hmmm, it will all go wrong somewhere its the goverment, just take them off the roads soon get rid of those that aint being used for a proper 4x4 fashion

This is a poor piece of legislation, there are many people who enjoy going off road in their vehicles, and I myself use to ride a trail bike along green lanes. More people who drive off road and are not farmers do so along green lanes, which by law are public rights of way and you, have to be road legal to do this. The majority of off road club like the Trail Riders Fellowship (TRF) help keep these lanes and byway clear, if there is a blockage they will clear it or arrange for it to be cleared benefiting all who you that right of way. With reference to Jeremy Clarkson, he had the land owners permission to drive up the mountain and it you watch that particular clip from Top Gear, there was not a lot of damage, in reality there is more damage done to the environment by ramblers walking across these area each year than TV presenters driving up a mountain, but it's more acceptable for ramblers to do this as it them that are bitching about 4x4’s. Basically this is a bit of electioneering by Labour to get the popular vote… again! I’m sure many of you would agree that there are far more important things for this Government to be concerned about other than driving off road.

It would be easy for each side of this argument to raise example and counter example to support their respective points of view. However the legal road status of green lanes comes from a time when it was not envisaged that there would be significant numbers of people owning motorised vehicles capable of negotiating them. It is time that the legislation was brought up to date. Whether the proposed bill is the right way.... My own view on the use of green lanes by non-agricultural vehicles is that it should be restricted, certainly in national parks, but that planning permission be given to areas for 4x4 usage. Bob The JC thing was deliberately contentious so as to raise viewing figures/awareness of Top Gear. (Sorry that was the cynic in me making an appearance)

I'm sure 80% of 4x4 / scrambler's are OK, pretty sensible about not trashing the place and chewing up the countryside - it is possible to drive with minimum impact. However, the other 20% make a right mess and F**k things up. We get about 5 -10 scrambler bikes past us most weekends from different clubs - they're pretty good, listen to the farmer if he asks them to avoid places and idle past the house to minimise noise. Go for a walk afterwards and there's a bit of chewed up ground, but not much. However, sometime last week, some dickhead decided to go straight up the hill, rather than up the track and chewed a great big scar, which will result in the farmer telling the scramblers to piss off (the council changed the tracks from RUPP's to bridleways last year, so he can, he just turns a blind eye to the fact at the moment). Same goes for 4x4's - I've watched six landies take different routes around a boggy bit of ground, get stuck and cause a right mess, rather than following the obvious track. These six vehicles caused more shit than 5 years worth of the local farmers driving there. When asked why they didn't follow the track, the answer was "It's more fun getting stuck, innit!". Educate / get rid of the 20% of morons who have no respect for the countryside they're travelling through and only think of the petrol head side of things and 4x4's will get better press. If you boil it down to a "mess/person" equation, then 4x4's ARE the worst culprits (even when driven carefully), so unless the 4x4 lobby get out of this headspace of saying "Ramblers / Horses / Mountain Bikers make more mess than we do" and get some hippy tree hugging front on, they will be legislated against as there are way more Ramblers/Horsey people/MTB'rs and they don't appreciate being reminded of the mess they leave behind. Yes, it is pandering to the popular vote, I agree, but they would do that, wouldn't they! Cheers Deri