpig said:

The road crash fatality rate puts the UK very near the top of the list. Unless you believe that driving standards have no affect on road deaths then you cannot discount that.

To be fair, a significant proportion of that will come from the fact that we typically drive much newer cars, which are significantly safer in a crash. An accident that would kill people in eastern Europe, wouldn't cause a scratch here because we don't drive old Ladas.

It is very hard to come up with accurate "driving quality" statistics, but you only have to drive in a few countries to realise that the UK is certainly better than average, even in the western world.

Edited by kambites on Saturday 27th November 16:30

[maniac0796]

"No HGV movements between 06.30-10.00 and 16.30-20.00"

And Agricultural. When I used to drive to Yeovil from Exeter everyday, in the late summer and autumn, the A303 is a nightmare with tractors pulling trailers piled up with hay. Ham hill in particular is a terrible black spot.

[V8mate]

kambites said:

Asterix said:

Trust me, the standard of driving in the UK is among the best in the world.

Yeah OK, you're right really, but that doesn't change the fact that they have as much right to drive here as we do there (wherever there is) and that international business relies on people being able to easily visit other countries and get about when they do.

Do these 'international business people' (how many people are we actually talking about?) all buy cars here though? Most European business people just drive their cars over. And if foreigners buy cars it's because they are staying a fair bit longer than 3 months; so they could take a 45 minute test?

The OP took me as long to write as it did for you to read; it's not the final legal drafting. If a particular group of people are demonstrably disadvantaged for the wrong reasons, then steps would obviously be taken to fix it.

But the kind of people who I see wandering about the highways with clearly no clue of what they're doing are not 'international business people'.

[anonymous-user]

Unless i'm missing something here, all these issues and more could simple be solved by a return to real live traffic police men and women! Our reliance on machine justice has bought us to where we are now. I'd love to see the statistic for the ratio of "cars per TrafPol officer" for say 1970 and 2010??

[kambites]

V8mate said:

Do these 'international business people' (how many people are we actually talking about?) all buy cars here though? Most European business people just drive their cars over. And if foreigners buy cars it's because they are staying a fair bit longer than 3 months; so they could take a 45 minute test?

We (I work for IBM UK) quite often have foreigners over for 3 or 6 month assignments. Some hire cars, some buy them, but they all need to drive for that period, and if they had to take driving tests to do so, I'm pretty sure that IBM would simply close down its UK labs and move somewhere more accommodating.

Mostly commonly these days, these people are Chinese or Indian, I would imagine that neither country has a particularly strict driving test...



I think we are too late to impose such rules - we stand to lose more from them than the other countries in question. We simply don't have the economic or political clout to be able to get away with anything that might alienate foreign investors and businesses.

Edited by kambites on Saturday 27th November 16:45