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fire engine stuck because of cycle lane

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8713579/Fury-FIRE-ENGINE-gets-s...

 

no, the fire engine is stuck because there is a car parked in the road, and then some more parked in the road on the other side. If those cars were on driveways, the fire engine could get through. On road parking creates problems for everyone, including the emergency services. No driveway or dedicated off road space= no car. Problem solved.  The ''stay at home mother'' states with her three kids she can't cycle as she has to do a big weekly shop. No you don't. You don't HAVE to do a big weekly shop. You choose to. If you go to the shop every two days, you could easily carry enough stuff back on a bicycle with panniers. If you have the kids with you, then use the bus and only buy enough for one to two days. The idea of needing a car just because you choose to buy enough items in one go for a week is stupid. People didn't do a big weekly shop in the 50's and 60's, they walked with a pram or got on the bus or cycled to the highstreet, bought their items, and went home. Why is it suddenly different?

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24 comments

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qwerty360 | 3 years ago
1 like

Having watched the video, I also expect the fire engine might have gotten through if with no margin of error.

For a non time critical call out it wasn't worth trying it, risking damaging the planters, parked car and/or fire engine (no doubt if it has been safety critical something would have been shunted out of the way by the fire engine and the damage caused dealt with afterwards...).

Now they know and unlike other issues it can be fixed quickly and easily by the council (fairly sure it has already been fixed by moving the barriers slightly up the road...)

The white car was in a parking space. I expect previously the parking extended into where the barriers are, and given the barriers are the same width as a car, that suggests that previously a fire engine would have likely been blocked due to parking instead. (Which I expect leads to far bigger arguments if/when on a time critical callout the fire engine rams the obstructing car, vs than the fire department telling the council that they had to ram a planter to proceed and asking a replacement be moved...)

 

 

One other point; The blue car in the background is parked at a T junction, which is forbidden per highway code parking rules, for the reason demonstrated by the fire engine; Large vehicles may need the full road to swing into a side road. Had that car not been their it would have been able to straighten up before reaching the barriers (given it wasn't far off)

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brooksby replied to qwerty360 | 3 years ago
0 likes

qwerty360 wrote:

One other point; The blue car in the background is parked at a T junction, which is forbidden per highway code parking rules, for the reason demonstrated by the fire engine; Large vehicles may need the full road to swing into a side road. Had that car not been their it would have been able to straighten up before reaching the barriers (given it wasn't far off)

The HC says 

Quote:

Rule 243

DO NOT stop or park: ... opposite or within 10 metres (32 feet) of a junction, except in an authorised parking space.

I suspect it all comes back to that gremlin "Common Sense".

They'd say they were fine because they were in 'an authorised parking space' whereas I'd suggest that they were being stupid parking that close to a junction in such tight streets at all...

 

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Hirsute replied to brooksby | 3 years ago
1 like

But if you put your hazards on, that overrides the rule.

Saw someone at the w/e parked at the junction with a dual carriageway. No driver, just left the car just shy of the give way lines but hazards on !

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Bentrider | 3 years ago
6 likes

When I were a lad...my mum always did a big weekly shop despite having no car. She walked to the shops, often pushing a large pram. A few essentials were carried home immediately. The rest was loaded into a cardboard box at the checkout and delivered by van later that day, although it was often waiting on the doorstep when she got home.

I acquired a bike trailer a couple of years ago and often use that to carry a large weekly shop.

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HoarseMann | 3 years ago
3 likes

If her only reason for having a car is the weekly supermarket shop, she needs to work out how much she would save by shopping online and getting it delivered.

Bet she could switch from Aldi to Ocado and still make a huge saving.

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OnYerBike replied to HoarseMann | 3 years ago
0 likes

I would have agreed with you eight months ago, but good luck getting a delivery slot now...

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wycombewheeler replied to OnYerBike | 3 years ago
2 likes

OnYerBike wrote:

I would have agreed with you eight months ago, but good luck getting a delivery slot now...

I booked one for this weekend when I am away and can't do the shopping. much better now than 4 months ago

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Hirsute replied to OnYerBike | 3 years ago
3 likes

Much easier now. I had to quarantine for a weekend, and got a slot for late on the monday.

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wycombewheeler | 3 years ago
4 likes

I think in the 50s and 60s it was far less normal for two adults in a household to both be working, leaving one 40 hours a week for home maintenance and shopping. Going out sepeartely to butchers, bakers, greengorcers etc and picking up fresh food (large fridge freezers also far less common) every day or two was also a source of social interaction. Most people don't live like that now, and in fact can't afford to. Who can buy or rent a family home on a single salary these days?

Not to mention we are currently asked to limit social interaction so going to several different shops daily is undesirable.

However this 'stay at home mum' complaing the school run now takes half an hour instead of 10 minutes should be considering how long it would take to walk, instead of jumping in the car and moaning about how bad it is to drive.

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David9694 replied to wycombewheeler | 3 years ago
4 likes

when you look around, you start to notice how many houses are 100% paved out front, and how many there are with 4+ cars parked - it must all point to more lone driver journeys.

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brooksby replied to David9694 | 3 years ago
1 like

And how many of those conversions don't bother with getting a 'proper' dropped kerb put in...

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Sriracha replied to wycombewheeler | 3 years ago
4 likes

It's self-defeating. Houses are worth what people will pay for them. The first household where both partners worked could outbid the others for the best house, and so on, so eventually all households have two earners. Now nobody can afford to buy a house unless both partners work, but they are the same houses. Add in childcare costs since there's no one at home to raise the kids, and hope they get the same love and attention they'd have got from a parent. Progress.

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OnYerBike | 3 years ago
5 likes

To be fair, I do a big shop most weeks, and as often as not it's the only time the car gets used the whole week. It's not "suddenly" different from the 50's and 60's, but there has been half a century of gradual change. Whether you like it or not, I think it's fair to say that trying to do "normal" grocery shopping on a high street is a terrible experience. 

That said, there's a lot of rubbish in that article:

Firstly, if that lady wants to drive to the supermarket, she still can! With most/all LTNs (certainly with that one), there is still vehicular access to every street, you might just have to take a slightly longer route.

While a weekly shop is a reasonable excuse (IMHO) there are many others that aren't - so many people are annoyed that their journey has got a bit longer by car, and simply can't conceive that they might be better off using a different means of transport to get there.

It's incredible frustrating how many "news articles" there are about emergency services being hindered by LTNs/other active transport measures, when time and time again what is actually slowing them down is the massive traffic jam of cars and/or vast number of parked cars. I'll admit that some of the current measures might not have been completely well thought out, but generally I understand councils always consider emergency vehicle access and have a range of options to allow emergency access whilst preventing normal traffic (e.g. removable bollards).

And finally, this particular piece of "fury" appears to have resulted from the firecrew having to walk ~50m in order to help some thick plank who'd locked themselves out.

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quiff replied to OnYerBike | 3 years ago
5 likes

OnYerBike wrote:

this particular piece of "fury" appears to have resulted from the firecrew having to walk ~50m in order to help some thick plank who'd locked themselves out.

Am I the only one who wouldn't even have considered calling a firecrew (rather than paying a locksmith a no doubt exorbitant sum of money) if they'd locked themselves out? I can't decide if that makes me a responsible citizen or a spendthrift fool.     

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Hirsute replied to quiff | 3 years ago
2 likes

And why would a fire crew attend?
Being locked out isn't an emergency.

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David9694 replied to quiff | 3 years ago
3 likes

I wonder what would have happened if had've been a life and limb call-out. 

My guess is that in this case there was some welfare or safeguarding element involved. Or it's one up from cat stuck up a tree. 

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OldRidgeback replied to OnYerBike | 3 years ago
1 like

OnYerBike wrote:

To be fair, I do a big shop most weeks, and as often as not it's the only time the car gets used the whole week. It's not "suddenly" different from the 50's and 60's, but there has been half a century of gradual change. Whether you like it or not, I think it's fair to say that trying to do "normal" grocery shopping on a high street is a terrible experience. 

You and me both - our battered old family saloon spends most of its time getting dirty in the street. We occasionally make family trips in it and I have to take elder son back to uni in a week or so along with a heap of clothes, his computer, books and his bike.

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don simon fbpe | 3 years ago
10 likes

Daily Mail?

'Nuff said.

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Hirsute | 3 years ago
1 like

"You don't HAVE to do a big weekly shop. "
Well, in the current climate, that may be the best way to reduce risk. You don't know if they are also in some at risk category.

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David9694 replied to Hirsute | 3 years ago
1 like

Home delivery?

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David9694 | 3 years ago
3 likes

"What do we want?" "Other people's cars outside our houses!"
 

Wow, didn't know the fire brigade even came out to person locked out.

It's quite an extensive piece, goes on to talk about Poole. I presume, David Rides, that how you came by it?

(emphasis added:)

Meanwhile the London Fire Bridge (LFB) said the incident involving the stuck fire engine in Ferndale happened when firefighters were attending a person locked out of their home six doors down from where the fire engine was pictured. 

A spokesperson said: 'There was no delay to our attendance and there was no damage to the fire engine or the parked cars.'

The outrage over the LTNs continues as residents in London are said to be planning a series of protests this weekend against various schemes in their area.

Protests are set to take place outside town halls in Lambeth, Islington, Ealing and Wandsworth, among other places. 

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Hirsute | 3 years ago
6 likes

https://youtu.be/0RPN5AvM-HY

The fire engine isn't stuck, the driver decided not to crush the white car.
What is the point of the planter if it only blocks one side of the road?

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ktache | 3 years ago
8 likes

Fine rant sir.

Please don't ever linnk to the Mail, cut and paste the text or give us the gist.

Not going to that nasty place...

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matthewn5 replied to ktache | 3 years ago
2 likes

Indeed! I've got the 'Kitten Block' extension for Firefox that blocks links to the Daily Hate and Express websites, in case I accidentally click through a link. Highly recommended for all!
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/kitten-block/

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