Riots

[Serial_Apologist]

You may well have done!

As to the main thrust of your post, I presume that Coventry City Council subscribe to the school of thought which says that removing road markings, traffic lights, etc., means that all road users take more notice of what's going on around them, and are therefore more alert, rather than simply assuming that because they have the right of way, they can go. And I think that makes a lot of sense.

It may make a lot of sense for a short while, in the same way that war makes sense in apparently bringing a people together; but soon the novelty wears off, the everyday frustrations of the rest of life come to bear on interactive behaviour, and it's every person for him or herself amid the mad scramble of deadlines; in short, everyday normality.

[Pabmusic]

...I presume that Coventry City Council subscribe to the school of thought which says that removing road markings, traffic lights, etc., means that all road users take more notice of what's going on around them, and are therefore more alert, rather than simply assuming that because they have the right of way, they can go. And I think that makes a lot of sense.

It's not exactly a school of thought. There's now been several studies and quite a lot of evidence that having no signs (or at the most, very few) leads to fewer accidents. Problem is in introducing the idea when we've been so used to having signs. There will be accidents (accidents happen in the normal course of things) and there may then be an outcry (because we're British, and that's the way we do things now) blaming it all on the removal of signs. So the signs will return and someone will have to shoulder the personal blame.

[handsomefortune]

I was in Coventry city centre this week - they have REMOVED several sets of traffic lights, and put down squares of red bricks. Nobody has right of way. That's right, nobody.

You just have to be vigilant, drive or walk slowly, while trying to make eye contact with a possible collisionee.

Have I invented a word?

well perhaps a new word needed inventing! and well said john wright! http://www.coventryobserver.co.uk/20...hop-32724.html

afaik a petition is gathering support protesting about 'so called shared spaces, junction experiments in the city cntre' apparently.

it calls for 'an emergency review of the entire scheme', which labour apparently call 'their unique flagship policy' .....though this is old news now, there having been two accidents at that point (january 2012). since, there's been (at least) a third accident, between a bus and a taxi (linked). ime both commercial vehicles tend to assume they have 'right of way' out of sheer habit. factor in confused car drivers as well, and this is what mere pedestrians take on, just yards from the current accident scene on tuesday (linked).

still, it was good to actually see some people gathered in the city centre on tuesday, if only to view the spectacle. (not to mention, wonder how the bus actually stopped going forward, and do a right angle instead)? (plenty of photography going on, i've never seen so much spontaneous photo sharing going on by nearby 'sainsburys' customers).

it has been absolute chaos in the city cntre for some time, 'due to the olympics' .............?????

the centre is a 'no go area' for anyone slow paced for whatever reason: push chair users, pensioners, as well as people with disabilities simply can't cope. however, perhaps citizens should actually be chuffed that the bus nolonger takes them to the (remaining) central shops now? not going into the city centre might just extend a life considerably at this rate. this perhaps also explains why tuesday's spectators at the scene of the accident was made up of school children, and university students.

evidently, this 'school of thinking' actually needs to go back to school, and stay there. labour imagine that john wright and othe passers by wont notice, nevermind comment. AND, has anyone else also noticed that the local news of the crash, emphasises 'petty looting' amid the carnage ..... not the reasons for the traffic chaos initially? how very typical!

[Mr Pee]

Wekk, it seems to have worked in Ashford, where it's been in operation since 2008.

http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/1424.html

[John Wright]

Yes I heard about the bus accident too. Apparently he had just collided with a taxi in that street (one-way) and the driver may have got his foot stuck on the accelerator (gas pedal) and shot into the shop at about 30mph.

And (neatly) your link brought us back on topic, as the scene became a looting incident akin to summer riots.

Coventry centre has been taken over almost by the University, not our famed Top 10 Warwick University (four miles away) but the polytech-cum-University known as Coventry University which seems to be just 4 yards away from any street corner.

Anyway be interesting to see how much mobile footage is submitted to the police to identify the looters.

[amateur51]

A year on from the unrest, Ministry of Justice figures show that a total of 1,292 offenders have been jailed for over 1,800 years for their part in the trouble.

The average custodial sentence was 16.8 months - more than four times the average term handed down by magistrates' courts for similar offences

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19111720

And have there been key interventions to address the underlying causes of the riots?

England's riots revealed "deep social problems" that still need to be addressed a year on, Mayor of London Boris Johnson has said. He told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme the London 2012 Olympics was "playing a role" in the solution.

"It is sending a clear message about effort and achievement, and what it takes to connect the two," he said.

Is he referring to the authorities' attempts to understand the causes and to prevent future unrest, or are his remarks addressed solely at young people?

The BBC continues

"The mayor said £70m had been pumped into inner city areas of London to try to avoid a repeat of the violence and looting, but "lots of different solutions" were needed.

"There are still deep social problems that we've got to address by looking at what happens in the lives of young people, their role models, their ideals, what they want to achieve.

"I do think sport and the Olympics play a role. Sport builds self-esteem, character, confidence and the ability to understand how to lose - all those vital things," he said.

The mayor went on to say there had been a "culture of easy gratification and entitlement" during last year's riots.

In Tottenham High Road, where the riots began - the physical signs are still there. Some of the properties that were burnt to the ground have yet to be completely rebuilt. Long delays in getting compensation and rising insurance premiums have been a source of anger and frustration.

The government, though, says 95% of damage claims have now finally been settled. The post office quickly reopened on new premises - one of many impressive stories of revival.

Those here are determined to move on from what they hope was a freak storm. But in the back of everyone's mind the lingering question: could it ever happen again?

He said the "clear message" that the Olympics was sending "could not come at a better time for a country that is making a difficult psychological adjustment to a new world without easy credit, where life is considerably tougher than it was before the crunch".

Mr Johnson also stressed the importance of getting young people into work, stating there were 67,000 more apprenticeships than a year ago.

Meanwhile Jason Featherstone, director of Surviving Our Streets, a charity which works with young people, told BBC Radio 5 live that he believed things were "still as raw as a year ago" and there could be a repeat of last year's riots.

"I can't see too much progress been made, in the sense of the killing of Mark Duggan, the lack of police information coming forward in regards to what happened in that case.

"I believe we are teetering on more unrest - another incident like this might happen again," he said. "

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19144888

And meanwhile Mark Duggan's death remains unexplained, his killer is still 'on the loose' and his bereaved family is still waiting for answers.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

The mayor went on to say there had been a "culture of easy gratification and entitlement" during last year's riots.

yep just like the one prevailing among that philandering carpet bagger's city chums and hedge fund backers

no finance banking or hedge fund spiv has spent a day in court never mind prison for their grand larcenies!

[Serial_Apologist]

This is no different from before the rise of the "consumer society", except that it enveigles a wider spread of society into its clutches. Without guiding principles, which some seem to find in religion, one is lost; keeping up becomes the sinecure of "belonging". Time and again it has been explained that capitalism raises hopes, genuine and false, and then dashes them, but with Tony Benn now apparently retired from the scene, one rarely hears this fundamental truth promulgated in debate on any radio or TV station, let alone what's to be done, other than for defensive purposes of dissing. In a world of all-against-all for that coveted last job/qualification/gold award, ambition is narrowed down to survival of the fittest as the ultimate exemplar, and by way of "explanation" religion trots out the worn out line that "we are all weak, sinful, foolish men", in the words from Britten's St Nicholas I was made dutifully to sing in my school choir.

I do wish Robert Wyatt would re-visit "Why Are We Sleeping" and do a bit of tweaking on the lyrics.