My mate says I am polluting

[Mrwong]

During our conversation, I told him I no longer shop in London, this includes food shopping. I told him I drive 7 or 8 miles away from west London to food shops etc. He asks why? told him the constant amount of driving restrictions linked to fines, I no longer want to support businesses in my area or adjacent. He said that I am creating extra pollution, I find it much cheaper to drive away from my local area.


Your thoughts?

 

[Mrwong]

I'm with the OP on this one. We no longer shop in, and rarely go to restaurants in central Birmingham, ~£10+ to park for a few hours is bad enough, but now it costs less in diesel to drive somewhere 20-30 miles away than the 4-5 miles into town and pay the pollution tax.

Public transport isn't an option as it's too unreliable (and would cost just as much for the 4 of us)

Just too expensive as you say parking, constant new rules with fines, etc. I do not see any point going to those shops anymore.
They just put up another sign on a road that I always used, now they restricted cars from driving up that road, it has become a nightmare.
They have closed off too many roads and converted 2 lanes into one lane.
Public transport is pretty bad and very dirty in London,

 

[Mrwong]

You ranting about it all being inconvenient and finding it easier to drive Futher to make life easier doesn't stop you from making more pollution, which your friend is 100% correct, and what you asked. Simple fact.

Justifying that pollution is upto you.
Maybe talk to your local council and say you're unhappy with their traffic routing choices. I'm sure all the local shop owners would agree.

Get the bus. You live in London. It'll be cheaper than petrol.

Pretend your car is off the road for a week. How do you survive?

Im playing devils advocate incase anyone cares.
It would be boring with 30 pages of "your friends a nob" answers.

London transport; crappy, nasty and expensive transport services.

 

[Mrwong]

Nah, you're fine. You're doing exactly what the road policy aimed for - you've been discouraged from driving in a certain area so now go elsewhere.
Public transport isn't an alternative to driving lol

I finding the new restrictions causing more traffic.
There are areas cars can not drive down but once we're allowed too.

With all the restrictions I just refuse to buy anything locally.
I haven't been to any local shops since the end of covid, I drive out of London

it also made me realise how bad London is when I visit these towns. I am in the process of relocating with a good possibility of leaving the UK.

I recently did a survey for my council, I told them with all the traffic restrictions which can caused more traffic. I will no long shop in the borough.
I will drive to more consumer friendly borough.

I also told them I planning to move out of the area because of the ridiculous traffic management.
I no longer see any point paying council tax to a borough that has caused an incredible amount of traffic over that last 2 years.

Seriously, they have done some really crazy traffic planning, since their new idea the traffic does not move.

I really hope that this hits the local high street even more, and retailers move out. Also hope that people that work move out leaving those that do not pay CT.

 

[Mrwong]

Home delivery. You’re not polluting and (if/when big businesses become serious about pollution) neither will they

Nope, Interest in home delivery to many issues and time wasting. Prefer to do it my self rather than get something home delivered.

Sick Of things going missing and having to go down this long winded process of getting my money back.

 

[Mrwong]

If home delivery is time wasting you're doing it wrong. That's the whole frickin' point of it! You don't need to wander around a shop. Literally never had anything go missing.

Delivery never arriving , delivery given to someone else when you been at home waiting for it.
Well come to London, you see that missing is common when it comes to deliveries.

Paying extra to get it delivered by hand to your door, they never follow what's written down.
Ordered many times company specific tells deliver not to leave elsewhere.

 

[Mrwong]

The reality is the traffic restrictions you see in London now, will spread to other areas. There really is not enough space on the roads in major cities for everyone to drive.

There is enough space for cars. What they are doing is reducing the space, and in some areas increasing the population density.

Last night I saw an ambulance take 90mins to travel down great western road.

 

[Mrwong]

Just leave London. Sounds like that's your issue.

That is my plan.

 

[Mrwong]

London public transport is among the best in the world. Sure, the tube is not “new” but generally it works very well and is prompt. You can wander to a bus stop and wait less than 10mins for the next one, you try doing that out in suburbia. Walk into a tube station in zone 1 and you’d be annoyed if it’s more than 3mins for a train. The prices for local buses will shock you too.

Isn’t the definition of local, something that is walkable? At least in London it should be. Sounds like you live in a naff area

I believe all London boroughs all got money to introduce traffic easing measures. Most, including ours, went for LTNs which I presume is what you’re in about? I agree, they were ridiculous. We had a trial around here where they blocked off seemingly random through roads and forced all traffic down some poor souls small residential street. Utter nonsense, but we banded together as a community and got them removed.

TfL is not among the best in the world.
London public transport is nasty, over populated, expensive, dirty and always signal failures.

Well our council it’s extending it, these are money generation schemes nothing else.

Try do large shops using tfl, it does not work.

I want number plates on cycles I want those that cycle to have insurance and pay towards a road tax.

 

[Mrwong]

Most cyclists have insurance via their homes. Road tax (VED) is based on emissions, which cyclists emit none. And for number plates, have you considered living in North Korea? I think you'll like it there.


For large shops, have you thought about picking up a few items by hand every couple of days? You can eat fresh and get a little exercise. I plan to pick up some veg for dinner during my lunch break walk.

Hear a couple of videos to attempt to widen your world view.

It used to be road tax, emissions part was an additional way to rank and increase road tax prices.

Once they feel the loss of tax they will rebrand it again, hold on isn’t that what they have planned for 2027.

So then reg of bikes should be introduced to track down those that hurts pedestrians. Also to fine cyclists that jump red lights which is are 90/100 speeding etc.

Most of the cyclists deaths come from cyclists disregard from road safety and the lack of using brakes.

 

[Mrwong]

Assuming it's not a zero emissions vehicle your friend is correct that you are polluting but that doesn't mean what you are doing is wrong.
Also, it could be that the more central areas have worse air quality so you creating more pollution may be less impactful in the sense of keeping a lid on the worst areas. That's kind of the point of these low emission zones etc, they are in the big urban areas where they don't want people driving, so it will naturally encourage people to drive elsewhere, perhaps doing more miles in the process.

What happens when local shops cant make a profit. There is a clear link in cars and the high street.

Travailing at 20 mph is less efficient than 30mph this has to do with gears and distance among a few other things.

The whole 20 mph is just a scam, and just increase pollution, it is more political than environmental.

Electric cars even worse polluters, battery pollution child forced labour used. Reducion in distance over time and increase in energy useage as batteries hold less but require longer charges.

Then forcing up energy prices for homeowners, cost of energy, dangerous nuclear power stations, reduce space and increase cost of nuclear waste.

 

[Mrwong]

I've been working back in the office roughly 3 days a week since everything opened up after COVID and can't honestly remember the last time I was stuck on a tube due to delays. Compare that to my colleagues who commute in from Brighton for example, it's a weekly occurrence in which they easily lose 1-2hrs of their life each time. Compare TFL to some other first-world public transport options (e.g. NY) and it's really not that shabby. And again, it's really not expensive at all especially when you compare it to suburban options in smaller towns. I remember getting a bus from Shoreham to Brighton I think and I swear it was something insane like £5.90 one way. It's £1.65 for a single bus ride on TFL.

I agree, but that's exactly why most people get online deliveries or do shopping in little bits. Again, that's the whole point of living in a big city where things are on your doorstop. I could get away without doing a big shop every week but I'd rather do that and meal plan etc. rather than picking up something on the way home every day. It's much better for budgeting too.

As others said, it sounds like your lifestyle just doesn't suit London so you probably are better off moving away if that's what you want. Nobody's going to force you to stay!

I am moving away from London, just takes time to organise. In fact moving abroad and I can’t wait. However, it takes time to move, I don’t see a move till this time next year.

Want to go out for a coffee at 2 am everything is closed. Want to have dinner at 10:30pm only junk food places.
I am moving to a place where it it is a 24hour city, with good weather.

Realistically, I can work from any where on this planet, these days,

 

[Mrwong]

is this true?

I saw cyclists jump red lights and get smashed by a car.nothing the driver could do. I gave the police my dashcam
And statement as evidence, the cyclist lied.
After giving my statement after it was request, the police told me it was becoming common place.

 

[Mrwong]

what was becoming common place? cyclists lying, or crashing or jumping red lights?

so no not true then. much as i dislike cyclists i did think it was a bit weird to claim most of their deaths were their own fault.

The cyclist lied to the police, dash cam provide real time evidence.
Cyclist said he never jumped the red lights can footage showed like were red for a good while.

The police said increasing amount of bike accidents are because of cyclists.

What is recorded in stats is what each charity likes to document.

 

[Mrwong]

but still not the majority cause of their deaths? so no, your claim is not correct, as i asked. unless you've more evidence other than what some copper mentioned to you.

The report looks at what’s recorded,
57% drivers in serious collision 43% cyclists. Fact more cars use the road than bikes when you start to take that into account the percentage of bikes is very high.

Provide me evidenced how they worked out the 57% and 43%.

What type sample calculation did did they use, was the sample bias, were the researchers bias in their analysis.

What type of methods used to collect the data.

It is very easy to choose what you want to analyse in stats.

Cyclist fatalities on British roads rose by 40% in 2020, says DfT​

The number of cyclists killed on British roads increased by 40% in 2020, official statistics show, with cycling groups saying an increase in dangerous driving could have cancelled out the safety dividend from fewer cars on the roads amid lockdown.



yes, there were fewer cars but more bike accidents, and the magic words could have, very scientific the words could have.

 

[Mrwong]

not sure what you're telling me here. all i've asked is there evidence to prove that the majority of cyclists deaths are caused by their disregard for road safety and lack of use of brakes or are you making that up?

Cycling and Kinetic Energy - why riders are reluctant to stop. - Cycling North Wales

Former technical officer of the Cyclists Touring Club (CTC) (now CyclingUK) Chris Juden investigates here the principles of dynamics and motion that discourage us from necessarily coming to a halt. So here we go…… start pedalling. You may find … Read More

www.cyclingnorthwales.uk

 

[Mrwong]

https://www.rospa.com/media/documents/road-safety/cycling-accidents-factsheet.pdf

"
In collisions involving a bicycle and another vehicle, the most common key contributory factor recorded by the
police is ‘failed to look properly’ by either the driver or rider, especially at junctions. ‘Failed to look properly’
was attributed to the car driver in 57% of serious collisions and to the cyclist in 43% of serious collisions at
junctions

"

What’s that got to do with the claim you made?

Reports are designed to fit in with the agenda, currently the agenda cyclists.

Charities do not provide independent reports, they provide reports for their existence to continue.

and the magic word "could" does not mean it is a fact, therefore we can disregard that report.

 

[Mrwong]

let's put reg plates on bikes, get bike insurance for injury, and cycle exams.

 

[Mrwong]

Lmao, where do you get off?

Who gives a **** what you want.

Well, stop complaining if your taxes will need to rise. There is not enough money for everything unless you like to donate all your earnings.

 

[Mrwong]

Best in the world

Second best in the world

Fourth in the world

Third in the world

Third in the world

Third in the world


Tell me again how TFL isn't among the best in the world?

Those are just websites, not really officially recognizsd.

not even top 10.

The 9 Best Public Transportation Systems in the World

Worried about getting around while living abroad? You'll be zipping around town in no time with this list of 9 countries with the best public transportation.

www.internationalteflacademy.com

All Aboard! The World's 10 Best Public Transport Systems - And 10 Of The Worst

From trains to tuk-tuks, buses to jeepneys, taking public transport is part of the travel adventure

www.thetravel.com

Overcrowding is the worst thing about London transport, survey finds - City AM

Overcrowding is the main gripe Londoners have with the transport system, a new survey has found

www.cityam.com