New service station rules. Totaly Mad.

[TSM]

MAD.

New rules deterring service stations from serving hot food and drinks at night
are threatening road safety, say watchdogs.

Official government advice tells tired drivers to drink two cups of coffee and
rest for 10-15 minutes.

But new regulations for England and Wales prohibit petrol forecourt stores
from selling hot food and drink between 11pm and 5am without paying hundreds of
pounds for a local authority licence.

The cost for smaller outlets makes it not worthwhile going through the
application process, the foundation said.

Licence application fees to serve hot food and drink at night include a
one-off fee of up to £635 and an annual renewal fee of up to £350.

The RAC Foundation said that motorists and motorcyclists, for whom fatigue is
a major problem, could now be more prone to death and injuries through lack of
overnight stops.

Kevin Delaney, head of road safety for the RAC Foundation, said: "A hot drink
late at night can be a lifesaver. Motorists are less likely to take a break if
garages stop serving hot food and drinks at night, and may be more likely to
fall asleep at the wheel.

"The foundation is writing to the Culture Secretary calling on the Government
to introduce an exemption so that forecourt stores can continue to provide this
important community service. Tired motorists must have easy access to a hot
coffee to fight fatigue."

[Spiderman]

Yet another quality example of the govts real attitude about road safety. Make as much money out of it as you can, thru any means neccesary.

Yet i dont hear a single one of them saying "Maybe its not really the best idea to sell alcohol at petrol station shops"

All of those rules came on top of the alcohol licensing changes. They're to do with stopping too many places serving hot food after the pubs close. The aim being, I suppose, to stop the mess and fights outside kebab houses.
Obviously not thought through and is very much a problem. I've run into this a few times, myself.

[Biker Biggles]

They just can't keep their grubby interfering snouts out of our lives for one moment can they?Bloody government.

[embee]

Originally Posted by Carsick

.......Obviously not thought through .

Government legislation. QED

sounds like another way to impose a tax, don't you have enuf already?

Originally Posted by RandyO

sounds like another way to impose a tax, don't you have enuf already?

They need to make the money back that they're not going to get due to the smoking ban

.

Two phrases spring to mind:

S.N.A.F.U.

F.U.B.A.R.

If anyone can PM me with what they mean.. they get.... erm... something.

But yeah, typical example of the Governments Knee Jerk reaction to any small issue. They want to tackle a particular problem, rather than spending time and effort thinking it through in a logical fashion, they take a knee jerk reaction and ban the whole thing -i.e. this comingon the back of the licensing laws.

If the private sector took their business decisions as rash as these guys are doing, the economy would collapse onto its knees in no time at all.

COME ON TONY, PULL YOUR FINGER OUT AND DO SOMETHING PROPER FOR A CHANGE YOU USELESS ****!

[anna]

Originally Posted by getyerkneedown

COME ON TONY, PULL YOUR FINGER OUT AND DO SOMETHING PROPER FOR A CHANGE YOU USELESS ****!

Why start now???

Better late than never, right?