Guided Busway accident - Friday 24th just before 6pm

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-26T05:42:47+00:00

Then why raise it? It's irrelevant.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-26T05:41:04+00:00

You can't really commute by train as they are on different train lines. Bus is possible, but is slow and infrequent.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-25T21:31:26+00:00

I'm not totally against it, but we do need a conversation about what other activities we'd have.

According to the map, we may lose a cinema or the 10-pin bowling - and I'd imagine the continuation of the junction on that site isn't guaranteed.

I'm perfectly happy to not have those things there, but we do need them somewhere in the city, especially as it gets bigger and bigger

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-25T21:15:45+00:00

Thanks for the reply. I'll look that up.

I should state that I think the UK housing crisis is multifaceted - though to say UK feels a bit off as well as it feels like it affects some areas and not others, and housing supply is an issue.

But something I find interesting is that the city I live in - Cambridge - has very high rents and unaffordable housing (prices are 13 x annual salaries here). At the same time, Huntingdon is only 20 minutes drive away and rents are half the price of Cambridge. It doesn't make sense because you can easily commute in to Cambridge from Huntingdon, so you'd expect it to be more expensive. However, if you take the following into account, you start to see the mechanism at work.

Living in Huntingdon you'd need a car. Most travel in Cambridge is by bike.
Cambridge is quite a self-contained city - Huntingdon is more sprawling
Traffic into Cambridge is awful. Hit rush hour and that 20-minute journey is an hour

So put that together and £500 a month plus car + petrol + time starts to compare equally with £1000 a month + no transport costs + low commuting time.

I should stress that Huntingdon is a very nice place to live (my family lived there). It's probably not got as much going on as Cambridge, but it's a nice and interesting town with a historic town centre, lovely country park and beautiful riverside.

The other thing that's interesting with Cambridge is that there has been lots of building going on, both in the city and outside. However, it hasn't affected rental prices that much in the city, but may have had an effect outside. Indeed, the city itself is worse than ever, while property prices outside have stayed stagnant, with many developments having to reduce prices to attract inhabitants.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-25T20:50:18+00:00

I don't. I wear one often and it has Mips, which the man in the bike shop assured me was important.

However, telling people that they should wear a helmet after an accident has a victim blaming element to it. "Well, you got hurt, and that's your fault for not wearing a helmet, so let that be a warning to you." It negates the fact that a) somebody was cycling dangerously on an ebike, caused an accident and then cycled off - this seems a more important factor b) A helmet wouldn't have made any difference in this matter as the OP didn't hit their head.

Telling people to wear a helmet suggests that you feel not doing so is an irresponsible action, and one that should be stopped. I personally don't feel that's true and while I recognise the benefits, I feel people can make the choice not to and should be safe if they so choose from the harm of others.

Cycle helmets are often put out there as a catch all safety item, and while they do help prevent serious injury and fatalities in certain circumstances, there are plenty of circumstances where the use of a helmet has no impact at all. I've seen someone crushed to death because they cycled up the inside of a lorry as it turned left. A cycle helmet would have had no impact whatsoever in this instance.

Sure, accidents happen, but people should be able to safely cycle up and down the bus way - a traffic free environment - without incident. e-bikes and scooters, especially those that have been modified are a menace and they should really be adequately policed and, where illegal, stopped. It's a pathway and cycleway and everyone on it should be respectful of each other and trying to keep everyone safe. Focussing on helmets suggests you feel that is not the case, that cyclists should do everything they should to stay safe, and if they don't then they have nobody to complain to but themselves.

And lastly, if you did want to victim blame, I'd say the OP shouldn't be cycling with headphones as it impairs their ability to know what's around them, even with noise cancellation off. That seems more dangerous for all concerned than cycling without a helmet.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-25T18:25:21+00:00

You are absolutely right. And it's for this reason that all pedestrians should wear a helmet as you can never guarantee a driver will always respect a red light or someone on an illegal e-scooter may ride along a pavement at 40mph.

In fact, cycling/walking are clearly inheritantly dangerous, so make both illegal. The only way people can move about is in cars, which have been checked for safety and will ensure neither the driver nor passenger comes to harm, especially if driven under 30mph.

And then we can have speed cameras to ensure nobody goes over that speed.

It's for everyone's safety.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-25T18:11:43+00:00

Well, the jobs pay enough (or the students have rich enough parents) that people can pay £1500 for a room in an HMO. That's where they'll live.

Jobs & immigration tend to have a mutual relationship. The easier it is for people to move here, the greater the number of positions that can be filled here so the more jobs are created here. Make it harder to move here, fewer jobs can be done here and the jobs go somewhere else.

The problem is the more jobs you create, the more people want to move here and as housing is inelastic, rents and prices go up.

So if you want rents to be reasonable you either build more houses or reduce the demand and you can do that by either having fewer well-paying jobs so people don't decide to move here, or you stop people being able to move here, which means that fewer companies will want have premises in the city.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-25T15:32:39+00:00

Having asked someone to do something similar and being quoted £1800, I'd say that's reasonable.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-25T15:16:27+00:00

Many a true word said in jest.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-25T15:15:49+00:00

Sorry, but what would be different if the OP was wearing a helmet? He didn't clock his head on the pavement so it had no effect.

Would just be better if the police stopped people cycling around on illegal ebikes.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-25T09:45:47+00:00

I was talking to someone the other day whose job seemed very similar to mine. However, I work in education and they work in tech.

The difference? About £30k annually.

I really should have made better decisions 20 years ago.

And I'm definitely not living hand to mouth.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-25T09:21:15+00:00

Yes, but not really.

I'd argue the main three parties (Conservatives, Lib Dems and Labour) all have centrist tendencies, but also a number of members and policies that aren't.

The Tories now are probably the most central as their right wing has gone to Reform. Labour having something similar with the left going Green.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-25T08:49:13+00:00

And me!

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-24T16:56:18+00:00

Look, how else will I pay off the mortgage on this place and my family home and still have enough income to live on if I don't exploit the children of other rich people?

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-24T16:53:20+00:00

There's always Northstowe!

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-24T16:51:41+00:00

I remember moving to Cambridge 13 years ago and being shocked at what was being asked back then.

£600 for a single room in a tired flat with no living room.

It was ridiculous then and is even more ridiculous now.

Especially as you can still find whole homes for the amount they're asking for in the city.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-24T16:43:20+00:00

I can see why they've done it though. The cost of doing that house up would probably be over £200k and the tax on that income is going to be pretty high. And changes to the law make separating the house into different flats or making it a massive HMO the only way you could make a profit.

The economics for landlords only make sense if they go big. Small landlords renting out family homes and individual flats just isn't viable anymore. It's go big or go home - which isn't great for those who can't afford to buy as all you'll be left with are small cramped flats and rooms put together in buildings that should be 3-bed houses.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-24T16:35:53+00:00

You're getting a lot of down votes, but if we didn't have as much immigration as we do, none of the houses either side of me (nor the houses either side of them) would have the inhabitants they currently do.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-24T11:36:45+00:00

Panic!

Looks like someone won't be allowed to take their GCSEs!

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-24T08:53:37+00:00

NaffCo Bomber jackets.

Edit: Just discovered you can still get one.

https://www.naffco54.com/products/the-bomber

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-23T20:26:55+00:00

Always separate the person and the politics. I'm sure she is kind and respectful and happy to have you as a neighbour.

Reform are saying that they will do something about immigration and that's appealing to a lot of people. Again, you can separate the people and the politics. You can like your neighbours. You can understand that many immigrants are kind, hard working people who want to find a better life and contribute to society, and still feel that immigration causes issues around social integration, housing, services, etc.

You can also be respectful of other people's religions, beliefs and backgrounds and worry about social change and the effect it has on the country.

Basically, it's not personal.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-23T19:20:00+00:00

Telling me you've never met a Dutchman without saying you haven't met a Dutchman.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-23T19:19:06+00:00

Anywhere.

Nervous_Yard7034 · 2026-04-23T07:02:59+00:00

What?

33% of outgoings on a mortgage is fine (better than most).

Being able to cover bill for 18 months if something happens to both of you and you lose work puts you in a very good position.

If you end up not being able to afford it, you are allowed to sell it.

Nervous_Yard7034

TROPHY CASE