DRIVERS’ GROUPS LAUNCH CHARTER FOR A FAIR DEAL On 24 June 2014, the Alliance
of British Drivers and the National
Motorists’ Action Group launched their ‘Motorists’
Charter’ in Parliament. We are now in the year leading up to
the 2015 General Election. Election year is also significantly the 800th
anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta – a historic document demanding
fair treatment and an end to abuses. Here are some
quotes reminding us why such a Charter is needed: "When
transport slows, everything slows." - Robert
Goodwill MP, Roads Minister "Automated
enforcement is a flawed road safety policy. Millions of pounds have been
raised through automated enforcement, that has
criminalised tens of thousands of motorists and offers nothing towards proper
and intelligent Road Safety." - Claire Armstrong, Safe Speed campaign "Today
we have published our latest report, Traffic Spies, highlighting how hundreds
of councils have turned to static CCTV cameras and spy cars to raise £312m in
revenue. Many councils are continuing to use CCTV to hand out fines,
despite the government publishing a Surveillance Camera Code of Practice..." “It is
clear that CCTV is being used to raise money in industrial volumes for town
halls, breaking the constitutional principle that fines should not be used as
a source of revenue." - Brandon
Lewis MP, Minister for Local Government “All
fines made with us unjustly and against the law of the land... imposed
unjustly and against the law of the land, shall be entirely remitted" - Magna Carta, 1215, Article
55, abridged translation "For
me, this idea of tracking our movements and charging by the mile were
completely unacceptable and a perfect opportunity for yet another stealth
tax. After
investigating the costs involved for the technology, it became very clear we
would be paying an awful lot more than we do today for the privilege of
driving along roads for which we had already paid." - Peter Roberts,
Alliance of British Drivers His petition against road pricing
was signed by 1.8 million "Instead
of making our roads more efficient, the legacy we risk leaving by carving up
our road network is one of inevitable disputes between private interests, and
the equally inevitable tolling. Not
only would this be catastrophic for tourism, industry and other road users,
it would mean curtailing freedom of movement... ...But
there is still time to prevent it from happening." - Mark
Dollar, PCS Union, in Civil Service World, on the possible
hive-off of the Highways
Agency and our major roads. |
£ - £ - £ - £ - £ - £ - £ - £ - £ - £ -
£ - £ - £ - £ - £ Public-spirited?
Mean-spirited? ...Name a council and win a prize! As part of its campaign for a fairer deal for Britain’s drivers, the
ABD launched a competition (now closed) with a top prize of
£200. In “Does
Your Council Give You The Hump?”, the public was
invited to nominate councils that were particularly good or bad to drivers. For
more information, watch our short but revealing competition video linked from
the ‘Hump’ page.... |
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