Whatever happened to market research, gauging the mood of drivers before dumping stuff on them, asking motorists what they do and don’t need? We hear much noise from movers and shakers in the motor, eco, safety and political industries. They tell us what they think is right for us, whether we like what they’re peddling or not. but never do I hear such professionals sounding us out, asking how they can make our driving lives better, safer, less congested, more pleasant and affordable.
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Instead, stuff like this happens: on a dark day in recent UK government history, a politician, civil servant or adviser came up with the not-so-bright idea of ‘smart’ and ‘safe’ roads – aka motorways without hard shoulders. smart and safe? Er, no. Daft and dangerous. who says? Me and, more importantly, the circa 99 per cent of regular drivers, instructors, cops, and safety experts I speak with and listen to.
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Therein languishes the problem. The authorities aren’t listening. If they were, ‘smart motorways’ would never have been born. This is a textbook case of zero market research from Government, plus its abject failure to accurately gauge the mood of the people in advance of the disgraceful theft of our hard shoulders. It’s a similar deal with the arrival here of cars and other vehicles that drive themselves. So who the hell came up with this ‘plan’ that will imminently inflict on us the greatest change in motoring history?