Bus Stop, not coach stop

This is the bus stop at Brixham Bank Lane. My bus is the one at the front. Then came the coach and the driver looked at the bus stop and decided that he too was driving a bus, not a coach. Then, as he was unloading his passengers for a days wander round the delights of Brixham an other 12 turned up. The driver of the coach got a bit upset that I had taken photos of his coach and wanted to know why. I told him I always take pictures of coaches illegally parked on bus stops. I didn't tell him that all I ever did with them was show them here. He even got on the bus and was shouting at me, silly man. I was tempted to shut the doors and drive away but an ambulance turned up and we had to move away in a hurry.
Coach firm was North Dorset, from Bournemouth, phone number 01203 311799

Delays on the A380, the road not the plane.

On Saturday and Sunday the main road between Torquay and Newton Abbot, the A380 slowed almost to a stop. Drivers who travel along this road were probably not surprised when they reached Scotts Bridge on their way out of Torquay to find traffic at a stand still. On going work by the local water board have been causing long delays on this road in recent weeks. Also this road, which has been the centre of a demand for a bypass over the last few years is accident prone, maybe at some point in their journey the motorists and their passengers would be treated to the sight of some poor sod being cut out of his wreaked car and carted away in an ambulance. After a mile and a half which took over 15 mins to cover they discovered what was causing the hold up.

Delays on the A380, the road not the plane. part 2

No, not a ten car pile up with the grisly remains of former motorists being carted away, not even a hole in the road with a couple of workmen leaning on their shovels looking board but these crude carvings at the side of the road. Those of us who have been driving along this road over the last 4 or 5 years have seen these lumps of wood in this spot at summer holiday time and just before Christmas. We don't slow down and go, "Oh look wood carvings. How wonderful." unfortunately lots of people do. And this is what is causing the delay.So OK the guy in the green shirt has to make a living selling these things but why is he allowed to do so in a manor that disrupts the traffic flow along what is one of the busiest roads in the South West. While he was displaying this crude waste of good fire wood tens of thousands of people had there journey time increased by 15 mins. Also everyone knows that slow moving cars projuce lots and lots of green house gas. The man is practicaly destroying the planet single handed.Most traders who wish to sell some thing like this go to Craft Fairs (he'd be thrown out for giving craft a bad name), or the rent a market stall, or they go on e-bay. Please Teignmouth Council, there must be some thing you can do. The man must be committing an offence, apart from ill treating wood that is.

Delays on the A380, the road not the plane. Part 3

Let's face it. Michelangelo has nothing to fear. And would you want this in your garden?

Well if your next door neighbour's cat digs holes in the lawn to bury its doings maybe this would persuade it to go else where; maybe it would persuade your neighbour to go else where as well.

Blue Badges

Now and then I have a go at Blue Badge holders who park their cars in places they shouldn't. In case you don't know holders of Blue Badges are disabled and are allowed to park their cars in places that would normally get non blue badge holders a FPN. The fixed penalty round here is £60.00. Lots of BBH's park on double yellow lines even though there is a handy car park and with no regard for the fact that the yellow lines are there either to keep the road clear for people to drive along or because it may be dangerous to park there. There are two main reasons why they do this. One is that they may be so disabled that even to walk a few yards may be difficult or impossible for them. Well if that is the case then good luck and best wishes to them. The other reason is, why pay to use a car park when you can park for 3 hours for free on double yellow lines. Stand about in Hyde Road in Paignton for a while and watch a BBH park his/her car on double yellow lines and walk of into the distance when it would be a shorter walk is they had gone in the car park. A dangerous place BBH's park is on the bend at the top of new road in Brixham and then walk past the car park on their way to go shopping.

As the picture shows not all BBH's fall into this second category. The anxious looking gentleman in the picture is the driver of the car shown with his Blue Badge. He had taken the trouble to go into the car park and pay his fee only to find that all the Disabled Bays had been filled by non blue badge holders.

Over the years the number of Blue Badges has grown and the rules need looking at to reflect this change. More disabled bays and free parking for BBH's in car parks is one step to encourage BBH's to make greater use of the car parks and less use of valuable road space. Also the rule re free parking on any yellow line should be restricted in those places where it is a serious danger or does hold up traffic as it does in Hyde Road. Torbay rules and regulations that all BBH's get do ask BBH's not to park on yellow line when there is a car park handy. But a request has no force in Law. Please Torbay send some one out on a bus one day and have a look at this problem from the point of view of some one who has to drive through the Bay lots of times every day.