Old bangers keep drivers on road – but not for long
Unmaintained, little-used vehicles not up to demands now being made of them, warn breakdown firms
‘We urge anyone driving longer distances than they may have done for a while to check their cars over’
‘Consumers who use cars deserve to be treated more fairly by the road fuel trade. If forecourts don’t start to lower petrol prices this week, it will be a disgrace’
BREAKDOWN companies are dealing with a surge in callouts as strikes force commuters to travel in unfit cars.
The RAC said yesterday that it was preparing to deal with 7,000 incidents, 10 per cent more than normal. The problem has been getting worse throughout the week as commuters seek to avoid the rail strikes.
Rod Dennis, of the RAC, said: These kinds of spikes in breakdown volumes at this time of year definitely imply more people driving, in contrast to the winter when many people don’t make it off the drive due to batteries failing in the cold.”
He said that people were probably getting into cars that haven’t been used for a while.
Some of these vehicles are being tested over long distances and failing. “We urge anyone driving longer distances than they may have done for a while to check their cars over thoroughly. A quick top-up of oil and coolant could easily prevent a very unwanted breakdown,” the RAC said.
On Tuesday, the organisation dealt with 5 per cent more breakdowns than normal. This rose to 8 per cent on Wednesday. Traffic in major cities has increased considerably in response to the train strikes.
Figures from Tomtom, the data company, show road congestion at 9am yesterday was higher than the same time last week in London.
In the capital, journeys were taking 83 per cent longer than they would in free-flow conditions. This is compared with 75 per cent on June 16. In Manchester,
the figure rose from 64 per cent to 66 per cent. However, some cities experienced a slump in traffic as greater homeworking means workers are more resilient to strike action.
Tom Tom data suggest that the impact on the roads has been less severe than during previous strikes.
During the RMT strikes of Sept 3 and 4 2019, traffic in London jumped from 36 to 63 per cent above usual free flow conditions.
Commuters forced to travel by car are suffering financially. Petrol prices have hit record highs in recent days and, even though wholesale prices have started to fall, this is not being reflected at the pumps.
Petrol across the UK set a new average price record yesterday despite wholesale costs falling since the Jubilee.
“This latest blow to drivers comes as hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, face rail and Tube strikes that will force them into their cars to get to work, do the school run, attend examinations and get to Glastonbury,” the AA said.
It said that retailers were mistreating customers by failing to pass on falling wholesale prices. “UK consumers who use cars deserve to be treated so much more fairly by the road fuel trade. If forecourts don’t start to lower petrol prices this week, it will be a disgrace.”
A survey by Opinium found that more than two fifths of motorists have been driving less frequently or making shorter journeys since fuel prices began to soar in March.
It said that more than half of all drivers have changed their habits in some way in response to rising fuel costs.
Most are taking shorter trips, taking public transport instead of driving, cancelling journeys or avoiding driving to work and instead choosing to work from home.
“We are seeing people drive less overall, but especially in rural areas, where people tend to rely on their car more. This could have a knock-on effect with some people feeling isolated as a result,” Opinium said.
“We are also seeing key workers and carers being particularly impacted and driving less often and taking shorter trips. Again, it’s possible this will impact the work they are able to do.”
sir – The Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Governor of the Bank of England are being taught by the unions what happens when you over-tax people, permit inflation to rise well above wage increases and fail to show any evidence of the advantages of an economy unhampered by European bureaucracy and red tape. Chaos. Alison Rhodes
Waxhaw, North Carolina, United States
sir – No trade union with any effective bargaining power would accept a 3 per cent pay rise (with strings attached) when the Bank of England predicts that consumer prices will soon rise by 11 per cent. No responsible government would approve of a pay rise that would lead to even higher inflation.
A solution, proposed by Milton Friedman in 1974, would be an agreement to compensate for inflation retrospectively, in other words to agree that by this time next year there will have been a real-terms rise. If that were widely implemented, the forecast of 11 per cent might prove pessimistic. Frank Fishwick
Bedford
sir – To receive chemotherapy for breast cancer my daughter attends St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. She lives in Banbury and uses the excellent rail and Underground service.
This week, she travelled to London a day early to have her blood test necessarily taken within 24 hours of her treatment. She returned by the same excellent train service that evening to put her three children, six and under, to bed and waited until they were asleep to travel by road back to London to stay in a hotel to be sure of receiving her treatment next day.
After walking some way to Barts, she had her treatment and eventually drove home.
My daughter is motivated by her love for her children, her oncologist by her love for humanity – the RMT? John Capper
Hyde Heath, Buckinghamshire sir – The UK workforce is 32.7million and rising. Again, according to the font of all knowledge Google, union membership is 6.66million and falling.
Is this country really to be held to ransom by a minority mob? How I miss Margaret Thatcher.
Simon Perks
Poughill, Devon
sir – If Network Rail publicised the outdated working practices outlined by Oliver Gill (report, June 22), no one could doubt that things must change.
It is not right, for example, that those working at Euston cannot be called over to King’s Cross if extra help is needed or that three men are required to do a job which could be done by one. This is madness! Patricia M Spong
Newcastle upon Tyne
sir – Oliver Gill’s report on archaic practices supported by the rail unions took my mind back 60 years, to my first experience of the world of work.
As a student, I had found vacation employment as a relief porter at Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow. I began in the pharmacy. On my second day, the department maid asked me to put a new head on her floor mop. I readily agreed, and was about to set to work when the brown-coated storeman (who I soon learnt was also the union shop steward) said sharply: “You can’t do that – that’s a joiner’s job!”
I thought he was joking, but no. He insisted upon the maid submitting a requisition to the works department. This was done, and just three days later a joiner appeared and the mop was duly restored to service.
This introduction to restrictive practices left a 17-year-old lad with a lifetime’s distaste for trade unionism. John Holm Gray Goring-on-thames, Oxfordshire
sir – Despite the nostalgia for the 1970s and seasons of discontent, might it be possible to abandon “industrial action” to describe strikes?
Patrick Williams
Warehorne, Kent