The RAC Foundation in conjuction with Ipsos MORI has published the results of a survey that concluded over half of motorists would rather take the chance of getting stuck in a traffic jam rather than get on public transport. These findings are amongst a report called “The Congestion Challenge” which is a new survey on car use and congestion.

The survey found the following:

- 53% of drivers prefer being stuck in a traffic jam rather than having to use public transport.

- 77% however support increasing the number and frequency of buses to tackle traffic growth.

- 41% think congestion is a serious problem in their area however this has fallen from 63% in 1999.

- 61% think that congestion will rise over the next five years.

- 44% of drivers oppose any form of congestion charge for driving into city centres even if the money is spent on improving local transport. This has risen from 32% in 2001.

- Support for congestion charging schemes has also fallen from 54% to 41% over the same period.

Ben Marshall, who is the Research director of Ipsos MORI and a co-author of the report said “Perhaps the biggest challenge facing policy-makers and politicians is what to do next. In particular, should public opinion be followed, or led? Who should do this, and how?

Traffic congestion will always be an issue especially in the “rush hour” and with continuing road-work improvements, however before setting off on your next journey try the Trafficmaster mapping service at Comparecontracthire.com. Trafficmaster is a leading authority in satellite and navigation tracking.

Trafficmaster road mapping

This unique mapping feature allows you to search throughout the UK to find out road speeds and potential jams so you can avoid them. You can increase or decrease the scale of the map by using the icon “magnifying glass” in the top left hand corner of the display.

A review of the the law by barrister Dr Chris Elliot regarding parking on private property, published by the RAC Foundation, has concluded that the clamping companies may be “acting illegally” by imposing an exorbitant charge for releasing cars or vans that have been clamped or towed away. The report goes on to say that although the courts have upheld the right to clamp and charge a reasonable fee for release, that possibly is on shaky legal grounds.

Dr Elliot explains clamping could also breach motorists’ human rights: “The Home Office is proposing a new licensing regime for private clampers, but it is arguable that, if the release fee is unreasonable, their actions are incompatible with the Human Rights Act 1998 which demands that punishment should only come after a proper legal process”.

Dr Elliot went on to say, “The purpose of clamping is to prevent a vehicle being removed from land it should not be on. On the face of it, clamping is perverse since it causes the harm to the landowner to persist. It is in effect a “self-inflicted” wound. The tactic only makes sense either to punish or deter. Both have little foundation in English law, since they are based on a notion that only one person may punish another. But punishment is power reserved to the State…..a motorist might accept a reasonable fee, but not an extortionate one”.

The recommendations for the Government from Dr Elliott are;

- Ensure Parliament defines the legal right to clamp on private land.

- Ensure that any organisation, acting as an accediting body for the parking industry, has its performance monitored and audited by a government agency, and is also adequately resourced.

-Ensure there is an independent appeal mechanism or ombudsman available for those who have been wrongly penalised by private parking enforcers.

- Ensure any system of parking is based on a flat or capped fee.

Interestingly in Scotland, clamping without statutory authority is an offence of theft.This is because an intention to permanently deprive the owner of his (or her) goods is not a necessary ingredient of the offence. This however is not the case in England and Wales. The British Parking Association (BPA) does operate a voluntary code of conduct that it asks its members to follow but it has no legal status and not all all private clamping companies are members.

C1 evie

A GfK NOP survey for the RAC foundation has suggested 6.75 million drivers are thinking about buying a vehicle powered solely by batteries. This should be good news for the Department for Transport which announced last month that grants of up to £5,000, would be offered to purchasers of electric powered cars from 2011.

However the RAC Foundation has warned that demand will exceed supply, as mass produced electric vehicles (according to the Government’s own reckoning) will not be available until 2017 at the earliest, leaving many potential buyers frustrated.

RAC Foundation Professor Stephen Glaister commented ” What the Government is in danger of doing is putting the cart before the horse. It is actively promoting the purchase of electric vehicles long before there is any chance of manufacturers making them widely available. Minister’s thinking on green technology is all over the place. They talk of incentives of up to £5,000 for prospective buyers of electric cars from 2011. Yet at that stage there will be almost nothing in the showroom for people to purchase”.

Survey

- The survey was conducted with 1,000 motorists and was carried out over the weekends of the 9th and 10th and 16th and 17th May 2009 by GfK NOP.

- According to the DfT National Travel Survey 2007 there are 33.8 million driving licence holders in Great Britain.

- On the 16th April 2009 the Department for Transpoprt and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform launched the Government’s vision to produce low carbon transport over the next five years.

- Less than 0.1% of the UK’s 26 million cars are currently electric.

- The car featured above is the Citroen C1 ev’ie, a new electric concept from Citroen.