About Private Fleet
Cockneys, Cricket and Congestion: Britain has busiest roads in Europe
When I say ‘Britain’ to those of you who do not live here, you probably have numerous images that spring to mind. The Queen, Buckingham Palace, Fish and Chips, Posh people, Cricket, Rugby, The Beatles, David Beckham, Doctor Who, Russell Brand, Cockneys… If I collaborated all of the outside opinions of my home land I am sure the list would go on for light years. However, when it comes to the United Kingdom, I bet you the word you hear more than most is ‘London’, and the next logical step would be the ‘London Cab’ or the ‘Routemaster Buses’. Essentially, the heartland of the tourist impression of Britain is the transport system in the capital. It is at this crossroad that the dream and reality collide in an explosion of opinion and ridiculousness. If you ask any Brit, or most specifically a Londoner what they associate most with their country, chances are their answer will actually be very similar to ‘London’, ‘taxi’ and ‘bus’ in that they are all a contributory factor to the horror that befalls us all.
Congestion. Traffic. A stationary hell on wheels.
And following research undertaken by World Bank, the ever-British moaning has been confirmed; Britain has the most congested roads in Europe. And within the UK itself, London is the very eye of the traffic storm.
So, what are the statistics here?
- There are 77 vehicles per square kilometer of road
- This number is 76% higher than the general European average
The fun does not end there, the research has even identified the congestion down to the street level:
- The top 10 busiest roads are ALL in London
- Two of the high scorers are Bedford Road in Clapham (South London) and Greenhill Way in Harrow (North West London)
- But there can only be one winner, and that is Jamaica Road in Southwark
I know what you are probably wondering, and to answer your question, Jamaica Road is so congested that during peak times, traffic has been recorded to be moving at 0.08mph. To put that into perspective, take your average walking pace and try walking around 30 times slower. How is that even possible? Exactly dear readers, the traffic on the road is THAT bad.
If we take the premise that Britain is the most congested country, it does bring with it some potential positives. If we do have a lot of traffic, it means that the cars on the roads are not travelling as fast. And if Britain follows in the tracks of development, there will be more and more cars on the road, which will only slow us down even more.
The increase in traffic therefore may decrease the number of road traffic accidents and subsequently human injury or death. Of course such a statement is implying a direct causal correlation between the two. Just because the traffic is moving slower does not necessarily mean there will be less incidents and injury. Perhaps I am being typically British and hurling cynicism into the mix here. But the statistics do appear to agree with me on this in that British roads have been named as the safest in the world; in the 1970s there were around 7,700 road deaths and yet last year there were only around 1,800.
So maybe, next time you find yourself in Britain, just remember that it is not all Beatles, Beckham and Buckingham Palace. Next time you find yourself with London on the brain, I can promise you that I will most likely be stuck in some endless traffic jam, praying for some sanity and some road freedom.
I hope you have a nicer time of it in Australia, I would love to hear about your driving experiences. Britain has been named the most congested in Europe, but how does it compare to the rest of the world?
Let me know on Twitter @lewisglynn69!
Keep Driving People!
Peace and Love!
Automotive Dinosaurs: Welcome to Jurassic Autopark
There is no doubt that cars are awesome. Big ones, small ones, fast ones and slow ones, make your choice and still you will find a world of automotive awesome. In much a similar vein, ever since the release of Jurassic Park I have been convinced that dinosaurs exist in a whole universe of greatness. You have heard me tittle on about cars all the time, whether I am ranting away about drivers on the road, singing the praises of motorsport or reporting the dangers of hybrid cars on the market. If Private Fleet had a sister site named Jurassic Fleet, I can promise you I would be a regular contributor on there as well. Until that day however, you are all saved from my dino-love.
But what if I told you that on the wonderbox that is the Internet, there exists a whole new species. There are those who love cars, and those who love dinosaurs, but then there are those people who dreamed of a combination of the two. That sounds ridiculous, I hear you cry. And you would not be wrong in saying that, but hear me out, they exist. Witness now a whole new world…
“Dr Grant, my dear Dr Sattler… Welcome, to Jurassic Autopark”
The T-Rex looks angry, maybe she is against the size of the carbon footprint those 4x4s are leaving…
I have excavated through the fossils of the Internet and come across a selection of dino-car gems that I just could not resist sharing with you. I mean, I love dinosaurs. How can anyone not love dinosaurs? Having come across cars that have been dino-designed, I can very much say my life has just become a whole lot happier. If you are having a sad day then fear not, I have come to you with a carnivorous gathering of reptilian wonders. Or if you wish to follow current arguments that dinosaurs were closer to modern day birds than reptiles, then no need to (birds of) prey no more, I have got some avian-auto-ancestors here for you right now.
Hang on a minute, when I said the combination of cars and dinosaurs, this was not what I meant. People often ask me why the dinosaurs died out and why they did not become the dominant species on the planet. Well, is this not the answer you were looking for? Their motor industry never really took off.
Let’s try this again shall we…
To the person who saw this snow covered car and thought, “I want to turn this into a kick-ass dino-car”, you have to be one of my favourite people, and I wish to meet you so I can give you a hug. Most people see a car covered in snow and either write in it or use the snow for snow-ammo. But then there is that one person who wants to bring back the glamour of the stegosaurus to the modern world. This is greatness in its purest form.
This began life as a VW Beetle. I can say with almost full certainty that this is no longer a beetle in any way, shape or form. This is not something you will see crawling around in the undergrowth. This is now a brutal beast of burden. You would think of squashing this under your foot. With those chunky off road tyres, and those spines, you would not want to come across this while alone in the forest. Just hope it is in a good mood. But seriously, this is one amazing piece of machinery. I think I know what my choice of car will be on my busy London commutes from now on.
Artist Credit: Ryan McGuire
If Barney the Dinosaur ever had a car-cousin, it would have to be this little beauty. This may be one of the cutest things ever to pass by my eyes. When I see this I also get the impression that if Dino the Dinosaur from the Flintstones was brought back to life today, this would probably be how he would look. Playful, happy and fun. What more could you want from your very own dino-car?
This is truly a great example of a DIY-nosaur. If you loved my cheeky word play then chances are you will love the guy who came up with this dino-tricycle. I love the thought of someone sitting in a park, and behind the bushes you suddenly see the skeleton of a stegosaurus bobbing on past. Night At The Museum come to life. I told you dinosaurs were awesome right?
As with the traditional construct of any entertainment based presentation, I have saved the best for last. This was the very image that started my quest for dino-car greatness. We have seen dino-cars of all forms, most of which are still fully functioning automobiles. The reason I love this so much is that I have a feeling its creator is my kind of person. They did not just add the generic spines to the top of an old Beetle, they have most literally formed the perfect combination of car and dinosaur. This sculpture has been created from materials that are associated with road travel, including car parts, traffic cones and all that general nonsense.
Maybe this car is in fact a metaphor. Let’s deconstruct this and see what I can pull out of myself. The car is painted green, symbolising the need for greener modes of travel, considering that we are slowly destroying the planet. The source car is an old VW Beetle. The Beetle is a car that uses the fuel powered combustion engine. The Beetle was also made popular by none other than Hitler as ‘the peoples’ car’. Hitler was a Nazi. The Nazi attempt at world domination was crushed by the Allied forces. The Hitler-led Nazi movement therefore suffered an ‘extinction event’. The dinosaurs too suffered an extinction. However, as Jurassic Park proved, dinosaurs can be brought back to life and spread chaos and havoc across the land.
What more, the engine of the Beetle was in the back of the car, and we all know that when people think through their behinds bad things often happen. True fact right there.
Therefore, this sculpture stands as a warning; the traditional combustion engine is an automotive dinosaur in a world of hybrids and electric power. We must move forward into modern technology. Also, Nazis are bad and we should not let them rise up again. I bet you never thought I could mention Hitler in an article about dino-cars. But I did. It is all about the metaphors.
I told you I was going to pull something ridiculous out of my brain.
Sometimes, what can I say, I do not want to talk about a serious driving topic. We all need some light hearted happiness every now and again.
If you enjoyed that, feel free to follow me on Twitter @lewisglynn69
Keep Driving People!
Peace and Love!
Asleep at the Wheel: Has F1 become boring?
After yet another commanding season, Sebastian Vettel was crowned world champion. Again. ‘Red Bull’ have proven that they have the best car on the grid. Again. Formula One is meant to be the crown jewels sitting proudly upon the crown that is motor sport. Formula One is meant to be THE example of just how great racing can be. Formula One is meant to be the guiding light that may shine forward into a new future of automotive sport.
…so why have I spent such a long time now being bored out of my skin?
The weird part of this whole situation is that I really want to love Formula One. The sport contains so many things that I love about life – fast cars, speed, glamour, theatre, the works. In many ways I can compare F1 to the James Bond film ‘Quantum of Solace’; that film has every aspect that should make any Bond film amazing, yet the whole thing appeared to be a bit of a laborious disaster. And I feel much the same about the apparent ‘greatest motor sport in the world’.
To examine the array of issues that are buzzing around my head, let me propose some questions:
Question One: Is it not exciting watching the rise of a new legend of the sport in Sebastian Vettel?
Formula One has been lucky enough to watch the rise of some of the greatest racing drivers known to man kind: Senna, Prost, Hunt, Fangio, Stewart… the list goes on. Throughout the 90s and early 00s we also saw Michael Schumacher. He won 7 world championships and became one of most loved drivers of the modern sport. Following this German take over, did any of us really think we would see another one? And then Vettel came along and proved us all wrong.
Sebastian Vettel
However this time, it seems a lot of people are not so impressed. The problem is that everything he has achieved has essentially been handed to him on a plate. He inherited a place on the best F1 team on the grid and has gone and started winning EVERYTHING. The difference between him and all the other legends of the sport is that he doesn’t appear to have worked for what he has gained. For some time I said exactly the same thing about Hamilton, but now he has moved to Mercedes and is proving his worth by being amazingly competitive in a car that everyone else thought would be mid-pack at best this year. Not only that, but since his initial success there has been a great deal of bias in the Red Bull team. In many ways I am not surprised that Mark Webber decided to retire having spent the last few years getting second rate equipment and playing Robin to Vettel’s Batman.
When Vettel keeps winning, it is now no longer surprising, it is just tiringly predictable. I seem to be spending most of my time hoping for a mechanical failure, a crash or a mistake. I really hate thinking that stuff but the problem is, it is the only way I can make it exciting in my head anymore.
Question Two: Technologically advanced cars racing at 200mph, what is not to love about that?
Formula One is meant to be the pinnacle of modern motor sport. The racing should be hard, fast, close and spectacular. And yet, it is not. When you sit and watch your average race these days, the commentary team seem to have some form of auto-gasm when there is an overtake. It is one overtake, guys. In one race there will be a small handful of overtakes, and this is treated like proof of sporting perfection. The fact that cars have to be fitted with an ‘overtake’ button and additional aids to make overtaking even possible says a lot if you ask me. I have said it a multitude of times before, but look at any Touring Car series; the British Touring Cars or the V8 Supercars. That is what hard racing should be.
F1 2013 at Monaco
Furthermore, F1 cars seem so fragile that ANY SLIGHT contact seems to result in race ruining damage that renders a car near-useless. Yes, I am aware that motor sport should never focus on collisions, but it is natural that there will be some coming together across the span of a race. Why not sacrifice some of the speed and make for a more exciting sport? Is it really that much to ask?
Finally, racing should be about well, RACING. What it should never be about is tyre and pit strategy. They are two elements that can make a race exciting. But when the focus is placed more upon them than on the racing itself, then something has gone horribly wrong. Listening to the eternal discussion about wings, tyres and pit strategy during a race makes me want to find the nearest bridge and hurl myself off of it. Murray Walker would never have wasted his breath talking about that.
Maybe it is just me, but processional racing is not what I love.
Question Three: There are new tracks being designed and built all the time, is that not exciting?
There are some things that I cannot even try to defend. And the lifeless, soulless and emotionless race tracks designed by Hermann ‘no imagination’ Tilke are definitely one of these things. The tracks are usually a mix of LONG STRAIGHT followed by TECHNICAL SECTION OVERLOAD, LONG STRAIGHT, MORE TECHNICAL… you get the idea. These tracks seem endless and lack the passion and soul of the classics such as Spa or Silverstone. Speaking of which, what on this holy earth have they done to Silverstone? The home of British motor sport has become an arena of boredom. What is happening?
Circuit of the Americas
While I am on this point, Mr Tilke really needs to get some imagination. If you want to design tracks that are so health and safety perfect meaning that run off areas are so large that cars do not lose out from them then that is one thing. But do you then have to rip off all the other great tracks in the process. The new USA GP circuit in Texas seems to have borrowed corners from already existing tracks. America is already full of amazing race tracks, do we really need another one?
In conclusion…
The answer is simple. Change. Call it revolution if you must but please, something needs to happen. The sport has become a painfully predictable game of chess played out on lifeless race tracks across the globe, doing nothing but serving the egos of the leaders of the F1 teams (well, mainly Christian Horner but still).
Where is the passion? Where is the raw animalism? Where is the soul?
In the new F1 video games, why else do you think that they are placing more emphasis on driving the classic cars? Could it maybe be because the modern sport is nothing compared to the titans of the past.
New is not always better. Sometimes we need to look to the past to find the answers for the future.
Keep Driving People!
Follow me on Twitter: @lewisglynn69
Peace and Love!
Easter Egg Hunt Winners
Thanks to everyone who took part in our Easter Egg hunt. we had a massive entry, far more than we expected, but sadly there can be only five winners, which have been drawn at random from the successful contenders.
The lucky winners are:-
1. Wayne Begley ( NSW )
2. Graham Westgrath (NSW )
3. Nancy McAlary ( QLD )
4. Dave Moulding ( VIC )
5. Ross Rosso ( QLD )
A brand new TomTom ‘Live” sat/nav will be winging its way to each of the winners.
Thanks again for your terrific support, but if your name is not among the lucky winners, there’s a chance to get your revenge here
Level 2, 9 Help Street