As a Contract Hire company we are generally in much closer contact with our clients and customers, than perhaps a main dealership. This is because a contract hire company supplies vehicles across the whole range of manufacturers, rather than a dealership that will generally just supply their particular marque, so contact with our clients and customers tends to be much more frequent.
As a result of this increased contact we are generally more aware of our client's complaints about motoring in Britain and of course we see the evidence of their complaints with regard to increasing numbers of speeding and parking fines. This is because with both contract hire and personal contract hire, the speeding, parking and congestion charge fines come directly to us, as we are shown in the registration document, as the registered keeper.
Probably the biggest complaint amongst motorists is speeding fines. Although interestingly many of those who complain, consider speeding to be dangerous and believe that it should be curbed. What they object to is what they feel is unfair entrapment; an example of this is the variable speed limits on motorways, the speed limit can go from 70 mph, to 50, to 40 and then sometimes back to 50 again over a relatively short stretch of motorway.
The authorities say that the variable speed limit is designed to improve traffic flow, although they do not appear to have seriously considered a ban on heavy goods vehicles overtaking on motorways. This is the case on large sections of motorway in the Netherlands, which has the effect of increasing road capacity. Safety cameras are also designed to cut accidents and there is some evidence, for example on the M25 they have indeed cut accidents. However many motorists believe that it is simply a way of catching a motorist unaware and to impose a fine in order to increase government revenues. An interesting question with regard to variable speed limits is how safe is it for motorist to be constantly looking for warnings of changing speed limits and then at their speedometer? Even if the driver has cruise control they still take their eyes off the road each time they reset their cruise control.
Perhaps more sensibly The Department of Transport is installing average speed detectors on some 500 miles of motorways. This would be much fairer system because rather than punishing a motorist for a momentary lapse it measures a motorist's average speed over a certain distance. Rather like in France where you can be timed between the tolls and fined for speeding exceeding the speed limit.
The government has installed many safety cameras on dual carriageways, again they say to reduce accidents and the motorists say to increase government revenues. The conclusion drawn by many experts is that whilst they do improve safety, the government has exaggerated the degree to which they are helpful in reducing serious accidents. What then could be the government's motives for exaggerating the benefit? It's difficult to conclude that it is anything other than the financial gain in fining large numbers of motorists.
In a survey carried out by IAM Motoring Trust it was found that 78% of the motoring public are in favour of safety cameras. However 12% fewer than when the same question was posed in a survey carried out in 1999. Significantly the majority of those surveyed said they thought the governments interests were other than safety; seeming to suggest that they felt the government had got it right, even though their motives were cynical.
Another example of what seems to be purely an exercise in raising additional revenue from motorists through speeding fines, are roads, sometimes on the outskirts of a town, which appear to have illogically low speed limits. The road is often wide and straight and by all reasonable measures safe, however it will have a 30mph speed limit. A lot of motorists get caught out, because everything about the road suggests that it is a road with a 40mph speed limit and these are favourite spots for the police to put mobile detection units.
Whilst an individual motorist who gets fined for speeding on one of these stretches of road, would have no idea how many other motorists are caught, we as a contract hire company do, because all our clients fixed penalty fines are sent to us the registered keeper. The numbers of fines coming through from these areas, which are clearly seen as rich pickings by the police, is quite astonishing. It makes it difficult believe that these measures have much to do with road safety. It is also worth bearing in mind when motoring abroad, it is planned that we will be pursued for speeding fines incurred in other European countries. The intention is that, before too long, it will also apply to parking tickets incurred abroad.
If safety and saving lives were the government's main aim, then imposing variable speed limits and safety cameras in the vicinity of schools would seem much more logical. In one report into child fatalities, it was stated that a child hit by a car travelling at 20 mph had a 95% chance of survival, at 30 mph a 50% chance and 40 mph only 10% survived. When a car travelling at 40 mph hits a child, they will be thrown up to 30 metres. There would not seem to be a better reason for installing safety cameras and imposing a variable speed limit at certain times of the day in these areas. One reason for not doing so could be that it is not cost effective.
Parking restrictions is another area of which motorists complain bitterly; again motorists appear to be in complete agreement with parking restrictions that serve to improve traffic flow and avoid congestion. In many towns and cities however it is difficult to see any reason for the yellow lines, other than to make motorists park on meters or in Pay and Display zones. There are some towns that then keep the parking restrictions in place on a Sunday, catching out many motorists, who not unnaturally do not expect there to be restrictions on a Sunday
Motorist's discontentment over parking restrictions is not helped by over zealous and often unreasonable traffic wardens; it is not uncommon for motorists to return to their car to find they have a parking ticket because their wheels are a few inches outside the parking bay. According to the BBC an Enniskillen based traffic warden gave out 2,590 parking violations in just over six months. Not all motorists are aware that if you return to your vehicle and the traffic warden is still writing the ticket, you can just get in your car and drive off. The benefit is twofold, firstly you do not have to pay a fine that has not been affixed to your windscreen and secondly it drives the traffic warden mad.
The London Congestion Charge was designed to reduce congestion by cutting down the number of unnecessary journeys into London but has it worked? It has certainly reduced the number of journeys cars make into London, as to whether they were unnecessary is debateable; perhaps some motorists simply can't afford to drive into central London anymore but that doesn't mean that their journeys were unnecessary.
Ken Livingston was planning to introduce a new charge of 25 for cars with high fuel consumption. Porsche Cars GB was mounting a challenge in the courts, they claimed, "It is an illegal use of power by the mayor". Porsche believed it to be "unfair and disproportionate" and filed an application for a judicial review in the High Court. However Ken Livingston lost his position to Boris Johnson who was elected the new Mayor of London, he made it clear that he will scrap the 25 charge.
Motorists often ask why is the motorist in Britain so highly taxed and how do they benefit from these taxes? It's a difficult question to answer, particularly when you look at the condition of British roads compared with other countries that don't pay road fund licence, or such high fuel duty. In 2005 a report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies said that 67.3 of the pump price of diesel was duty and 69.9% of unleaded. Added to Road Fund Licence and revenues from parking and speeding fines, it is difficult to see how the motorist can be squeezed further. Perhaps they can take some comfort from the fact that contract hire and leasing rates in Britain are amongst the lowest in the world.
Should you have any queries or questions with regard to Fleet Management, Licence checking, Contract Hire, Personal Contract Hire, Lease Purchase or vehicle Hire Purchase, please do not hesitate to contact us. Bowater Price plc 01494 536 536. www.bowaterprice.com.
As a result of this increased contact we are generally more aware of our client's complaints about motoring in Britain and of course we see the evidence of their complaints with regard to increasing numbers of speeding and parking fines. This is because with both contract hire and personal contract hire, the speeding, parking and congestion charge fines come directly to us, as we are shown in the registration document, as the registered keeper.
Probably the biggest complaint amongst motorists is speeding fines. Although interestingly many of those who complain, consider speeding to be dangerous and believe that it should be curbed. What they object to is what they feel is unfair entrapment; an example of this is the variable speed limits on motorways, the speed limit can go from 70 mph, to 50, to 40 and then sometimes back to 50 again over a relatively short stretch of motorway.
The authorities say that the variable speed limit is designed to improve traffic flow, although they do not appear to have seriously considered a ban on heavy goods vehicles overtaking on motorways. This is the case on large sections of motorway in the Netherlands, which has the effect of increasing road capacity. Safety cameras are also designed to cut accidents and there is some evidence, for example on the M25 they have indeed cut accidents. However many motorists believe that it is simply a way of catching a motorist unaware and to impose a fine in order to increase government revenues. An interesting question with regard to variable speed limits is how safe is it for motorist to be constantly looking for warnings of changing speed limits and then at their speedometer? Even if the driver has cruise control they still take their eyes off the road each time they reset their cruise control.
Perhaps more sensibly The Department of Transport is installing average speed detectors on some 500 miles of motorways. This would be much fairer system because rather than punishing a motorist for a momentary lapse it measures a motorist's average speed over a certain distance. Rather like in France where you can be timed between the tolls and fined for speeding exceeding the speed limit.
The government has installed many safety cameras on dual carriageways, again they say to reduce accidents and the motorists say to increase government revenues. The conclusion drawn by many experts is that whilst they do improve safety, the government has exaggerated the degree to which they are helpful in reducing serious accidents. What then could be the government's motives for exaggerating the benefit? It's difficult to conclude that it is anything other than the financial gain in fining large numbers of motorists.
In a survey carried out by IAM Motoring Trust it was found that 78% of the motoring public are in favour of safety cameras. However 12% fewer than when the same question was posed in a survey carried out in 1999. Significantly the majority of those surveyed said they thought the governments interests were other than safety; seeming to suggest that they felt the government had got it right, even though their motives were cynical.
Another example of what seems to be purely an exercise in raising additional revenue from motorists through speeding fines, are roads, sometimes on the outskirts of a town, which appear to have illogically low speed limits. The road is often wide and straight and by all reasonable measures safe, however it will have a 30mph speed limit. A lot of motorists get caught out, because everything about the road suggests that it is a road with a 40mph speed limit and these are favourite spots for the police to put mobile detection units.
Whilst an individual motorist who gets fined for speeding on one of these stretches of road, would have no idea how many other motorists are caught, we as a contract hire company do, because all our clients fixed penalty fines are sent to us the registered keeper. The numbers of fines coming through from these areas, which are clearly seen as rich pickings by the police, is quite astonishing. It makes it difficult believe that these measures have much to do with road safety. It is also worth bearing in mind when motoring abroad, it is planned that we will be pursued for speeding fines incurred in other European countries. The intention is that, before too long, it will also apply to parking tickets incurred abroad.
If safety and saving lives were the government's main aim, then imposing variable speed limits and safety cameras in the vicinity of schools would seem much more logical. In one report into child fatalities, it was stated that a child hit by a car travelling at 20 mph had a 95% chance of survival, at 30 mph a 50% chance and 40 mph only 10% survived. When a car travelling at 40 mph hits a child, they will be thrown up to 30 metres. There would not seem to be a better reason for installing safety cameras and imposing a variable speed limit at certain times of the day in these areas. One reason for not doing so could be that it is not cost effective.
Parking restrictions is another area of which motorists complain bitterly; again motorists appear to be in complete agreement with parking restrictions that serve to improve traffic flow and avoid congestion. In many towns and cities however it is difficult to see any reason for the yellow lines, other than to make motorists park on meters or in Pay and Display zones. There are some towns that then keep the parking restrictions in place on a Sunday, catching out many motorists, who not unnaturally do not expect there to be restrictions on a Sunday
Motorist's discontentment over parking restrictions is not helped by over zealous and often unreasonable traffic wardens; it is not uncommon for motorists to return to their car to find they have a parking ticket because their wheels are a few inches outside the parking bay. According to the BBC an Enniskillen based traffic warden gave out 2,590 parking violations in just over six months. Not all motorists are aware that if you return to your vehicle and the traffic warden is still writing the ticket, you can just get in your car and drive off. The benefit is twofold, firstly you do not have to pay a fine that has not been affixed to your windscreen and secondly it drives the traffic warden mad.
The London Congestion Charge was designed to reduce congestion by cutting down the number of unnecessary journeys into London but has it worked? It has certainly reduced the number of journeys cars make into London, as to whether they were unnecessary is debateable; perhaps some motorists simply can't afford to drive into central London anymore but that doesn't mean that their journeys were unnecessary.
Ken Livingston was planning to introduce a new charge of 25 for cars with high fuel consumption. Porsche Cars GB was mounting a challenge in the courts, they claimed, "It is an illegal use of power by the mayor". Porsche believed it to be "unfair and disproportionate" and filed an application for a judicial review in the High Court. However Ken Livingston lost his position to Boris Johnson who was elected the new Mayor of London, he made it clear that he will scrap the 25 charge.
Motorists often ask why is the motorist in Britain so highly taxed and how do they benefit from these taxes? It's a difficult question to answer, particularly when you look at the condition of British roads compared with other countries that don't pay road fund licence, or such high fuel duty. In 2005 a report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies said that 67.3 of the pump price of diesel was duty and 69.9% of unleaded. Added to Road Fund Licence and revenues from parking and speeding fines, it is difficult to see how the motorist can be squeezed further. Perhaps they can take some comfort from the fact that contract hire and leasing rates in Britain are amongst the lowest in the world.
Should you have any queries or questions with regard to Fleet Management, Licence checking, Contract Hire, Personal Contract Hire, Lease Purchase or vehicle Hire Purchase, please do not hesitate to contact us. Bowater Price plc 01494 536 536. www.bowaterprice.com.
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