Tree-huggers without visions

Few things annoy me more than "environmentalists" who are unable to look further than the tip of their nose. One of these dumb tree-huggers, Mårten Wallenberg at Naturskyddsföreningen, lashes out at road investments, and insists that instead of building a smarter and sustainable road infrastructure we should be taxing the motorists to death, only allowing the wealthiest of Stockholmers to utilize a car in order to fulfill their daily transportation needs, whatever these may be:

– Förbifarten löser inte Stockholms trafikproblem. För att komma ned på en rimlig nivå när det gäller köer och framkomlighet räknar vi med att trängselavgifterna måste fördubblas till 2030, säger Mårten Wallberg.

Looking at a 20 year perspective I have to ask, what exactly is Wallberg so afraid of? Is it the mere sight of cars in and around the city that offends him? Is it the thought that people will be able to manage their time in a more efficient way? It can't be the pollution, because surely no-one in their right mind thinks that gasoline and diesel will be the prime means of propulsion in 2030, considering the massive technological advances that have been made in environmentally friendly fuels over just the last few years?

So why exactly is it you want to deny the less wealthy citizens of Stockholm the right to drive their zero-emissions car to and from work, kindergarten or the grocery store, Wallberg? Stop talking nonsense and focus your energy on how we can get the infrastructure in place to support the current environmentally friendly fuels, like biogas.

Limo madness

The Swedish taxpayers paid 3,5 million kronor to transport the fat, lazy delegates to the EU European Development Days 2009 in Stockholm in limos to and from the airport.

Unfortunately that's just pocket change compared to the costs of closing down E4 repeatedly during those days just so these overpaid bastards could get their fat asses to the conference without any interference from other traffic. Way to throw taxpayers money out the window and annoy the hell out of them.

My personal favorite was the Stockholm police refusing to let motorists know exactly at what time they would close E4, "for security reasons". More like "for annoyance reasons" if you ask me. How could knowing the closure time and therefore avoiding complete chaos be a threat to security? If I wanted to blow up one of these pompous bastards I wouldn't abandon the plan just because I didn't get the exact time for when this stupid idiot would show up in his limo, would I?

My God, the stupidity...

Stockholm needs infrastructure, not segregation

Lars Dahlberg, Social democratic politician, has a reader's letter published in Svenska Dagbladet today, where he argues that förbifart Stockholm, the planned motorway that will create a north-south passage outside the city of Stockholm, is necessary. All in all a fair letter, pointing out the importance of the infrastructure keeping up with the increasing population.

All except the following statement:

Utöver Förbifart Stockholm måste därför trängselskatten utvecklas så att ökningen av bilismen dämpas.

In other words: We need to build this motorway, but we also need new and increasingly expensive road-tolls, to further develop the segregation on the roads, where the wealthy, like Lars Dahlberg himself, will be driving around on half-empty roads with a big grin on their faces, while the rest of us can't afford it anymore, and are crowded together on uncomfortable and inconvenient public transportation, no matter what our transportation need actually is.

Thanks a lot, Dahlberg, but no thanks.

Trucks overtaking trucks

You're driving along the motorway, minding your own business, when you notice a cluster of ridiculously slow moving vehicles in front of you. Of course you prepare to overtake them, check your mirrors and blind zone, and change to the left lane.

As you're approaching these slow moving vehicles one of them suddenly decides to overtake the other, turning out into your lane right in front of you, at a speed 40-50 km/h slower than you. Thats like driving toward a brick wall in 50 km/h!!!

Sounds familiar?

Recovering from the shock of this neanderthal trailer truck driver nearly killing you, you're faced with his stupid truck blocking the road for several minutes desperately trying to overtake a vehicle moving perhaps 2-3 km/h slower than himself. And of course this couldn't wait until the coast was clear and no cars were in sight behind him.

I've often wondered what the qualifications are to become a trailer truck driver, and clearly there aren't that many: "Can you sit? Can you hold a steering wheel? That's good enough for us, you've got the job, Billy-Bob!". A monkey could probably do a better job.

At one point I got so fed up with these insane maneuvers that I couldn't control myself anymore. After finally overtaking one of these trucks and moved back into the right lane I slowly decreased my speed until he was right behind me, and I continued decreasing my speed, forcing him to brake. Of course when he started overtaking me I stepped on the throttle. I know it was childish, I know I shouldn't have stooped to his level, but seriously, it felt sooo good to finally show that son of a bitch just how annoying it is to have a moron block the road in front of you.

I should point out that this applies to you retards in the RV's as well. You know who you are. If you're unable to go faster than 80 km/h, don't try to overtake that truck going 79 km/h in a 120 km/h zone with traffic coming up behind you.

Stupid behaviour in traffic

Speaking of traffic, what the hell is going on with Quentin Tarantino's crew? Following a visit to the Rigoletto movie theater in Stockholm one of his not so bright bodyguards decided to walk straight out into the middle of the road to stop the traffic, like he's some kind of traffic police or something, while Tarantino's limo driver just put the pedal to the metal without checking his mirrors or blind zone, and got hit by a bus. Apparently Mr. Tarantino had a plane to catch...

What a bunch of morons.

Here are two tips if you ever come to Stockholm again:

1. Stay on the sidewalk, and use the pedestrian crossings to cross the road. Do not jump into traffic like a suicidal deer.
2. If you're going to drive around in Stockholm, please do us all a favor and read up on basic traffic rules. You are supposed to give way when moving into traffic from a parked state!!!

Car + cell phone = instant death

Apparently using your cell phone while driving is just as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol, and according to public campaigns that would mean instant death. You'd think using a hands-free set would make it safer, right? Wrong. According to the study referred to in the NY Times, it's the multitasking that causes a fatal distraction.

So, whether you're fiddling with your phone, fiddling with something else, or just having a conversation with one of your passengers, you're exposing yourself and fellow motorists to grave danger, equivalent to the risk of drunk driving!

Now, is it just me or does this study completely trivialize drunk driving? I mean, when was the last time you were driving a car and not multitasking, either by talking to someone, listening to the radio, doing your makeup, looking at the scenery or having a coffee? When did you ever focus 100% percent on the driving, unless you were participating in the Monaco Grand Prix? Exactly.

Office Management

Office Management is a company that really gets on my nerves. I have to admit I have no clue what kind of services they deliver, or if they do a good job, and I have no intentions to find out either.

What bugs me is the fact that they equip their employees with company cars that are way beyond their miserable driving capabilities. You know, those silver grey BMW's, Audi's and VW Touareg's with the red and black Office Management logo, that swivel around on the roads, erratically changing lanes without giving a sign, driving in the bus lanes, speeding and doing all kinds of stupid stunts.

Seriously, this is not good publicity for your employer. When I see the complete lack of judgement you guys demonstrate out on the roads, I wouldn't dream of hiring any of you baboons to do whatever it is you do.

And to the management: Stop handing out these kinds of cars to this kind of people. They're obviously not mature enough for them. Give them a Toyota Prius or something instead, with limited capabilities to cause harm and destruction. Or at least remove the Office Management logos from your cars so you're not associated with the kind of behaviour your employees show in traffic. Thank you very much.

The pinnacle of good timing

There I was, driving eastbound on Valhallavägen, in central Stockholm in heavy rush hour this morning. Imagine my surprise when I noticed two construction workers had closed off one lane to do what appeared to be less important work, to say the least. There they were, in the middle of the road, creating havoc. Doing this at mid-day, evening og perhaps even during the weekend was obviously no option.

Good job, guys!


View Valhallavägen in a larger map

Lies, lies and damn lies

In 2007 Sweden got it's first toll roads, also known as the congestion tax, with a web of cameras encircling the city of Stockholm, photographing every car entering and exiting the city. It was a dark day for the protection of personal privacy, and it was the day that Sweden definitly lost it's socialist democratic profile (after all, what's socialist about a flat rate tax that obviously hits people with lower income way harder than people with high income?).

The city council, led by the so-called "Alliance" (consisting of the parties Moderaterna, Folkpartiet, Kristdemokraterna and Centerpartiet) appeared to be opposed to this tax when the former city council imposed it. Of course this was all just a bid for votes, a big fat lie.

Today this city council proposes not only to uphold this economical Berlin wall encircling Stockholm, but they want to raise the toll rate and build new road tolls on, surprise surprise, the only north-south connection available in this city (well, except from driving through the city, in which case you'll have to pay the road tolls anyway), Essingeleden. Incidently this is also a potential treasure chest for these unscrupulous politicians, with over 160.000 cars passing by every day (*15 = 2.400.000 SEK).

Of course the reason for this insanity might be considered good: It will help pay for important investments to the city's infrastructure. But wait a second...isn't this what we pay taxes for (and the reason why Sweden has one of the highest income taxes in the world)? Isn't that a bit more just, when people actually pay their taxes according to their wealth and income, and not according to where they have to drive to get to kindergarden, work and the grocery store? After all, these politicians claim that the infrastructure around Stockholm is important for the whole country, so why should local motorists who "live in the wrong place" pay through their nose for something that is clearly government business? Oh, and why on earth should a motorist driving on Essingeleden have to pay road tolls to finance a public transportation in the form of a street car from Solna to Alvik? This is clearly a matter for the city, municipality or county - not the motorist!

These road tolls are meant to finance all these projects for 12 years, but who really believes they will be removed after this time? You only have to look to Norway to find the answer to that. Never. Instead, the toll charge will be raised again and again, pushing people's limits, and new toll booths will be built here and there, just to keep the income increasing. And of course, the free passage on holidays, weekends and weeknights will soon just be a distant memory. That'll probably be the first to go, if Norway is used as a standard.

Road tolls were probably a good idea in the middle ages, when rich merchants had to pay to enter a city and sell their goods. Well, times have changed quite a bit since then, and we have come up with much more accurate and social ways of getting those tax kronor.

Even though I'm not allowed to vote in the general elections, or the EU elections, I can still vote for city council. And believe me, no political party with road tolls on their agenda will get my vote.

More surveillance coming your way

The Swedish road administration, Vägverket, are getting ready to deploy no less than 100 more speed cameras on Swedish roads during the second half of 2009. This will give us a total of 1077 cameras covering 2880 km of road, or one speed camera per 2,6 kilometers!!! And, surprise surprise even more cameras are planned for 2010. God knows where they'll find room for them...

The annoyance of driving between these speed cameras with my gps beeping all the time and my right foot working overtime adjusting the speed, is unfortunately just peanuts compared how this grim network of surveillance cameras is bound to be misused in the not so distant future. Look to Norway, and brace yourself. Being a motorist will soon become a high risk sport for the few and wealthy, even in Sweden.

The London tube

A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure.

Margaret Thatcher

First of all, let me say that I'm not a huge fan of public transportation. However, I don't mind using it every now and then as long as it is reasonably priced and efficient.

I was in London this weekend, and I can tell you that the public transportation system in London is neither. It's expensive, and the constant closing of lines for maintenance makes it a nightmare to get from one part of the city to another. "Sorry, that line's closed today, so you'll have to find this and that bus to take you here and there". The bus ride takes forever, and you're lucky if you get off at the correct bus stop.

Anyway, this is all small potatoes compared to the tube, which I had the misfortune of using several times this weekend. First of all, it's ridiculously crowded, at virtually all times of the day, every day of the week. You'd think the good people of London have nothing better to do than hanging out there. As if the struggle to get to the actual train isn't frustrating and time-consuming enough (you have to walk an average of 25 kilometers, in an endless and slow-moving line of people, to get from the tube entrance to the train platform), imagine my surprise when I realise that the halfwit of a train driver doesn't even look to see if people are still boarding before he shuts the doors and leaves one half of a company behind on the platform, while the other half embarks on a journey of discomfort, squeezed together in a tiny, noisy and smelly tin can. Bon voyage.

Of course, driving a car in London is no good either, unless you've got money burning holes in your pockets. The former mayor of the city, notorious car-hater and left-wing activist "Red Ken" Livingstone saw to it that motorists travelling to London now have to pay a congestion charge of £8 per day, adding up to £40 for a work week, and around £2000 a year! Thank you so bloody much, Mr. Livingstone.

Funny thing is that this Ken Livingstone didn't impose a congestion charge on the tube while he was at it. It's just as hazardous to your health as the car congestion - if not more!

I guess, basically, London has become too large for its own good, as there is no way to get around in that city in a comfortable and efficient manner. As a tourist I can brush it of as an annoyance, but as a citizen of London...well, I guess that's why I could never move there.

Roundabouts

A little known fact is that despite the mind-boggling evolution mankind has gone through in the last hundreds of years, neanderthals still walk amongst us. It's true!

One perfect example of this are the people who are physically unable to properly take advantage of the tiny stick (also known as a "turn signal lever") located to the left of the steering wheel, that activates the turn signal, as an indication to other motorists. Obviously the challenge of holding the steering wheel and at the same time use the right foot to properly accellerate, decellerate, or simply keep a steady speed, is more than enough for these people, who have sadly been outpaced by modern technology.

This, of course, represents an annoyance for the rest of us, who have a certain simultanious capacity, and often find ourselves waiting in vain for a motorist to pass us before we can enter the roundabout (as we all know, we have to yield to traffic already inside the roundabout), while in fact this neanderthal motorist has every intention of exiting the roundabout before he passes us.

Now, just in case you're not a neanderthal with no simultaneous capacity, but simply a horrible driver without a clue, please try the easy and interactive introduction to the phenomenon of roundabouts below, and stop annoying your fellow motorists. Thank you very much.



More traffic education: http://www.2pass.co.uk/