Up to the start of this year I had only had one speeding ticket (back in 1991 !) and one parking ticket (the other was cancelled on appeal).

But just in the last seven months I have had :

1 -A speeding ticket (doing 36mph on a primary route Dual Carriageway where the limit had been controversially dropped to 30mph, it's now on the BBC ! ) 

2 - A ticket for going through a Tramgate (even though it does not apply on a Sunday and it was a Bank Holiday, plus the tram was not even running as the tram tracks were being worked on and those works had diverted me off the main through route anyway ! )

3 - A ticket for driving in a  bus lane (to be fair it was only a warning, but I was actually driving out of it [where it started] anyway !)

Who else thinks driving (in fact modern society altogether) is just too complicated and stressful now ?
If this had been, say, the 80s I don't think I'd have got any of those tickets :

1 - They would not have had a speed camera there but even if there had been a copper there the limit would have been a (more appropriate) 40mph anyway. 

2 - They did not even have Tramgates in the 80s, but even if they did they'd have been enforced by a policeman who (bearing in mind the extenuating circumstances) would probably have just warned me.

3 - How many bus lanes did we have in the 80s ? And a police man (as opposed to a camera) would never have issued a ticket (or even a warning) for someone actually driving out of the bus lane....

And with more and more pressure for more and more regulations ("to keep us all safe") and cheaper and cheaper technology and cameras (and then there's AI....) how much worse is this all going to get ?
Stop the world, I want to get off !

There is the safety aspect at times but I honestly think it’s mainly about generating more income.

Feel exactly same way

Roads are insanely shocking in Bournemouth, Got a 4x4 to handle them LOL

Speeding ticket because of the speed reduced and they hid the car behind a bush.. luckily got a speed awareness course, everyone moaning in that room was funny

Idiot taxi drivers that trained in Kolkata and think they can do what they want.

Bike lanes everywhere being built.. council make millions for installing them... massive bikelanes, both sides, reducing roads width, no bus laybys anymore

Shocking streetlights that are no bad at night and especially in the rain, along with Car LED lights, makes me want to give up driving at night.  LED streetlights do not work

Flimsy cars, had a fox run in to side of wifes bumper... £600 to have fixed.. would not of happened with an old Escort Mk2 bumper lol

i could go on.. i could scream in a bloody pillow! or shout at a bus or something

56 minutes ago, Steve said:

Shocking streetlights that are no bad at night and especially in the rain, along with Car LED lights, makes me want to give up driving at night.  LED streetlights do not work

I agree absolutely with this.

Even worse is the modern habit of having the indicator right next to the headlight (or even in the headlight assembly) so you can't soddin' see it when the headlight is on, esp at night...

58 minutes ago, KenM said:

There is the safety aspect at times but I honestly think it’s mainly about generating more income.

But, bearing in mind most voters are also drivers, how are they getting away with it ? ! ?

When I was young (a long time ago) I ended up driving on a bit of road that was reserved for trams because I had missed my turn, traffic was heavy and I decided that the best way to get back on route would be to take the next left turn. No one died, no one was inconvenienced, I didn't see a tram, I didn't get a fine. I've never made the same mistake again. I bet I would get a fine if I did the same thing today, but it wouldn't make me a better driver.

Locally they install shared bike & pedestrian lanes where footpaths used to be. Cyclists very rarely use them, they prefer to be on the road holding up the traffic.

I followed a taxi through town this morning he sat on a level crossing, which is also marked as a box junction as an added indicator not to stop there, for several minutes waiting for the traffic in front of him to move. I thought that taxi drivers were supposed to have extra training to make them better drivers than the rest of us?

Flimsy cars. I hit a pigeon at less than 30 mph and it damaged the front grill of the Puma which seems to be made of some sort of brittle cheese. Presumably it is designed to collapse the next time I wipe out a pedestrian?

My car has a speed limiter where the camera reads the road signs and sets my maximum speed accordingly, I thought that would be useful for avoiding speeding tickets but in reality it picks up road signs on side roads which are cleverly angled towards the main road and then cuts power to the engine at 60mph until I am down to the 30mph limit which doesn't apply to me. Combine this with the severe engine braking of an MHEV vehicle and the system is just about useless. 

2 hours ago, pcaouolte said:

When I was young (a long time ago) I ended up driving on a bit of road that was reserved for trams because I had missed my turn, traffic was heavy and I decided that the best way to get back on route would be to take the next left turn. No one died, no one was inconvenienced, I didn't see a tram, I didn't get a fine. I've never made the same mistake again. I bet I would get a fine if I did the same thing today, but it wouldn't make me a better driver.

I particularly agree with this.

In my own case I went through the Tramgate genuinely believing (possibly because I wanted to believe it....) that because the Tramgate was not in operation on a Sunday it would similarly not be in operation on a Bank Holiday Monday. The additional mitigating circumstances were that I was on a huge diversion because work on the tram tracks had shut the only main through route into town and, because of those works, the tram wasn't even running anyway !
But the point is that had they just sent me a warning (as a first time "offender") I would still have learnt the Tramgate is in operation on a Bank Holiday and I would never make that mistake again.
But, of course, they wouldn't have got their money would they ?

IMPORTANT THREAD DIVERSION !

If you ever lose an appeal to the council over a traffic penalty think very carefully before appealing to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
I was so incensed by my Tramgate ticket (and the council rejecting my appeal) I did appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, but I learnt that they only really over turn penalties on points of law. Here is the relevant sentence in my appeal decision :

The matters raised by Mr Smith are noted however these are mitigating circumstances that do not amount to a statutory ground of appeal. The Adjudicators have no power to take such mitigation into account.

And that was despite the Traffic Penalty Tribunal having a tickbox for "other/mitigating circumstances" in their appeals form !
Learn from my error....