If you’ve ever watched any driving
programmes, you’ll know how the presenters like to put the brand new cars
through their paces on deserted highways or empty country roads – preferably
with some arty camera work and a pounding dad-rock soundtrack thrown in for
good measure.
But if you’re a commuter who
regularly finds themselves grinding along at a snail’s pace, you’ll know you’re
as likely to find a traffic-free road in Britain as your numbers coming up on
the Euro Lottery. Let’s face it, drive at rush hour and you could forget your
car even has more than two gears.
And if you have the sneaking suspicion the
traffic situation is getting worse, you may well be right. According to an
article in the Daily
Mail, levels of traffic in England have risen so sharply that drivers are now
overloading rural routes to escape the jams.
The report goes on
to show that British cities have some of the slowest-moving traffic in Europe.
It quotes a survey carried out by traffic information service Keepmoving.co.uk which
found that London traffic moves at just 11.8mph on average – and that’s after
the advent of the congestion charge.
Alex Petrie,
general manager at Keepmoving.co.uk, said the survey "highlights a need
for original thinking both from the government and from the road users
themselves." So could the answer lie in the latest traffic-cutting measure
to be trialed – car sharing lanes?
If you love your
car, the thought of only using it part-time may fill you with horror, but car
sharing is coming whether you like it or not. High occupancy lanes have already
been created in Gloucester
and Yorkshire,
and transport secretary Ruth
Kelly said she had identified another 500 miles of motorway as suitable for
car sharing lanes.
But
do they really work? Plans for a proposed high
occupancy lane on the M1 have already been shelved, and some experts doubt
how effective they really are. Quoted
in the Independent, Edmund King, president of the AA, said:
"Experience in the USA suggests that many high-occupancy vehicle lanes are
under-used and therefore a waste of capacity."
But even if high occupancy
lanes don’t take off, it doesn’t mean that car sharing among friends,
neighbours and colleagues isn’t a good way to cut congestion and emissions –
not to mention save money on petrol.
So how do you make sharing
arrangements work so that everyone’s happy to leave their cars at home on
certain days? Here are MORE TH>N’S top tips for car sharers.
- Establish the ground
rules. Do you always wind the window down for a bit of fresh air? This
could cause problems if someone in your car pool hates the cold. Love to
natter on in the mornings? Remember some people like silence, so be
prepared to respect that.
- Consider starting out
on a trial basis and reconsider your arrangements if they’re not working.
- Draw up a schedule in
advance to decide who’s driving when.
- If you’re being
picked up, make sure you’re on time – perhaps give a time limit on how
long the driver is expected to wait.
- If you’re ill, make
sure you tell the driver. Compile both a home and work phone for all pool
members.
Love learning
about driving issues? Don’t miss Top Gear or Fifth Gear. You can find out when they’re
on in TV Guide’s listings or talk to other car enthusiasts in the TV Guide
Discuss section. And then talk to MORE TH>N Car Insurance about a really good quote.
MORE TH>N is the
direct financial services arm of Royal & SunAlliance. It offers motor,
home, pet, life and travel insurance by phone and via the internet. It also
offers van, shop, office, business car, hotels, property club and contractor
insurance direct to small businesses
MORE TH>N is a
registered trademark of the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group plc and a
trading style of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc (No.93792). Registered
in England & Wales at St.Mark's Court, Chart Way, Horsham, RH12 1XL.
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority
