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Metro
06-07-2025
- Metro
My family day out was ruined by hundreds of swearing hikers
As my family climbed Snowdon at the weekend, there were certain things I expected to see and hear… Serious hikers with poles and calves like marble; charity walkers wearing T-shirts saying 'for Nan'; even a few demoralising runners doing literal loops around us as they completed the Snowdon Skyrace. What I hadn't predicted though, is that the breathtaking views and our sense of achievement would be set to a soundtrack of expletives echoing through the mist. By my count, in the six hours it took us to summit and descend the mountain we heard: 50-plus 'f**k's', around a dozen 's**t's' and even one 'motherf**ker'. Now, I'm no prude, of course I swear: I run my own business, have two kids, and a husband who gives me a daily TED Talk on dishwasher loading technique. I'm also Scottish, meaning I love when the C-bomb is used as a term of affection or, even, when your friends gets it engraved on a gold necklace for you. But unless it's traffic-related (and I've only let two solid 'f**ks' slip in front of the kids – both involving roundabouts and white Audis), most of my swearing is done under my breath, because I don't want my kids swearing. I've always firmly believed that there is a time and place to swear because, let's face it, language matters. Even in my twenties, especially if there were kids nearby, I'd keep it clean. I had a filter. A volume dial. A vague sense of shame born out of a strong desire to be part of a society that doesn't want kids swearing. It's why we've been an 'oh my gosh' family up to now, definitely more 'sugar' than 'sh*t', and why I've heard my husband say, completely unironically, 'drat' and 'crikey' – though even I draw the line at that level of Victorian butler energy. And while I know I can't shield my 10 and 12-year-old from swear words forever, I certainly didn't appreciate them being exposed to such profanity while completing a UNESCO-listed climb. At first, each curse was met with a raised eyebrow and an audible gasp of 'another F-bomb!' as my husband and I tried to make light of the situation. Somewhere around the halfway point though we gave up making jokes about the language and, by the time we reached the summit, it was like we'd played a seemingly never ending game of blasphemy bingo with no winners. The walkers seemed oblivious to the kids, and even as an adult, it was all just a bit much. The kids certainly noticed. Sure, they already know the words (the joys of the playground) but seeing adults, even 50-year-old women, effing and blinding every five seconds was a rude-awakening. Literally. My issue isn't that people swear – I write wedding speeches and formerly TV scripts, so I know that one perfectly timed F-bomb can turn polite titters into full-on snorts – it's that they do so without care. There's no filter, no pause, no thought behind it. Just shouting obscenities into the wind while your 10-year-old tries to spot a summit marker. It's gone from taboo to tonal, with expletives no longer being used for emphasis but rather as lazy vocal fillers. Statistically speaking I shouldn't be surprised as the average Brit swears 10.5 times a day. Young adults (those aged between 16 and 24) clock in at around 14 swears a day while over-55s only rack up a dainty seven. But I miss the days when the public bar was where you could swear, and the lounge bar was where you buttoned up your language. Same pub, different vibe. Not censorship, just reading the room. In some countries, of course, swearing in public isn't just frowned upon – it's illegal . Should public swearing be discouraged? Australia treats public profanity as a criminal offence in many states, with fines under 'offensive language' laws. In Canada, swearing in public parks can lead to charges for causing a disturbance. And Russia goes even further, with fines or even short jail time for public swearing. Even the UK used to be stricter: We had laws dating back to 1694 and 1745 that fined people for profane oaths, which were only scrapped in 1967. And while Thanet District Council tried to introduce a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) last year to ban 'language or behaviour causing or likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress', the order was rescinded following a complaint from The Free Speech Union. The council plans to redraft the PSCO and initiate a public consultation, but reaction to the original order was mixed to say the least. Now, I'm not suggesting we add to the prison population and I certainly don't want to live in a country where swearing at the self-checkout is a criminal offence, but what I am saying is a bit of awareness wouldn't hurt. More Trending For instance, when you're on a mountain with families with school-age kids, perhaps someone shouting 'Where the f**k is Lauren?!' for the eighth time, isn't really necessary. Because when swearing becomes constant, loud, and impossible to ignore around kids, it stops being background noise. Instead, it starts to feel like an ambient act of rudeness. Not edgy, not funny, just inconsiderate. So, maybe we need a new kind of social etiquette. Something like: No litter. No speakers. No shouting 'shagged it' within earshot of toddlers. Or, maybe we should all just try to remember that just because we can swear, it doesn't mean we have to. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing Share your views in the comments below. 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Indian Express
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- Indian Express
Ferrari worth Rs 7.5 crore seized in Bengaluru for road tax evasion; owner pays Rs 1.41 crore to RTO
A red Ferrari SF90 Stradale, one of the most exotic cars to hit Bengaluru streets in recent times, was seized by transport officials on Thursday for dodging road tax in Karnataka, according to a report by NDTV. The supercar, which comes with a starting price tag of Rs 7.5 crore, is registered in Maharashtra, a state where road taxes on luxury vehicles are significantly lower than in Karnataka. Though the Ferrari had become a familiar sight among car lovers in the city, the owner never got around to re-registering it locally or paying the required state road tax. Following a tip-off, officials from the Bengaluru South RTO launched an investigation. They tracked down the vehicle, verified its documents, and found that the car had been operating in the state without fulfilling the mandatory tax requirements. Once the violation was confirmed, the authorities seized the Ferrari and issued a notice to the owner, instructing them to settle the dues by Thursday evening. The notice came with a stern warning: failure to pay would result in legal consequences. The owner responded quickly and paid Rs 1.41 crore, a sum that includes the pending tax and penalties. Officials from the transport department noted that this payment is among the biggest single-vehicle tax recoveries in recent memory. The seizure is part of a wider crackdown by the Karnataka transport department, which has been going after high-end cars evading local taxes. Earlier this year, in February, the department confiscated 30 luxury vehicles–Ferraris, Porsches, Audis, BMWs, Aston Martins, and Range Rovers–for similar violations. Over 40 RTO officers had been involved in that large-scale operation. As per Karnataka's motor vehicle laws, any vehicle that is used regularly in the state must be re-registered and the applicable road tax must be paid–regardless of where it was originally registered. The law is clear: if a vehicle is based in the state for over a year, it must contribute its share toward maintaining local infrastructure. Officials say such enforcement is necessary to ensure fairness and accountability.
Qatar Tribune
02-07-2025
- Automotive
- Qatar Tribune
German court opens trial over shipwreck that sank thousands of new cars
BraunschweigcTypeface:> More than three years after the car transport ship MV Felicity Ace sank with thousands of new cars on board, a German court on Wednesday finally began tackling the dispute over who should be held responsible. The vessel's owner and shipping company, as well as insurance companies, are seeking damages in the three-digit million range at a court in Braunschweig. Similar proceedings are also pending before courts in Stuttgart and Panama. The ship was on its way from Emden in Germany to the United States loaded with around 4,000 new cars from the VW Group - including Porsches, Bentleys and Audis - when it caught fire off the Azores on February 16, 2022. Half a month later, it sank while being towed back to port. The cause of the fire has been disputed ever since, and mediation has failed to resolve the case. The lawsuit is directed against Porsche and Volkswagen Group Logistics. (DPA)
RTÉ News
27-06-2025
- Automotive
- RTÉ News
€910k spent on 11 new cars to transport officeholders
More than €910,000 has been spent by gardaí over the past year to buy 11 new cars for the fleet that transports ministers, the Taoiseach, the President and other officeholders. The average cost of the vehicles - all of them made by Audi - was around €83,000, with the majority of them plug-in hybrid models. Four of the new arrivals were diesel Audi A6 50 TDI Quattro vehicles despite the high environmental emissions they cause. Most of the rest were plug-in hybrids of the same model, bringing the total number of eco-friendly vehicles in the forty-one-car fleet to 22. Nineteen of the cars in the ministerial pool are still diesel cars, a mix of BMWs and Audis and one custom Ford Transit. Some of the cars have amassed colossal mileage on their clocks with four of them having exceeded 300,000km on their odometers. One of them - a BMW 740 bought in 2017 - has run up 358,172km, enough to circumnavigate the globe around nine times. The lowest mileage in the fleet was just 22,705km for an all-electric Hyundai Ioniq that was bought in 2023. Several of the new cars bought last year have already exceeded that with one of the diesel Audis having already clocked up nearly 57,000kms. Gardaí also said that as well as the €913,840 spend during the past 12 months on new vehicles, two old cars had been removed from the fleet. The fleet has grown substantially in size since the 2022 decision to restore garda drivers to all ministers due to security concerns. However, gardaí said that they would not provide a car-by-car breakdown of costs. They said if the pricing information was made available, it could put their supplier at a competitive disadvantage. A decision letter on the request for information said: "There is a public interest in allowing An Garda Síochána conduct its business with external contractors in a confidential manner and having the ability to hold commercial information in respect of suppliers without undue access by members of the public." They also declined to provide details of which cars were allocated to which officeholder.
Irish Examiner
27-06-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Examiner
More than €900k spent on new cars to transport ministers, the Taoiseach, and the President
More than €910,000 has been spent by An Garda Síochána over the past year to buy 11 new cars for the fleet that transports ministers, the Taoiseach, the President and other officeholders. The average cost of the vehicles – all of them made by Audi – was around €83,000 with the majority of them plug-in hybrid models. Four of the new arrivals were diesel Audi A6 50 TDI Quattro vehicles despite the high environmental emissions they cause. Most of the rest were plug-in hybrids of the same model bringing the total number of eco-friendly vehicles in the 41-car fleet to 22. Nineteen of the cars in the ministerial pool are still diesel cars, a mix of BMWs and Audis and one custom Ford Transit. Some of the cars have amassed colossal mileage with four of them having exceeded 300,000km on their odometers. One of them – a BMW 740 bought in 2017 – has run up 358,172km, enough to circumnavigate the globe around nine times. The lowest mileage in the fleet was just 22,705 kilometres for an all-electric Hyundai Ioniq that was bought in 2023. As well as the €913,840 spent in the past 12 months on new vehicles, two old cars had been removed from the fleet. The fleet has grown substantially in size since the 2022 decision to restore garda drivers to all ministers due to security concerns. However, An Garda Síochána said they would not provide a car-by-car breakdown of costs. They said if the pricing information was made available, it could put their supplier at a competitive disadvantage. They also declined to provide details of which cars were allocated to which officeholder. Read More Seán Kelly signals interest in presidential race as Fine Gael eyes internal contest
