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My regular route - M40-M25-M4 - seems much the same as ever, traffic- and speed-wise. The company car point may be part of the reason; more broadly, I suspect it's that if you work in the business-dense area around Heathrow and live to the northwest of there, there's not much alternative to driving to work. It does make working at home more appealing than ever, though - I spent Friday fettling my spreadsheets in the back garden.
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>>Haven`t seen much change around the City ring roads in driving habits. Cars surging past on full turbo boost, then braking heavily at the next roundabout.
>>Made me wonder, where`s the evidence of concern for saving money?
Not just the city ring roads. It's up here in the most rural parts of the Highlands. A few weeks ago I was driving along a NSL road about about 50 mph or so, doing my bit to save fuel (& therefore, by the law of supply and demand, to do my bit to put downward pressure on fuel prices), when a Land Cruiser Amazon roared past me. He must have made a stop in the next village we went through, for a few minutes later he roared past me again.
I thought to myself "He's clearly not interested in saving fuel."
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Back in the days when I worked for a company which provided me with a new car every two years and funded my business expenses. ( Oh happy days ! ). They had an arrangement whereby you claimed back a set rate per mile as fuel expenses. This of course positively encouraged a lightness of right foot. Some other companies simply reimbursed the value of fuel receipts less any private mileage which actually had the opposite effect as there was no incentive to be frugal. Any fleet which wants to cut its fuel bill would do well to adopt a version of the first arrangement.
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To answer questions.
1) South of Leeds, in the `Rhubarb Triangle`
2) The £1 on Dartford.. If only :) cos its a van, even a though small Punto its extra, while the Straight 6 Bavarian luxo- gets through for only £1...
I never did go straight through London. Last time was on a Bike at midnight returning from Germany in 1980. But have recently gone around the M25 the other way to avoid the injustice..
;)
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Not noticed a reduction in speed but certainly noticed a reduction in the amount of traffic.
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But have recently gone around the M25 the other wayto avoid the injustice..
I do things like that too, strange thing our sense of fair play, usually its a case of cutting the nose off to spite the face, but sometimes you just have to do it.
I blame my Dad, its that Cheshire stubborn streak, no complaints though and its passed on to my brood as well :)
Don't let on but i've known to nip through the Blackwall to avoid the con too.
The M6 toll is getting a bit steep as well, we only use it when there are delays on the B'ham section, £9 for a truck one way, which probably isn't that bad in proportion, as a car is i think a third of that and weighs about a 20th.
By the way, i still use the old type trafficmaster YQ unit, and its amazing how often the overhead gantry signs warn of M6 delays at B'ham when there are blatantly none, but it never happens the other way...coincidence? Cynic..moi?
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Isn't the Dartford toll shortly to go up to £1.50 for cars?
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A month ago I was doing a steady 60 mph on a long journey that I'd planned long in advance and I didn't have to rush for. Now I am habituated to the the new fuel prices so it's no longer the case on long journeys. I'm no longer bothered or in shock.
I was driving home from a nice run out in the country today telling myself to enjoy it. I was thinking back to the "old" days when fags cost less than three quid a packet and petrol was a lot less than 80p a litre. I can vaguely remember it being 60p a litre but I reckon my dad was paying for fuel then. I didn't own my own car then thats for sure. I'm 32, passed at 17 but didn't get my own car till 23. I haven't smoked for seven years now.
I'm sure prices will get a lot worse so I'm sodding the expense and enjoying it while it lasts. We could still look back at this now as halcyon days. Fuel prices always look cheap/cheaper in retrospect. My girlfriend and I have got the week off so we're off for another hundred mile trip tomorrow. Enjoy the freedom to drive.
P.s. I'm on the lookout for a three litre Capri before its too late!!!!
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Phil W. Yep, I've noticed it as well. Started about a couple of months in darkest Hampshire. Like the patrolman I thought that skool holidays might be something to do with it, but then it dawned on me that the the lack of traffic seemed to be a bit more permanent. I mentioned it to a couple of chaps at work and they too had noticed, but hadn't given it much thought, apart from the fact that commuting back and forth to work was faster.
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Anybody who thinks 'who cares, the company is paying' is misguided.
When companies pay, eventually we all pay.
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