Well I have been working on a new template for my blog, but it is taking a little time. Life has been busy otherwise with me currently considering my career options. I have been customising the Blix theme, however I now think that I will most likely go with a bespoke template. Hopefully I’ll get some time to get started on this soon.

On another note, it’s been interesting to see the response to the petition to scrap the planned roadpricing scheme. It appears that a lowly online petition is actually generating some real response from the government which, in my opinion, can only be a good thing. I have signed the petition myself as I feel taxes on motorists are just getting out of hand. I don’t have any figures, but I don’t believe that even a third of what the treasury takes from motoring taxes is pumped back into the road network or even better the public transport network. I think that to curb the use of the private motor vehicle (read car), there needs to be a usable and practical alternative. Why not use some of the money taken from motorists to fund more reliable and cheaper public transport?

I have also signed the petition to increase the number of traffic Police. This again is a very worthy cause but has not generated anywhere near the level of interest as road pricing. Living in West Yorkshire and commuting daily by car, I see many things which contravene the law. The majority of which are faults with vehicles, mainly lights out, but a large proportion is speeding motorists in residential areas. In contrast to this, I would estimate that I see maybe two traffic Police cars in a month. Even when I do see them, they do not respond to drivers breaking the law right before their very eyes, as I witnessed last week on Huddersfield’s ring road. Bring back the traffic cops - it’s scary out there!