Derailed

Shafted by Silverlink Trains

No matter how hard you try it seems that just you can’t avoid being ‘stung’ in today’s penalty obsessed society. Nanny State is ever vigilant, ready to punish you for the slightest mistake.

I travelled into London on Saturday to attend a meeting of the Association of British Drivers. Ironically I decided take the train; it was a fine Spring day, the venue is within walking distance of Euston Station, and parking in that area is difficult and expensive. Contribute less pollution and get some healthy exercise; how socially responsible is that!

The Haringey Files

The truth is out there…

The name Green Lanes has a grandiose ring to it. Stretching from Islington to Enfield we can only imagine what it was like to travel along it in times gone by; perhaps tree lined or flanked by verdant fields. As one of London’s main arteries it must have been busy with horse drawn traffic, cattle making the one way trip from the fields of Hertfordshire to Spitalfields Market, and no doubt it had its share of highwaymen.

Well, some things change; travel down Green Lanes today and you will witness a microcosm of the UK’s consumerist, multicultural society. It is flanked by ethnically diverse shops and you can sample most of the World’s food in the many restaurants.

Some things don’t change: the highway robbers are still there, but they now have legal immunity from prosecution. However, some unexplained, strange things have been happening; for instance Haringey Council keep ‘losing’ box junctions. Could it be that strange forces are at work that defy human comprehension?

Off Road

Well, slightly off topic really.

I went into London by public transport today. That was a shock to the system. I get off the bus this evening and a copy of thelondonpaper is thrust into my hand. As I am standing on the ever more crowded tube platform waiting for an ever more delayed train that actually has some space to accommodate me, I open up the paper.

Why Enforce?

Because we can, can, can
Yes we can, can, can, can
Can, can, can, can, can
Oh, oh…etc

(Fatboy Slim; Song Lyrics)

I have it in mind to survey the various London Local Authorities to establish their reasons for enforcing yellow box junctions. By way of experiment I did put this question to one LA; in fact I asked 2 questions:

1. The reason for enforcing the site, and the objective(s) that will justify the enforcement. (An example for this would be reason = road safety – reduce casualties, objective = cut deaths by half from 4 to 2
per annum )

2. Data you have collected to date that indicates whether or not you are meeting your objectives as stated in the answer to #1 above.

In answer I received a whole paragraph that justified the placing of yellow boxes per se (no argument there), but when it came to enforcement the answer was:

Red Road

Permit me to make a slight detour into the backstreets of this subject. I enjoy a night out at the cinema, even more so recently since we discovered the Rex Cinema in Berkhamsted (shameless plug). My taste in movies is quite varied; I enjoy the Hollywood blockbusters, but I have a penchant for art-house movies as well.

April’s Fools

“A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them.” (P. J. O’Rourke)

April Fool’s Day has come and gone. I did think about writing a spoof story, but I was hard pushed to better reality with fiction. I try to keep this site balanced and fair, but the incredible stories just keep rolling in. I sometimes wonder who the bigger fools are. Is it the incompetent staff in the parking department, the greedy, power hungry elected councilors, or us motorists for allowing ourselves to be endlessly and needlessly persecuted?

I’m glad to see that other people have had enough too, so in their words, here is a selection from the ‘postbag’.