Driving, accidents and a cash cow

25 February

Our parcels arrived just after 8 o'clock this morning; clever these couriers aren't they? Actually though, I should have sympathy with them seeing as I worked for the local Interlink deport for about five years. At least now I know who others felt when I knocked on their doors so early.

There's a cross roads in the Walsgrave area of Coventry that is a regular accident spot. One road is the A4600 that runs from Junction 2 of the M6 into the city centre. One road off is to a housing estate and the one opposite that is a road that allows you to get from one side of the city to t'ther by-passing the centre. At the cross roads there's a set of traffic lights supposedly controlling the traffic at that junction. Well, it isn't working cos yesterday there was yet another smash there, this time a 16 year old girl was killed there yesterday. Why did she have to die?

Top and bottom of it is poor, dangerous driving. Stand at any traffic lights you like and watch what happens. It won't be long before you see drivers racing to cross the lights before the opposing traffic starts moving. It's not just young male drivers either. They are young and old, male and female, no group can be singled out. If one of them was to get a speeding ticket they will moan and complain about councils using motorists as a cash cow. But if they really wanted to make a lot of money out of motorists, they would install cameras at traffic lights. There they really would clean up.

Top and bottom of it is a lack of patience and poor judgement. I don't the details of yesterday's smash of course but somewhere someone was in too much a hurry, a hurry that cost someone their life. Oh how I wish we would all slow down. Set off a bit earlier. Perhaps consider a different route that might be quicker at a different time. How many people have to die before things change?  Maybe it's time to consider a regular retesting of all drivers after a few years of driving. Suggest it elsewhere and listen to the howls of the speeders at having to retake the test.

And I don't mean just the practical part either, the theory side should be retested too. My brother Dave passed his driving test in 1968/69, not sure when. But I asked him when he had last read the highway code after a row about driving standards after he'd had yet another smash himself. His reply was, 'The night before my test and that's good enough for me.' I say no more there.

But another issue that should tested on a regular basis is health and eye sight. I've known many people, Dave included, who shouldn't have been driving because of the state of his eyes. I ask again, what has to happen before all this is finally brought in?

And so for a photo ... 

More shoppers at the market on Saturday.

And the Sage has spoken again ...

A young couple and arrived at the hotel where they were spending the first night of their honeymoon. They opened the champagne and began undressing. When the bridegroom
removed his socks, his new wife asked, "What's wrong with your feet? Your toes look all mangled and weird.
"I had tolio as a child," he answered.
"You mean polio?" she asked.
"No, tolio. The disease only affected my toes."
When the groom took off his trousers, his bride once again asked,
"What's wrong with your knees? They're all lumpy and deformed!"
"As a child, I also had kneasles," he explained.
"You mean measles?" she asked.
"No, kneasles. It was a strange illness that only affected my knees."
The new bride had to be satisfied with this answer.
As the undressing continued, her husband at last removed his underwear.
"Don't tell me," she said. "Let me guess...
SMALLCOX !"