Traffic problem and road deaths – SOLVED

Okay… this is just a thought – It is not 100% figured out, and to be honest, I would be pretty much against some aspects of it – BUT I was just musing over something that MIGHT be the better good for the greater many for the future….

Feel free to add constructive comments!

So anyway… the roads are getting clogged up with too much traffic. Motorways are reduced to a dribble and often just stop during rush hours. Sometimes it is due to roadworks, sometimes due to accidents, and all compounded by pure volume of traffic.

That gives 3 focal points…. Roadworks, Accidents, volume of traffic.

All of these add to pollution in a big way, after all if a car takes longer to get somewhere due to traffic slowing it down, then it is burning fuel and not getting anywhere… Also, lots of cars = lots of pollution.

To reduce roadworks we need to reduce the number of vehicles on the road. The question is which ones do we remove? The answer to this will reflect on the accident rate on the roads…

To reduce accidents we need to remove as many drivers from the road that are likely to cause problems… and by reducing accidents we take a huge load off of the emergency services and hospitals (frees up the Police, Ambulances, Doctors, Nurses, Fire service etc…) and we keep the roads moving more freely due to less road traffic accident caused jams… This saves a lot of tax payers money allowing it to be routed in other directions…. one of those directions would be public transport… but more on that in a moment.

To help reduce the amount of drivers on the road, a much tougher driving test is required. Much, much tougher. This will keep a lot of the drivers off of the road that are dangerous. The less able drivers, the careless, the worriers, hesitater’s, the heavy on the gas drivers etc, all of these would get a taste of a cull. I’d even say that in this day and age the smoothness of a persons driving could be judged – after all a smoother drive gives greater fuel economy and less emissions – and also a smoother drive is a safer drive.

This would leave a lot of people stranded with nothing but frankly shitty public transport to rely on.True, one option could be lift sharing – and that would help save people money by sharing the fuel costs. Not a bad option really, once you see how many cars there are on the road in the morning with only one person in.

Back to public transport though – I had to travel to my work place by train recently as my car was being serviced… it cost over £30 for a return ticket…I had to get up 45 minutes earlier to catch a train… the journey took over an hour longer than my drive and I finally arrived home 1 hour later than usual…. The next day I hired a car and that worked out cheaper than a train ticket!

So how can this dire public transport be improved? I’d envisage more and better bus services… subsidised taxis, Heck, why not mini buses more frequently than the current buses? Who knows? Just SOMETHING!!!

With more people being forced to use public transport there would be more money being spent on travel – so prices could be reduced (finally!). Some of the money saved on emergency services and roadworks could be funnelled into improving the public transport system. In fact with less cars on the road, a regular stopping or fast track coach system could be set up on the motorways (after all, some places aren’t near train stations).

It may even get to a point where unlike my experience with public transport, it might be better for me to use public transport – Cheaper, faster, cleaner….. I can dream!!!

The more people that use public transport, the better it would get due to the cash injection (it would HAVE to get). So there you have it – a rickety theory on reducing the number of cars on the road and at the same time saving us and the Government money from areas that can have spending reduced (the reduction of road traffic accidents & road repairs due to lighter wear and tear etc), whilst at the same time reducing carbon emissions, and road deaths!

One point here… If I was one of the people who were caught in “the cull” then I’d be pretty annoyed… BUT I’d hope that an infrastructure was in place that would alleviate the pain and suffering that losing a car would give me. In fact I’d hope that if a scheme like this ever took off, that some people would simply PREFER to ditch their cars due to a much improved alternative… (stretch your imagination!)

Maybe, as a great deal of accidents are Motorway situated, my theory could be to just make a tough test for people to pass prior to travelling on the motorways. That would mean people could still have access to cars for local travels, but keep the main motorways clearer… hey… it’s just some random thoughts here!

Yes, it is a dodgy theory with many holes in it, but it is just the bones of a discussion that other people might look at and carry on with….

The Big Rant – Goody, Grass, Airports and more

Are you sitting comfortably – This is a big one.

The biggest yet.

Okay – I warn you now that this one will be controversial.

If you bring it on yourself, then you have no-one else to blame.

If you couldn’t help what has happened – then you have every right in the World to say your piece.

I am playing Devils Advocate, so don’t hang me! I am more than happy to discuss these issues with anyone who leaves a comment.

Scenario One:

So you’ve been paying a kid to cut your lawn for the past year. It’s a temporary job for him and it keeps the garden tidy. So all is good.

A hot summer kills the grass so there is nothing for him to do any more. Add to that you have taken a big pay cut and can’t afford to pay him (even if you did have work for him).

What’s the solution? Simple! Ask a random neighbour to give you cash just so the kid can still get money for turning up at a job that cannot support him because there is no requirement for what he needs…

Sounds crazy doesn’t it. Crazier still if you are the neighbour (who has no connection to the kid at all – or the guy who hired him) giving the cash support to the guy with no lawn who is paying a kid to cut it…

Hang on in here with me people – it will all make sense.

Scenario Two:

You see a job advertised as a toilet cleaner at a busy roadside café – It says it pays £5.00 per hour. You take the job, and a few weeks later you go on strike and ask everyone to support you because you don’t think the pay is enough and you don’t like what you do.

Hang on? That sounds crazy? I agree it’s a dirty job – but you knew what you were getting into. I’m with you all the way on that low pay issue and I think it deserves more, but you were aware before you took the job.

What is Sometimespace going on about? Keep reading – it will all become clear…

Scenario Three:

You buy a house near a motorway on the edge of a town that is obviously going through major expansion. A year later the town is bigger, busier and the motorway traffic has picked up… so you complain to the authorities about the noise.

Why would you do that? You knew the town was growing. You knew the motorway would get busier – let’s face it, over the years there hasn’t been a downturn in traffic amounts anywhere – let alone on a route to an expanding population centre.

OH COME ON Sometimespace….. WHERE is this leading?

I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you in a black and white way, because I feel sorry for the kid, I support the toilet cleaners case and I sympathise with the home owner near the noisy motorway… but I also see the other side. This could get controversial, and when you are the victim you will tend to only see it in your own way – so don’t attack me for just “putting it out there”. I’m simply playing Devils Advocate.

I was asked to sit in on a disciplinary as a witness against a co-worker once. I was his friend and training to be a Team Leader. The Coordinator was carrying out the disciplinary regarding excessive sick leave and general lack of contribution to the work place. I never really liked the Coordinator (to put it nicely), but as I sat in on the meeting I saw the whole thing from an outsiders point of view.

The Coordinator was very fair and calm. My friend was argumentative and angry.

After the meeting my friend said “Did you see how he attacked and insulted me? Did you?”

I told him I didn’t. From the outside I could see that my friend knew he was in the wrong, but just fought all the way. The Coordinator was trying to help, but my friend just kept fighting.

When you are the victim it is very hard to see the big picture. Even tougher if you feel you have been hard done by, by the system, the boss, the Government etc… Sometimes you need to take the responsibility yourself. You put yourself in that position – and you are to blame. Yes, I feel empathy for you, but it is still on your head, your actions, your decisions or indecisions.

I learnt a lot from that Coordinator. I’ve learnt a lot from Managers, Directors, Business leaders… I’ve learnt a lot from being the guy on the other side AND THEN being the guy carrying out the disciplinary. I am speaking from experience, so don’t complain that I can’t possibly see both sides of the story.

So, let’s get back to the scenarios.

I used to do temporary work and contracting. It’s the type of job where you know you could be looking for work the next day. Companies take on agency staff and contractors to build up worker numbers for projects that may or may not keep running.

I was in aircraft engineering. During the out of holiday season periods the airliners would all come in to be overhauled. Work really ramped up so contractors were taken on to keep up with this seasonal workload. They knew that it was only a matter of time before they would have to find another contract. It is the nature of the business.

Remember the kid cutting the lawn?

BMW have just dismissed a large number of agency workers. The car market has slowed down and cars are not selling. These agency workers are the first to go – and I am sure if they read their contracts they would realise that they need no notice period (I have done agency work).

Let’s face it – British Leyland workers in the 70’s didn’t exactly help this new BMW Mini position when they deliberately produced poor quality cars and took no care in their work during the strikes over pay etc. If I was a manufacturer today and I had to lay people off – I would look back at that Leyland incident and would want that type of employee off of my site as soon as I told them about their jobs.

What annoys me is that they expect redundancy money and Government handouts. Okay, you have done the same job for 3 or 4 years..BUT you are still agency workers, and with that comes job insecurity on the top line. I am really sorry for you, but that is the very nature of your work.

I left agency and contract work because I wanted a secure future. If I had been an agency worker for 4 years, then that would have given me a fair bit of time to find a more permanent job… or I could have just sat on my hands and then got really angry when the work dried up.

I will not pay for that kid to cut grass that isn’t there for a neighbour who can’t afford to pay him – and that’s what these workers are asking.

How about the Toilet Cleaner?

I think that the emergency services are underpaid. They do a very important job (not like those idiot footballers who earn more in a week it seems than the entire Hampshire Fire Service earn in a year).

I don’t like the fact that they go on strike to complain about pay though. I DO UNDERSTAND where they are coming from, but I have to ask this question: “Did you not ask about the salary and hours when you applied for the job?”

For years now we have all known that the military and emergency services are underpaid and overworked – so it just angers me that new people join up and then strike to complain. These people are not doing themselves any favours!

I honestly think you deserve more money – and I really appreciate and admire what you do – but complaining about issues that were well known before you joined up? That won’t work.

Maybe if no-one joined up due to these low pay/long hour issues, then the Government would realise that something needs to be done. The trouble is all the time people are joining up the Government can sit pretty.

Where does this leave the home owner and the motorway?

What kind of superhero can look around a house that they want to buy in just 30 seconds?

I ask this because London Heathrow has an aircraft leave/land around about every 30 seconds. If you missed the fact that a lot of aircraft were flying overhead as you looked at the property then buddy, it’s your own problem.

Even back in the 60’s people knew that air travel was expanding rapidly, yet even then and right through to today there are people who buy houses on the outskirts of these airports AND THEN complain about the noise.

What were they thinking?

Here’s an amusing tale. At a well known airfield and race circuit on the South Coast there was a complaint phoned in about the noise of the racing cars on the circuit. The circuit has been there since racing began!

The caller was told that there was no racing on that day, and then she was asked why she had called to complain. Her response was that it was her turn on the neighbourhood committee to make the phone call.

Brilliant! Noise or no noise, the locals would call in. Get a life people, really.

So there you have it – I really do understand where these complaints come from, but I also think that we are not being totally honest with ourselves when we make these complaints.

Is it just us being the victims – not wanting to be proven wrong – that is the problem here?

The phrase “Look before you leap” comes to mind.

And Finally – as they say in the news….

Jade Goody. I really can’t stand her. Celebrities who are famous for being famous. People who are famous for marrying the famous… Celebrities who do the stupidest of things and then complain when it gets spread all over the tabloids. GAH!!!!

I hate the scum tabloid press. It just spreads rumour and anger to sell its poisoned low brow bull.

The thing is I also hate when public figures and celebrities moan when they appear in these gutter rags after falling half naked and drunk from a night club.

You chose the path – much like factory workers, the emergency services, the armed service …. The difference being is that you earn a shed load more cash for what really can’t be compared to these other professions.

Don’t get me wrong, I know the entertainment industry is tough – but when was the last time Tom Cruise pulled a child out of a burning building, or Steve Martin was spat at in the face by a drugged up idiot who had just beaten up his wife?

When was the last time the cast of High School Musical picked up a rifle and defended their country in a foreign war?

I’m not against these celebrities mind you – I value them and we need them – I just think they should quit moaning when they appear in the press for something they did on there own decision.

So… Jade Goody, I feel sorry for her  ( I didn’t think I would ever say that!)…Not for the crap she has pulled in the past. She deserves what ever she gets for all the things she has self consciously done (as do all public figures and celebs) – BUT the Big C – that is off limits.

She could not help that, it is not some cheap publicity stunt and she does not deserve the press and public using it as a cruel jibe against her. If you can’t say anything nice or at least neutral about her cancer, then shut the heck up.

If she goes and pulls some self indulged weird stunt or whatever – then on her own head be it – she is in the limelight.

OKAY – EDIT TIME – This from a Twitter Friend:

MadDeva

Submitted on 2009/02/17 at 1:25pm

Thought I’d best do some research and found lots of snippets about Jade and her cancer. However the more I watch or read, the more annoyed I’m getting.

Here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6NP2JtvOMs&feature=related she does mention other sufferers, but still manages to turn back to herself.

You can also watch on YouTube the moment she was told she needed to go back to her hospital (whilst on BB India). Watching it I don’t understand why she went back into the house instead of staying in the diary room considering that her family had yet to be informed. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/video/article300101.ece?vxSiteId=6247211d-66e0-4454-b73a-3f1610efa39a&vxChannel=Sun%20Exclusive&vxClipId=1347_SUN9863&vxBitrate=300

She has had a history of pre-cancer cells, yet chose to ignore requests for her to go in for treatment http://sify.com/movies/hollywood/fullstory.php?id=14747451

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/surely-it-is-time-to-look-away-as-jade-struggles-with-cancer-1547670.html

That last bit of information about ignoring requests for treatment is not good at all. If it is true that she simply IGNORED requests because she couldn’t care less – and not that she ignored them due to fear or lacking knowledge – or denial, then I will be disgusted.

You know what that would mean? It would mean that what could have been treated more effectively earlier was left until it was too late – and as such she needs more medical time and attention than if she hadn’t ignored the warnings. THAT MEANS she could be taking up treatment time and space from those who actually give a damn.

If you want to find out more – then follow this link. As with most things, Knowledge is a major part in understanding and dealing with cancer.

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/

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To wrap up this, my most major rant to date, I would like to say this one last thing:

To those workers who are losing their jobs – I wish you all the best in your future and I hope that things resolve for the better as soon as possible. I have a family and would not want to be in your position again (I have been there).

To our Armed Forces and Emergency Services – May the Government and Authorities sort themselves out so you get a better deal, better equipment and training, and the recognition that you truly deserve. For putting yourselves in the way of danger to protect our freedoms and well being, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To those who recently bought houses near obviously busy roads and motorways – What do you want from me? That’s just idiocy for not doing proper searches and investigations prior to purchase. Jeeez.

To the public figures and Celebrities – You bring it on yourselves most of the time – but I empathise with the lack of privacy you have in those moments where you just want to be yourselves, or have to deal with issues you had no hand in playing.

To everyone else – Look before you leap.

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If I have any facts mixed up or confused in this rant, then please let me know. I am more than open to corrections and learning from my mistakes.