Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news-out.cwix.com!newsfeed.cwix.com!opentransit.net!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!axalotl.demon.co.UK!not-for-mail From: FAQ@nospam.demon.co.uk (uk.transport FAQ) Newsgroups: uk.transport Subject: uk.transport FAQ Date: 15 Nov 2002 02:33:45 -0000 Organization: uk.transport FAQ Lines: 1331 Sender: huge@axalotl.demon.co.uk Message-ID: Reply-To: FAQ@nospam.demon.co.uk NNTP-Posting-Host: axalotl.demon.co.uk (158.152.24.143) X-Trace: fu-berlin.de 1037448707 16416790 158.152.24.143 (16 [159121]) X-Orig-Path: axalotl!anubis!not-for-mail X-Real-Address: Substitute 'axalotl' for 'nospam' Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu uk.transport:259025 uk.transport FAQ Version 2.3, Last updated; 17th February 1999 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents * Introduction * Contributors * Administrivia * Copyright & similar legal stuff * The FAQs 1. Do road users 'pay their way'? 2. Which is cheaper, car or train? 3. Which is safer? Car, train or what? 4. Which causes the most pollution? Car, train or what? 5. Where can I look some of this up? 6. Don't the last 2 letters of the alphabetic part of a car's registration tell me where it comes from? 7. How can I find out which is a good alarm to buy? 8. Have you got any good transport URLs? 9. What transport organisations are there? 10. I just got flashed by a Gatso. Am I going to get a ticket? (Includes lots of information about speed enforcement.) 11. Bull bars kill babies. Don't they? 12. When should I switch my rear fog lights off? 13. When should I move over when the motorway narrows? 14. Are those flashing LED lights for cyclists legal? 15. What are those little arms that stick out from the motorway bridges over the lanes? 16. What are the lanes on motorways called? 17. What are those sections of coloured road for? 18. What are the weight related speed limits for commercial vehicles? 19. When was the 70 mph speed limit introduced? 20. What are the speed limits in Europe? 21. What became of the "cones hotline"? [smirk] 22. Do cars cause asthma? 23. Do speed limits apply to emergency vehicles? 24. How do I report smokey vehicles? 25. We're tarmacing over the *whole* country! Aren't we? 26. How do I check my speedo? 27. What are those barcodes on posts by the side of the road for? 28. What are those blue posts by the roadside with what look like 2 B&Q floodlights and a radio aerial on them? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction. This is the Frequently Asked Questions (and answers) list for the newsgroup uk.transport. You should try and avoid asking the questions in this list on the newsgroup, since they have been beaten to death there over and over again, and we really don't want to go over the arguments again. The more contentious questions in this FAQ have no real resolution; they come down to people's beliefs. In these cases I present all sides of the argument, and leave it up to you to decide. If you have more facts about either side of these arguments, then please feel free to post them, or mail them to me for inclusion in the FAQ. Please do not post trolls designed to provoke flame wars. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contributors. The FAQ is maintained by me, (huge{at}axalotl{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk) but the information is provided by you, the readers of and contributors to uk.transport. I should like to thank all of them for their contributions and patience at the length of time it takes me to incorporate them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Administrivia. The FAQ is posted to uk.transport monthly on the 15th, and is available on the WWW It would be helpful if contributors could limit their line lengths to 70 characters or so. If you using a Unix system, you can feed your text through 'fmt -70' to do this. My apologies for munging the email addresses throughout this document. Regrettably, the spammers have started harvesting FAQs for email addresses and I have no desire to make their lives easier. The FAQ was originally maintained in ASCII. As of 13 August '97, I have manually converted it into HTML, which is how it will be maintained from now on. The ASCII version will be converted from the HTML, either with Lynx or Netscape. This appears to cause the loss of the links at present, and I will work on this. I cannot run Microsoft Internet Explorer, so I do not know how well this FAQ looks in it. If it causes you problems, let me know, and I will help you compose your complaint to Microsoft. The conversion to HTML is not yet finished; several of the sections in 
 blocks should be in
tables and I forgot about the 
 tag until it was too late.

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Copyright and other necessary stuff.

Notice to Spaghetti Publishers

A spaghetti publisher is one whose philosophy of publishing is to "throw it
at the wall and see if it sticks." Recently they been very busy putting out
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rush into print in their ever greedier search for easy money.

Lately, spaghetti publishers have taken to exploiting FAQs and lists, often
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which benefits us all. These are the same publishers who would sue at the
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This FAQ is Copyright © 1995-6-7-8-9 by Hugh Davies, and is made available
as a service to the Internet community. It may not be sold in any medium,
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product, or published in print, without the explicit, written, permission of
Hugh Davies. The copyright of included material is acknowledged under the
'fair use' guidelines.

This language comes [mostly] from the comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc faq,
maintained by Bernard Aboba.

Legalese

This FAQ is presented with no warranties or guarantees of ANY KIND including
correctness or fitness for any particular purpose. The author(s) of this
document have attempted to verify correctness of the data contained herein;
however, slip-ups can and do happen. If you use this data, you do so at your
own risk.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just the FAQs.

1. Do road users 'pay their way'?

This question pops up regularly on uk.transport, and probably causes more
argument than any other. There appears to be no definitive answer, so here
are the three (!) sides of the argument;

1(a). Yes.

The chancellor taxes the UK motorists over £25bn a year. Only £5bn of that
goes back into the roads, the rest is absorbed into the government. And yet,
whenever there's a need for more money, this excess £20bn seems to be
forgotten and the road tax and petrol prices go up. The current markup on
4-star is about 104%! More than 75% of the pump price is tax.

1(b). No.

Motorists pay £13.8bn and cost £32.6bn, as the amount they pay does not not
include the hidden costs such as the cost of accidents, policing the roads
and pollution;

Taken from the Transport 2000 booklet 'Myths and facts: transport trends and
transport policies':

------------------------------------       ----------------------------
     Indirect costs of motoring               Revenue from road users
          (pounds, millions)                     (pounds, millions)
------------------------------------       ----------------------------
Congestion                    15,000
Road building                  3,650
Road repairs & cleaning        2,235
Roads: administration            146
Research on design & safety       32
Deaths & injuries              4,803
Policing                         400
Licencing costs                  150
Company car subsidy            1,500
Air pollution                  2,500
Global warming                   657       Fuel tax              10,760
Noise pollution                2,100       Vehicle excise duty    3,065
                              ------                             ------
                              32,591                             13,825
                              ======                             ======

Contrasting, I have been given these figures from "The True Costs of Road
Transport" by David Maddison (Earthscan Books, 1996);

                       cost/ billions of pounds

Global Warming              0.1
Air Pollution              19.7
Noise                     2.6 - 3.1
Congestion                 19.1
Road Damage                 1.5
Accidents                 2.9 - 9.4

TOTAL                     45.9 - 52.9

Sources cited are: Dept of Transport, Confederation of British Industry,
Cyclists' Touring Club.

The incremental costs of motoring are also such that once you have a car,
you might as well use it;

From the 18th Royal Commission on the Environment, chaired by Sir John
Houghton, page 104:

"What it costs to run a car ...

 Fuel               26%
 Maintenance        12%
 Miscellaneous      3%
 Vehicle excise duty6%
 Insurance          11%
 Depreciation       42%

"... Almost all of these costs are vehicle costs... [w]hen car owners
consider whether to make a particular journey, and whether to make it by
road, the costs they have already incurred are not relevant."

1(c). The question is completely bogus.

"Motorists" means probably more than half of the adult population. Is income
tax paid by someone who drives a car a payment by a motorist or not?

It would be better to ask: Are the costs of transport made visible as such?

Does the way taxes are collected based on transport consumption (Road tax,
Petrol Tax, Income Tax allowances for transport cost) and externalised costs
tolerated (environmental damage, destruction of old city kernels) have an
impact on the way people choose between different forms of transport (or
even making do with less or without transport)?

When it comes to HGVs, the matter is even more complicated. If you consider
that the road wear per axle per mile goes with the fourth power of axle
load, you may take into account: car: 1-2 tons, 2 axles; lorry 18 tons, 2
axles or 26 tons, 3 axles. This means that a lorry pays 10-20 times the road
tax of a car but damages the road 6000 to 50 000 times as much per mile
driven and generally has a significantly higher annual road mileage; a lorry
uses 2-3 times as much fuel per mile as a car but damages the road at least
6000 times as much. If lorries pay their way, car tax should justifiably be
reduced to a couple of pence per year!

The RCEP [see Q.5] concluded that lorry taxes only pay between 68% and 49%
of their identifiable costs. However, charging the true costs would not be
the only measure necessary to encourage more sustainable transport.

1(d). "Shouldn't cyclists pay road tax too?"

This argument too comes up regularly, and the answer depends on what you
think road taxes are for;

The anti argument can be summed up thus;

Pardon? If you think that cyclists actually cause any discernable damage to
the roads then you've got another think coming. Per vehicle, the amount of
damage caused by cars over cycles is a couple of orders of magnitude out. A
car causes around 1000 times more damage. Cyclists do not weigh much.
Cyclists cannot generally get up to the sorts of speeds where their tyres
could start 'ripping' at the tarmac. Cyclists should not pay road tax.

But then;

It is not unreasonable to argue that road taxes are not for the roads; they
are just taxes. Indeed this argument is a favourite of those who consider
that motorists do not pay enough. If this argument is correct, then the
argument that cyclists should not pay road taxes because they do not damage
the roads, cause congestion, etc., collapses. Cyclists use the roads. They
should pay taxes.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Which is cheaper, car or train?

It depends.

If you're travelling alone, and don't have to carry much, then the train. If
there's a group of you, then the car, even if you have to hire one. The
break-even point depends on how many of you there are, and what kind of
fares you have to pay on the train. There have been volumes of figures
produced by both 'sides' in this argument, and the answer still seems to be
"It depends".

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Which is safer? Car, train or what?

I have been sent the following environmental impact asessment showing that
in Germany in the late 80s, the train was between 50 and 100 times safer
than the car. Note that this states the risk caused by a mode of transport,
not the risk exposed: for motorised vehicles these numbers are very similar
but pedestrians and cyclists are exposed to a significantly bigger risk than
the risk they cause:

environmental impact of different modes of transport in Germany:

                  pedestrian  cyclist  rail     bus     car  car with catalyst

area requirement      3        12         7      12     115      115
in m^2/person

primary energy use    0         0        42      27      90       90
in gSKE/Pkm

CO2 in g/Pkm          0         0        90      59     200      200

NOx in g/Pkm          0         0      0.12     0.2     2.2     0.35

Hydrocarbons          0         0      0.02    0.08       1      0.2
in g/Pkm

CO in g/Pkm           0         0      0.05    0.15     8.7      1.5

air pollution         0         0      1705    3315   38370     6525
in m^3/Pkm

accident risk      0.01       0.2       0.4       1    11.5     11.5
in h/1000 Pkm

KEY:

pollution:
     m^3/Pkm = volume of air polluted up to the maximum acceptable levels in
     Germany.
accident risk:
     h/1000Pkm = lost life hours through death (time up to mean life
     expectation) and heavy injuries (duration of injury) caused by this
     mode of transport per 1000 passenger-kilometers
source:
     Umwelt- und Prognoseinstitut Heidelberg, Bericht Nr. 1 "Auto und
     Umwelt", 1988

Also;

These figures for 1994 were posted to the urbancyclist-uk mailing list last
year, by Andrea Casalotti, quoting the DOT:

Pedestrian deaths and serious injuries in 1994

Type of vehicle involved  Deaths   Serious injuries
------------------------  ------   ----------------
Bicycle.................... 3........... 107
Motor cycle............... 39........... 352
Car and taxi ............ 725 ......... 9258
Bus ...................... 51 .......... 345
LGV ...................... 75 .......... 545
Other vehicle.............  9 ........... 57
-------------             ----           ----
TOTAL                     991          10886

These figures are from "Transport Statistics, Great Britain", sadly only the
1996 edition but never mind. This HMSO publication includes a table for
Accidents, Fatalities and Fatalities + Serious Injuries across various modes
of transport, all listed per billion passenger kilometres, years 1984-94;

Mode    Air     Bus    Rail     Van     Car     Sea  P'bike pedestn  M'bike
Rate    0.1     0.5     0.8     2.4     4.0      10      47      66     101

So it seems that walking 200m to a bus stop carries as much risk of dying as
80 miles by plane, 16 miles by bus/coach, 10 miles by rail, 2 miles by car
etc.

About 5% of pedestrian deaths involve buses (59 /1241 in 1993), so it seems
you are about as likely to be killed *by* a bus in walking 250m, as killed
*on* a bus travelling for 1 mile.

I also have the following on "traffic calming";

   * Taming the Automobile in Dutch Cities, Dean L. Munn and John Patterson
   * Suza's Traffic Updates Traffic Calming -- An Alternative to Urban
     Sprawl -- Part One in an Infinite Series By Suza Francina
   * REVIEW OF CURRENT TRAFFIC CALMING TECHNIQUES -- Project Contact: Ken
     Fox
   * Transport Operations Research Group Research -- (see the section:
     Traffic Safety And The Environment)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Which causes the most pollution? Car, train or what?

See Q.3.

There are lots of pollutants, and they come from different sources:

(Taken from Quality of Urban Air Review Group, DoE, 1993)

UK National Pollutant Emissions;

Pollutant     % from traffic  % from power stations

 CO2           18.8            33.1
 Black smoke   41.6            5
 CO            89.7            <5
 SO2           1.2             71.4
 Volatile organic33.5          0
 NOx           51.9            25.7

[NOTE: But, I have repeatedly seen the assertion that the construction of a
vehicle creates more pollution than the vehicle itself will emit in a
lifetime's use. Does anyone have a reliable source for this?]

Also; "All US cars and light trucks subject to CAFE (corporate average fuel
economy) standards represent only 1.5% of worldwide man-made greenhouse
gases. If proposed legislation to require a 40% increase in CAFE standards
is enacted into law, the reduction in the car and light truck portion of
global greenhouse gases would be virtually undetectable - only 0.4%, and not
until 2010."

Percent of Worldwide Man-Made "Greenhouse" Gases

 Coal                       14.7%
 Natural Gas                6.5%
 Deforestation              14.8%
 Methane                    15%
 Chloroflourocarbons        24%
 Nitrous Oxide              6%
 Other Petroleum Combustion 14.9%
 US Vehicles subject to CAFE1.5%
 All other US transportation0.8%
 Other                      1.8%

Sources: US EPA and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

I also have some emissions related URLs, at;

   * Atmospheric Research and Information Centre.
   * Nexus magazine article about vehicle emissions.

I have also put a useful document by Marcus Jones (who is doing a PhD on air
pollution) on my web site.

You might like to look at http://www.energyinfo.co.uk/uk.html. It says that
electricity consumption rose in 1995 by 2%, gas by 18% and petrol deliveries
fell by 2% (but then appear to rise again by 2% in 1996). There is also lots
of other data nearby ...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Where can I look some of this up?

Eighteenth Report of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution,
Transport and the Environment, published by HMSO in 1994.

"Cycling in Great Britain", HMSO 20pounds

"Transport Statistics of Great Britain", HMSO.

Also, see the web sites in Question 8, below.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Don't the last 2 letters of the alphabetic part of a car's registration
tell me where it comes from?

Sort of. It used to tell you where the car was first registered, thus;

The Registration Letters Table

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7. How can I find out which is a good alarm to buy?

The Association of British Insurers run a research programme to establish
this. You can get the results by calling the premium rate faxback line on
0660 666680.

You will also find the faxback numbers for lists of approved installers in
the document faxed from the number above.

Depending on your postcode, try the following faxback numbers;

A - D : 0660 660162
E - K : 0660 660163
L - R : 0660 660164
S - Z : 0660 660165

or you can get the full list from 0660 660161.

Those numbers have the new list dated 5 January 1996.

The Motor Insurers Repair Research Centre can be contacted on 01635 868855
(Fax 01635 871346).

Failing that, the address is

Department VS
Association of British Insurers
51 Gresham Street
London EC2 7HQ

They also have a Helpline 0660 222244.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

8. Have you got any good transport URLs?

Billions...

Road;

   * The Rational (?) Drivers Assoc.
   * Admiral Insurance
   * (US) Vehicle recalls.
   * UK Recalls.
   * California's "Zero Emissions Vehicle" (ZEV) initiative.
   * The Automotive Statistics Website
   * Assoc. of British Drivers GatsoWatch
   * Driving, what else?
   * "CAR" magazine.
   * AA Roadwatch
   * Chris Longhurst's Car Pages
   * The Speedtrap Bible
   * The Tyre and Wheel Bible
   * RoSPA Advanced Drivers
   * (US) Highway Safety Statistics
   * Institute of Advanced Motorists
   * Institute of Advanced Motorists
   * - MG Car Club
   * National [USA] Motorists Association.
   * The (US) National Highway Transport Safety Agency
   * Land Rover FAQ
   * Speed traps
   * Tatras!
   * The AA.
   * Vauxhall cars.
   * Yahoo

Motorcycling;

   * Safety issues (1)
   * Safety issues (2)

Rail;

   * Eurostar Channel Tunnel train info.
   * A list of railway videos available in VHS UK PAL format.
   * The BR privatisation guide.
   * UK Rail Guide & Journey Planner
   * UK Rail Info
   * The Crowsnest British Railways Guide
   * Railway Development Society
   * UK & Ireland Rail Rover and Runabout tkt info.
   * London Tube Index
   * Christopher Muller's railroad page
   * The Jubilee Line extension
   * Clive Feather's Underground Line Guides
   * UK railway timetable
   * SNCF
   * Journey planner
   * The Chunnel

Cycling;

   * Cyclists Insurance
   * uk.rec.cycling FAQ
   * Cycleway: UK cycle activism index
   * Cyclists' Touring Club

General Public Transport;

   * Public Transport information for the Milton Keynes area
   * Merseytravel
   * Links to Transit Web Sites.
   * BATIP (whatever that is.)
   * American Public Transit Association
   * Canadian Urban Transit Association
   * Community Transportation Association of America
   * Seattle Transit
   * Bay Area Transit Project

Pressure Groups;

   * Roadpeace
   * Environmental Contacts Online
   * Greenaction Transport Lobbyists
   * FoE Scotland
   * Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and NI)
   * Reclaim the Streets
   * Sustrans
   * Transport 2000 (Cambridge branch)
   * Greenpeace
   * Road Haulage Association
   * Association of British Drivers

Organisations;

   * TRRL/TRL
   * Central Office of Information
   * Australian Dept. of Transport
   * Official LT Web site
   * UK Gov transport policy
   * Health and Safety Executive
   * Dept. of Transport
   * Driving Standards Agency
   * The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions Press
     releases

Miscellaneous;

   * IOM buses.
   * Mersey Shipping News
   * Hong Kong buses
   * Univ. of Saskatchewan Transportation Studies Centre
   * 'Links to other Transportation Sites'
   * Belfast Airport
   * Spanish transportation
   * Driving on unsurfaced roads, Green lanes, byways and RUPPS
   * Stena Sealink
   * Travel Timetables
   * Cumbria Travel Guide
   * UK model buses

Anti-Road Protests;

Newbury bypass (A34):
     FOE
     Third Battle of Newbury
Honiton-Devon (A30):
     Exeter FOE
     A30 Action
     Misty Glades

Pro-Road Protests;

Ambleside bypass:
     Ambleside Relief Road Campaign

I have the following transport related mailing lists;

   * Land Rover Owners - Email to MajorDomo@Land-Rover.Team.Net with the
     body: subscribe cso-digest or look here.
   * Lotus 7 (& Clones) Owners - Email to
     'MajorDomo@boffin.beyond2000.co.uk' with 'subscribe sevens' or
     'subscribe sevens-digest' in the text body."
   * pednet-digest@flora.ottawa.on.ca - Try majordomo@flora.ottawa.on.ca
   * urbancyclist-uk@cycling.org - Email to majordomo@cycling.org with the
     body "subscribe urbancyclist-uk"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

9. What transport organisations are there?

   * Automobile Association, Norfolk House, Priestley Road, Basingstoke,
     Hampshire RG24 9NY; Tel: 01256 320123
   * Civil Aviation Authority, CAA House, 45-59 Kingsway, London WC2B 6TE;
     Tel: 0171-379 7311
   * Cycle Campaign Network, 54 - 57 Allison St., Birmingham B5 5TH
   * Cyclists' Touring Club, Cotterell House, 69 Meadrow, Godalming, Surrey
     GU7 3HS; Tel: 01483 417217
   * Environmental Transport Association, The Old Post House, Heath Road,
     WEYBRIDGE, England, KT13 8RS; Tel: 0193 282 8882
   * Freight Transport Association, Hermes House, St John's Road, Tunbridge
     Wells, Kent TN4 9UZ; Tel: 01892 526171, Fax: 01892 534989
   * Greenpeace, 30 - 31 Islington Green, London N1 8XE
   * Institute of Advanced Motorists, IAM House, 359 Chiswick High Road,
     London W4 4HS; Tel: 0181 994 4403, Fax:0181 994 9249
   * International Road Freight Office (IRFO), Westgate House, Westgate
     Road, Newcastle NE1 1TW; Tel: 0191 201 4090, Fax: 0191 201 4040
   * Pedestrians Association, 126 Aldersgate St., London EC1A 4QJ; Tel: 0171
     490 0750
   * RAC Motor Sports Association Ltd., Motor Sports House, Riverside Park,
     Colnbrook, Slough, SL3 0HG; Tel: 01753 681736, 01753 682938 [FAX]
   * Railway Development Society (Railwatch@argonet.co.uk), Membership
     Secretary; Elizabeth Jordan, 13 Armhill Road, Gretton, Corby, Northants
     NN17 3DN
   * Reclaim the Streets, P.O. Box 9656, London N4 4JY; Tel: 0171 281 4621;
     E-Mail: rts@gn.apc.org
   * Road Haulage Association, Roadway House, 35 Monument Hill, Weybridge,
     Surrey KT13 8RN; Tel: 01932 841515, Fax: 01932 852516
   * RoadPeace, PO Box 2579, London NW10 3PW; Tel: 0181-964-9353, Help line:
     0181-964-1021
   * SMMT, Forbes House, Halkin St., London SW1X 7DS; Tel:0171 235 7000
   * Sustrans, 35 King St., Bristol, BS1 4DZ; Tel: 0117 926 8893
   * Transport 2000; 0171 388 8386, Walkden House, 10 Melton St., London NW1
     2EJ
   * Vehicle Inspectorate, Dept of Transport; Tel: 01792 458888
   * Vehicle Standards & Engineering, Dept of Transport; Tel: 0171 271 4651,
     0171 271 4624
   * The Association of British Drivers, P O Box 19608, London SE19 2ZW;
     Tel: 07000-781544
   * The Department of Transport, Freight and Road Haulage Division, Great
     Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR; Tel: 0171 271 4948,
     Fax: 0171 271 5241

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

10. I just got flashed by a Gatso. Am I going to get a ticket?

Perhaps you should have been driving more slowly...?

Real cameras must flash twice, but fakes can also flash twice. If two or
more offenders pass through in sequence there is only one extra flash for
each, at half second intervals. It is therefore possible for three or more
flashes to occur - but very rare. The speed is measured using a narrow band
X,K or Ka radar emitted from the front of the camera (where the flash is).
It measures your speed using the doppler effect and then takes two photos of
the back of your car. It takes two so that the speed information
superimposed on the resulting photographs can be manually double checked by
calculating the distance the car has moved between pictures. As the pictures
are taken half a second apart, and there are markings on the road at five
foot intervals. (They look *much* closer when you drive through at speed.)
This distance is chosen by the local police and may well be different in
various parts of the country. From this the speed can be calculated. Most
GATSOs are tuned to 10% above the speed limit plus 2 mph. This is a *very
rough* estimate, but it means that theoretically a GATSO in a 30mph zone
will only register vehicles travelling at 35mph or more. Of course this is
all tuneable by the officer who sets the camera, but AFAIK those are the
guidelines. This is to take account of the number of cases that would
otherwise come back with people complaining that "their speedo said 30mph"
and suchlike.

(I have it on reasonable authority that most Gatso's are set to 10% + 10mph,
meaning that you will have to be exceeding 43mph in a 30 limit and 87mph in
a 70 limit to be prosecuted. The 10% + 2 mph limit has been proposed for the
M25, but has not been implemented. Yet. [HJED])

There are currently three types of GATSO. (GATSO is not an acronym, but an
abbreviation of the surname of the inventor; Gatsonides [HJED]).

  1. Red Light GATSO. This is hooked up to the traffic light sequence and
     runs off an inductive loop in the road just after the stopline at the
     lights. When the lights turn red, the loop is powered up, and anything
     passing over it is photographed. These need only one photo to prove
     guilt. Recent changes mean that some of these red light cameras (which
     are in a smaller box) are having radars fitted so that they become
     speed cameras when the lights are green or amber, and red-light cameras
     when the lights go red. There's also been a push for them to take two
     photos instead of one because of a couple of cases where people claimed
     that they were actually backing up back over the line when the camera
     took the photo. Of course, because there's only one photo, there's no
     real way to disprove this.
     Traffipax, a competitor to GATSO. There are two photos taken, and as
     speed is measured by the loops beyond the stop line there are NO photos
     of anyone creeping slowly, completing a turn or just overshooting.
     However the offender's speed is printed on one of the two photos.
  2. Stationary GATSO. This is the big grey box that we all know and love.
     It has two holes in the front. The top one is the camera, and the one
     in the bottom corner is the flash. The radar is inside. These work like
     I've mentioned above and are generally infallible. The carry an
     800-frame roll of film which is regularly changed. Again, big changes
     are afoot which will affect these cameras twofold. Firstly, there is a
     move to make them work off inductive loops under the road like the
     redlight cameras. This means they could ditch the most expensive part
     of the system, the radar, and make more cameras 'live'. It also means
     that radar detectors would be even more useless than they already are
     because there will be *no* radar to pick up! Secondly, there has been
     talk about making these cameras face oncoming traffic so that it takes
     a photo of the front of the car. The hope is that this will solve a
     great many disputes about who was driving at the time. There is one
     major problem with this and that is that the flash will be pointing
     directly at the front of the car. I can't seriously imagine that any
     police force would consider this at all safe, especially as it needs to
     flash twice, and especially at night. There are also bad overtones for
     the driver too. If this goes ahead, the camera can 'see' you long
     before you can see it. At the moment, if you're cranking along above
     the limit, you have a warning and time to brake when you spot the
     camera (assuming it's one you didn't know about). If they face you, by
     the time you spot it, it will probably already have photographed you.
  3. Portable GATSOs. These devices are the size of a small aluminium
     briefcase, supported on a small tripod about 3ft off the ground. They
     can be poked through holes in bushes, hidden next to unmarked cars etc
     and are horrendously accurate. It means that the police can set up a
     speed trap in a matter of moments by having a camera car (with cameras
     either behind the grille or inside the car) hooked up to the portable
     GATSO poking through a gap in the trees or crash barrier. Usually, this
     lot will work in pairs though. The camera car will take the photos and
     about half a mile down the road, an officer in a luminous yellow smock
     will jump out and hope you don't run over him. If you contest the
     issue, the photos will be developed and you will be prosecuted.

"Invisible Number Plates"

There is no such thing. None of the products you see advertised are any use
at all against GATSO pictures. With the computer enhancement technology that
is available now, the only thing guaranteed to fool it is if you don't have
a numberplate there at all, and the car is anonymous. By that I mean it's
not a supercharged dayglo green american import with wide wheels but no rear
plate - that would be easy enough to find. Trust me. I work with the sort of
equipment the police use and you can pull basically any information you like
out of the picture.

As we're at it, here's the other speed devices:

Hand Held Radar;

Everyone knows this. It's the black hairdryer that the police point at you
just before they pull you over (in most cases). Works just like any radar
controlled GATSO but displays the speed on the back for the operator to see.
It's then up to the operator's discretion whether or not to stop you. You
can buy so-called 'radar-scattering numberplate covers' which do actually
scatter the returning radar so the gun can't get a reading. This does, of
course, rely on the policeman having pointed the gun at your numberplate in
the first place. Generally they don't as any flat-ish surface will do.
Headlights, bumpers etc.

TruVelo;

So called because it's a TRUe VELOcity measurer. This is the pair of rubber
strips that you drive across. They're a known distance apart, and the time
between compressions is measured to give the resulting speed of the vehicle.
Unfortunately, these look remarkably like the devices the DOT use to do
road-usage statistics (counting the number of vehicles etc). The most common
use for TruVelo is on blind bends or flyovers. The arresting officers are
out of sight, but they can see you, and they can get a speed reading. So if
you bomb onto a flyover and slam on the anchors when you see the policemen,
it's too late.

[I have been told repeatedly that if you slam your brakes on so that they're
locked as you go over the rubber strips, that they get ripped out of their
holders and thus are useless at their supposed function. I've never tried
it, and it sound suspiciously UL-ish to me. [HJED])

VASCAR;

Vehicle Actual Speed CAlculatoR. This is a glorified stopwatch. The
policecar will either tail you matching your speed for upto a minute and one
of the officers will time the time it takes to travel between two points a
known distance apart. Ever wondered what those white squares are for that
are painted on the road? Ever noticed how they seem to be most predominant
near motorway bridges? The police don't actually have to be following you.
They can sit on a motorway bridge and time a car passing over these marks
with are usually an eighth or a quarter of a mile apart. They then radio to
the motorbike on the hard shoulder a bit further on and he pulls you over.

[I thought VASCAR stood for Visual Automatic Speed Calculator And Recorder?
What *does* it stand for?]

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11. Bull bars kill babies. Don't they?

[HJED] Jason Price wrote to his MP (Sir Patrick Mayhew) and the following is
his summary of the letter he got in reply;

"Perhaps I can shed a little light on the UK bull bar issue by letting you
in on the reply I got from my MP (Sir Patrick Mayhew, NI Secretary) when I
wrote to him about it. He contacted the department of Transport and the
reply he got went something along the lines of...

The Dept. of Transport has asked the UK police forces to collect pedestrian
accident statistics for those accidents with bull bars specifically. 21
police forces have agreed and have been providing the real data on which the
dept. of Transport has based the government's school of thought on this.

Of the 20,000 or so pedestrian accidents and fatalities reported, there were
less than 1,000 involving bull bars (that's fatalities and non fatalities).
Of fatal accidents, we're down to 3 figures of all accidents, so the number
of accidents currently involving bull bars is positively miniscule. However,
not wishing to have the 'they'll increase as the numbers go up' argument, I
did a little bit of percentage style calculation on this to address the real
issue.

Of pedestrian accidents, fatalities caused by the group of non-bull bar
fitted vehicles amount for just under 1.5% of all accidents involving
non-bull bar fitted vehicles.

Of pedestrian accidents for bull bar fitted vehicles, fatalities account for
marginally over 2% of all accidents involving bull bar fitted vehicles.

Now considering the shape and size of most 4x4 style vehicles that have bull
bars fitted to them, I don't really think that an increase of less than .75%
in the likelihood of fatalities can be justifiable cause to ban bull bars as
the horrific pedestrian maimers that they are.

Reports such as those on BBC Watchdog and the like usually tend to take the
moral high ground by comparing the vehicular equivalents of an apple and
orange (i.e. a 20mph accident in a ford fiesta and a LR with bull bars!).
I've never seen anyone yet do a like comparison between the different types
of vehicle without bull bars (if you get my point?). These figures from the
real accident statistics collected by police will be far more accurate in
that respect, as they classify the accidents (fatal and non-fatal) from
distinct groups of 'bull bar fitted or not fitted' vehicles, rather than
trying to draw conclusions on bull bar fitted accidents from a group of all
vehicles.

The concluding statement was that the department of transport is continuing
to collate these statistics from police forces and feels, until there is
suitably convincing evidence available from the results, it would be an
unnecessary imposition on a tiny minority of vehicles when there is no
appreciable evidence that it's all that serious. basically, they weren't
going to do anything for at least another 2 years, by which time they'll
have enough statistics to genuinely show whether or not bull bars are in
fact a danger."

[HJED] I ran a search on the Electronic Telegraph, for "Bull Bars" and also
"road deaths", and discarding the hyperbole, here are some of the statements
made;

"Last year 35 people were killed and 1,145 injured in accidents involving
vehicles with bull bars. Coroners have urged Steven Norris, the transport
minister, to ban them." (The Electronic Telegraph Friday 8 December 1995)

"Nigel Griffiths, shadow consumer spokesman, said a Government-funded study
by the Transport Research Laboratory showed casualties from bull bars could
rise to 60 deaths and almost 1,500 serious injuries next year." (ibid.)

"The European Parliament has voted to ban bull bars on vehicles, responding
to representations from safety campaigners who say they are dangerous to
pedestrians." (The Electronic Telegraph Friday 22 September 1995)

"The Association of Protector Bar Manufacturers reacted angrily to the
possibility of a ban. "The projection of extra deaths put out by the
Transport and Road Research Laboratory has been overstated," said a
spokesman, Selwyn Rowley. "The reality is that the Department of Transport
has been monitoring all accidents during 1994, and has said that six deaths
involved vehicles with bull bars." (ibid.)

[HJED - Why do the numbers differ? Norris says 60 deaths, APBM says 6, both
quoting the DoT as the source.]

"THE Government was accused of "treachery" last night after a minister
blocked a cross-party attempt to ban bull bars on vehicles. Labour and
Conservative MPs were furious after Steven Norris, the road safety minister,
talked out the Bull Bars (Prohibition) Bill." (The Electronic Telegraph
Monday 1 April 1996)

"MPs said during the debate that the rigid metal frames fitted to the front
of vehicles were responsible for up to 70 deaths a year. Mr Norris said he
supported the principles behind the Bill, but insisted the problem could
only be tackled through European-wide legislation." (ibid.)

[HJED - *Another* different number!]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

12. When should I switch my rear fog lights off?

Now. That's right; this very instant. Lean down and press that switch right
now.

Seriously though, the Highway Code says that you must not use your rear fog
lights unless "visibility is seriously reduced, that is, generally, reduced
to a distance of less than 100 metres. Do not use them simply because it is
dark or raining or misty."

If you are sitting in a queue of traffic, have some consideration for the
person behind you and turn them off. There's no point in having your rear
fogs on when the car behind you is only a few feet away and stationary.

Or, if you want the Law on this;

  Regulation 27, Road Vehicles Lighting Regs 1989:

  No person shall use, or cause or permit to be used, on a road...

  Rear Fog Lamp...
     (a) used so as to cause undue dazzle or discomfort to the driver
        of a following vehicle
     (b) used so as to be lit at any time OTHER THAN IN CONDITIONS OF
        SERIOUSLY REDUCED VISIBILITY. [my emphasis]
     (c) save as in the case of an emergency vehicle, used so as to be
        lit when parked.

So, as soon as visibility improves, switch them off. Please!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

13. When should I move over when the motorway narrows, i.e. a lane is closed
for road works?

My 1996 Highway Code says;

"Special care is needed at road works. Observe signs, signals and speed
limits. Check your mirrors, get into lane early, and adjust your speed
appropriately."

So, like the good book says; GET INTO LANE EARLY. Don't come charging down
the outside lane and barge into the queue of traffic at the last moment.
Conversely, when someone does this, don't obstruct the lane. Swallow your
pride and let them in; after all they're an arsehole and you're not, right?

Unfortunately, the consultation document for the new edition of the highway
code changes the advice about merging lanes before road works. The covering
letter with the consultation document says;

     Alternate merging at road works - rule 263

     Current advice when approaching road works is to get into the
     correct lane for your vehicle in good time. Signs, especially on
     motorways often begin 800 yards from the road works, and many
     drivers change then. This is thought to allow safer and earlier
     merging but can cause additional delays as one lane becomes empty.
     It also creates bad feeling if drivers overtake queuing traffic in
     the empty lane and then attempt to push in close to the road
     works. We suggest the following.

          "at lane restrictions/closures traffic, when queuing,
          should fill all approach lanes and merge alternately at
          the lane restriction."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

14. Are those flashing LED lights for cyclists legal?

No.

The following letter is from Stephen Norris to John Catt, and was posted on
the urbancyclist-uk mailing list;

"Firstly, may I confirm that the Department has not made any proposals to
ban the use of LED cycle lamps. I would also point out that there is no
Directive from the European Commission prohibiting the fitment of
non-standard lamps to pedal cycles.

The Department recently conducted a consultation exercise on proposals to
amend the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989. As part of this exercise,
we requested consultees' views (ie. we were NOT making proposals) on whether
further amendments should be proposed to require ALL lights fitted on pedal
cycles to be 'e/E' approved or to comply with the British Standard BS6102
part 3 or equivalent. The purpose of such a change, if introduced, would be
to persuade retailers to sell, and cyclists to buy, only approved lights and
hence reduce the number of poor quality cycle lights on the market and on
the road.

If such a change was to be proposed, it would be on the basis of the latest
version of BS 6102 part 3 (which the lighting regulations do not currently
recognise). This version of BS 6102 Part 3 recognises the use of LED lamps
in the steady state (ie. not flashing). Therefore, the idea on which we
requested views would permit the use of 'non-flashing' LED lamps as either
obligatory or additional lamps, provided they are 'e/E' approved or comply
with the British standard BS 6102 part 3 or equivalent. We do not have any
plans to remove the current prohibition on the use of any flashing lamps on
pedal cycles, but this will be reviewed, taking account of comments received
during the consultation exercise.

Mr. Catt should be aware that this is only an idea on which views were
requested. No proposals have been made and at present there are no plans to
do so. If, in the future, we decide to make such proposals then a separate
consultation exercise will be conducted."

Also;

The BS for cycle lights is *not* a law. It has legal force only when
referred to by law, in this case the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations.
However, the two (BS & law) may change independently of each other, and thus
the law refers to a specific publication of BS, in this case BS 6102: Part3:
1986. However, since then, the BS has been updated (April 1995), and the
word "bulb" was replaced with the words "light source". In a classic
cock-up, the Lighting Regs were changed leter in the year - but the (old) BS
date was left in... So, on a technicality, cycle lights still have to comply
with an out-of-date standard.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

15. What are those little arms that stick out from the motorway bridges over
the lanes? Are they speed cameras?

No. They are part of the TrafficMaster automated traffic flow metering
system, a commercial product, not a Government system. They measure the
speed of vehicles in each lane and feed the information back to a central
computer. This collates the information and retransmits it to these little
boxes which in turn relay national road situations to cars passing by with
TrafficMaster boxes in them. Check out this Web site for an Internet version
of it. It's live!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

16. What are the lanes on motorways called?

In the case of Dual carriageway and Motorways, lanes should be referred to
by numbers. Lane 1 is the nearside line, with lane 2 the next, then lane 3
etc, counting up towards the central reservation.

There are NO slow or fast lanes, and traffic should always keep to the left
most lane, except when overtaking slower moving traffic.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

17. What are those sections of coloured road for?

These are usually areas where a moderation of speed would be wise, but is
not absolutely necessary. It's based on the principle that a large area of
red road is a lot harder to ignore than a small speed limit sign or "slow
down" sign. A couple of examples: on the A24 heading towards Worthing, there
is a huge crossroads with no lights or roundabout. At this point, the A24 is
a 60mph zone, and it's a B-road which crosses it. Naturally, it's wise to
slow down a little so that when the idiots pull out of the B-road without
looking, you have half a chance of missing them. Another one is on the entry
and exit to a small village on the A4074 from Reading to Oxford. The village
itself has an armed speed camera in it, and the road is painted red to warn
you ahead of time.

Cycle and bus lanes are also frequently coloured, usually red or green.
These lanes are reserved for the 'vehicles' concerned and cars should keep
out

Finally, the strictly enforced 'No Parking/No stopping' "Redways" in and out
of London are coloured. I leave which colour as an exercise for the reader!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

18. What are the weight related speed limits for commercial vehicles?

The average Transit van falls below the 3.5t max gross weight and therefore
is subject to the same limits as a car under national speed limits (70mph on
Dual carriageways and motorways, and 60mph on singles). Any vehicle with a
gross weight over 3.5t and under 7.5t (including tranny's with a trailer)
are limited to 70mph on a motorway, 60 on dual carriageway and 50 on single
carriageway. Any vehicle over 7.5t has 60mph, 50mph and 40mph limits
respectively.

BS217 1987 : All heavy goods vehicles with a gross vehicle weight limit
exceeding 7.5 tons must be fitted with a speed limiter set to 60 mph, now
amended by EEC regulations to 56 mph (90 km/h). All coaches which have a
gross vehicle weight more than 7.5 tons must have a speed limiter set to 70
mph, amended to 65 mph in 1996 and finally amended by EEC regulations to 62
mph (100 km/h). From 1996 they no longer been permitted to use the outside
lane of a motorway.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

19. When was the 70 mph speed limit introduced?

The speed limit on motorways of 70 mph came in as part of the 1968 Road
Traffic Act. Rumour has it that AC and Aston Martin were using the motorways
for high speed proving.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

20. What are the speed limits in Europe?

[These are mostly motorway limits.]

Austria -       81mph/130km/h
Belgium -       74/120
Bulgaria -      74/120
Croatia -       81/130
Czech Rep -     68/110
Denmark -       68/110
Finland -       74/120
France -        81/130 (and during wet conditions, 68/110)
Germany -       Recommended maximum of 81/130 - many compulsory limits
                near interchanges/busy urban areas/in urban areas at
                night
Greece -        74/120
Hungary -       74/120
Italy -         81/130
Luxembourg -    74/120
Netherlands -   74/120
Norway -        49/80 or 55/80 (National speed limit of 80 usually applies
            otherwise)
Poland -        68/110
Portugal -      74/120
Romania -       Standard limits, which may be varied by signs, for
private vehicles with or without trailers: built-up areas 37 mph (60
kph) for cars, 24 mph (40 kph) for motorcycles;  outside built-up areas
43 mph (70 kph) for vehicles of less than 1100cc, between 1100-
1800cc 49 mph (80 kph), over 1800cc 55 mph (90 kph) and
motorcycles 31 mph (50 kph);  on motorways the limits applicable
outside built-up areas apply
Slovak Rep -    68/110
Slovenia -      74/120
Spain -         74/120
Sweden -        55/90 or 68/110 according to signs
Switzerland -   74/120
former Yugo -   74/120

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

21. What became of the "cones hotline"?

A while ago an article in the Independent stated that the Cones Hotline "has
been discreetly remodelled as the Highways Agency Information Line (HAIL,
0345 504030). These days HAIL's main role is giving information on
roadworks, pollution and fuel economy, though cones communications are still
welcome."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

22. Do cars cause asthma?

No.

There is little evidence that vehicle pollution cause healthy people to
become asthmatic BUT there is evidence that pollution makes life worse for
those that are asthmatic; or indeed those who suffer from other respiratory
complaints. I suggest you read a recent BMJ edition: volume 312 16 March
1996 which has a number of articles on this subject.

According to an article in the "The Guardian", Section 2, Monday 25 March.
(Reproduced without permission.) [Edited for length - HJED]

"What we do know for sure is that asthma is making life a misery for some
three million sufferers in this country, including some one in 10 children
whose numbers have leapt about 50 per cent over the last 30 years. We are up
against a baffling assortment of causes: pollen, fungal spores, house dust,
dust mites, emotional stress, respiratory infections, certain foods, sudden
changes in the weather, indoor and outdoor air pollution, and more. Most
disturbing of all, no one is really sure what actually triggers asthma in
the first place."

"The arguments recently burst open again when the DOH published a report
into the possible links between outdoor air pollution and asthma (Asthma and
Outdoor Air Pollution, HMSO, 1995, GBP21)."

"Their findings flew in the face of popular opinion because a committee of
experts found there was no evidence that traffic pollution caused asthma, it
only made asthma slightly worse."

"But the most important trigger of asthma is probably how you live indoors,
especially tobacco smoke. And the biggest threat of all is the house dust
mite which feeds on dust and debris in mattresses and carpets, drawing all
its water needs from soaking up humidity in the air. In fact, the dust mite
could be the most important factor in causing asthma - once the mite has
sensitised the victim then other factors can home into play. The microscopic
mite droppings are the things which do the damage because they envelop homes
in a cloud of invisible particles. The mite thrives in warm, humid
conditions; so a tightly insulated house is an ideal breeding ground. Even
in summer, we just don't seem to open many windows, and the air indoors is
often stuffy and perfect for dust mites."

See also this summary of the relevant literature up to 1995.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

23. Do speed limits apply to emergency vehicles?

No.

Section 87, Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984:

'No statutory provision imposing a speed limit ... shall apply to any
vehicle on an occasion when it is being used for fire brigade, ambulance or
police purposes, if the observation of that provision would be likely to
hinder the use of the vehicle for the purpose to which it is being put at
the time'.

Nothing there about blues and twos, marked vehicles or any of the other
myths.

Traffic lights and give way signs have different exemptions which are laid
down in the Traffic Signs Regulations 1994.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

24. How do I report smokey vehicles?

The DoT has a national complaint line on 01323 451500. If you ring them and
give the vehicle's registration number, the department will contact the
owner and insist repairs are carried out.

If owners do not produce a certificate to say that the work has been
completed, they become liable for prosecution or have their licence
withdrawn by the department.

The service covers all commercial vehicles over 3.5 tons, which excludes
taxis, but includes buses.

When phoning in you will be asked for your name and address, (which is kept
confidential, but presumably is used to ensure you are not being vexatious),
the registration number of the vehicle concerned, where you saw it, and the
date and time.

Also, from The Times, 19 August 1996 p.6;

Commercial vehicles can be reported to the Vehicles Inspectorate on regional
hot lines, but cars can not.

You'll need:

   * registration number
   * place of sighting
   * date & time of sighting

Regional numbers:

South East
     0181 665 0885
Western
     0117 953 1924
South Wales
     01443 224 771
Eastern
     0116 276 2411
West Midlands
     0121 789 7999
North West
     0161 494 9085
North East
     0113 288 7818
Scotland
     0131 244 6521
Northern Ireland
     (no number given)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

25. We're tarmacing over the *whole* country! Aren't we?

No.

Only 2% of the total land area of the UK is taken up with roads. The other
98% is distributed amongst commercial, residential, industrial and
countryside. Mostly the latter.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

26. How do I check my speedo?

Look for the little circular signs on certain stretches of motorway etc. The
first one is yellow, the second has a quarter red, the third is half red,
the fourth is three quarters red and the last on is totally red.

They mark out a measured mile. Get a friend to time you over this distance -
the rest is simple arithmetic.

I used to believe the emergency telephones on motorways were a mile apart,
but a correspondent has measured them at between 0.7 and 1.3 miles, so they
aren't a reliable mile.

If you want a metric check, the small blue posts which among other things
tell you which way to walk to the nearest emergency phone, are 100 metres
apart

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

27. What are those barcodes on posts by the side of the road for?

They are used by the authorities responsible for the maintenance of the
roads. A special vehicle is driven over the road, measuring the wear of the
surface. It uses the barcodes in order to know where it is.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

28. What are those blue posts by the roadside with what look like 2 B&Q
floodlights and a radio aerial on them?

They are yet another part of the Trafficmaster holdup monitoring system.
They allegedly scan in part of your registration number, generate and
arbitrary "tag" from it, and send the tag to a central computer system. When
it "sees" the "tag" pass another Trafficmaster point, it can calculate the
average traffic speed between those points.

There is a very superficial description on the Trafficmaster Web site.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- 
       "The road to Paradise is through Intercourse."
The uk.transport FAQ; http://www.huge.org.uk/transport/FAQ.html
               [Delete "nospam." to email me]