car users rights

thebaz

Am i the only that feals Irish car users rights are being undermined by a nanny state bureaucratic attitude , particularly in Dublin. If we had a decent public transport system i would use it, but unfortunatly everytime i use public transport, i am late for appointments due to consistent problems with the reliability of the trains and buses , whether this is track/signal:mad: problems, industrial relations issues, or just general ianrod eireann problems , the bottom line is to make daily work commitments i am forced to use my car . The problem is that i feal penalised for using my car , no parking but outrageaosly charged pay and display, over zealous clampers , road works with no thought for average car users, penal fines as off today .... give me a break , i'm only trying to get to work ... i say its time for average car users , and there is a lot off us , to stand up for our rights ! we have rights too, it is not just the Greens who have rights . Annoyed car user.

junkyard

I've been preaching this for ages and no one else seems to be bothered. We're being ripped off for sure at every turn but no one seems to care, people seem to be content knowing that the motorist will foot the bill for everything. Personally I can't understand how people are happy to fork out their money for such a poor return.

prospect

Try living in the country, you can add to your list:
:mad: Potholes.
:mad: 1 inch of muck on every road, which means the road is slippy, your car is manky, visability is terrible in wet weather, lines and road marking are invisable, cats eyes are a waste of time.
:mad: Absoloutly no road edge, its tarmac (and I use that term loosely) then big sloppy mucky ditch

Etc. Etc.
But what can we do about it?
Maybe if everyone refused to pay their road tax. Now that would be fun. If every single road user refused to pay the tax, the fines, refused to show up in court, what could the government do?

thebaz

i'm so annoyed with some of my local councils (Dun Laohaire/Rathdown) pathetic and stupid decision making , introducing bus lanes when they don't have buses and reducing the rock road to one lane of traffic, introduction of dangerous & confusing roundabouts (Glenageary) which every road user I have talked to thinks is insane . I seam to spend my time looking for a place to park, topping up the meter , with those Nazi clampers hovering around, hoping to catch another sucker. Has anyone stood for election, on road issues ? Or as i said, is just a given that if you are car user, you don't qualify for rights, as you are deemed wealthy, on account of motor ownership, even though you probably borrowed up to the hilts just keep running.

Dades

thebaz wrote:

introducing bus lanes when they don't have buses and reducing the rock road to one lane of traffic

Don't get me started on that. I've noticed extra traffic on every other road linking to the Rock Road since they started the roadworks.

But yeah, I've noticed more and more the terrible shape the roads are in.

Seth Brundle

The situation will only get worse as in general the Irish are poor at protesting and therefore accept everythibng thrown at them (VRT, road tax, tolls, poor quality roads, etc.).
Get used to it!

maidhc

I love the way motorists are referred to as if they are an elite few, when the reality is the vast majority of Irish adults are these so called motorists.

Somehow though it seems these motorists do have less rights than average citizens. I think it is called spin.

thebaz

regarding the Rock road joke, i wish we were like the French , where we would dump a couple of rigs on the Merrion gates track at 8:00 am , and cause total mayhem , to highlight the issue. The fools (Engineering Manager) down at DL Rathdown are arrogant beyond belief, and then it gets political one party blaming the other, where no one is accountable for the lunacy. Same problem when the just close down the Dart at will , without consulting the users , taxpayers , who pay for everthing. Maybe it is time to stand up for our rights, and not to be dictated to by a bunch of bureaucratic knobs.

Seth Brundle

If they are the majority then surely many of them are 'average' citizens!

The reality is that the only way to change it is by voting for a government that will make changes to the system (e.g. the Greens want to abolish VRT in favour of consumption taxes).
However, how many here voted for FF or the PDs at the last general election, despite making promises that they wouldn't do so again?
How many motorists will vote for FF again despite McCreevey upping the VRT net?
The answer to both questions is - loads! By the time the next election arrives, mny motorists will be out spending their SSIAs and will have forgotten that they paid a wad of cash to the government just to buy a car!

The phrase about not being part of the solution but being part of the problem applies here. Most motorists complain and whinge but the reality is that they couldn't be arsed doing anything to change it!

Dades

kbannon wrote:

The reality is that the only way to change it is by voting for a government that will make changes to the system (e.g. the Greens want to abolish VRT in favour of consumption taxes).

The Greens may want to abolish VRT but they would happily replace public roads with bus and cycle lanes everywhere.

Not that I have much hope in any political party doing something outside of the usual.

thebaz

The whole transport situation in Ireland is a joke . The hospitals were the same but at least patients issues are being addressed now , and that happened when it got raised at last election time. Why do we the citizens of Ireland , car drivers included, have to put up with such shoddy administration ? We have great entrepreeurs, carpenters, IT staff, builders, sportmen , but when it comes to large scale public administraion we are a joke . Like the hospitals, thers tons of money just being wasted by incompetent bafoons , some politicians , some council officials , some civil servants. Pathetic. I hear the Rock road is once again at a standstill tonight, luckily i'm not on it , but it will lead to serious road rage one day , and maybe then the incompetents will be held responsible - talk about being out of touch with the people.