2018 and Beyond

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And Now For Something Completely Different : Cyclists In Islington Getting Crap Deal From Police Horses.

Cyclist are now arguing that Police horses are putting cyclists in danger – because they are pooing all over a major bike route.

What they have to remember is, horses have the right of way over ALL road traffic. 

Above is the view of horse poo on the Quietway 2 cycle route in Basire Street, off New North Road.

Cyclist Bennett Golder, has complained to Islington police about the beasts’ “dangerous and disgusting” dumps, which he claims are blighting Transport for London’s (TfL) Quietway 2 through Islington’s backstreets.

He said faeces constantly fester in locations such as Basire Street off New North Road, Colebrooke Row near where Boris Johnson used to live, and Arlington Way off Rosebery Avenue.

“It’s been bothering me for a year now,” Bennett said.

“It has to be police horses because police officers are the only people I have ever seen on horseback in Islington.

“On my commutes through Islington, there is always horse poo on these roads. I always made jokes with my friends about how I was going to collect some and return it to Islington police station.

“But it’s actually serious – when it’s raining, there are times when my bike slips. It’s a definite safety hazard.

“There are times when the poo has flung up and got all over me, which was disgusting. And you don’t want it getting in your mouth or eyes.”

Bennett said he messaged an officer about the problem, but was told there is little police can do about the “natural occurrence”.

But Bennett said: “It’s never cleaned up. Why not just take the horses on roads where cyclists aren’t going to ride over it? Cars can drive over no problem, but cyclists don’t have protection.”

"I always made jokes with my friends about how I was going to collect some and return it to Islington police station. But it’s actually serious"

The Met’s mounted branch were asked for a comment but did not receive a response.

One cyclist, from Hackney, who uses the Islington cycle lane to get to work in central London said, "you never see a cyclist poo in the street, what makes horses think they are different. Horse poo is notoriously hard to get out of lycra, it leaves a horrible stain." 

It’s the latest, and probably most bizarre, in a series of rows between cyclists and the authorities over cycling safety in the borough.

Campaigners despair at Islington’s supposedly inadequate cycling provision, and blame the council for not doing enough to protect vulnerable road users. Earlier this month, protesters made a human lane for bicycle users during a morning rush hour in Penton Street. 

But the town hall has consistently rejected the cycle lobby’s accusations, insisting Islington is a “cycling friendly borough”.

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As We Enter A New Year Lets Briefly Reflect The State Of Our Trade. By Marc Turner.

In our darkest moments, around 2015/16, many predicted our demise. The most pessimistic gave us two years. Some jumped ship and left the trade. The majority of our brethren, apathethically struggled on, heads in the sand, hoping for the best, expecting the worst, as the clock ticked down.

The orgs struggled to get a grip, because what had befallen the trade was off the scale, regards corruption/ collusion/ ineptitude/ from  government/ TfL/ plus media/press negligence.

Approx two decades ago Richard Branson with Jamie Borwick, (then head of Manganese Bronze, parent company of London Taxis International) were travelling in JB's chauffeured Black Cab. 

RB had accepted a lift home from JB after a function. 

Wasn't long before conversation got round to the cab trade.  Richard admitted to Jamie, that he (Virgin) had looked at getting into the London Taxi trade. But concluded, on a corporate level it couldn't work or 'ever' make money. 'Wise Man'.

A generation on it seem others too should've properly thought it through. Perhaps thousands   upon thousands of people (Worldwide) could've been spared huge suffering. 

From Cabbies/ PH/ unsuspecting members of the public, bankruptcies, house repossessions, evictions, fatal RTA's, molestations, rapes, even suicides and murders.

All for a failing 'greed venture'!

A Taxi driver is a small business, equivalent to a shop on wheels. Transaction's solely  between drivers and passengers. Win, Win. 

As has been proved with 'greed ventues', Everybody's losing. Some their lives.

But over the last couple of years  'fighting back', what the trade has lacked in quantity, it's certainly made up for in quality. 

It has been my honour and privilege to have been in the trenches with at various times (in no particular order): 

TAXI LEAKS, LONDON TAXI RADIO incorporating CABCHAT, MAYFAIR MOB, DADS DEFENDING DAUGHTERS, LONDON TAXI PR. TAXIAPP, DIAL A CAB, ITA. 

All absolute heroes because they've deffended this trade to the hilt. Often being hit in the pocket, and most self sacrificing of all, on occasions putting their trade before family commitments.

Wishing you all a healthy and prosperous 2018. 

To government/TfL/ disruptors...MIND YOUR 'JUGULAR' COS WE'RE COMING FOR YOU.

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Demonisation Of Diesel Is Leading To The Biggest Rise In CO2 For 14 Years

Figures obtained from the Department of Transport by selling site Buyacar.co.uk show the average new car sold in 2017 emits more toxic CO2 than new cars sold in 2016, which is the first time in 14 years that an average new car emits more CO2 than older cars. As more and more drivers desert diesel cars discouraged by tax rises, toxicity charges, parking surcharges and crashing car values, the unintended consequence is that CO2 greenhouse gas emissions are back on the rise again.

‘Unintended consequences’

The law of unintended consequences, often cited but rarely defined, is where the actions of people and especially Governments, always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended.

In 2008 under the Labour government led by Gordon Brown, they made an announcement in the Budget which they thought was good for the environment, which was to discourage people from driving petrol vehicles due to the carbon dioxide (CO2) they emitted and so created a car tax system based on carbon dioxide emitted to encourage people to buy “lower polluting” diesel cars instead. In response, sales of new diesel cars and the British motoring industry itself boomed off the back of the decision.

Demonisation of diesel begins

By 2016 with a Conservative government in power, it became apparent that levels of toxic nitrogen oxide (NOx) had increased in major towns and cities, contributing to 40,000 deaths a year. The Government was not meeting its own NOx emissions targets set by the European Union, leading to the threat of fines and court action. Diesel cars were pinpointed as the main culprit for these rises and it was then that the process of demonisation of diesel in all forms began in earnest, led by environmental pressure groups and the new Mayor of London.

Fast forward to the end of 2017 and diesel car sales have plummeted by 16% year on year. All the major manufacturers are running diesel scrappage schemes where you can trade in a diesel car bought in the last 8 years and receive up to £8,000 towards buying a new car. In 2017 the average value of a used diesel car fell by 26%, for many the choice of switching away from diesel cars seemed like a no brainer, but it wasn’t.

What the Government wanted people to do was buy new hybrid engine or fully electric cars and Taxis en masse. The problem here is they’re too expensive to buy or run and there is no used car market for hybrid or electric cars. Reason being, battery technology moves so rapidly that the battery in a two-year-old electric car is inferior to a new battery powered car, so they don’t hold their residual value for it to be worth buying an older hybrid or EV car. 

This is going to have a huge impact to the second hand electric Taxi market.

The Mayor wants all Taxis and Private Hire Cars to be zero emmisuon capable by 2033.

The new unintended consequence here is that while people are moving away from diesel cars as the Government wanted, they’re not buying lower emissions vehicles, instead they’re buying high polluting, big engine petrol SUVs, which is leading to an unprecedented rise in CO2 emissions. Further bad news is that the Government also have a CO2 emissions target they need to meet by the European Union as well.

Official CO2 figures show a rise in 2017

Official statistics for the first ten months of 2017 from the Department of Transport show that the average new car sold this year produces 121.1g of CO2 per kilometre. The average CO2 output of new vehicles sold in 2016 was 120.3g/km. With diesel registrations widely expected to stall further in December, it will spell the end of a 14-year reduction in CO2 emissions, which have declined by 4.02g/km annually since records first began.

How on earth did we get in this mess?

The greatest irony in all of this is that the most likely solution in reducing both NOx and CO2 to meet European standards over the next few years is buy a new super low diesel emission car. One would have hoped that the market would have naturally gravitated towards buying a new lower emitting diesel, instead demonisation has made them buy high polluting petrol SUVs.

As is often the case, the Government has again intervened and targeted the wrong area and not tackled the real problem.

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China's Solar Expressway Meets Light Of Day In Shandong, As Shenzhen Electrifies 16k Buses.

Vehicles run on a solar expressway in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, Dec. 28, 2017. 

   

China on Thursday opened a 1-km section solar expressway for testing. Solar panels are laid beneath part of a ring road surrounding Jinan. 

The road surface is made of a transparent, weight-bearing material that allows sunlight to penetrate. The panels, covering 5,875 square meters, can generate 1 million kwh of power in a year, enough to meet the everyday demand of around 800 households.(Xinhua/Zhu Zheng)

JINAN, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday opened a 1-km section solar expressway for testing.

Solar panels are laid beneath part of a ring road surrounding Jinan, capital city of Shandong Province in east China. The road surface is made of a transparent, weight-bearing material that allows sunlight to penetrate.

The panels, covering 5,875 square meters, can generate 1 million kwh of power in a year, enough to meet the everyday demand of around 800 households, according to Qilu Transportation Development Group, the project developer.

"The project will save the space for building solar farms and shorten the transmission distance," said Xu Chunfu, the group's chairman.

Electricity produced by the test section will be used to power highway lights, signboards, surveillance cameras, tunnel and toll gate facilities. Surplus power will be supplied to the state grid, Xu said.

Future functions to be developed include mobile charging for electric vehicles and providing internet connection.

The road has a designed life of 20 years. It has three layers -- a concrete layer pervious to light on top; thin amorphous silicon panels in the middle; and a waterproof insulate protection layer at the bottom.

"The top layer has good flexibility which can both withstand the pressure of large vehicles and protect the fragile amorphous silicon boards underneath," said Zhang Hongchao, chief scientist with Shandong Pavenergy company which was involved in the development of the project.

Xu did not reveal the cost but said it was half of similar projects in foreign countries.

"With the development of solar power in China, the cost can be further reduced," he said.

China leads the world in solar power development. Its annual increase of new installed generation capacity has been the largest in the world since 2013. As of the end of September, China's installed photovoltaic capacity hit 120 gigawatts.

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT: 

London is far from the forefront in adoption of electric buses: China's Shenzhen shows the world how it's done, electrifies all public transit with massive fleet of 16,000+ electric buses 

Click link : https://t.co/ve3Jc2IJxh 

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The Truth And The Lies Behind Britain’s Speed Cameras

If you drive carefully past a speed camera, adhering to the speed limit and think you are safe, then you might be wrong.  Most of us don’t realise that those big yellow boxes can do a lot more than just register our speed and send information that gets us a speeding ticket.  But just what are their full abilities?

The offence camera

The speed camera should rightly be called the offence camera because it can record many offences other than just speeding.  They include not wearing your seatbelt, using a mobile phone while driving and even having illegal number plates.

According to statistics for the north east of England, between August 2015 and November 2015 there were a total of nearly 700 drivers who were caught for not wearing a seatbelt through a speed camera.  This is an offence that does seem bizarre – not only is it the law to wear one but they can also save your life if you are involved in an accident

Speed camera spotting

Another big problem is the use of mobile phones while driving.  To highlight how serious it can be, the fine was increased to £200 in March this year and now comes with six points on the license if you are caught.

Now you can be caught by speed cameras when on your mobile phone and receive a fine just the same as you would if you were spotted by a police officer.  This also includes mobile speed cameras which are now recording a range of other offences in the same way as the stationary version.

The most common device used for mobile speed cameras, that can record various information, is the LTI 20.20 UltraLyte 1000.  This device uses a laser linked directly to a DVD system that is running the whole time that the enforcement is in operation.  It can collect an image from cars up to 1000 metres away and includes information such as the time, date, speed, distance, site coding and whether the vehicle was travelling towards or away from the camera.  This is all detailed on the image of the driver.

The mobile phone problem

The reason for the higher penalties and the use of speed cameras to catch drivers using a phone behind the wheel is because it remains a huge problem.  In one crackdown last November, police caught around 40 drivers per hour on their mobile phones, handing out 7966 fixed penalty notices during a one-week long campaign.

This was an increase on previous periods of enforcement on ‘distraction driving’ where a crackdown had been in place.  In May 2016, they had caught 2323 drivers, in September 2015 the figure was 2276 and in May 2015, the number of drivers caught was 2690.

During the same period, where 36 forces around the county participated, there were also hundreds of verbal warnings issued along with 68 court summonses and 117 other ‘distraction’ offences noted.  The figures were part of the reason why the new fines and points system was brought in the following March.

Mobile phone law

The current law on mobile phone states that it is illegal to drive a vehicle and use a hand held mobile phone or a similar device.  It is also illegal to supervise a learner driver while using a mobile.  The definition of ‘driving’ is also one to watch – you are driving if you have the engine running so merely pulling into a layby without turning the engine off won’t save you from a fine.  Stopping at traffic lights also still counts as driving.  You can use a hands-free kit but if you are shown to be not in ‘proper control’ of the vehicle while using it, you can be prosecuted

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The Truth And The Lies Behind Britain’s Speed Cameras

If you drive carefully past a speed camera, adhering to the speed limit and think you are safe, then you might be wrong.  Most of us don’t realise that those big yellow boxes can do a lot more than just register our speed and send information that gets us a speeding ticket.  But just what are their full abilities?

The offence camera

The speed camera should rightly be called the offence camera because it can record many offences other than just speeding.  They include not wearing your seatbelt, using a mobile phone while driving and even having illegal number plates.

According to statistics for the north east of England, between August 2015 and November 2015 there were a total of nearly 700 drivers who were caught for not wearing a seatbelt through a speed camera.  This is an offence that does seem bizarre – not only is it the law to wear one but they can also save your life if you are involved in an accident

Speed camera spotting

Another big problem is the use of mobile phones while driving.  To highlight how serious it can be, the fine was increased to £200 in March this year and now comes with six points on the license if you are caught.

Now you can be caught by speed cameras when on your mobile phone and receive a fine just the same as you would if you were spotted by a police officer.  This also includes mobile speed cameras which are now recording a range of other offences in the same way as the stationary version.

The most common device used for mobile speed cameras, that can record various information, is the LTI 20.20 UltraLyte 1000.  This device uses a laser linked directly to a DVD system that is running the whole time that the enforcement is in operation.  It can collect an image from cars up to 1000 metres away and includes information such as the time, date, speed, distance, site coding and whether the vehicle was travelling towards or away from the camera.  This is all detailed on the image of the driver.

The mobile phone problem

The reason for the higher penalties and the use of speed cameras to catch drivers using a phone behind the wheel is because it remains a huge problem.  In one crackdown last November, police caught around 40 drivers per hour on their mobile phones, handing out 7966 fixed penalty notices during a one-week long campaign.

This was an increase on previous periods of enforcement on ‘distraction driving’ where a crackdown had been in place.  In May 2016, they had caught 2323 drivers, in September 2015 the figure was 2276 and in May 2015, the number of drivers caught was 2690.

During the same period, where 36 forces around the county participated, there were also hundreds of verbal warnings issued along with 68 court summonses and 117 other ‘distraction’ offences noted.  The figures were part of the reason why the new fines and points system was brought in the following March.

Mobile phone law

The current law on mobile phone states that it is illegal to drive a vehicle and use a hand held mobile phone or a similar device.  It is also illegal to supervise a learner driver while using a mobile.  The definition of ‘driving’ is also one to watch – you are driving if you have the engine running so merely pulling into a layby without turning the engine off won’t save you from a fine.  Stopping at traffic lights also still counts as driving.  You can use a hands-free kit but if you are shown to be not in ‘proper control’ of the vehicle while using it, you can be prosecuted

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