Skip to main content

Nanny State Job's Worths

I'm still fuming about our local council deciding to close a gap a couple of years ago in the central reservation of the A3 (a dual carriageway) which linked my village Thursley to Milford. This handy cut across the opposing direction of the main road enabled the residents of my village of Thursley (and beyond) to reach our local shops, schools, doctors surgeries and train station without having to travel several miles further North on the A3 as can be seen on the map below, and then doubling back - negotiating several busy roundabouts and traffic light junctions in the process.

Google Maps has not been updated around here for nearly 10 years, so this image usefully shows the filter lane and the gap in the central reservation as it used to be (remember we Brits drive on the left, so the top carriageway is travelling from bottom left to top right). Today the slip lane and gap in the central reservation has gone. The filter lane is now part of a widened and continuous central reservation. To get to our neighboring village of Milford, drivers now have to drive North past it, come off at the next junction, and then drive South. Easily double the distance and more than twice the time since we now have to negotiate several busy junctions and traffic lights.

The cut-through was very handy for residents of Thursley to reach their nearest shops, schools (2), doctor surgeries (2) and train station. It not only saved time and therefore fuel, it was also, ironically, safer! Fewer miles, much less traffic. All we had to do was wait until there was a safe gap in the traffic, and then jump across the opposite carriageway into Lea Coach Road.


Thankfully we can still join the A3 Southbound at the junction with Lea Coach Road although there has been worrying talk of closing that too. The expense and interference with traffic while they were closing the junction was huge. Here's a video I made of the nonsense at the time:


But the most annoying aspect of the whole piece is that the local authorities told everyone they were closing the cut-through because it was deemed 'too dangerous'. A few years ago, we were told, there had been a fatality and they didn't, naturally, want a repeat. Fair enough, perhaps, IF it really was a dangerous junction (ignoring for the moment that we now have to travel further whilst negotiating many more dangers along the way to reach our local amenities). The reality was that we had a filter lane in which to wait for a safe gap in the oncoming traffic (so no danger of being rear-ended), and at least half a mile of straight uninterrupted Southbound carriageway to judge a safe gap in the traffic. Bizarrely, there's a sign about 400 metres ahead that says "Caution Pedestrians Crossing"!! So they're happy to encourage folks to wander across this fast road on foot, but not in a powered car.

But the closure went ahead anyway despite a mountain of correspondence from locals objecting to the plans (and none supporting it). So much for democracy. However, the final betrayal by these do-gooder, nanny-state, job's-worths was a later discovery that the all important (and tragic of course) fatality had occurred during a blizzard and at night!! Who in their right mind would have risked jumping over an oncoming carriageway in those conditions. It was simply mad driving - not unsafe roads - that caused the accident. There was just as much justification for closing the whole UK road system in case a nutter does something stupid.

So now we've spent a fortune in public funds to make life that little bit harder, more dangerous and less efficient for hundreds of British citizens, for ever. Good job you idiot civil servants.





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Phillips screws - yes I'm angry about them too

Don't get me wrong. They're a brilliant invention to assist automation and prevent screwdrivers from slipping off screw heads - damaging furniture, paintwork and fingers in the process. Interestingly they weren't invented by Mr Phillips at all, but by a John P Thompson who sold Mr P the idea after failing to commercialise it. Mr P, on the otherhand, quickly succeeded where Mr T had failed. Incredible isn't it. You don't just need a good idea, you need a great salesman and, more importantly, perfect timing to make a success out of something new. Actually, it would seem, he did two clever things (apart from buying the rights). He gave the invention to GM to trial. No-brainer #1. After it was adopted by the great GM, instead of trying to become their sole supplier of Phillips screws, he sold licenses to every other screw manufacturer in the world. A little of a lot is worth a great deal more than a lot of a little + vulnerability (watch out Apple!). My gromble is abo

Introducing Product Relationship Management - it's what customers want.

Most businesses these days have Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems which store and process vasts amounts of information about us. They use this information to generate communications, amongst other things, which target us to buy their products and services. CRM is all about how a business relates to its customers: Past (keeping them loyal through aftersales and service), Present (helping them buy through bricks and clicks channels) and Future (prospecting). Most businesses will at some stage have declared themselves 'customer-centric'. They will probably have drawn diagrams on whiteboards that look something like these: But there's a problem with this whole approach of keeping the customer at the centre of your world and the focal point for everything you do. Is it what the customer wants ? Of course companies who ignore their customers eventually go out of business. And those who treat their customers well, tend to thrive. But is it really in the best inte

The Secrets of Hacker Golf

Social media is awash with professional golfers selling video training courses to help you perfect your swing, gain 50 yards on your drive and cut your handicap. They might help a few desperate souls, but the rest of us hackers already know everything we need to complete a round of golf without worrying the handicap committee or appearing on a competition winner's list. What those pros don't realise is that for us hacking golfers who very occasionally hit shots that if you hadn't seen how they were hit, end up where the pros might have put them, we already know everything we need to know - and more. Unlike pros who know how to time the perfect swing in order to caress a ball 350 yards down the centre of a fairway, we hackers need to assemble a far wider set of skills and know-how to complete 18 holes, about which pros have no comprehension, need, or desire to learn. Here are some of them: Never select your shot until after you've hit it. A variation on this is to alway