Interestingly, wen ah wer a lad in Bradford, we had trolley buses on some routes which, to the best of my memory, were virtually silent except perhaps for tyre noise.
For some reason, we didn't need any 'Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems'. 

We simply used our eyes.
A lost skill, perhaps?

I suppose in those days no-one had those noise-generating machines which plugged into your ears, along with mobile phones which, I understand, are designed to make you look directly down at them rather than at your surroundings!

Quote from: Ashy on Today at 06:04:04 PMThey will be severely punished at the ballot box when the time comes. I am convinced of that.

And all they had to do was follow conservative, i.e. sensible and even popular policies. But no, they went off into their make believe world and here we are.

Bearing in mind what has happened over the past 14 years, I wonder how long ago it was when the Liberals invaded the Conservative party.

I'm not sure about the beginning, when Cameron was PM.  Although he was a hopeless failure, and a coward who ran away when we didn't support his wish to remain in the EU, but I don't know that he himself was a Liberal.

Then May came along.  She, of course, did a great deal of damage.  Among other things, she sacked half of the police and, I believe, caused us many problems which are coming to fruition today by changing several things and not for the better.

Boris, of course, was a buffoon and I suspect that many people of influence with whom he dealt took advantage of him.  Yes, of course, he lied about his parties and who knows what else!

Poor old Truss didn't last two minutes, so I cannot possibly condemn her!

Now Sunak has been 'in charge' for nearly two years.  I can't think of any important changes which he has made and, in fact, I think that Mr Wishy-Washy doesn't have a clue what to do anyway, though he promises a lot!

That's how things work today!

Quote from: GrannyMac on Today at 04:23:21 PMI don't wish to see the collapse of the NHS

IMO in these parts it has already pretty much collapsed.

Quote from: GrannyMac on Today at 04:29:41 PMLondon is a false reading for the rest of the UK.  Lots of places are still almost all white British.  However, I think there's going to be an almighty backlash at some point. 🙄

London is a false reading for much of the UK, I agree.  However, London isn't alone.  

I was born and brought up in Bradford.  In 1952, and for several years afterward you would never see a black or brown face.  In the late '60s, perhaps, I remember there being black people, West Indians, who were mostly the same religion as my parents: Christians.  I don't remember any trouble from them in those days.

It was in the mid-'70s when brown people began to appear, presumably from Pakistan (as that was the nationality that people referred to).  Even so, there was no trouble, although one family upset my dad who had an off-licence shop and the only telephone locally.  He was kind enough to allow them to make use of his telephone, only to find out soon afterwards that they were ordering in goods for sale in a shop on the next corner which they then opened.  We lost a lot of trade afterwards, as more of those people moved into the area.  I suppose they had done nothing illegal, but my dad was very annoyed with them for obvious reasons.  We moved away soon afterwards.  

That was about 40 years ago.  Things have become very much worse now.  Most of Bradford is non-white; there are more mosques than churches; and there are actually some parts of the city in which it is dangerous for white people to enter.

I should suggest that Bradford certainly isn't alone either.  As we all know, there are several other English cities and towns like Bradford and London.  I'm sure that there will be even more before very much longer.

They will be severely punished at the ballot box when the time comes. I am convinced of that.

And all they had to do was follow conservative, i.e. sensible and even popular policies. But no, they went off into their make believe world and here we are.

Won't help the deaf. Perhaps a small diesel engine belching out stinky black smoke would do the trick.

I gather he is a psychiatrist. Keep away from them.

Transport for London has taken on board the problem of quieter buses, which is that people cannot hear them coming, and can walk into a dangerous place. This is known as "Acoustic Conspicuity".

"Acoustic Conspicuity
An Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS) is a system to make quiet running (e.g. electric, hybrid-electric, and hydrogen) buses as identifiable to pedestrians, and other road users outside the vehicle, as a standard diesel bus. This is intended to help Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) detect the presence of a bus and the collision risk it represents if they were to cross in front of it.

Regulation will require that electric and hybrid buses are fitted with AVAS on new models from July 2019, and on all new builds from 2021. TfL is mirroring the regulatory requirements but has chosen to implement them sooner, subject to legal review.
The current sounds that are being used are developed by motor manufacturers to reflect their individual brand and vehicle characteristics. The technology can be transferred to buses (Category M3) provided an appropriate sound is developed to characterise a unique larger vehicle. TfL is investigating the development of an"urban bus" sound. The aim of this is to harmonise the AVAS sounds across London's bus fleet, regardless of which company has manufactured the bus, thereby minimising the number of new sounds introduced into an already very busy and noisy environment, and avoid the risk of confusing VRUs."

The pub was packed on Saturday night
Ethel and Maggie pole dancing, what a sight
The pole was greased with thick beef dripping
It stank something horrid, and the pair kept slipping