All the people panic buying petrol

[Shitfuckcommaetc]

Are fucking selfish, and will be the first to moan when they're takeaway can't be delivered, they can't get a taxi, or places are short staffed as people CAN'T GET TO WORK

god I'm pissed off

I was travelling 200 or so miles home from my DPs today so went out first thing this morning to forage for petrol. The first 3 (supermarket) petrol stations I went to had either no fuel at all, or no diesel. Struck lucky with a small local one which was allowing people to put in £30. 10p.a litre dearer but needs must. I had less than a quarter of a tank so couldn't have got anywhere near home otherwise.

There were signs on the motorway the whole way home that every services had no fuel.

There are a LOT of people who don't need to 'fill up' but have - I've seen lots of people on social media saying oh I only had a quarter of a tank so best fill up. Or people who need a car for work or school run despite this involving distances of less than a mile.

My DP has about 40 miles left in his tank, red light is on, but he only travels about 5 miles per day so hasn't bothered to get any and will wait til things calm down in the week.

I’m not sure why the angst about ambulances. Our local nhs is only allowing them to fill up from their own tank which has near a months supply they are not being allowed to fill up at normal petrol stations only private ambulances are using the petrol stations.

Hgvs don’t even fit in normal petrol stations to fill up so any £30 cap won’t be affecting them.

Our local petrol station is our of diesel and only allowing two small cans or one large to be filled.

Times like this, limiting fuel to each customer to £20, essential workers eg NHS should be allowed to fill up if they show their ID cards. Sunday drivers should just stay home for a week or so until deliveries are sorted, school pickups parents should car share to save fuel etc. But no doubt the selfish will just grab without a thought to others.

@Shitfuckcommaetc

I'm not sure where you live, but it's £3.10 here before the taxi even moves!!!

That's what I thought.

city-guide.london/transport/taxis.php

I used to have to walk @ 3 miles to catch the first bus of the day to get to work on time (the bus journeys were 2hrs+) back in the day. It was miserable for a fair chunk of the year.

I cancelled attending an event this afternoon, it would have been a 3 hour minimum round trip into deep countryside. I’ve got some fuel in my tank but have decided to save it for journeys that are really necessary until I can fill up again when all this stupidity is over.🙄

Do all your trips involve visiting Peppa Pig 🐽?

I'm having radiotherapy. I am just coming into week 3 of 6. I should go 5 days per week.
I need to drive a 46 mile round journey every day.
My fuel level is just above the red zone. Light hasn't come on yet, but will very soon.
The three fuel stations near me are closed. Due to arseholes.
No idea what to do, I went out at 6:30 am this morning to try and get some diesel but the queues were out onto the main road, so stupidly I came home intending to try later. Now there is none to get.

I don’t think it’s selfish to make sure you have petrol. It’s not like you can hoard it like toilet rolls, you can only fill your tank.

Personally I never let my tank get less than a quarter full.

@Yogalola

Times like this, limiting fuel to each customer to £20, essential workers eg NHS should be allowed to fill up if they show their ID cards. Sunday drivers should just stay home for a week or so until deliveries are sorted, school pickups parents should car share to save fuel etc. But no doubt the selfish will just grab without a thought to others.

Ah yes, just like the 'NHS hour' in supermarkets where Debbie who works for the NHS but works from home, can queue jump and get a discount. Such a hero. Not all NHS workers are essential, just like not all non NHS are not essential. The whole wailing about "I'm a keyworker" just brought out the worst in people. Let's not do it again.

I put my usual £25 worth in this morning after queuing for only10 minutes.
I don’t need the fuel until Monday but I have visitors tomorrow so won’t be able to go on a fuel hunt. I work unsocial hours so by the time my shift finishes on Monday there won’t be any public transport as the last bus would have already gone. I could walk it as it is only 4 miles home but the street lights will have been switched off by then and I will be knackered after a shift of physical work.
If I and people like me don’t go in then there won’t be anything on the shelves for you to buy and then you will be crying about shortages.

I hope trains and tube will still work even if there is a shortage of petrol.

I don't have a car. One of the reason why i bought a flat in London rather than moving further out like most people advised me to was because I always thought it was precarious to organize my life on the assumption that petrol/fossil fuels would be indefinitely cheap and easily available. Or that cars would be relatively cheap forever. Sadly some people would have to go without petrol, just hope that there is enough petrol around so food still gets to the supermarkets etc.

@Mothersister

I don’t think it’s selfish to make sure you have petrol. It’s not like you can hoard it like toilet rolls, you can only fill your tank.

Personally I never let my tank get less than a quarter full.

The comparison to toilet rolls falls flat on it's (unwiped) arse anyway. Petrol/diesel gets people to work, school, appointments, holidays etc. Bog roll is something you wipe your ass with. Not comparable. No one lost their job due to lack of shit tickets, or could not get their kids to school, deliver care, get shopping, blah blah. You get my point.

Exactly this

Love it when people say “don’t blame the people, it’s the media!”

Firstly, what do you think the media actually is? A cyborg?
Secondly, it is possible to consume media without turning into a complete fuckwit.

@Whitefire

People need to use common sense. Fill up your tank when it is low and make it last.

If I'm working a tank lasts less than 6 days, can't make it last more.

Can you cycle your child on their school run? Or buddy up with another parent and car share?

DC all walk to school.

Can you car share with someone at work, or work from home a bit more?

No one lives near me, plus I need my car once I'm at work. Not allowed to work from home.

Can you order your groceries online to be delivered? Or cycle to your local shops daily to get just what you need for the day?

Do that, small shops round corner or go to supermarket on way home from work.

I know you will say "so this wasn't aimed at you" but the point is many people already do limit their car use, the ones like a couple of parents that DH sees everyday driving their DC to school which for one is less than a 5 minutes walk, the other barely a minute are not going to change (and they drive straight home again) The 5 minutes one probably takes nearly as long in the car as you can't drive the route you walk, plus there are lights.

I have about half a tank so should hopefully be ok to get to work on Wednesday, hopefully I'll be able to get some at that point, even if I do have to use the £££ service station ones. I'm only not out being part of the panic buying because I really can't be bothered to move off my chair.

Loads of people don't need a full tank, or drive unnecessarily. I live in London, but have a car because family live in a place that's inaccessible by public transport and with 3 kids sometimes it's easier to drive, plus I used to have to drive to work pre-covid, which I now don't. Most weeks I could go without driving if needed, and when I do, it's a short distance.

My neighbour is similar. Another is over 80 and drives once in a blue moon. Both queued up this morning to fill up their tanks .

• hope buses and tube continue to run regularly. Just met a friend for a cinema outing, he said that while the bus was running, there was a massive jam due to all the petrol stockpilers!

Some of the responses on here are ridiculous. No one is saying that people shouldn’t fill up their cars so they can go to work. People are cross with the panic buyers filling up when they still have half a tank or people like that selfish cock who filled up about ten Jerry cans.

Well, the queues have gone now.

Because there is no fuel. Cones at all petrol stations near me.
Am nursing my half tank, and thinking about alternative arrangements for next week :(

I went to university 24 years ago, my brother in law took me as my parents don't drive, two years before that my sister stood up at church and asked if anyone was willing to take her to university.

Taking children to uni at the start of term is not a new thing, life isn't an Enid Blyton novel where you catch a train and your trunk follows after.

In fairness, the forecourts around here don’t look much busier than usual.
Out of principal though I refuse to fill up until my light not only comes on, but starts flashing.

The petrol stations shouldn’t be allowing people to fill up containers. Maybe a £30 cap of filling up one vehicle

@FedNlanders

I'm rural and a care worker. I absolutely can not work to work, there is not even a path.

According to some on MN you can just borrow a bike and cycle

@Whitefire I remember uni 10 years ago. As I was an international student, I had to take a plane and then travel up the Piccadilly line with 5 suitcases between my parents and myself! My parents even packed me a rice cooker in one of them! One entire suitcase was filled with asian condiments! My first memory of London was wheeling my suitcase across the pavement and marvelling at how majestic the Kimpton Fizroy was! My student hall was a short walk away.

I am still a Londoner albeit in zone 3, rather than zone 1. I find it hard to imagine a life where I can't get everywhere using public transport! 99% of my taxi trips are non essential and out of laziness than anything. There is a public transport option even when I go to the airport, I am just sometimes too lazy to lug suitcases. I even bring my hamster to boarding on the bus. the only thing that I can think of where a car was essential was when I bought my first flat and had to move all my stuff out of MIL's house. I used a Uber and dumped a duvet in the back seat!

@User5827372728

The petrol stations shouldn’t be allowing people to fill up containers. Maybe a £30 cap of filling up one vehicle

A blanket policy doesn’t work.

Eg a farmer who needs petrol to run their quad bike. How are they supposed to go over rough terrain to feed sheep etc without the quad?

I know back in the old days they didn’t have quads but they had horses. No one farms with horses anymore. And they had a handful of cows/sheep, not hundreds.

Similar goes for gardeners (as aforementioned in the thread). No petrol - no lawn mowing - no business.

A £30 cap for one vehicle doesn’t work, either. How would you police that? And plenty of people work jobs where they need two cars.

Just read most London buses are electric and the tube is electrified too. Thats a relief....