I’ve definitely turned into the paranoid nutcase within my friend group in recent years, I hate that everything is “smart” nowadays requiring an app/internet connection & account, just to do basic things that didn’t require any of that before.
What’s some things currently making you ramble like an old man?
In Germany it’s a trend to park on the road (not just one car, but the whole street) in towns and cities, so one constantly has to wait for upcoming traffic to go on. What was once a temporary spot at most, where you had to turn on warning lights, is now standard. Not sure when this became legal or if it’s just overlooked because there are too many cars in this fucking country and we need to fit them somewhere.
It is certainly a very mild concern compared to other growing trends in Germany but just one that came to my mind that no one is talking about.
If there isn’t a no parking area, you can park there. I don’t really see what you mean with that being a trend. People just follow road regulations.
The number of registered cars has risen considerably, even in the last 10 years or so, and cars are getting increasingly bigger. IIRC registered cars in Berlin for instance has risen from 1.2 to 1.4 m in the last decade or so without the city expanding or gaining any meaningful parking space. Law enforcement is typically fundamentally carbrained, so they are lenient on such violations, thinking you can’t punish the poor people who have to park their car somewhere. With modern technologies it could be battled quite effectively, but it’s simply not politically desired in the Autoland. Instead, privacy and bureaucratic overload are made up as excuses on how it’s impossible to get a hold of it.
I think it goes past mildly on the concern scale. Car centricity in German cities already starkly reduces the quality of life there, and we still haven’t even collectively recognised it as a problem, instead it is still getting worse in 2023.
Cities like Berlin need to drastically decrease available parking and invest tons in public transport and bicycle infrastructure. The status quo feels like living in a 19th century industrial town, it’s disgusting.
Same here in india
This has always been the case in the UK and I hate it. My city actually planned on banning it on two of the busiest roads in the city (because obviously people constantly pulling in and out of traffic will always make it worse), but the drivers protested and now the plan is scrapped.
Yeah, driving through Bristol is hell at the best of times
It has always been this way as far as I can remember. Might be because I grew up in Hamburg?
But I can imagine that it has gotten way worse over the years and I just didn’t notice because it’s a slow change.
I’ve noticed it specifically in places I’m only visiting occasionally.
Driving in Hamburg is horrible, my condolences.