On 8 Mar 2017 at 10:23am 123 wrote:
What does one do about cars who park on double yellow lines and then sit there looking at their mobile phone for ages with the engine running?
I was standing on the pavement in central Lewes talking with a friend when a four wheel drive, Range Rover I think, pulled in next to us and did this. Eventually I approached the driver and asked if she would mind turning her engine off. She looked furious, said Yes, that she would mind, and closed her window. She then continued to sit using her phone with her engine running for at least another ten minutes - I moved away after that.
On 8 Mar 2017 at 10:34am Pedro wrote:
Hopefully it won't be long before every car has an engine stop-start technology to avoid long engine idling. This will reduce emissions and fuel consumption (and noise!) and seems to be pretty robust (and can only surely become more reliable as tech improves). I appreciate not everyone likes it, and the driver can override it, but surely it is a positive step in the right direction.
I don't understand quite why this particular woman would object to a reasonable request, and so aggressively. Perhaps she was having a bad day and the phone call was not the best news. Either way, we should be thinking more responsibly about these things.
On 8 Mar 2017 at 11:41am Old Banger wrote:
Unfortunately a lot of people are just selfish arseholes. I hate Range Rover drivers...a totally pointless vehicle unless you are a hill farmer...and then a Land Rover would be better.
On 8 Mar 2017 at 11:51am The Greek wrote:
On Radio 4 they went around London asking people to turn their engines off in this exact situation - 99% of people were happy to co-operate!
On 8 Mar 2017 at 11:57am Deja Vu wrote:
@123, if you got the number plate report her.
You should always start your phone video recording before entering a situation like that (just in case).
She's parked across double yellows, on a (I presume) handheld mobile phone, engines is running so she's still legally "in control" of the vehicle and subject to 6 penalty points and a £200 fine.
On 8 Mar 2017 at 12:03pm Old Banger wrote:
@the greek...but was it a covert radio operation, because let's face it people are totally different with a mic or camera in front of them
On 8 Mar 2017 at 1:24pm 123 wrote:
@ Deja vu. Yes, I did take her number, but not sure what to do with it - I thought reporting her might be a bit of an overreaction. But since hearing the World Health Organisation's report of pollution of exactly this type being responsible for an increase in premature deaths maybe I should.
She was using a hand held phone to text, and was parked close to Aqua where a lot of people were walking by; I didn't mention this in my earlier post as I didn't want to trigger a flurry of Aqua posts!
Thank you for your helpful responses.
On 8 Mar 2017 at 1:46pm Brexitia wrote:
The problem here is that some people ( mainly hippies in my experience ) want it both ways , they dont want you driving whilst on your phone and now they dont want you to pull over to use it.
Just the other week i was driving along Southover High St when an important call came through from the Gun Club. I pulled over to take the call and delibertly left the engine on as it was a cold day and i wanted to feel the benifits of the heater. The next thing you know there is a Hippy knocking on my window suggesting i was polluting the air. I told him straight " me polluting the air, thats rich coming from someone who clearly hasnt bathed for a month or two ." ( he smelt of a combination of wee and cannabis)
Its enough to drive you insane.
On 8 Mar 2017 at 2:36pm Deja Vu wrote:
It doesn't matter what she was using it for, holding one whilst in control of a vehicle is an offence.
The police won't do anything other than contact her and warn her (as they have no evidence) but that's often enough to make someone think twice in future.
On 8 Mar 2017 at 4:44pm Earl of Lewess wrote:
@Brexetia - You were almost convincing until you mentioned the phone call from the gun club. You should take care leaf out of 'Jennifer's' book and be more subtle.
Re: idling engines, it's an offence to leave your engine on when you're parked, so the charming woman should be reported to the Operation Crackdown website.
On 8 Mar 2017 at 7:31pm Historian wrote:
FFS Lewes is in the countryside, what's with the 4x4 negativity ? It must be all the DFLs !n
On 8 Mar 2017 at 8:40pm Bella wrote:
Most of the 4x4 use is obviously not off road or for agricultural purposes. It's just pretentious rich twats being flashy. And very vulgar.
On 8 Mar 2017 at 9:11pm Pedro wrote:
@eol, I did not realise it was illegal to have your engine running while parked, but seems a fairly sensible law (to avoid abuse). Doubt its enforced that much though.
On 8 Mar 2017 at 9:29pm Old banger wrote:
@historian. I am lewes born and bred. I just dislike petrol guzzlers that are only bought to show off in by dfl's.
On 9 Mar 2017 at 9:41am Localist wrote:
There is someone living near me who has a large 4x4 vehicle that has been modified to accommodate their disability. Would the hate and envy fuelled 'Bella' like to see them removed from Lewes too?. I use my 4x4 for my work. I employ 3 locals, and hopefully more some day, I house a great many more locals. My vehicle is a required necessity for me to go about my work and daily life. Would 'Bella' like to see those local employees thrown out of jobs to satisfy her hatred?. There are plenty of valid arguments for reducing emissions, and the government will deal with this in the next budget. There are environmental arguments for restricting all traffic from the centre of Lewes, not least the massively polluting buses and industrial vehicles that clog up School Hill. My 4x4 is a hybrid, and I can guarantee it pollutes less than pretty much any other vehicle on the roads of Lewes. Using blind ignorance, bigotry and abuse as an argument, is not a very mature argument.
I would suggest 'Bella' needs to change her name, because her anger issues would suggest she is anything but.
On 9 Mar 2017 at 10:54am 123 wrote:
Apparently Westminster Council is due to enforce an £80 fine from Feb 4th on drivers leaving their engines idling for more than one minute - but only after three written warnings.
I was speaking to a traffic warden about a Range Rover that was parked with its engine idling in the High Street and he told me that, although he wasn't allowed to officially approach drivers doing this at the moment, traffic wardens are soon to have the authority to do this in Lewes.
On 9 Mar 2017 at 3:50pm 1342 wrote:
That's the firing order of my polluting old banger