Updates

• LONDON  CONGESTION  CHARGING !  See below.

• The latest edition of the The Highway Code (another link) has a new rule:  'You must exercise proper control of your vehicle at all times.'  This is understood as a ban on using mobile telephones (which the car hire agency may offer) while driving.  The 'umbrella nature' of this rule also covers being distracted by navigation systems (soon to be offered in hired cars), using laptop computers, even eating and drinking while driving.  So, put down that candy bar and keep both hands on the wheel!  No, this is not a joke.  A driver was recently fined for eating a KitKat bar while cruising down the M3 motorway ['expressway'] in Hampshire.

• Another new rule labels lane-hogging as a bad practice.  The rule is, 'You should drive in the left-hand lane, even at 70mph, if the road ahead is clear.'  Note that this rule is contrary to common practice in North America.

• London's 'Telegraph' newspaper of 15 April 2000 reports a Government proposal that would mandate jail sentences for drivers going 30 mph over the speed limit.

• An article in London's 'The Times' newspaper of 17 April 2000 says that a bill may be introduced in Parliament lowering the speed limit on unclassified roads and lanes, so-called 'C' roads, to 40 mph.

• The 'Telegraph' of 1st June, 2000 carried an articled titled 'Driver who sipped water at red light faces court.'  Similar to the 'KitKat candy bar incident' (above), a driver was sipping from a water bottle while the car was at a standstill waiting for a traffic light to change.  A police constable or traffic warden issued a ticket for 'not having her vehicle under control'.  (That cost the driver £90 !!!)  By the way, the driver's fine in the KitKat case was later dismissed by the local constabulary.

• 'The Times' of 11th July and 6th September, 2000 reports that the 70 mph speed limit on congested M-ways [motorways aka 'expressways'] will increasingly by cut to 50 mph so as to alleviate tailbacks ['traffic backups'] and gridlock.  Drivers will be alerted to the change in speed limit by 'overhead variable-message signs'.  Common in the USA, there will be increasing use of 'ramp metering' to control the flow of traffic onto motorways from slip roads ['on ramp merging lanes'].  Slip roads will have traffic signals (on 'blue boards') to limit the number of vehicles entering the M-way.

Drive past the 'Big C' on London's streets and you own Ken a fiver.

What's a 'Big C'?  Who's 'Ken'?  What's a 'fiver'?  I'm glad you asked.

Here is another reason not to drive in London...  Driving in London is more expensive as of 17 February 2003.  That is when the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone - a man who has never learnt ['learned'] to drive a car - began collecting a 'Congestion Charge' of Five Pounds (£5) per day payable for all cars travelling in an eight square-mile London tolling zone between 7am and 6.30pm.  Tourists hiring ['renting'] cars will not be exempt.  Tourists visiting only for the day will likely find that paying the toll in shops, car parks and petrol ['gas'] stations (displaying the 'Big C') will be the easiest method of compliance.  Fail to pay and you could find £40 or more in late payment penalties added to your bill when you return the car.  Tourists would be well advised to take a taxi, take a bus or take the Tube ['subway'] and be sure to allow more time for the journey!  Note that traffic congestion will be maximised around the perimetre of the zone as those with local knowledge avoid the charge by driving around the edges where traffic will likely become even more congested and subject to gridlock.

• TfL (Transport for London):  Official London Congestion Charging Website has all the gory details including a map of the tolling zone.
• The AA (Automobile Association):  The London Congestion Charging Scheme
• The BBC:  Clickable Guide Congestion charging in London
• The Telegraph newspaper:  'How the System will affect you' and 'Congestion charging: special report'
• The Times newspaper:  Congestion Charging articles

Can Edinburgh be far behind?

As of August 2002 the British press reported that the cites of Durham, Edinburgh and Nottingham were actively planning their own 'Congestion Charge' scheme.  Since then Durham instituted the toll.

Daft thinking proliferates....  Other cities are reported to be following these developments with great interest so as to implementing their own 'Congestion Charge' revenue-enhancement bonanza.  These cities are Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Chester, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Oxford, Reading, Sheffield and York.

We can only hope that car hire ['rental'] firms will provide tourists with details of each city's scheme and the method of compliance.

Not that you asked but in my opinion...  "The stated purpose of Ken (a man who has never learnt to drive a car) Livingstone's Congestion Charging plan is to reduce traffic congestion in the city centre ['downtown London'] by 15pc ['%'].  But how is it that traffic in London got so congested in the first place?  Based on newspaper accounts and putting the pieces together....  Automobile traffic in London had already decreased by over twenty-five percent in the past decade!  Enter Ken Livingston, the new Mayor of London.  The timing of the traffic lights are fiddled-with so as to decrease overall traffic flow.  Now add to that the effect of  increasing the 'bus only' lanes to a total of 42 miles in London.  As an example, if the average street has three lanes and one lane is prohibited to cars, then congestion will increase by 50pc from that source alone!  Cut two lanes to one and congestion doubles, an increase of 100pc.  Just-for-fun let's block off lanes and entire streets with endless public works projects.  The mischief having been done, ...surprise, surprise... congestion has increased to the point where 'something' has to be done!  ...And that 'something' is a not-so-stealthy tax on motorists which is a thinly veiled transfer-of-wealth to hire enforcement personnel in London and a reported eight hundred telephone clerks (It's all about jobs?) at the Congestion Charging call centre in Coventry and buy TfL more buses with which to fill-up those 42 miles of new 'bus only' lanes.  And what if the plan fails to reduce congestion by 15pc?  Why of course!  Increase the daily toll.  And what if the plan causes massive congestion and gridlock on the roads that ring the charging zone?  Why of course!  Extend this draconian scheme to include even more of London's boroughs and create layers of increasing tolls the closer one drives into The City.  And what if the plan fails to generate enough revenue to cover the massive costs?  Why of course!  Increase the toll AND add more boroughs to the charging zone!  And, those traffic lights?  The British press has reported that the timing was again fiddled-with.  This time to improve traffic flows.  Public works projects?  Close them down and clear them out.  See?  It works!  The charging scheme results in less congestion!"  ...but then I'm only a Colonist.  What do I know.

Copyright © 1999 - 2005  J. C. Nash. All worldwide rights reserved.
Last modified: Thursday, 27 October 2005.

Car animation courtesy of the Animation Factory.