Highway To Hell

Here's a 2014 story about a singing road in The States.

That may be an OK idea out in the middle of New Mexico.  Especially if National Geographic are paying for it.

Sietske Poepjes thinks it's a good idea.  So she spent just under £70K of not National Geographic's money installing one in The Netherlands.  She is described as a "local minister for infrastructure and cultural affairs".

But that does include the cost of removing it again after one day.

Whether or not she is still a local minister for infrastructure and cultural affairs isn't mentioned in this BBC story.

Apparently, if you build one near to where people live, it soon becomes very annoying for the local residents.

Especially if people start driving at twice the speed limit to hear the tune at twice the speed.

So Road Trippin' is out, even if you are King of the Road, be it Telegraph Road, Thunder Road, Electric Avenue or The Road to Nowhere.  Hit The Road, Jack - The Long and Winding Road.

Love Me, Love My Car.

Is having your photo taken caressing your car a thing?

 There seem to be loads of these on the 'Net.

 

 And it's not just men...

 

Can't explain why, but this guy is my favourite:

 

And yet, according to the BBC Business Section today, we seem to have fallen out of love with the car. Possibly permanently?

It's an interesting piece that tells us that, at some point in the '90s, the ever-increasing total number of miles being driven every year bottomed out.

It goes on to say "In 2012, the RAC Foundation got together with a group of academics. They analysed Britain's stats between 1995 and 2007, stopping there to leave out the impact of the subsequent recession.

And this is what they found. About 70% of us were driving more. But the average mileage was being dragged down because young men, company car drivers and Londoners were driving less."

The key findings were:

• Men in their twenties drive 1,912 miles a year less than they did in the mid-1990s

• The number of men in their twenties holding a full driving licence also dropped by 11% between the mid-1990s and 2005-07

• Company car mileage dropped by nearly 40% between 1995-97 and 2005-07

• Driving mileage across London fell by 20% in the decade leading up to the recession

OK, we'll ignore the first one because they would have been in their mid-teens in the '90s.

Number 2 is the surprising one - I know wanted to get a licence as soon as I was old enough.

Number 3 has to be a good thing. I remember the bad old days when it was normal for petrol companies to give away free gifts to Company Car Drivers to get them in while charging too much for the petrol because "the Company was paying for it."  Video-conferencing and tele-commuting and the decline of British industry would have played a part in this of course.

Number 4.  Two words.  Congestion Charge.

Another interesting statement in the story:

"If car use has peaked, this will radically change transport policy - and in particular should lead to a complete reassessment of the government's £15bn road-building plans."

Wonder if anyone would notice if a 31 mile stretch went AWOL?  The BBC beat me to the headline - Highway Robbery.

Now, just time to give the Jag a wash and a cuddle.

Traffic Jam

Well, Traffic Marmite actually.

Love it or hate it, I'm quite ambivalent about it really - in fact I can't remember the last time I tried it. I also feel the same about the M1. And this story combines them both. It brings a new meaning to "being stuck in traffic." It's only 8:20 in the morning so I'm sure some pictures will emerge during the day but I've got to go to work so I'll not be publishing them.

There have to be some jokes here though and some marketing opportunities - like the last time this happened...Cadburys took out adverts saying how "Nothing Fills a Hole like a Double-Decker"

The Mayor of London is a Buffoon

But a very likeable one.

Again, I can't agree with his politics but the people of London seem to appreciate them - unless they have just fallen for his personality - but that's their business.

He was always very funny on Have I Got News For You? and suitably amusing as the celebrity guest on Top Gear and he is always good value for money when interviewed by Jeremy Paxman - but then Jeremy Paxman loves to interview an idiot.

The reason I am discussing Boris today, after discussing his old school-chum yesterday, is this story about him using glue to catch pollution on the streets of London. It seems a bit expensive and far-fetched to me but they claim it is producing results. I'm not scientifically qualified to comment (not that that usually stops me) so read the article and draw your own conclusions.

I suppose that I'm only really mentioning it at all because it is a good excuse to print a picture of Boris. That can be a bit of a problem choosing because there is never a picture of Boris that doesn't make you smile - check these out.

Sometimes you just see a picture and want to publish it...which relates to this story. Check out the video on that too - it is brilliant!

Is This the Saddest Page on the Internet?

No, not the one you're reading right now. I'm talking about the one I stumbled upon while trying to establish whether or not there was a W.H.Smith at Chester Services on the M56.

It was this one.

It was probably a waste of time me looking it up anyway - there seems to be a W.H.Smith at every Motorway Services in the UK.

Before I found that one, I did think for a while that this could be the saddest site on the Global Interweb.

But then I spent a good three-quarters of an hour looking up my local and oft-used roads. Someone needs to update their A483 bit.

The site does go rather sad when you venture into the forums but steer clear of them and it is all quite interesting and even entertaining.

They also link in to another site with the story of my local motorway. I'll forgive them for labelling it "pathetic".

I also like their amusing roadsigns section...