From First Cars To Modern Driving Tech In The UK

Driving is one of those everyday skills that quietly shapes your whole life and you only notice it when something goes wrong, or when a memory hits you out of nowhere. We’re Hannah and Davy, a father daughter duo, and we’re using this chat to trace our driving lives from scrappy first cars to today’s tech heavy reality on UK roads.

We trade stories about the vehicles that taught us the hard lessons: Hannah’s first Peugeot 106 with its tape deck charm and learner chaos, and Davy’s era of “how did that pass an MOT?” motors, including the kind of problems that made a hammer feel like standard equipment. From there we get into manual versus automatic driving, why automatics can feel like a freedom upgrade, and why some features like auto parallel parking still feel like one step too far. We also dig into sat nav culture in Britain, from printed route planners to using Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze even when you already know the way, just to dodge traffic and beat the ETA.

Then we zoom out to the bigger picture: traffic volume, post COVID driving attitudes, roundabout stress, and why staying calm after a bump matters more than proving a point. We share driving facts and figures from Great Britain, talk about the rise of electric vehicles, and get honest about charging infrastructure and long distance reliability. Finally, we rant a bit about rural public transport around Norwich and Norfolk, and why better buses or even a tram could genuinely change car dependence.

If you enjoy thoughtful laughs about real life driving in the UK, subscribe, share the show with a mate, and leave a review. What’s the one driving habit you swear you’ll never give up?

Transcript

Welcome And A Topic Swerve

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome to Bonus Dad.

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Bonus Daughter, a special father-daughter podcast with me, Hannah.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

And me, Davy, where we discuss our differences, similarities. Share a few laughs and stories. Within our ever-changing and complex world.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Each week we will discuss a topic from our own point of view. And influences throughout the decades.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Or you could choose one by contacting us.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Via email, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok. Links in bio. Hello and welcome to a very special episode by Bonus Dad, Bonus Daughter. We're going to talk about evolution, baby.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

No, we're not. We're talking about driving.

SPEAKER_02 0:33

Oh. We were going to talk about evolution, but we decided that would be too long a time. We're actually going to talk about driving, so evolution is coming up. Uh soon. Do you want to restart that or no, no, we'll keep that in. We'll keep it in. We'll keep my blunder in. We're going to talk about driving.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

We were originally going to be talking about evolution, but when I read through it, it's possibly going to be a two-parter. So I because this is the last recording of the day, because Hannah's got to go somewhere. We I said, well, let's do driving instead because it's a shorter episode. I did wonder why you then said I'm not going to use my phone for this.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

I'm also not going to use my phone for this. I'm ad Libben.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

I'm ad libbing. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Okay. Improv.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Improv.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Improv.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

I'm better. I'm better improv. I can assure you.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

We're gonna I don't need the script. I'm gonna ask you some questions. I've got some facts and figures about driving in the UK. And we're gonna try and make this exciting. I'm gonna ask you some questions as well, ask each other questions, really.

Hannah’s First Cars And Lessons

SPEAKER_02 1:31

I'm so ill prepared. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

What was your first car?

SPEAKER_02 1:36

Oh, my first. Oh fuck, I love this quick. Well, I knew it was swallowing. Yeah, my hand was hovering. My hand was hovering. Um I had a beautiful beast. It was a Peugeot 106 X-reg. It had a tape deck and it didn't have any power steering, and the brakes were shot, but it was my baby. And my funniest memory of that car was the first time I got it. Um it was mum in the car. I was a learner, and my friend Daniel was in the back. And we picked up some cat litter. I assure you, this is a funny story. Bear with me. And we had some music going in the car, and Daniel was playing the cat litter like a cajon in the back to the music. And I remember it was the first time I'd ever seen a rev counter in a car because the car I learnt in was modern, didn't have a well, it had a rev counter, but it's not not the dial. So I thought I was doing a chill 30. I was actually doing 300 3000 RPM or whatever it is on the or whatever the measurement is. And uh I was actually going 60.

SPEAKER_03 2:36

Really?

SPEAKER_02 2:37

It felt like a really fast 30. Yeah, I mistook the I mistook the rev counter as the as the uh as the speedo. And that was my first car, and I absolutely loved it. I had a black box fitted to it as well. You did lower my insurance. My insurance when I first started driving was around 2,000 a year, which sounds insane now because my insurance now is like not even 100 a year. And I have nine years no claims bonus. Well done, congratulations. Thank you, thank you. Yeah, I had to have replaced my driver's license recently. That was a that was a welcome to adulthood situation. Uh but yeah, that was my first car. It was it was blue, um, like a navy blue, and it had little dancing people on the seats. They were all like doing like little like moves. Do you remember that? I do remember because it was a 106 independence, so I think it's like made to be someone's first car, and it had all these little people on it. Yeah. And then I had a KA.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

You did Ford KA. I did, yes.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

And my KA was a piece of shit. Um, and it rusted so much so that I lost my gearbox. So when I pulled out of work once, I only had first and fourth, so I had to rev it really hard to get it into fourth. And I also lost reverse in it as well, and I had to be pushed out of several car parking spaces. Did you really? Yeah, I hated that car. That was that was the worst car I ever bought. And then I went on to uh PCPs. No, uh yeah, PCP. Is it PCP? Uh when you when you lease a car?

SPEAKER_03 4:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

Then I leased three Toyota Igos.

SPEAKER_03 4:03

You did, actually, yes.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

I had two white ones and then I had a blue one. And then that blue one, we've already told the story of me selling that blue one. That that tragic day we spent in Lower Stoff the entire day.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

Oh god, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:15

So I'm so sorry about that. That's all right. Um and then um and now I drive a Ford Puma automatic, which is delightful. Yeah. I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

So how many cars have you had?

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Uh one, two, three, four, five, six, including the Puma, seven. So including my current car, seven cars.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

So you've d you've had seven cars and you've been driving for ten years.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

Well, just over ten years, yeah.

Davy’s Rusty Classics And Scrap Heaps

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Okay. Well, my first car was a brown metro.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Oh, a metro. Mini metro. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

It had a choke. Yeah. It was that the the the They remind me of chainsaws.

SPEAKER_02 4:51

I I don't mean to be like really non-knowledgeable about it, but that's all I can think of.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

My mini metro, it was that bad. You could start the ignition with a lollipop stick. If you could if you had a fingernail. If you had a fingernail that was strong enough to turn the barrel, it would have started the car. My locker key, when I worked at Tesco's at the time, would open the door, would open the locker the door.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

Oh my gosh, I forgot like keys open doors.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:25

I know that sounds like a strange thing to say, but mine just I just bip it.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:29

And I don't even put it in the ignition anymore. I just press a button now.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

How that used to pass its MOT is beyond me. It was a death trap.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

Do you think they were just more lenient then?

SPEAKER_00 5:38

Yeah, I do. There's no way car if I had a car looks in car. So I got rid of that. I drove that into the ground, that ended up in the scrap heap.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

Fair enough.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

My second car was a red mini.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Which was like a go-kart.

SPEAKER_02 5:51

Cute.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

I loved that red mini.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

But there was a problem with it.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

There were two problems with it. One, there was a hole in the floor on the passenger side. And you could see the road. I had a mat covering it. Nice. So you could see it, and that would stop the rain coming up. The other thing, the starter motor didn't work.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Oh, that's quite problematic.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

So I used to have to do one of two things every time I started the car.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Did you park it on a hill?

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Well, one of three things. Park it on a hill. The other thing I used to have to do is hit the starter motor with a hammer, would sometimes help it work. So I had a hammer in the car, and that wasn't for self-defense, it was purely to start to start the bloody thing. The other thing I was I got very, very good at. Now I am the champion when it comes to bump starting cars.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

I can bump start any car, and that is because of this mini. And I used to hold the door, hold the steering wheel, run with the car, jump in the car, bump start it. Nice. Nearly every time. There was one time I remember I was I was on a slight hill and what I was at a traffic traffic lights and the car stopped, it stalled, and I was like, oh shit, what am I gonna do? I'm on a slight hill. I can even bump start in reverse. That's how good I am at bump starting cars because of this mini. Brilliant. Yep. So then the mini disappeared. So I got rid of the mini. RIP. R.I.P. Mini. That ended up in the scrap heap.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

I'm noticing a theme. Yeah. I've only had one go to the scrap heap. Oh no, it went to auction actually in my K. But anyway, carry on.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

My next car was a Mark III Ford Escort.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

Oh, Ford Escort.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

What a great car.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

I had that for a number of years as well.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Yeah, I bet that was quite reliable.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Do you know where that went?

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Scrap heap.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Scrap heap.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

You tend to drive your cars into the ground. So we're up to three cars now.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

Three cars now. Yep. My next car was Tug.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

Oh, Tug, my. Remember Tug? This comes into my era now. Tug had beads on the seats.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Tug did have beads on the seat.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

It was so uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

It was incredibly uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

Why did you have beads on your seats?

SPEAKER_00 7:43

So it was called Tug because T U G was the last three letters of the license plate. Yeah. And Tug was a Punto, wasn't it? Uh Fiat Uno.

SPEAKER_02 7:50

Oh, Fiat Uno, sorry. No. Punto.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

And it was ridiculous because I'm a fairly tall chap. But it was the only car I could afford at the time.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Where did Tug go? Scrap Peep.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

Yeah. Then it was the gymney?

SPEAKER_00 8:04

No. No. No. After Tug, it was the thing with the pop-up lights that I bought. The Mazda. The Mazda.

SPEAKER_02 8:11

Yeah, Funclian, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

So I had uh Uncle Terry. Oh, Uncle Terry, apologies. So I had the Mazda.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

It was at Uncle Ian's, though, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

And where did that end up?

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Scrap Peep.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:20

That was a great car. That was an amazing car. Love that.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

The only thing with the pop-up lights that I noticed that the lights used to get dirty. I used to have to wipe them a lot. Then the Mazda, then it was the Jeep.

SPEAKER_02 8:31

Oh, the gymney. Yeah. The gymney. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

And the gymney axle broke.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

Yeah. I remember it just looked really sad because the little little feet, little feet, little wheels, just like a bit like cars.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

Exactly. That was a cute car. We sold that, didn't we?

SPEAKER_02 8:44

I can't remember what happened in the gymney. I feel like I've seen it on the road, actually.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

I've missed one. The Vectra.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

The Vectra.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

Uh so the Vectra was a purple, it was a plum colour. It was mum's old car.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

I can't remember what we used to call it, but that we called it something because of the license plate as well.

SPEAKER_04 9:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:02

I remember you. That's the first time I've ever seen you properly angry. I saw you mash that that steering wheel really hard when that broke down on the way to. I think I was going to a friend's birthday party. And I was, I remember saying to you, even as a kid, I was like, don't worry, it doesn't matter if we can't get there. Because you were really, you were really upset about this car. Probably before the but because of the financial situation. That's what it was.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

It's because I knew it was the head gasket that had gone. Yeah. And I knew it was just I had no car. We were on the A11. And I just, it was one of those. Yeah, I just forgot we'd broken down the left. I got really angry. I did get really angry.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

I think we got rid of the car after. We did.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Yeah, that ended up in the scrap heap.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

Then it was the gymney.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Then it was the gymney.

SPEAKER_02 9:43

Then No, you had a rover at some stage.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

I had the rover after that.

SPEAKER_02 9:46

Oh, rover, then then it was the rover. The red rover. I hated that car.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

I know. That ended up in the scrap heap. That was my granddad's old.

SPEAKER_02 9:52

I was gonna say the rover was such an old man car. It had like these horrible leather seats. I hated it. It was horrible.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

That ended up in the scrap heap.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

It was a bit of a theme.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

Then I've got the car that I've got now.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

No, you've had something between now.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

No.

SPEAKER_02 10:05

What about the focus?

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Oh yeah, the focus. Yeah, yeah, focus. Which was your mum's car, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_02 10:10

Oh yeah. Did you not drive it at some stage?

SPEAKER_00 10:13

I did do, but it was an automatic. I don't like automatics. I like automatics. Uh and then the car that I've got now.

unknown 10:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

You've had that a while actually.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

I have I've had that ten years.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Really?

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Ten years.

SPEAKER_02 10:24

Do you actually own it now though?

SPEAKER_00 10:25

I do actually own it now, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

Damn. Good for you.

Manual Versus Automatic And Driver Aids

SPEAKER_00 10:27

And it's still going strong. Yeah. See, that's the thing. I'm I'm one of these people where a car to me is a to be. It's A to B. It's a it's a it's a it's a mode of transport. When people start talking about cars and new models, I switch off.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

Yeah. It's you're not a car man. I'm not. You're not a car man.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

I'm not a car person. That's not to me. It's a it's a it's a an item to get from A to B.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

I I know what I know why you don't like automatics, and I was also very against automatic, but it's honestly given me more independence now that I can drive better with it.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

I must admit, because we went to London last weekend, didn't we? And you rang me up the day before and you said, Look, I'm not feeling great. Can I put you on my insurance for the day so that I could drive your car?

SPEAKER_02 11:09

Just in case. Just in case.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

And I actually had a little bit of a which I didn't tell you, I had a little bit of a panic of shit, it's an automatic. I don't know how they work.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

It's it's the easiest thing to drive.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

Yeah. You just forget that you have a left foot and left hand. That's all.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

See, I'm very I I I like gears.

SPEAKER_02 11:25

I I get that, and I r and I honestly do because I was very against getting an automatic, but now that I have one, I'm like, this is the best thing ever. It's the best thing I ever did. It's getting automatic was so good.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

I mean, your mum's car. What's she got?

SPEAKER_02 11:38

Uh Toyoto, isn't it? Yeah. CHR?

SPEAKER_00 11:42

I don't know. Um some sort of car.

SPEAKER_02 11:44

Is that on automatic?

SPEAKER_00 11:45

It is an automatic, but also it doesn't you don't really have to do anything.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

That's that's the beauty of it.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Yeah, I mean the the lights come on automatically. Yeah. The windscreen wipers come on automatically.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

It turns on and off automatically as well.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

I mean, all you've got to do is point and shoot. Yeah. Essentially.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Yeah. And even then I've got lane assist. Um, so it keeps in lane for me. The braking assist as well. If something comes up in front, it will break for you.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

You know Andrew?

SPEAKER_02 12:12

Uh I know. Who moved?

SPEAKER_00 12:14

I won't say his last name, but moved up north. Really good friends of ours. You're friends with their daughter, Sophie.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, sorry.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

So we were we that Andrew. That Andrews.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

We have no few Andrews, to be fair.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

So we were we were at his house and we were in his car, and he was telling me, he said, I've got a function on my car where it will automatically parallel park.

SPEAKER_02 12:34

That is crazy.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

It's like, what?

SPEAKER_02 12:36

That is where I draw the line. I am parallel parking myself. I don't trust that. Yeah. No. No, I don't trust that yet.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

No, I'm not. It's like almost like a self-driving car. No, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 12:45

No, I'm not sure I could get behind that.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Yeah, no, it's not my no.

SPEAKER_02 12:48

I can parallel park pretty well as well. When I'm not under pressure, I can parallel park within one move.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Yeah.

Learning To Drive And Test Nerves

SPEAKER_02 12:54

If I'm under pressure, sometimes I need a little adjustment formation. When did you pass your test? I was a little bit late to the game when I passed my test. I was 19. Um, which makes that 2000 and oh, I can't do maths. You can't do maths now. Look at this. Um 19 uh minus four twenty fifteen.

SPEAKER_04 13:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

Sorry, that took me so long to work out. 2015, yeah. I left school already. Yeah. And I was 19 when I passed. 2015. Okay. I didn't start learning until I was 18.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Who taught you to drive?

SPEAKER_02 13:31

My granddad. He did. My granddad. Uh he's a certified driving instructor. And I had many opportunities to learn in a dual. I was lucky enough to have like because we were living there for a little while. Yeah. Every time we went out for dinner or something, I would drive a saw. Yeah. And he would have the dual control, which I don't think a lot of people would have had the opportunity to do. So I'm very grateful for that. And I passed first time.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

You did.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

With only one minor. You did. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 13:57

I I learned from a driving instructor when I was, I started, I started learning to drive when I was 17, but I couldn't afford a car until I was like 19. And so there was a massive gap.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

So we actually weren't driving. We were driving at the same point in our lives.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

So I had like this, I'd learn I'd learn to drive, but then had this massive gap where I didn't have to be able to do that. I bet that was, yeah. It was weird.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

I bet that was weird. And but when you got in a car, you're like, uh, yeah, we've forgotten how this does.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Um but obviously I lived in Seaford at the time.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

That's why you're such a rubbish driver then. I'm an amazing driver. Oh my gosh, you're not. The the accelerator situation, mum is right. I will stand by mum on this one. You have this habit of putting your foot on the accelerator and then taking it off, uh, and you can feel it in the car, and it can make you feel a bit sick. Which is why I offered to drive to London and not you, because I thought, well.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Do you remember when I used to do turbo?

SPEAKER_02 14:45

I do remember turbo. I actually still do turbo in my own car. Whenever I whenever I'm like speed like getting up to speed on a slip road, I'll be like turbo. Which is silly in an automatic, it doesn't really have the same thing.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

You used to love that when you were a kid. It was very safe. I didn't used to build.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

You were a good turbo.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

It was a good turbo. Yeah. Used to drop it down again. Turbo. Turbo. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

Yeah. Now I say Mario Kart mushroom.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

So uh yeah, I I I passed, so I I passed second time.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

I felt like I learned to drive on Mario Kart, you know, initially.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

And I spent a lot of time in the car as a kid as well, which is why I think I passed so quickly.

SPEAKER_04 15:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

Is that we were driving up and down to dad's all the time. I don't know. I just felt like I spent a lot of my childhood in the car. So I picked up a lot.

SPEAKER_04 15:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:32

I think generally just from watching and observing as well, even subconsciously, maybe. I don't know. I was always pretty good at directions, although I'm rubbish now. I felt like I was quite good at now that we have a sat nav, I don't need to I don't even need to think about directions. I just put it in and go.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

We'll come onto sat nav versus maps. But one thing that I'd want to ask you is when you took your test, did you know you'd passed?

SPEAKER_02 15:58

No.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

There's a reason why I'm saying this.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

I didn't, because when I pulled out of DVLA, I remember coming up to the roundabout and not signalling. And I thought, I fucked it. So the whole time. Hannah, you did swearies. So I bamboozled it. Yeah. And I thought, oh my gosh, I've I've I've already failed. So I thought, well, there's no point. I'll just keep doing the whole test.

SPEAKER_04 16:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:27

Hadn't realized that she either didn't worry about it, as in because there's no one else on the roundabout. Maybe she just thought, oh, she didn't need to indicate because there's no one about, perhaps.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

She either let me off, because that wasn't the minor I got either, or uh she simply missed it.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

Yeah. Well.

SPEAKER_02 16:44

So I the rest of the test I was already failed, so I thought, well, I'll just drive normally and there was no pressure then.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Do you know what? That's really interesting. You said that same thing happened to me. No way! Not not quite like that. But what happened was like when my first test, I first test. I didn't really know what to expect, and they got in there. And then because when did the theory at the end, you sit in the car and they just ask you random questions at the theory?

SPEAKER_02 17:06

Like three questions. We didn't have a theory book. It was more about can you see that license plate over there? So it was a visual one, and then it was you do a maneuver at the end, and then I think she asked me like one theory question, which was really easy. I couldn't remember what it was.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

Well, when I pulled out the test center, as I went past, I thought I got too close to a cyclist on the second time. Same thing. I thought, that's it, I failed.

SPEAKER_02 17:30

Yeah. Sort of. So the pressure, yeah. Neither did I. I was just like, I'm just gonna keep us safe now.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:34

Do you know what else happened on my test that never happened during any of my any of my lessons? I came up to a horse and carriage. Right. How how obscure is that? Just such a weird thing. And I saw them in front of me and I was like, shit, I don't know what to do. Like I have no idea what to do with it. So I just slowed down and I actually said to the instructor, uh, the examiner, I said, I've actually never come across a horse and carriage before. And I said, regardless of this test, I just want to make sure that I'm doing the right thing. And she said, I was. So it was nice. I don't know if she was allowed to do that or allowed to say that, but I think I just needed the reassurance that we were both going to be safe. That was all I cared about. And then she said to me, before we come up to the horse, she was like, Oh, turn left here. So she made me not go past them. Yeah. Which I think was again a saving grace. Maybe she was just really nice and helped me out a little bit, but I was just honest with her. I was just like, I've never come across a horse and carriage before. And I think I obviously did the right thing. I slowed down enough, and that was that. But but yeah, I I think I got a really nice examiner. I think it was nice to have a woman like she was asking me, Oh, what are you studying? And I was like, Oh, psychology, and like, yeah, and then we were just chatting away in the car to that. Um follow the signs to the airport, do you remember? Yeah, yeah. Um, but I never learnt to drive with the sat nav stuff. That's coming sooner.

Sat Nav Habits And Map Memories

SPEAKER_00 18:50

That's coming, that's a new regulation that came in well after I Yeah, I mean that because that's the other thing that's talk about sat navs and maps and maps. Let's go for it. Obviously, when I first started to learn to drive, I used to have to I think you did as well, look at a map, work out which road you were going on, and and drive.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

I never used a map. You've never used a map? Not to drive, no.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

No.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

The only thing I remember is you guys printing out like the AA route planners. Do you remember that?

SPEAKER_03 19:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:16

And then you'd print them out and then I'd have them on my lap and I'd read it out every now and then. But that I never I never drove with maps. I always helped you with the maps. I don't ever remember thinking, oh, I need to print them out a map for this.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Yeah, but you're I would yeah, look at a map beforehand, or even sometimes look at the map while you're in the car.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

And work it out. Especially if you come somewhere like Birmingham, you've got bloody spaghetti junction, you're screwed.

SPEAKER_02 19:37

Yeah, you are buggered.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

And especially like I used to hate driving in London as well, because London is just full of one-way systems.

SPEAKER_02 19:44

And you can get a lot of trouble if you do something wrong.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

If you I I remember what Massive fines. I can't remember as me and Gary, me and my mate Gary, who does now live in London, we would go in somewhere. Because like whenever I used to go to London.

SPEAKER_02 19:56

Is that the guy you used to park outside his house? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:59

Yeah, he used to Thanks Gary for always having a a car parking space for my father. Yeah, bless him. Appreciate that. Yeah, when he used to listen to the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

He does, yeah. Oh yeah, when he moved down to London and I would go down to London quite a lot because Gary didn't have a car, but he had a drop, I would literally park outside his house. Brilliant. And then I would get the tube at Stratford and then but now we go to Epping, don't we? Yeah, we do, yeah. But yeah, I I can't remember where we would go. We were some me and Gary were in the car. I was driving and we were stuck on this one-way system, and we're like, we can see where we need to be, it's literally there, but how do we get there?

SPEAKER_02 20:36

Yeah, how do we question?

SPEAKER_00 20:38

Because it was all one-way systems, it was it was a bloody nightmare. So, yeah, maps and signs how we used to do it, but sat navs, now you've got a sat nav. It's you just plummet. Do you use the sat nav nearly all the time?

SPEAKER_02 20:52

Do you know what? I've actually got into a habit, even though, even though I know where you live and I know how to get there, I put the sat nav on to make sure I wouldn't hit any traffic. That's what I do now.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

I do the same.

SPEAKER_02 21:02

Yeah. I use the sat nav pretty much everywhere I go, even if I know where I'm going.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

I do, and it is to see what time I'll get there.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

I know the way to climbing and I know the way home from climbing, which is probably the trip that I do the most because I don't ever leave the house for work or anything. That trip I know inside out and back to front, but I always use the satinav. Oh, oh, okay, it's gonna be two minutes quicker do it in this way, so I just take that route instead.

unknown 21:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

I don't often look at it, but I might look at it and think, oh, how long have I got? Not other than the group. It's like how long have I got it? How long have I got?

SPEAKER_02 21:29

It's the time. I like I like beating the time as well.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

Yeah, it's it's satisfying.

unknown 21:33

I know.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

It's like it's like when you see it.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

I've got like two minutes before, bitch.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Yeah, when you see it like when you look at the time and it says, Oh, I'm gonna get there at 37 minutes past seven. No, it's just 36 minutes past yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

Yeah, baby. Clawed back a minute. And it's only like by a couple of minutes, they're pretty accurate. I've got a question for you when you have your satinav on.

SPEAKER_04 21:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

Talking or no talking? Like, turn left at the next round about. Okay, I am no talking. Around Norwich. I never use the audio, but if I go outside of Norwich, that bad boy is on.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:04

Although I didn't the other day at Epping, and I wish I had because I almost missed the London Junction.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

Okay, so your mum has an Australian accent guy doing this.

SPEAKER_02 22:12

Yeah, yeah. She's on Waze, isn't she? She uses Waze.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

I use Apple Maps myself.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Uh I use Google Maps.

SPEAKER_02 22:17

Oh you're a Google Map Man. I see, I see.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

Yeah, your mum uses Andrew got your mum onto Waze.

SPEAKER_02 22:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Uh and she uses that all the time.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

Yeah, Mitchell started using Waze.

SPEAKER_00 22:26

Yeah. Um I don't know, but I mean they're all the same, essentially, all do the same job, but it's just the aesthetics. It's the aesthetics thing, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 22:34

Waze does look cute. I'm not gonna lie. But for me, are just Apple Maps.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Yeah, it's easy.

SPEAKER_02 22:38

It's all connected to my phone.

Traffic Growth And Norfolk Road Changes

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Any changes in the road that you can see from when you started driving to now? I do have one big thing. Great question.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

Great question. I might have to think about it. Do you want to say your thing first?

SPEAKER_00 22:52

Volume of traffic.

SPEAKER_02 22:53

Oh, okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

I'm there's a lot more cars on the road now than what there was when I was when I first started driving. I tend to be stuck in traffic jams a lot more than what I used to. Although, saying that, obviously, we live in Norfolk. We live on the outskirts of Norwich. And at the moment, they are doing a massive revamp of the A11 and the A47. And it's a ballake.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

And it affects us both because I'm I'm also outskirts of Norwich, but I'm a little further further skirted, if you will.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

Yeah. But those road works are going to last years. Well, don't get me wrong, when it's done, it's going to be great.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

2028, I think, if I'm not mistaken.

SPEAKER_00 23:29

When it's done, it's going to be great. But this is the one thing about Norfolk as well, is that this is another big difference in the in the change of the road. So Norfolk and Cornwall are the only two counties in the whole of England that doesn't have a motorway running through it.

SPEAKER_04 23:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

Now we, the A11 was only recently duelled. So it was so it was as just a normal A road. And you have to go through Elden and the Elden Lights.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

Do you remember?

SPEAKER_00 23:54

There was a running, there's a running joke from people from Norfolk saying that the only thing that kept people out of Norfolk was Elden Lights. We have now got a bypass. And it's a lot quicker. But if you would go to London, it could sometimes take you two and a half hours because of the Elden lights. And now it takes an hour and a half. Trimmed like an hour off the journey.

SPEAKER_02 24:15

Yeah, it's mad. I would say what's changed, I think, since COVID, but then again, I haven't been driving as long as you, so I'm happy to be kind of rebooted on this one.

SPEAKER_03 24:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

I feel that since COVID, there has been an entitlement generally across people. People are now angrier when they drive, I've noticed. I'm actually quite a chill driver. I never used to be. I used to have a bit of anger because I think everyone else had that anger. And now I'm like, do you know what? Little mistakes happen, and I'm happy. As long as the mistake in front is a simple, oh, I indicated wrong, and you can see they've made a mistake and you just let them indicate right. If that is fine. But if someone was to go over, say, a red light and on a pedestrian crossing, that's when I'd get angry because that could endanger someone's life. But we're all entitled to make mistakes, right? But I think people get so angry about people making mistakes. I personally am horrified when I get caught up on a roundabout. That is one of the worst things that I I hate the most. And it makes me like really nervous and anxious that people can't seem to pick a frickin lane or stay in their lane, I think is my issue.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

There's a certain roundabout near you.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

There is. That's the one I'm thinking of. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:27

Where the the left-hand lane is actually a turn right.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

Yeah, which is I understand that is unusual. It is very unusual. There is it's signposted on the floor and there's two signs coming up to that junction. You cannot possibly make that mistake.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Well, I I'm very nervous going around the roundabout because I always go in the left-hand lane to turn right, and I always think that someone in the right-hand lane is gonna cut across. Is gonna is gonna smash into the side of me.

Anger On The Road And Near Misses

SPEAKER_02 25:50

Considering I live near that particular roundabout and use it quite frequently, it very rarely happens, to be honest with you. Um, but getting cut up, it's actually on the roundabout after that. You know the one um where McDonald's is. That's the roundabout I'm on about where people seem to just jut out of the like the side street. I think there's like five roads that go into that. Is it five? Four, sorry, one road that goes out. Yeah, so five roads come into it, and you just it's kind of that moment of oh god, like it's really hesitant to get out of there, I think, because you don't always people don't always indicate on the round that particular roundabout as well, so it's a bit frustrating. But yeah, I just think little mistakes can happen. And if if there is ever a situation where someone's gone up the back of me or something, which has happened, happened on Grapes Hill, actually. Someone went up the back of my Peugeot and the man got out and he had a really nice swanky car as well. So and he went up the back of me, so I was I was more like, oh my god, his car is gonna be ruined by my car, because it's all like new and posh.

SPEAKER_04 26:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:48

And I remember him coming to the window and I was thinking, oh my god, he's gonna be like really angry, even though it wasn't my fault because he went up the back of me. And he was and he was like, Oh, you're so young, and I was like, Yeah, I am. I said, I said, What why did you go up the back of me? He was like, I thought you were gonna go because the lights turned ahead, but I waited a little bit because the car in front of me either stalled or didn't pull away quickly, and he just assumed that I would go kind of as soon as the light went, and I didn't. Um, so he went up the back of me and he was really nice about it, and we did share uh insurance, but I didn't need my perge was enough to yeah. Um cool story, bro. But yeah, um it's um I don't know. I just I just when when accidents are approached with anger, I think it makes it far worse. Even if even if you're the one that that has been not in the wrong as well. I think you just need to approach it with I mean everyone's fine. Let's now let's deal with the with the damage.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

I so at the bottom of Grapes Hill, I went into the back of someone. But literally what It's so easy on Grapes Hill, I think. Yeah, but what happened then? There wasn't even a scratch on either car, it was so slow, it was because we were going in the filter lane traffic and the car sort of it was a bump. And I was like, oh shit. I got out of the car, he got out of the car, and we both looked and I went, your car alright? And he went, Yeah, he said it's yours. I went, Yeah, nothing's wrong. See ya then. I'm like, sorry, yeah, he said, sorry, yeah. Um the the only car accidents I've I've been upside down in the car twice.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

Yeah, we have.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Once with you, yeah, and once when I was probably about 21, but I was a passenger. Oh uh and the car went on its roof. I've been in a ditch as a passenger once. Uh that was uh where someone hit the side of the verge and it just pulled the car in and we ended up like that. Um we're on our way to Lincoln, and they're the only car accidents I've I've never actually had touch wood.

SPEAKER_02 28:38

I've I've never had an accident where I'm the driver.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

Touch wood. Um, the only other obviously accident I had was when uh Mitchell and I hit that boulder in the middle of the road.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

Yeah, that was really bad. That was you. Mitchell didn't there was no way you could have just.

SPEAKER_02 28:51

There was no Mitchell really blames himself for that accident, but honestly, that it was in a dip. There is there is we weren't going too fast. It was the lowest road, it is a fast road, it was going 50, which is the which is the speed. Yeah, it was in a dip. There was just no, there was no way we could have known.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

I buggered up the bottom end of his car, didn't there?

SPEAKER_02 29:09

It took out way more than that. It took out, it took out so the brake fluid was all over, pissing it all over the floor.

SPEAKER_03 29:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

Uh took out the radiator, that was the biggest chunk, and then it was there's radiator fluid everywhere too. And we managed to we Mitchell managed to slow down enough to get into a lay-by-that's the only thing we could do. And I felt even worse for the other lady coming the way because we'd shredded the rock. The rock had like gone all over the road, and then she shredded all four tires, didn't she? The old she was a really elderly lady as well. That was horrible. There's nothing we could do. We we only had well, we had four tires on our car, I suppose, but there's nothing we could have done.

Crashes And How Safety Evolved

SPEAKER_00 29:43

So going back to say my my first car that I had was a Metro, I had a seatbelt.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Safety feature.

SPEAKER_02 29:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

That was it. There's no airbags, there was no reversing camera.

SPEAKER_02 29:55

That's crazy, no.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

There was a seatbelt.

SPEAKER_02 29:57

I don't think I've ever been in a car. I oh no, no, let me rephrase that. I don't think I've ever driven a car without airbags.

SPEAKER_00 30:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

That that can't be possible in my lifetime.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

Have you ever seen the film Demolition Man?

SPEAKER_02 30:07

No.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

There's a scene in that where Sylvester Stallone is in a car and he goes and the car shoots through the air and he goes into he ends up in a fountain. And what happens is the entirety of the air, the middle the interior of the car ends up foam and it just completely encases him. He's and then he's punching his way out of this foam, and he's just like, what the hell's this? But that's like the extreme of the safety feature. But when I think to like my my cars were a death trap anyway, but there were no safety features on it.

SPEAKER_02 30:33

No, none whatsoever. Which is unheard of now.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

Yeah, but now you've got like seatbelts, you've got um airbags, you've got anti-roll cages, assisted brakes, all of that to you know, to whereas, yeah, whereas what I had, they would have just crumpled, just yeah, absolute death traps. And yeah, the reversing camera. I mean, your mum uses that all the time.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

Oh my gosh, that is the one thing I miss about my Toyotas was I've missed the reversing camera.

SPEAKER_00 30:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:57

Um the beeps just don't do it for me. I just don't like them as much. They're annoying. Go on.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

Mine's buggered. My senses are buggered. Oh. So I'm old school. Oh, you're old school. I'm eyes. Nice. I'm eyes.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

Do you put your hand on the back of the seat, Chubby, to reverse? Yeah, I've never done that. I've never had to do that. Yeah. I just look in the mirrors.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Yeah. Oh no, I use the mirrors quite a lot, but occasionally I'll look in there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:19

I remember that was just such a uh it felt like like a really like adult thing. Whenever I saw anyone do that, put the hand on the back of the seat and look behind them. Yeah. It was like, I don't know, it just felt like I felt like that was that was a rite of passage for adulthood. And I've never had to do it. Like I've never looked out of my back rear view with my eyes. I've always used the mirror. Yeah. Because I don't have the same turn. I'm too short to look through the back.

SPEAKER_00 31:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:44

Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

And I've just realized the clapper board's been in shot the whole time, though.

SPEAKER_02 31:48

Oh, that's all right. But also, having the uh light on in the car is illegal. That's what you told me.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

Well, I was told that. That's a that's a that's a tale that gets passed down from parents from generation to generation. Yeah. Stupid.

SPEAKER_02 32:06

I don't care if the lights on.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Uh what is the longest you've ever driven for?

SPEAKER_02 32:14

Not very long. I know you've driven very long. Maybe two and a half hours max, three hours? Three hours in traffic. Yeah. I don't think I've ever driven more than four hours.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 32:25

Reading was Reading felt like a long time because we got stuck in traffic, but we'd stopped a little bit, like it was fine.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

Yeah, I'd regularly drive for eight hours, ten hours, like top Scotland, Cornwall.

SPEAKER_02 32:37

Yeah, I've never I've personally never driven. I've been a passenger, sure, but never driven that.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

The longest France was France. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:45

How many hours was that?

SPEAKER_00 32:47

I think that was getting on for 20 hours. Yeah, non-stop driving. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

We had breaks, we had like a wee stuff.

SPEAKER_00 32:54

Yeah, and we we we kind of I had like a half hour sleep on the ferry.

SPEAKER_02 32:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

But I was I was exhausted when we got back.

SPEAKER_02 33:02

Yeah, I can't remember why we had to do that.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

Well, we because we were trying, we didn't know how far we were gonna get, and we tried to stop off to spend one night overnight, but the place was fully booked.

SPEAKER_02 33:12

That was it, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:13

So we were just like, let's just keep going.

SPEAKER_02 33:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:15

Let's just keep driving and get there.

SPEAKER_02 33:17

I remember sleeping in the back with um Alex and Tia. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:20

Yeah. Yeah, that was that's the longest I've ever driven for.

SPEAKER_02 33:22

That was yeah, that wasn't harrowing. I all uh all I remember of that trip is is uh driving.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:29

I remember the water park actually. Yeah. The water park was fun.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

It was nice, it was a good place though. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:35

And we we camped, didn't we?

SPEAKER_00 33:36

We did indeed.

SPEAKER_02 33:37

I liked camping.

SPEAKER_00 33:38

So shall we finish off the episode with a few I will run through some facts and figures about driving?

UK Driving Facts And Electric Growth

SPEAKER_02 33:46

Let's go. You did promise the people.

SPEAKER_00 33:48

I did promise the people. So in 1980, the number of vehicles in use was much lower than what it is today, as we know. Yep. And it's only in the last kind of 40 years that they've really kind of grown up. But in 2007, there were 31 million cars in Great Britain.

SPEAKER_02 34:06

Oh seven, okay. I was 11.

SPEAKER_00 34:09

At 2023, that had risen to 41.2 million. So another 10 million in that short space of time. Of those, one million were zero emission vehicles. So a quarter of them. Well, 2023 was zero emission.

SPEAKER_02 34:27

That's quite cool.

SPEAKER_00 34:28

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

Go us and the environment.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

There we are. So as of 2024, Great Britain has around 246,000 miles of road.

SPEAKER_02 34:37

Damn.

SPEAKER_00 34:38

Out of that, 2,300 miles of motorways.

SPEAKER_02 34:41

Yeah, it makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 34:43

Yeah. In 2023, there were 1.6,000 fatalities on the roads. Uh also in 2023, uh that but that works out about five per billion vehicle miles.

SPEAKER_02 34:56

That's actually quite little.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

It's quite short. It's quite small. So the UK is seeing a major shift to electric as of December 23. That yeah, sort of said that million licensed zero emission vehicles. Electric car registrations are growing fast. In 2020, there was a 184% increase in registering of electric vehicles compared to the previous year.

SPEAKER_02 35:19

Damn. Teslas.

SPEAKER_00 35:21

Teslas. So that that's yeah, that is kind of uh reserved for the elite. Yeah, as we know, the UK government is trying to phase out pure petrol stroke diesel cars to help meet its net zero goals. I still have a petrol. You have a hybrid?

SPEAKER_02 35:35

Uh I do have a hybrid.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

Yum has a hybrid as well. And at work we've got a hybrid. Uh d else to tell you. That's kind of it, really.

SPEAKER_02 35:46

Yeah. Super. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

A few little facts and figures there. There are there are a few more that I looked at, but this is pretty much just same bits and the same thing. Same bits. Same bits on the thing. Same bits on the thing.

Electric Cars And Charging Reality

SPEAKER_02 35:56

Is there anything you want to uh end on in terms of driving? Um how do you feel about electric?

SPEAKER_00 36:03

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:04

It doesn't but doesn't bother me. I'm a little against it. Yeah. Not from environmental reasons, but because we just simply do not have the infrastructure yet.

SPEAKER_00 36:13

We don't have the infrastructure. I mean, your mum went to with was in a fully electric car, and I think she was going to Birmingham.

SPEAKER_02 36:19

And how many times did you have to stop?

SPEAKER_00 36:21

She had to stop quite a few times, and they had to plan the stops where they were going to charge up.

SPEAKER_02 36:25

Yeah, that is too scary to me. I know that a I know that a tank of petrol will get me to London and back. Yeah. Easy. Yeah, yeah. Actually, um we s we s we had less than half a tank used when we went to Epping and back.

SPEAKER_00 36:40

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 36:41

So that was really, really economical. And I I did drive it on eco mode, admittedly, but still, um I thought it was really economical. But yeah, I don't think I don't think we're there yet. I mean, our house in particular is a new build, and yes, we can have electric thing, uh, an electric kind of charger being put into the garage, but then we'd have to park it in the garage and we've only got one car parking space.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

See, I would I would just not enough. I would get a really small electric car to go to work in.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

Yeah, yeah, yeah. See, working back is fine. But we do long distances in our car.

Norwich Transport Problems And Tram Dreams

SPEAKER_00 37:12

That's the one thing that really annoys me, right? And this is a this is a Norfolk thing. Well, it's not just a Norfolk, it's a rural thing.

SPEAKER_02 37:17

It's a rural thing.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

It's a rural thing. It's it's people who live out in the country, and we all experience this across Great Britain. If you live in London, you can jump on a tube, you can jump on a bus, they come every few seconds. It doesn't, you know, you don't need a car. The public transport is good enough to do it. No.

SPEAKER_02 37:31

Norwich is a driving city. You need to drive. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:34

So where I work, I could get the park and ride in to where I work.

SPEAKER_02 37:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:39

But I have to drive past my place of work to get the park and get the park and ride in.

SPEAKER_02 37:43

Which is I just if we swapped houses, we would be fine.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

Exactly. So I did it for a week. I did it for a week where I used the park and ride. For me to drive into work takes eight minutes because I live this side of the city, right? And it's straight in one road and I'm at work. It took me an hour.

SPEAKER_02 38:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:02

An hour.

SPEAKER_02 38:02

Yeah, it's just not worth it. Norwegian's really rubbish for getting into the city. Like the buses, I think the buses for me, to be fair, I'm cosy, but like the buses for me are I think every 15 minutes, which isn't too bad. If you compare that to London on a tube, when tubes come every two minutes, three minutes, like if bad. You know, it's it's longer to wait. And to get home, we only have one bus that leaves at I think like half ten. And if you want to spend, if you want to go out on on on the I knew you said on the pool then. If you want to go out on the pool, if you want to um go out drinking, you you have to stop by ten.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:39

And most places aren't even open until eleven. So it's really silly.

SPEAKER_00 38:43

So I went out a couple of weeks ago with some friends from work, well, and I said to you, I even rang you, didn't I, and said any chance of a lift in, and you rejected it. I did. You did.

SPEAKER_02 38:51

Our car was full of. I know, I know.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

And so I got the bus in.

SPEAKER_02 38:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:55

But even then, I had to get the bus into the city centre and then walk to where they were, because buses don't go to that part of the city.

SPEAKER_02 39:01

I know. That's the other thing about the public transport in Norwich is that they only go to one street.

SPEAKER_04 39:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

And and that one street is actually quite north Norwich. Yeah. So you have to walk to the south of Norwich if that's where you're which is where most of the nightlife is.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

Oh, this is ridiculous. And then I but lucky your mum your mum came to pick me up, so I didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 39:21

Oh no I've got those the wrong way round, sorry. It goes to South Norwich. North Norwich is where all the sun's at.

SPEAKER_00 39:25

Our bus service and our public transport is shit.

SPEAKER_02 39:29

It is shit.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

There's no way to describe it, it's shit.

SPEAKER_02 39:31

How come you don't get the swear jar thing?

SPEAKER_00 39:34

Because I don't say f.

SPEAKER_02 39:35

Oh, it's okay. Shit is fine.

SPEAKER_00 39:37

Yeah, shit is fine. But it's it's like there's there's a there's a film called Blue Juice set in Cornwall, and so they go to there for a surfing thing, and they say, Oh, when's the next train? Tuesday.

SPEAKER_02 39:50

Yeah. That's how it feels in Norwich, is that it's not a big thing.

SPEAKER_00 39:52

That is exactly what it feels like.

SPEAKER_02 39:54

And if you live in a rural place, like I remember when my when my friend lived in Barford, there was a one bus every hour, I think. So if you missed that, and they're barely, they didn't even turn up. And also, it wasn't first bus, which is the the normal one, it was Connect bus, which is the slightly pri like premium bus, which was comfier and smelt nicer, but it was more expensive. And when you're a kid, you don't want the more expensive one, you want the crappy one so you can get into there. Yeah, it was stupid.

SPEAKER_00 40:19

When we were at Sleaford, we had a thing called the Sleaford Nipper, and that was like a mini bus that drove around Sleaford. So Sleaford, which is the smallest town in the entirety of the UK, had a better bus service than what bloody Norwich has got.

SPEAKER_02 40:31

Yeah, it is shocking.

SPEAKER_00 40:33

And that was 30 years, 40 years ago.

SPEAKER_02 40:35

I feel like Norwich would benefit from a tram. I'm just gonna say it.

SPEAKER_00 40:38

Norwich would benefit from a tram.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

Because most of the streets aren't are pedestrianised anyway. So if they put a tram in it, that's not gonna cause that much disruption because cars don't go down there anyway. Exactly. Tram.

SPEAKER_00 40:47

Tram.

SPEAKER_02 40:47

It's the way forward.

SPEAKER_00 40:48

It is. There you go.

SPEAKER_02 40:49

From you could do Cossee, Heatherset, uh, what's the top one? Uh Helsden.

SPEAKER_00 40:54

Helsden, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:54

And then Pornland. Yeah. Uh what's the first one?

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Posic. Posick, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:58

Where where how far? Uh Longstraton. There you go. Boom. There you go, I've I've cured. I've sold sold it.

SPEAKER_00 41:04

But the reason I say that is that I would get a small electric car just to go to and from work.

SPEAKER_02 41:08

Yeah, makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 41:09

Because our but because our bus service is so shaped.

SPEAKER_02 41:11

So rubbish, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

If it was better, I would I would quite happily use public transport and barely use my car. But I I have no other option than to use my car. And it's actually more economical for me to drive into work than to use a park and ride from a from an environment perspective. From an environment perspective.

SPEAKER_02 41:26

Because you're going past it anyways.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

Because our bus bus our service is shocking. Norwich City Council, Norfolk Council, Broadland Council, sort it out.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

Sort it out. Sort it out. Get on it. And can you also lower the price of council tax as well? Yeah, while you're at it. Because if you're not going to give us a bus service, then what are we paying for?

SPEAKER_00 41:43

Exactly. Just turn it out there. Yeah, I agree with you.

SPEAKER_02 41:45

And also, why do you do all the road works at once?

SPEAKER_00 41:47

Yeah, what's she saying?

SPEAKER_02 41:48

Can you not get everyone on one bit of road work and then get it done quicker and then move them on to another bit of road work? Why do you have to do all the little road work with only like three men or women are doing the job?

SPEAKER_00 42:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:01

And then yeah, you could just your project management is out there.

SPEAKER_00 42:05

And then and then you close the thing off completely at night when you've closed it off parter during the day. Yeah. We then divert, we end the divert through. What are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 42:13

And then we have to go on the B1159 in our old Sierra. It's really annoying.

SPEAKER_00 42:17

Oh well done. Nicely played.

SPEAKER_02 42:23

Thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 42:25

Oh I haven't heard that.

SPEAKER_02 42:28

Driving our Sierra down the B1159. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:32

Yeah. For those of you who don't know, there was a band. There was a band many years ago by the name of Addison's Uncle.

SPEAKER_04 42:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 42:39

And it consisted of my friend, my dear friend Phil Pearson as the lead singer. Georgia was the uh violinist, and Peach, who is the guitarist in my band, was their ukulele player. And they were an amazing band, Addison's Uncle and yes. And they had a song called the B1159.

SPEAKER_02 42:57

Which he hated, didn't he?

SPEAKER_00 42:58

What Peach or Phil?

SPEAKER_02 43:00

I feel like Phil hated it.

SPEAKER_00 43:01

Yeah, he no, he didn't he didn't hate it.

SPEAKER_02 43:03

He did have a niece called Addison, which is why they were called Addison.

SPEAKER_00 43:05

He was called Addison's Uncle, which is cute. Yeah. And no, because the B1159 is is it's this childhood thing as that. They always used to drive on that road, which is why I wrote the song. Yeah. But one year at Fairyfest, right, well that while Addison's were playing at Fairyfest, they drove the Sierra into the tent. It was hilarious. Brilliant. It was absolutely brilliant. But I haven't heard B1159 for ages.

SPEAKER_02 43:27

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 43:27

Yeah. Brilliant. Well done.

SPEAKER_02 43:29

It's on YouTube. What's the word? Spotify.

SPEAKER_00 43:33

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Addison's on there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:35

I'll listen to it on the way home.

SPEAKER_00 43:36

Yeah, there you go.

Outro Song And Where To Listen

SPEAKER_02 43:37

Cool. All right. Well, if you enjoyed this uh podcast episode on driving, not evolution, or the evolution of driving. Maybe we should we should if the evolution of driving. The evolution of driving. Here we go. Um you had it here first, folks. Um yeah, so if you enjoy this episode of Bonus Dad, bonus daughter got plenty in the bank, the only thing left to say is cue the outro.

SPEAKER_01 43:55

Gonna drive the salt Sierra down the B1159. Sure there may be five. That could take half the time. The kids have almost gone insane. The white flood of mind. Gonna drive the Saint Sierra down the B1159. On our way back from Nottingham to see family and friends. Staying with the in-laws, sure. Drive you round the pen bar instead of heading straight back home to bring pain to an end. Gonna take the longest route I can through Backton Sidesrand over Strand. It's such a kind of local joke.

SPEAKER_02 44:28

Thanks for joining us on Bonus Dad, Bonus Daughter. Don't forget to follow us on all our socials and share the podcast with someone who'd love it. We are available on all streaming platforms. See you next time. Bye-bye.