Peak time caravan ban?
- Monday, 29 October 2007
- 6 Comments
The Big Issue image of Punch and Judy
YES SAYS PAULA HANNAFORD
Road congestion in Britain is getting beyond a joke. An alien listening in to our radio travel news would think the country had come to a full stop, and if we don?t tackle the problem soon, that's exactly what will happen. Politicians come up with ideas. Ken's congestion charge received flak but now seems to be effective.
However, the
proposal to extend the concept to the entire country via road charging spurred millions to activate their keyboard fingers and, bandying terms such as 'big brother', protest
via an online petition. So if we can't persuade non-essential vehicles out of
peak-hour jams, we must ban them.
We must start with vehicles that don't need to get to work: horseboxes, campers, boat-trailers and, dare I say it, caravans. Who in their right minds needs to spend holiday hours clogging up the M6. Why not chill out with a brew while tempers boil bumper-to-bumper on the M25? A ban would defuse one of the anti-caravanning lobby's frontline weapons, leave room for commuters and give all caravanners an excuse for a break.
NO SAYS STEVE WALMSLEY
I pay my road tax and so have the right to travel as andwhen I like. It doesn't make any difference whether I am towing a caravan, it would be totally discriminatory if it did, and it could even be against my human rights to say that when towing I must restrict the times I am on the road to certain hours of the day. If you're going to ban caravans, what about boat and glider trailers, horseboxes, and every other kind of trailer that gets towed behind cars?
In general, it isn't caravans that cause traffic jams. They are also caused by slow lorries, coaches and motorhomes weaving in and out of
the lanes on motorways without any thought of what effect they are having on following traffic.
What's needed is for the government to put the money we pay in road taxes towards improving the roads. It's all too easy however, for petty minded, ignorant people such as Clarkson to pick on the silent, law abiding majority that we caravanners are.
We pay our taxes and have every right to go away in our caravans
when and where we like, just as they have the right to use their cars or planes when
they go on their holidays.
Reader comments
Add your commentsOctober 29 15:17
Gerald & Kathy Hughes
Why target caravans? Selective banning is unfair and unworkable.
It's easy to pick on caravans, but a ban could even encourage chancers who hope to
not get caught. The caravan fraternity are a mild, law-abiding group who drive considerately and should not be subject to such restrictive controls.
October 29 15:26
Roger
Most of the congestion caused on motorways is due to huge lorries continuously traveling in convoy, trying to pass each other on inclines at 40-50mph. Are we to ban lorries also at peak times? Most caravanners normally travel at the local speed limit and will pull over to allow other users to pass if the road conditions warrant it.
October 29 15:40
David Smeaton
This would be just another knee-jerk initiative that grabs headlines, doesn't
solve the problem and also needlessly inconveniences a large number of people. What
next? Should caravans be banned from the road altogether? That would be one way of hitting 'targets' dreamed up by Whitehall technocrats.
October 29 15:48
Zoe Hellman
Our family holidays to Scotland regularly involve 8-10 hour journeys, so unless we
drove right through the night and risked falling asleep at the wheel, we would inevitably hit such peak times. Are they suggesting we have to stop off in a lay-by for two hours while one-passenger Ford Mondeos whiz by.
February 05 12:54
M Pountney
Emigration from this country has reached an all time high. Big Brother has finally taken over. The government is trying to control every aspect of our lives. We are virtual prisoners of the state. Nobody protests anymore. I have been a responsible caravanner for many years and revel in the freedom it gives me. Not any more! Neither myself or my wife smoke, but i defend the right of those establishments that want to permit smoking! if you don't like it don't go there. The goverment wants to control what breed of dog have, anyone who knows anything about dogs knows that is the owner that is the problem not the dog! I drive a 4x4 diesel landrover and tow a large twin axle van. The government is considering banning all cars that can't do over 30mpg. It is my choice to have a large 'van and to drive whatever car i please. I pay more than enough for that privilege. Red Ken is banning older (pre 1996) diesel buses coaches and lorries from going into greater London, (LEZ within the M25) Most large cities will follow, it is to make London a cleaner place to live. Are you sure! Why then is he saying that you can come in if you pay £200 per day. The british way of life is being eroded day by day. COME ON lets start standing up for our rights, we can and should always be able to use our caravans when we want and where we want. During the 70's and 80's one of the Scandanavian countries tried to nanny their inhabitants - result was the highest suicide rate in the world! It's time to be counted. Stand up for you own freedom and human rights to live your life any way you choose providing it is within the (sensible) law.
March 09 18:51
david fountain
Why not do what they do in France and that is to ban lorries on the roads on certain days, plus have lengths of roads that they are not allowed to overtake. I travel on the motorways and dual carriageways every week and the one thing that hold the traffic up and causes driver frustration is the constant steam of lorries that try to overtake but do not have the power to do so and travel side by side for miles on end. These drivers obviously get bored with the long journeys and it becomes a game for them. Long sections of roads where they cannot overtake will give motorists and caravanners the chance to overtake. I have been caravanning for 40 years and find that it is slow drivers and lorries which hold me up, and rarely have found caravans to be a problem, plus I always pull in at the earliest possibility if traffic on minor roads is building up behind me. The one gripe I have is that if several caravans are travelling together, they never leave enough room for someone to overtake and pull in between them, and publications as yourself should make caravanners aware of this fact as I don't think they realise what they are doing.