Didn't he say "When a man is tired of London he is tired of life?"

Around our neck of the woods they use a prettier, but equally as daft, approach in that the central reservations have all sprouted shrubberies as you approach the roundabouts so that you can't see. Further to that the roundabouts themselves have taken on the appearance of small thickets so that you can't see anything on them.

However, they've now taken this to the limit with a road 'improvement' scheme in my local area. I live in a side road, one of several, off of a long straight one way road. For many years there has been a problem caused by vehicles parking right up to the junctions in the one way street and obscuring the view of drivers pulling out of the side roads, something which has resulted in many collisions; a scenario of which you are all familiar, I'm sure. The planners have finally decided that 'something must done' and have come up with a scheme to provide build-outs at the junctions to prevent parking too close to the side roads and giving us a fighting chance of seeing traffic approaching.

When I went along to the 'consultation exercise', where they listen to what we locals have to say and then they tell us that they're going to do what they were going to do in the first place anyway, the planner in attendance couldn't understand why I was gobsmacked to see what they proposed, and, of course, what we're going to get. On the build outs to the side from which traffic approaches they are going to put raised flower beds about 3' high planted with shrubs or rose bushes, on the other side, nothing. He really couldn't get his head around the fact that I thought the whole thing would be more dangerous than what we have already in that we would have an obstructed view 24/7 and that I would prefer it left as it is in that the Transit parked at the junction in every ones way does at least move six days a week!

The planner was absolutely insistent that the obstruction would make traffic pull out of the side road slower because they would have difficulty seeing clearly and that traffic turning into the junction from the main road would do so slower because they wouldn't be able to see if there is a vehicle obstructing the junction waiting to pull out. When I made the point that the reason there have been so many collisions has been that people already can't see each other he stated that 'the real reason is that people think they can see, now they'll know that they can't and act accordingly.' Personally I don't know too many people who aren't too sure whether they can see through a Transit or not!

Of course, he then went on to trot out the mantra that if this doesn't work then 'further traffic calming measures will be required' which is local Councilspeak for 20mph limits and speed humps. No they won't, we just want to be able to see down the road!!!!!!

By the air bag module, do you mean the on/off switch used if you intend to fit a baby seat?
If so, you'll find it in the passenger (L/H) footwell.

I agree with OldSock. Like Rattle I'm suffering from a little choice anxiety (father needs a new car soon) although I am similar in age to Focus Driver. The sums concerned are clearly a lot to Rattle and I once faced high insurance premiums. Give him credit, he's making a good effort to live within his means and he's making a go of his business.

Rattle, I'm not sure what the market is like up in Manchester but, have you considered a mkII Micra (reasonable parts prices) or even looking at a local paper from an area in the your region where the population is slightly older? You may find a half decent motor with a wad of invoices for servicing. I know there always the low mileage debate but, an older Hyundai may come well within your budget leaving cash for insurance or the odd water pump.

Which dealership offered you this?
It appears good.