Yesterday I thought about giving up driving.
Discussion
FFS. Thursday afternoon. I've got tickets in Liverpool at the theatre for a date with my wife.
I'm working in Derby.
As it's a "date" do not want to say "I'll see you in the Bar" so I have to drive home first.
It's about 110 miles. This takes 2 hours on a Monday Morning and usually on a Friday after noon 2.5 hours. Sat Nav tells me it should be 1 hour 50.
So I think leave at 3 pm get home at 5:30. An hour at home. Into Liverpool, park, and well'll have time for a drink in the bar first.
So first, it seems I'm stupid. The shift workers in the Factories finish at 2pm, but guess what? at 3pm there's a mini rush hour of people who've done an hours overtime, so a few mins added before I get a mile.
Then all is going well until I get past Uttoxetter, when the A50 stops. 40 mins going nowhere. All traffic bulletins say all roads in the area are running free. (thanks BBC Radio Stoke!!) Evenually it all gets going, and then as I head towards the Stoke city stadium, we just stop again for 10 mins.
Then I hit the motorway the m6. (Radio 2 has told me nothing). Then we stop, then we go then we stop, then there's an incident (Radio Free Shropshire and BBC radio Manchester say nothing) and we stop again.
Now I'm heading towards the M56/Thelwal viaduct, and the M6 is stationary going north, so I stupidly decide to go along the M56 and then over the Runcorn Bridge. I'd forgotten the 7 years of torture the approach to that god forsaken bridge had given me, and it and the traffic did it's worst. Finally I get onto the M57, and Radio Miseryside mentions switch island, which I'm queuing for, I decide to avoid the Duningbridge Road Copy Lane junction, and decide that my long short cut via Maghull and the country B road will be better. Maghull is a PITA, but I get onto a little back lane, to find that the road is closed for rebuilding. I have to retrace my steps and come through Lunt and Ince Blundell, where the traffic is queuing to get onto the Main road, but I know an alternative, join the main road 200 yrds back, to find that someone is blocking a lane with a puncture. Great.
Eventually at 6:20 I get home. I change my shirt and drive my wife into Liverpool. On the way there are 4 speed cameras. I know where they are, in a 30 limit. So does all the traffic. I drive through them at 30 mph (with cruise control on). Then my wife insists on insisting that I've driven through them at 40 mph. If that were true, I'd have to have overtaken the 10 cars in front.
Anyway Punt and Dennis were funny enough, but not as funny as the idea that I could have done better by pubic trainsport. (Spellings are correct). I've just looked at how long it would have taken by train. 3 trains, 2 buses, 2 rail replacement buses, so about 4.5 hours door to door
Next time (and I did buy 4 sets of tickets for my wife's Christmas present) I shall take the whole afternoon off.
I'm working in Derby.
As it's a "date" do not want to say "I'll see you in the Bar" so I have to drive home first.
It's about 110 miles. This takes 2 hours on a Monday Morning and usually on a Friday after noon 2.5 hours. Sat Nav tells me it should be 1 hour 50.
So I think leave at 3 pm get home at 5:30. An hour at home. Into Liverpool, park, and well'll have time for a drink in the bar first.
So first, it seems I'm stupid. The shift workers in the Factories finish at 2pm, but guess what? at 3pm there's a mini rush hour of people who've done an hours overtime, so a few mins added before I get a mile.
Then all is going well until I get past Uttoxetter, when the A50 stops. 40 mins going nowhere. All traffic bulletins say all roads in the area are running free. (thanks BBC Radio Stoke!!) Evenually it all gets going, and then as I head towards the Stoke city stadium, we just stop again for 10 mins.
Then I hit the motorway the m6. (Radio 2 has told me nothing). Then we stop, then we go then we stop, then there's an incident (Radio Free Shropshire and BBC radio Manchester say nothing) and we stop again.
Now I'm heading towards the M56/Thelwal viaduct, and the M6 is stationary going north, so I stupidly decide to go along the M56 and then over the Runcorn Bridge. I'd forgotten the 7 years of torture the approach to that god forsaken bridge had given me, and it and the traffic did it's worst. Finally I get onto the M57, and Radio Miseryside mentions switch island, which I'm queuing for, I decide to avoid the Duningbridge Road Copy Lane junction, and decide that my long short cut via Maghull and the country B road will be better. Maghull is a PITA, but I get onto a little back lane, to find that the road is closed for rebuilding. I have to retrace my steps and come through Lunt and Ince Blundell, where the traffic is queuing to get onto the Main road, but I know an alternative, join the main road 200 yrds back, to find that someone is blocking a lane with a puncture. Great.
Eventually at 6:20 I get home. I change my shirt and drive my wife into Liverpool. On the way there are 4 speed cameras. I know where they are, in a 30 limit. So does all the traffic. I drive through them at 30 mph (with cruise control on). Then my wife insists on insisting that I've driven through them at 40 mph. If that were true, I'd have to have overtaken the 10 cars in front.
Anyway Punt and Dennis were funny enough, but not as funny as the idea that I could have done better by pubic trainsport. (Spellings are correct). I've just looked at how long it would have taken by train. 3 trains, 2 buses, 2 rail replacement buses, so about 4.5 hours door to door
Next time (and I did buy 4 sets of tickets for my wife's Christmas present) I shall take the whole afternoon off.
In the 1980s I habitually drove c.50k miles a year nationally, and could generally estimate the journey time from, say, London to Penzance or Glasgow and make it more or less as expected. A trip to Newcastle upon Tyne from the Thames Valley and back in a day was practicable with a business meeting thrown in. Now, however, those estimates are fantasies and at least 50% more time must be allowed - often even that is too little. I am glad I don't drive those mileages now.
New POD said:
So first, it seems I'm stupid. The shift workers in the Factories finish at 2pm, but guess what? at 3pm there's a mini rush hour of people who've done an hours overtime, so a few mins added before I get a mile.
It's annoying that Derby's Friday rush hour seems to start at about midday on a Friday, with RR shifts finishing, the railway taking full advantage of POETS days and the other factory staff finishing early.It does mean that those of us who work 'til 5:30 on a Friday get a slightly better journey home that day though, but makes popping out to the shops or the pub at lunchtime a nightmare
I do a fairly hefty mileage each year. For journeys up to 3 hours I'll leave 30-60 minutes extra for incidents. Journeys over 3 hours at least an hour. If I arrive early I can get a bit of work done.
Never been late for a meeting (tempting fate!) but am always surprised by the number of cars on the road. Surely there cant be that many people?!
Never been late for a meeting (tempting fate!) but am always surprised by the number of cars on the road. Surely there cant be that many people?!
I often get to the point of never wanting to use the motorways again. Usually when I'm sat on a Friday afternoon on the A1, behind a queue of noddies doing 60mph who aren't prepared to move into lane 1 as there's a truck half a mile ahead that they'll need to pass in a couple of minutes.
It's only going to get worse. Increasing population coupled with total car dependence. Everyone now drives everywhere, whereas 20-30 years ago more people would walk, cycle or use public transport for everyday journeys.
My solution is to live in Northern Scotland, but the traffic in Aberdeen is still a total nightmare any time near rush 'hours' and so I cycle to work & save loads of time. Longer trips are generally hassle-free up here, though, unlike when I was living in the East Midlands.
Eventually if delays get long enough I wonder if more people will leave their cars at home, but it doesn't seem to be happening here yet & I can't understand why eople would choose to spend hours sitting in traffic jams every day just to get to work in the city...
My solution is to live in Northern Scotland, but the traffic in Aberdeen is still a total nightmare any time near rush 'hours' and so I cycle to work & save loads of time. Longer trips are generally hassle-free up here, though, unlike when I was living in the East Midlands.
Eventually if delays get long enough I wonder if more people will leave their cars at home, but it doesn't seem to be happening here yet & I can't understand why eople would choose to spend hours sitting in traffic jams every day just to get to work in the city...
I live in Midlands but have friends and family on the Wirral (Merseyside) so social reasons dictate that I should frequently have weekends up there.
Even finishing work on a Friday at 1pm, all routes North are depressing. M6 or A41 or A51.
Now I flatly refuse to drive up on a Friday and instead prefer to leave early Saturday Morning to meet weekend requirements.
Even finishing work on a Friday at 1pm, all routes North are depressing. M6 or A41 or A51.
Now I flatly refuse to drive up on a Friday and instead prefer to leave early Saturday Morning to meet weekend requirements.
Having gone to uni in derby and now living in liverpool. I would of opted for the A52, A515, A537 cat and fiddle, M6 then M62 to avoid the bulk of traffic plus its a much more scenic route. However a A515 can be a PITA and East Cheshire is a pig at times.
But yeah I feel the same sometimes i wonder if there's any point in having a car at all. Especially not one worth paying through the teeth for being surrounded by lazy muppets clogging and destroying the roads in their white SUV's (here's to hoping you don't have a white SUV)
But yeah I feel the same sometimes i wonder if there's any point in having a car at all. Especially not one worth paying through the teeth for being surrounded by lazy muppets clogging and destroying the roads in their white SUV's (here's to hoping you don't have a white SUV)
Sir Bagalot said:
NNK said:
I would have left work at 1pm given the distance.
Or own a Sat Nav with live traffic..... Or check trafficengland before leaving work..... Or Google maps.....Lack of preparation I'm afraid.
The Restorer said:
Embrace the tech!
Your local knowledge along with either live data from TomTom (other live traffic apps available) or user submitted reports from Waze would have got you home quicker.
The trouble is that a lot of drivers are getting the same information, so are taking the same diversion routes often onto roads which aren't meant to carry much traffic. On a busy day, the system in my Merc goes bonkers re-routing me and you end up not having a clue what's going on.Your local knowledge along with either live data from TomTom (other live traffic apps available) or user submitted reports from Waze would have got you home quicker.
motco said:
In the 1980s I habitually drove c.50k miles a year nationally, and could generally estimate the journey time from, say, London to Penzance or Glasgow and make it more or less as expected ... Now, however, those estimates are fantasies and at least 50% more time must be allowed - often even that is too little.
BGarside said:
It's only going to get worse. Increasing population coupled with total car dependence. Everyone now drives everywhere, whereas 20-30 years ago more people would walk, cycle or use public transport for everyday journeys.
Nail on head with both comments. However it needn't be as bad as it is; things could be relieved by having a travel infrastructure that is up to the job asked of it and people knowing how to use it. A proper network of roads, well-surfaced and with people using them who use motorway lanes correctly and don't f
k around in the middle and right-hand lanes when they shouldn't be there and the journey times would be much more sensible. Blame years of under-investment in roads and wanton selfishness on behalf of a large proportion of the driving population. How other western nations must laugh at us ...
Oli.
Bisonhead said:
Never been late for a meeting (tempting fate!) but am always surprised by the number of cars on the road. Surely there cant be that many people?!
This amazes me out of peak times - who are these people and where the heck are they going on major motorway routes during the middle of the day?Get on the M6 between, say, Thelwall Viaduct and Birmingham and the road is rammed with cars. There can't be many people commuting that route, and even less so during the main part of the day. There's no shopping centre etc on that route. I honestly think some people just drive around during the day for something to do.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff