Daily Annoyances

[RH77]

First, I want to congratulate Arragonis on the 500th Daily Annoyance post!

I wouldn't take a place from someone with a genuine disability who needed it - I use them only when the car park is mostly empty. I still have to walk past the fat bloke parked up at the door in the idling 4x4 with the window open, smoking. And of course the people who view being fat and lazy as a disability.

I didn't think you would take a legit spot if it's needed. The true crime is how people here (and likely there) can easily get a disabled plate or hang-tag (or inherit one before it expires) for anything, really. Despite the annoyance, I find a pull-through spot and coast-in with the engine-off.

What these places do have is patrols or ANPR (number plate recognition - basically they can read and OCR your plate automatically) cameras. If you break some "rule" (such as staying too long) these people will apply to the DVLA for the name and address of the registered keeper of the car (for a fee) and will send the keeper something which looks like an official parking ticket but is actually an invoice because they say you have entered into a contract by parking there and that includes a penalty for infringement.

We definitely have some differing laws. If this were the case, I could charge anyone who parks in my driveway because they entered into a contract (including the phone/cable company). Anyway, I hope the patrols there are actually the Police and not private. Here, if private agencies enforce these "rules", property owners would have to go through a lengthy process of civil suits, court costs, and attorney fees to sue for the above (which are much more costly than the offence). The easy solution is to have the vehicle towed by a private company for any non-law "infraction", and the vehicle owner would on the other end of the legal battle and/or pay the tow company. Clamping is rare -- private tow companies just impound the car and charge a fee to get it back. If it's a Fire Lane or Handicap Spot, then the Police is all over it -- otherwise, people can park their Hummer in 3 spots and it flies. Charging areas are generally privately operated, so towing applies.

Civil Liberties carry quite a bit of weight here -- the biggest exception has been Red Light Cameras (from which some also calculate speed and have ticketed drivers) -- some now are being removed from some jurisdictions. But, speed cameras are rare -- similar to what you mentioned -- the car doesn't break the law -- the driver does (but clear pictures of the driver links the crime). Nevertheless, considerable fraud like by reducing yellow-light time has created outrage. I read recently that many cameras are being dismantled (probably because the private contract on operation ran out and the municipality allocated funds elsewhere).

At least, that's how I think it goes here. Anyway, I'm just lucky I didn't break any (known) laws when driving from Edinburgh-Glasgow then through the countryside to Inverness and down to St. Andrews and back to Ed. Definitely one of my top 3 drives (Alaska and the Canadian Rockies include the tie for 1st). We consistently encountered beautiful scenery and very friendly people time after time in Scotland.

RH77

[320touring]

Originally Posted by RH77

At least, that's how I think it goes here. Anyway, I'm just lucky I didn't break any (known) laws when driving from Edinburgh-Glasgow then through the countryside to Inverness and down to St. Andrews and back to Ed. Definitely one of my top 3 drives (Alaska and the Canadian Rockies include the tie for 1st). We consistently encountered beautiful scenery and very friendly people time after time in Scotland.

Breaking laws here aint a problem..the police aint armed

For proper drives in Scotland, drop me a PM if you're coming over- the West Coast is where it's at for awesome roads and stunning Scenery

[Arragonis]

@RH77 - I missed that, apologies for the essay

Yep, those companies also have to persue people to get their money and sometimes they (allegedly) put through some "test" cases with known "victims" who surrender so they can claim they have succeeded, but in reality they rely on people being scared of the official looking paperwork to get the money paid. If they send 300 invoices and 5-10 pay up they've made a profit.

If you did break any laws whilst here the hire company would have got the tickets, and if you from overseas sometimes they can't be bothered with the hassle.

[tumnasgt]

People that drive with their rear fog lights on. In the last year, there have been maybe 3 days when rear fog lights would be beneficial. Yet about a quarter of BMWs and Audis have them on day and night.

The main problem is that because they are an optional light in NZ, most people haven't the slightest flipping clue about when you should use them. Best case I've seen is on one of those highway cop TV shows, the cop they were following for the day had his fog lights on on a sunny day, he probably should've read this.

[Arragonis]

People at work. Mrs A has a presentation which includes a demo. Project people asked to setup demo last week on the Monday. No action until Wednesday when I suggested it might be an idea to start prep work. Still not completed on Friday so me and Mrs A end up working the weekend to catch up.

Project people - one word, rhymes with "anchor".

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by tumnasgt

People that drive with their rear fog lights on. In the last year, there have been maybe 3 days when rear fog lights would be beneficial. Yet about a quarter of BMWs and Audis have them on day and night.

The main problem is that because they are an optional light in NZ, most people haven't the slightest flipping clue about when you should use them. Best case I've seen is on one of those highway cop TV shows, the cop they were following for the day had his fog lights on on a sunny day, he probably should've read this.

Here the rules are more precise about rear fog lights - they can (and should) be used ONLY when visibility is below 50m. Not that it stops them shining in any weather...

[Arragonis]

The rules are fairly clear here too - you just have to find a traffic cop (never seen on one the bypass) who can be bothered to enforce them.

My other moan - the cops have been replaced by "Incident Support Officers" who do (as far as I can tell) f**k all. Today there was a breakdown on the bypass (2 lanes) so the left (nearside) one was blocked and traffic had to merge which it does badly in the UK - so there were long queues and loads of Audis trying to run right up to the blockage and wondering why nobody wanted to let them in...

When I got to the "breakdown" it was a VW Camper, which was already parked on the verge - so actually it was not blocking the road at all. The lane was actually blocked by the "Incident Support Officer" vehicle - a large van / truck parked in the nearside lane with flashing orange lights.

I noticed that this vehicle had a tow-bar, so of course I wondered why they just didn't tow the broken down vehicle out of the way. But then I remembered that the only thing blocking a lane was the vehicle warning us about the breakdown which was actually not on the main roadway at all, and which was driven by the same people who would be using the tow bar.

So maybe asking the muppets organising this chaos to work out what a tow bar is for would be tempting a disaster.

So I sat in the queue.

And realised another way in which my taxes and the uk.gov budget is being wasted...

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

d traffic had to merge which it does badly in the UK - so there were long queues and loads of Audis trying to run right up to the blockage and wondering why nobody wanted to let them in...

If everybody did what the Audi folks are doing, it'd go a lot smoother.
Driving up to the blockage, then merging in zipper-fashion is actually the law in Germany.

[RH77]

Originally Posted by tumnasgt

People that drive with their rear fog lights on...

I agree -- they either think it's the front set of lights, or they want to brag about their upscale option and announce it to the world.

But as an EcoDriver, I find myself needing some extra illumination on multi-lane highways. Just today, I drove the speed limit in a construction zone and just about got plowed-over by multiple drivers (semi-trucks included).

On 2+ Lane interstates, I drive 10-under the limit and stay out of the way in the slow lane. So, I drive with headlights/taillights on day or night, just for extra "noticability" back there (I know it pulls more FE, but safety is a big concern -- on the Hybrid, the DRLs with parking-lights are just the addition of city-lights up front and LEDs in the rear -- a good compromise).

A brighter set of rear fog(s) might give better visibility for us "slow-pokes".

I know Volvo has them standard on many models here and is optional for the upscale German brands. Honestly, before I knew what they were, I thought it was a wiring/bulb malfunction -- "Wow, lots of those Mercedes have that same brake-light issue"

So then my official complaint -- people who don't drive with their headlights on when it's getting dark outside! Just because people have electro-luminescent gauges so they can see their speed 24/7, means they can forget about flipping on the headlights. We don't have a DRL law here -- it's just an added safety feature. In this State though, we have a law to "Use Headlights When Wipers Are Required". Not so much there either...

RH77

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by euromodder

If everybody did what the Audi folks are doing, it'd go a lot smoother.
Driving up to the blockage, then merging in zipper-fashion is actually the law in Germany.

The key item here is zipper fashion - nope, they just pull to the blockage, almost with cones bouncing over the front and then merge (or try to) even if there is no gap.

Zipper fashion would be fine.