Drivers we hate the most

Don't leave home without your sense of Humour

A poll was recently taken in Britain to determine who drivers hate the most among themselves. The result was that all drivers hate each other, and passengers think the driver is always crazy.

There is nothing new about these findings. This is the way it has always been in every country around the world. I just don’t know what it is that happens every time a person sits behind the wheel, but we all seem to undergo some kind of metamorphosis. We see kind and gentle accountants suddenly change into raging lunatics, capable of the most shocking road rage.

The words that come out of the mouths of demure ladies when they get cut off makes the hair on my back stand on edge. This subject is just crying out for study by some institution with the means and ability to get to the bottom of the mystery.

In the results of the study of ten groups, the ranking was as follows:
Tenth Place: Drivers with Caravans on holiday. They are looking at the scenery and taking their time. That just drives the rest of us up the wall.
Ninth place: Foreign Lorry Drivers. They don’t bloody well know where they are going, and they take up so much space. The perfect nuisance when you’re trying to get home for dinner.
Eighth place: Flipping taxis and mini-cab drivers. These people should all show bumper stickers that say “As a matter of fact, I do own the road!”
Seventh place: School run moms. When school is out traffic flows freely. Why do they have to drive such tanks to pick up the kids. I saw a mother in a Hummer. That is a war vehicle. They say it’s for self-defence.
Sixth place: Bleeding Sunday drivers. Having spent the entire week doing battle with traffic, why would someone say on Sunday, “come on, let’s go for a drive in the country?” During the week they drive like Lewis Hamilton. Sundays, they are Mr. Snail. Grrrr!
Fifth place: Mr White Van Man. You don’t actually have to be white to belong to this group. I don´t know whether they are as bad as, or worse than cab drivers, but honestly, there should be a law.
Fourth place: I don’t understand why those stereos –on-wheels should be in this list at all. I think it’s really cool to have a top sound system in my car. What would be the point if you can’t enjoy it too?
Third place. Mr. Show-off. His intention is simply one thing: to charm the pants off the girls. As a young man I thought it was only fair that having bought my super cool car, if a young woman accepted a ride she should expect to come across. (What the hell was I thinking?)
Second place: Courtesy. In England little road courtesies are commonly practised, but people who are at the receiving end must remember to acknowledge their appreciation. In Spain road courtesy doesn’t exist, so no problema!
First place: God, how we hate those damned Boy Racers. Never mind that we were all young once and offended everybody else on the road. Now I’m seventy and I just do not appreciate getting cut up by someone my own son’s age. Oh dear! He is my own son.

Happy motoring everyone! Don’t forget to smile!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Driving against the Flow of Traffic

We call this an accident. It's really simply a crash that might have been avoided.

My recent motorcycle crash was caused by a car moving against the lawful flow of traffic. That sent me in search of other incidents of this nature, and what might have been some of the consequences. In my case I have a broken leg and a cast that I will have to live with for six weeks, not to mention the discomfit.

No sooner had I started my search did I come across an incident that happened recently in the United States. A woman attended a family and friends picnic in the country, at which she drank alcohol and smoked marijuana. At the end of the day she borrowed a car and piled into it five children, her own and a friends, the oldest of which was nine, and set off to drive them home. However, she promptly drove into the wrong lane and didn’t appear to notice.

For two miles she drove at speed, and through divine intervention she missed all the on-coming vehicles until luck ran out and she slammed head-on into an oncoming car carrying three adults. Those three people were killed outright, and her car exploded into a ball of fire, killing all but her own son, who was badly burned.

This is a statistic that just simply didn’t have to happen. It was caused recklessly and stupidly and is just plain indefensible.

Question: Does anybody out there still think that it’s a good idea to drive with alcohol in your system, and is it a good idea to take illicit drugs of any kind?

This makes my broken leg seem not so important after all.

There was a time when I was most frightened on the road. It was the day that I met a driver on the highway coming towards me in the wrong direction. We were on the A 7 travelling North and we had just passed the junction with the road to Madrid. All three lanes were occupied and traffic was moving fluidly, when off in the distance we could hear the blowing of horns and something strange was taking place. A vehicle with its lights on and occupying the left lane, sometimes called the fast lane was coming our way.

There was a short break between us and the traffic ahead and we could see that the driver was making a left hand signal. We all went to our hazard lights at the same time and that great body of traffic reduced speed as though we had rehearsed together. The driver made a flawless u-turn then picked up speed ahead of us and took the first exit.

Is it possible to accidentally enter a highway and drive against traffic if there is nothing to impair your judgement? I think this is so because in most cases there is only a painted line on the road to divide the exit ramp from the on ramp. If something distracts your attention just for a moment it would be possible to cross over that line. However, it has to become apparent very quickly that you are doing something very wrong.

Unless, of course you are impaired by drink or drugs or tiredness. All of these things are fatal and should be avoided at all costs. You may not be so concerned for my benefit, but for self-preservation alone I expect you to care, because by now we all know how deadly these things are.

I don’t want to leave this without bringing into the picture the whole culture of drugs, and that includes alcohol when talking about having a good time. I no longer will go to someone’s home in the United States, except my family because I was always confronted by that tray with a choice of poison. “Do a line? Smoke a joint? Drop some pills? What’s your pleasure? “ Trying to refuse would lead to all manner of bad reactions. “You must be a narc!” “Do you think you’re better than we are?” I never got a return invitation and had no intention of ever going back. Meanwhile, the United States are giving Mexico a hard time to do more to stop drugs coming over their border, when in fact it is the buyers in America who are responsible for the problem.

The first time that a drug importer brings in a shipment and no-one buys it, he will change into a different business.

Finally, others can make such fatal mistakes such as British drivers coming to the European Continent, or vice-versa. Usually the problem arises when entering a major road from a minor road. If there is no traffic to remind us which side to use it is all too easy to make a mistake.

Take care out there. No one says that you have to die on the road!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Anticipation, again!

Three Golden Rules: Anticipation; Anticipation; and Anticipation!

Anticipation starts with the first letter of the alphabet, which is how it should be as this is the first and most important rule of the road. Anticipate what might happen and you can be better prepared when it does happen.

I have followed this rule loyally over many years and in the process I have avoided a great many potential accidents. I have written about it before and I have tried to encourage readers to do likewise. An accident avoided is worth its weight in gold. An accident that occurs can potentially spoil your whole year.

Just two of the calamities I’ve avoided were (a) not knocking down the child that ran out into the street and stood directly in front of my car. I avoided crashing into him because it caught my eye that his father was not looking after him, so I felt that I had to be extra careful.

(b) Up ahead there were two cyclists. The one that was ahead was an adult woman who was riding on the right-hand side of the road, and behind her was a very young girl who was on the left-hand side. My instinct told me that she would cross over to join her mother without taking care of traffic. At the point when I would have passed her she suddenly simply crossed over without regard to me. Her mother never even glanced back to see how she was doing. Some times we motorists have enormous responsibility cast upon us by some very stupid adults. We have to learn the art of anticipation.

I recently had a crash on my motorcycle because I had lowered my guard and failed to anticipate. I was travelling within our pueblo and I needed to leave the main road by turning into a side street that is one way going in. Everybody knows that, and recently it has become a very busy street as the main Calle Mayor is closed due to works. So I approached at a very moderate speed of about 15 kph and made my turn into the street that has high buildings on both sides, so visibility is limited. Just as I was at the entrance there came a car heading out of the street contra to the flow of traffic.

I acted quickly to stop, but unfortunately there was just enough gravel on the ground to cause my bike to slide out from under me and down I went. I didn’t crash into the car, and I didn’t even damage the bike. However, my leg was trapped under the bike in such a way that as I went down my tibia snapped.

I’m sure that it will turn out that the driver was from another town, because everybody in my town knows not to drive in the direction that he was proceeding. However, the point I’m making is that it really does pay to stay vigilant. Although you know that traffic on a one-way system means that the flow of traffic should be from your left, or your right, that does not mean that absolutely there will be nothing coming from the wrong direction. You will be right, but that is very small comfort when you are sitting here with your leg in traction having to suffer from someone else’s mistake.

Some things to bear in mind when on the road:

- You are not the only person using the road, so make allowances for other traffic.
- When approaching a junction, even if you have the right of way, be sure you know that the other fellow will cede it to you.
- Drive within your capabilities when it comes to speed. That means adjusting your speed to road conditions, the weather and night time driving.
- Beware of children, and especially the elderly who might stumble in front of you if they are undergoing a moment of unsteadiness.
- Anticipate pedestrians who might pop into your path. You have to swerve for pedestrians.
- Beware of animals that are not on a lead. When animals dart out in front of your car or truck, the general rule is that you should not swerve as that can lead to loss of control. This is something that is easier to say than to do. However, if you see up ahead one dog cross the road, then you should anticipate that another will follow.
- When entering the unfamiliar territory of a town that you are visiting, assume that you will be in a complex set of streets and make absolutely certain that you are doing the correct thing before heading down each street. This can also save you some great difficulties by avoiding dead-ends.
- Above all else, stay focused in your driving and don’t allow the familiarity of travelling the same piece of road to disarm you. That’s a lesson that I have learnt to my own pain and dismay.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Life can be Funny/ Strange/ Peculiar

Life can be Funny/ Strange/ Peculiar and Surprising!

On Sunday 11th October I wrote a blog about “Selfish Motorists.” It was brought on by the fact that I have witnessed countless acts of absolute self-centeredness here in Spain that would get one killed in certain other parts of the world. The last straw was the couple with a “Wales” sticker on their car who drove into a Mercadona car park and deliberately took up two spaces, both reserved for the handicapped.

I though of having a dialogue with them, but anybody so cold as to do such a thing is not about to learn anything from me. I reasoned that they have to experience for themselves what it is like to be a handicapped person, even on a temporary basis, and to have their rights trampled upon by the selfish and uncaring. I ended that rant with an appeal to respect the rights of the handicapped before ourselves needing those rights.

Well, life can be funny and strange and peculiar. On Wednesday, October the 14th, while riding my motorcycle in my little village I came face to face with a car that was moving against the lawful direction of traffic and I went down in a slow-motion crash and broke my leg.

I don’t ever recall having parked in a handicapped space, or otherwise abused the rights of the handicapped. In fact, on occasion I have actively worked to benefit those not fully able, so the question arises why me? The answer can only be that I have opened the subject, and now I must carry through and share with readers what it is like being disabled. Hopefully, some good will come from my story.

The crash occurred at 10:45am, and neither vehicle was damaged. I took myself to the nearest clinic and they despatched me to hospital by ambulance. Any emergency department of a big city hospital must be the most interesting place on earth. I was taken to the Hospital Arnau de Villanova in Valencia. Here we see humanity at its most vulnerable. Pain and discomfit is the great leveller. In the outside world you may be a mover and shaker, but in here we all speak the same language, and that is “Help Me Please!”

The crush of people needing to be seen right away is daunting, and I have collected notes from my observations that I will make into a separate blog. For now it is sufficient to say that I was checked in at reception, then passed along through triage, and another office that took more in-depth information from me, and then to x-ray, and after five hours waiting, I finally saw the doctor in the trauma unit.

“I have to tell you that you have broken your leg and an operation will be required to reset it.” Not good news, but also not unexpected. I requested that I be transferred to the hospital that my insurance uses, “el hospital nou de octubre.” I was delivered to their emergency department where the process started all over again, and eventually by 11pm I was admitted and in my room.

The operation took place the next day and was successfully completed in spite of the break being in the most problematic place in my leg. I now am carrying two long screws that periodically give me electrical shocks. Airport security will now be an interesting experience. The extraordinary thing to bear in mind is that it was one year ago, October 16th that I was at this hospital having a bunion removed, and now I was having more surgery on the same foot.

I must not leave the hospital without saying how absolutely professional everyone is. They are super busy but are able to maintain their good nature, and even inject a smile every so often, which is just as good as any other medicine.

Now I am at home with a heavy cast on my left leg, and I have to cope. My wife is wonderful, but she will return to work during the week, so I will have to learn to deal with everyday tasks. Already I am finding that there are very little things that annoy me. I have converted my office chair with wheels into a wheel chair. Some of the floor tiles are uneven, something I don’t even realise normally, but they stop my chair and make moving about difficult.

Whether I’m moving about on my crutches or in my chair, I’m suddenly being left behind as the whole world passes me by. From my chair I’m constantly looking up, and I do notice that I have become invisible to most of the world that just doesn’t have the time for Mr. Go-Slow.

From my last experience on crutches, I remember having stumbled and I nearly fell in the street. That was met by outright laughter from two women who must have seen it as something from Monty Python. I don’t expect to be going too far for a while. In fact, the authorities might like to think about hobbling prisoners in this way with a heavy cast-like apparatus on a leg. They could stay at home without making too much mischief.

Stay tuned, as there will be more to report in the future. Meanwhile, please respect the rights of the disabled. You never know when you might need those rights yourself.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Selfish Motorists

Please Respect This Sign Today. You May Need It Tomorrow!

I have to be open and honest from the beginning, this is a rant about selfish motorists. If I offend you because you are one of the people about whom I’m complaining, that's what I intend to do. But if I can get you to think about your actions and perhaps to correct them, that will be worth the effort.

Everyday I see things that are so self-centred; that are done without any concern for anyone else, that I am astonished and outraged. Starting with the way many people drive, they position their cars by cutting corners without knowing whether or not anyone is coming the other way. This often results in frontal crashes. Frankly, if the offending driver is killed that’s one less menace on the road. Unfortunately, it’s probably all too often the other driver to suffer the worst of it.

On a recent visit to Mercadona supermarket in Lliria, near the Pla D’ Arc, a driver with a Wales sticker drove his car into the parking area and parked it at an angle across two parking spaces. This all by itself was bad enough, and he showed not the least concern that he was taking up two parking spaces. However, both spaces were clearly marked reserved for Handicapped Drivers. The crassness of these people’s selfishness took my breath away. Bastards! Shame on you! There can be no excuse. In case they could not read Spanish there was even a picture to assist these morally dead idiots.

Then there is the offence of simply parking in Handicapped reserve spaces by people who are clearly handicapped, but only in so far as they have shit where their brains should be. When we do this, we are simply saying to the handicapped: Fuck You!

Then there are those people who park in loading/unloading areas reserved for delivery trucks. This is a selfish thing to do, especially when there is a dire shortage of parking spaces. I have been tempted to do the same, but instead I will go and find a pay parking area that’s perhaps a little farther away.

There is one offence that is so often committed that makes me so angry I feel like doing something drastic to remedy the situation. In many places the city has made provision for people who are confined to their wheelchairs to be able to access the sidewalk, and to go from one to another. They have made a slope in the sidewalk, but, in so many cases along comes a car and they park right across the access point. The driver just gets out and walks away.

I try and imagine how a handicapped person must feel when they come to this point, and I can only think that they must be so angry and hurt at the same time. When a policeman sees this he should call in the grua and tow the vehicle away. The driver's fine should be at least 1,000 euros, mainly for his insensitivity and to teach him or her a lesson.

I will only say that there can be one solution to permanently remedy this situation, and that is that such drivers should meet with an accident that places them in a wheelchair. It need only be for a limited time, but the first time that they are confronted by such wilful neglect for their welfare by someone who should have been more sensitive the message will have been driven home. Trying to talk to these people will be an exercise in futility as they are obviously too stupid to accept the truth.

I´m sure there are many other examples, and we need to think before we act. When trampling over the rights of the handicapped we should remember that our fully capability status today could change in an instant. It is in our own interest to protect the rights of the handicapped before we need those rights ourselves.

“There but for the Grace of God, go I.”


Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

The Trials of Formula One

Some time ago I wrote posing the question of why is it that one year Formula One seems to produce one driver who leads the field consistently, and the next year that same driver can hardly get in a first place finish. There was a time when the finish of a race was predictable: Michael Schumacher would win in his Ferrari. That was the case race after race, and year after year. Fans got bored and ticket sales fell. So, Schu retired leaving the field open for anyone to win.

Then we got Fernando Alonso, the pride of Spain, and that was followed by that fabulous year of Lewis Hamilton. That was only last season. This year he has hardly been heard from. What happened?

My question was whether there was a possibility that there was a conspiracy to keep up interest in the sport, so that no one driver would dominate it as had Schumacher. I had speculated that if fans got the idea that races were being fixed they would probably turn their backs. There were allegations of teams ordering one of their drivers to allow the other to go through to win, which would be bad enough. Now we have hard evidence apparently of just such a thing happening.

The case of Renault and the order to Nelson Piquet, Jnr to crash his car to favour Alonso is outrageous. To deliberately do such a thing, with all its unintended dangerous consequences is just not acceptable. Small wonder there was such a furore that resulted in the life time ban from the sport of Renault’s Flavio Briatore over the alleged attempt to fix the outcome of the Singapore race.

There is so much money and so much to gain (and lose) in Formula One that it is hardly surprising that the sport has had more than its share of scandals. I would like to think that when I pay 500 euros to witness a race, what I will be seeing is a pure contest between drivers and constructors. So many people have the impression that wrestling is fixed and phoney that they simply don’t bother with it.

Formula One might well be headed in that direction. Management have got to be tough and vigilant and transparent. Formula One has enough problems already without manufacturing any more.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Atten-shun!

Staying Alive

When was the last time your attention to your driving diminished? Was it your last journey? Does it happen every journey? In my case it happens just about everytime I get in the car. When I am driving over familiar territory I find my mind wanders off to think about what I will do with the proceeds of winning the lottery; or perhaps I’m already writing this blog, or any number of things.

When I’m driving over new territory it could be worse as I get to look at all the new stuff. I admit that this is a shocking admission, but it’s the truth. I’m not suggesting that my attention is distracted for long periods. Just a second or two is all it takes to crash your car. For instance, when your eye catches something along the side of the road, just for the proverbial second, and then you look straight ahead only to realise that the traffic has stopped and you are about to crash headlong into the line of cars, what’s your reaction? You panic, right?

We all do, and that example has happened to just about everybody who drives at one time or another. The fact is that you have to interrupt your concentration from time to time, otherwise you will become fixated. The trick is to choose the time and place to take that necessary break. If you do so when the line of traffic is way ahead of you and you’re on a straight road, then maybe you’ll be alright.

A well dressed businessman who was driving behind me along the main entrance road into the city of Valencia, chose that time to turn his head and look directly at his passenger while engaged in conversation. Meanwhile, I had stopped for the traffic light. Just because he was well dressed and driving a Mercedes didn’t make him an intelligent person. He rammed straight into the rear of my car, then looked absolutely startled. I felt I could have slapped him with a car jack.

I don’t have statistics to hand, but I am prepared to bet that the real cause of most accidents involve inattention. It might seem that speeding is at the top of the list, or driving while impaired due to drink or drugs, but it’s easy to see how a loss of concentration could tip the balance.

So, this is just a timely and cautionary suggestion: promise yourself to always pay attention when appropriate while behind the wheel. A motor car or truck, or whatever can do a lot of damage if you’re not careful. To say after the fact that you didn’t intend to kill someone, does not help anything at all

Copyright (c) 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Policemen/Fundraiser

Revenue Officers?

The motoring public are up in arms, and perhaps we should be. Suddenly we find ourselves up against the wall as our pockets are emptied along the highway by bandits. These bandits are dressed in the uniform of a policeman, the officers to whom we look for protection. Suddenly they are the ones who are demanding money with menaces.

Our society is policed with our consent, and our society also works only if we respect the laws and the people who carry out the laws. Consequently, we expect the men and women who police us to conduct themselves in exemplary fashion. We don’t always get that to the letter, but generally, in the Spanish state the police do hold themselves in high regard.

It seems as though City Hall has forgotten all that and has given their police forces the order to bring in revenue as the coffers are bare. If I am correct in that assumption that would explain the behaviour of certain police establishments. How else do we explain a sudden rush of fines on the spot for petty offences such as not standing still at a stop sign long enough; not driving in the right-hand lane of a three lane one-way road without cause; and especially not being in strict compliance with speed signs.

To be fair, if you have been passing a box in which there was supposed to be a working radar, and it has always been empty, and suddenly it has a radar and you are nicked speeding, then fair enough. The sign said “Speed controlled by radar.” You now have no basis for complaint, even if you received multiple fines.

However, some situations approach desperate attempts to rip off motorists. There is a stretch of roadway that I travel everyday that is simply a trap, anytime the police wish to spring it. At the start of the stretch between two towns there is no sign posted to say what is the legal speed. It could be either 80 or 90. I have always assumed it to be 80 to be on the safe side. Shortly after entering on the road we come upon a sign at a dangerous crossing that says 60. Our speed should be no more than 60 when passing that sign and should remain so until we pass the next sign upping the limit.

That sign doesn’t appear. The next sign we pass says 60 as it is another dangerous exit and entrance. Quite a distance along we come to a sign that says 70, meaning that we should reduce our speed to 70 as it’s another slightly dangerous turnoff. Clearly then, we were supposed to be travelling at a higher speed. The next sign to that one says 60 as we pass another dangerous point.

Legally, although someone intends (I think) that traffic should travel between the restricted zones at 80 or 90, we are never authorised to do so. It’s just a matter of time until the traps are sprung. Using policemen in this manner is, or should be a crime and it makes the police criminals in uniform. However mayors may try to justify their demands, having the police pull people over and empty their pockets is no better done by the police than the highwayman.

Here are some more offences, among others, that are rarely prosecuted, except when City Hall’s bank account needs to be topped up: double parking; parking on yellow lines; parking on sidewalks, changing lanes without a signal; driving with one hand draped out the window; parking across a pedestrian crossing; driving with the boot in the up position; wearing backless sandals; carrying inappropriate loads in a car; unsecured seat belts; and talking on the phone while driving. (I saw a policeman doing this.)

I end this with a plea to those who control the police: Return the police to bona-fide policing and give them back their dignity.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

A Fine is serious business. It is the price we pay for learning a lesson.

Samoa changes from Right Hand to Left Hand

The island nation of Samoa in the South Pacific has taken a very bold step. Not since the 1970’s has any country been so brave and confident in changing the side of the road that they drive on. Business owners have changed the names of their business, and even countries have changed their names, and that is problematic enough, and expensive in the extreme, but to change from one side of the road to the other seems like a suicide mission.

The Samoan islands are located approximately halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. There are two major islands, one was formerly known as American Samoa and the other as German Samoa. The total land mass is slightly smaller than Rhode Island in the United States, and the population is about 179,000. Islanders speak their own native Samoan as well as English. They gained their independence on July 1, 1962.

The Samoan islands have had a very chequered past that at times has brought islanders into sharp dispute with their colonizers. From the end of World War II the New Zealanders, more than anyone else have had more of a controlling force upon the lives of the islanders, although people from the former American Samoa tend to emigrate to Hawaii and the United States, and to continue American culture.

The need for making such a major change in the driving habits of the country was driven by the fact of their betwixt and between situation. Importing cars from Hawaii added an exorbitant cost to vehicles. They did this because of the need to have cars that conformed with right hand side of the road driving practise. However, cars imported from New Zealand, where driving is on the left meant that the cost was a fraction of American made cars, and it also brought Samoa into line with the driving habits of their neighbours.

To get an entire nation of people to change from driving on one side to the other must surely be a nightmare that most countries would not contemplate. It is difficult enough when we go abroad to always remember to be on the correct side. Mistakes usually mean death, so that is the gravity of the matter.

To prepare for such an event no doubt there would have been an intense period of education leading up to the change date and time, and it must be ongoing until it would appear that the message has sunk in. Wisely, the government announced a two-day holiday when people would simply go for a drive to get used to the idea. Secondly, and perhaps more important, they closed all bars for a three-day period and prohibited the drinking of alcohol and driving. Of course, every country does that as a permanent measure, but for the event having a clear head would definitely be a help.

At 6:00am on Monday 7th September the Prime Minister addressed the nation on radio and gave the official “let the games begin!” The roads were saturated with security personnel, and at the signal all traffic came to a complete halt where they were. Ideally, most people with their vehicles should have still been at home at that moment, but if not there came the very careful changeover from right to left. Needless to say, this created another problem that will eventually rectify itself. That is to say that all the left-hand drive cars now placed their drivers on the wrong side of the lane, which is not a hopeless situation, but extra care will have to be given until those cars are scrapped.

For the residents the whole thing was a very unusual parade. Roads were lined with spectators watching the process. The only incident was caused by a group that called itself “People Against Switching Sides” who were convinced this action would bring about chaos and blood on the islands roads. They protested by blocking some roads for hours, refusing to let the change begin. However, when they heard that elsewhere things were going smoothly they relented and allowed traffic to pass.

The first day passed without any accidents, and that must surely be some kind of record. No doubt in the future there will be accidents as people relax and forget, but it will work in the long term. This is not just an action that is important to Samoa. My own country of Bermuda, as well as many others, could well benefit from making exactly such a move. We drive on the left and we get our vehicles with steering wheels on the right from England and Japan. However, most of our tourists come from America, and once on the island they hire mopeds and some promptly go out on the roads and drive on the right. As a practical matter it makes sense for us to drive on the same side as those countries from where the greatest numbers of our visitors come from, namely The U.S. and Canada.

Meanwhile, the only country out of sync in Europe is the United Kingdom. It is one thing for them to insist that they will not give up the British Pound, but they are part of the European Common Market, and to doggedly maintain a system of driving that is different to all their neighbours is perhaps taking one’s independence too far.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

The Guarantee

A Formula One Guarantee

Last week when I wrote about the results of Formula One in Valencia I expressed my concerns over the less than stellar ticket sales. I was concerned that should that happen again that would likely be the end of Formula One racing in Valencia. I was not alone in my concerns! Even before the event was over the Valencian Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) announced that it would co-sponsor the event to the tune of about 18 million euros a year for five years in order to guarantee the event in Valencia, for at least that long. It seems that the value to Valencia in terms of positive publicity far exceeds that amount, so it would seem like a good plan.

Formula One racing is big business, and those boys don’t like to lose money. It is a very expensive event to stage, so the support has to be there. The Valencian track is certainly exciting enough, and there is nothing wrong with the organising, but these are tough times, and you have to be very certain that your job will continue to be there on the Monday to allow you to plunk down the type of money demanded for a ticket on the Sunday.

It would be a shame if Formula One started pulling out of venues based on something the location has no control over. The financial crisis is continuing, and although I’m starting to hear optimistic sounding sentences about “The Recovery” I remain a sceptic. This recession has gone deeper and wider than anything I have ever known. It seems to point up the fact that all the past growth has been based on sand. So, a quick recovery won’t take us too far, nor for too long.

At least it’s nice to know that Valencia Town Hall is not napping.

Meanwhile, this weekend, six people were sitting in a van while it had stopped in the breakdown lane, because presumably it had broken down, when a massive truck hauling a trailer rammed into them, killing all six on board. While we are all contemplating the dire economic situation around us and are losing sleep, those six people lost their lives in an instant, on a day when they were actually on their way to work.

At times life seems to be so unfair, totally unpredictable, and just plain scary. The only antidote is to live life to the full while you can. Tomorrow is only a Promissory Note.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Formula ONE in Valencia

Formula ONE in Valencia

On the 21st, 22nd, and the 23rd of August the 2009 edition of formula One was played out on the streets of Valencia for the second year. The weather could not have been more cooperative over all three days. There was still the shadow of Felipe Massa among the missing, and it’s clear that all the other drivers hold him in the highest regard. Fernando Alonso got to race after all as the stewards fined the team rather than banning them from appearing for their lapse in sending Alonso out onto the track with a wheel that was not properly secured in the last race. That definitely helped ticket sales, and as much as we all hoped for an Alonso win, the best he could do was sixth place.

Lewis Hamilton, a name we haven’t heard too often this year took pole position but was pipped at the post by Rubens Barrichello from Brasil. It was a stunning victory and in a sense it paid homage to Massa, who is also from Brasil. For Hamilton, he must be feeling cheated as it was a mechanical fault that held him back from what would have been only his second win of the season.

Remarkably, Jenson Button began the season so strong but finished this race back in seventh place, behind Fernando Alonso. Button leads the board with 72 points and the closest person to him only has 54, which seems to have him placed comfortably towards the championship, but it’s a long way to the end of the season.

This is only the second race season in Valencia and everybody seems to be getting comfortable with the hosting of the event, but there was a very subdued atmosphere this year. Mainly it was felt in ticket sales that started off being worryingly lacklustre. Organisers were forced to cut out one whole seating section that they feared they would not be able to sell. Last year the maximum seating capacity was 112,000, but this year that was cut back to 75,000, a shortfall of 37,000.

On the Friday practise session, paid attendance was down by only 283, On Saturday’s qualifying round ,paid admissions were down by almost 18,000, a staggering loss. It was simply the qualifying round, but on Sunday a total of 81,231 paid admissions were recorded as being sitting and standing, and that compared with 115,123 in 2008. In total, there were 52,137 fewer paid admissions and that must have organisers worried.

We can only hope that this is the effect of the economic crisis, and that the same thing is being seen all over the world. If it’s a Valencia effect the city may get another chance, but if it proves to be uneconomical to race here we may see another disaster like America’s Cup. That would not be a good thing! Let’s also hope that next year there will actually be a Formula One race season.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

One Born every Second

A Class Act

I don’t want to be too hard on the victims of this story because they are already paying a very heavy price for their trusting nature. But, it seems to be true, that a sucker is born every second.

I drive a Jaguar, as well as my trusty Volvo, so when an advertisement appeared asking for drivers to sign on to drive high value clients over the Formula One races in Valencia, my interest was raised.

The advert suggested that the company had several VIP clients who wanted personal drivers using top of the line cars, and the payment to the drivers would be so significant to warrant even hiring luxury cars.

I was going to go along to register for this work as my Jaguar has done lots of VIP work and is in very good condition. The company was located in the industrial park of Riba Roja with no expense spared as to appointments made to their offices. They looked like a very upmarket operation.

I spoke with another driver who explained that all drivers were asked to bring their cars on a certain date for inspection by the chief executive officer. We would be required to leave them overnight while the inspections were done and assignments were made and contracts were drawn up.

What was so important about me leaving my car with keys overnight while I was made to make my own way home and back again? Something was not quite right about that. As we say, it just didn’t compute!

For seventy drivers it was perfectly alright and they left their rented cars and personally owned vehicles in the warehouse overnight, agreeing to return in the morning to get their assignments. When they arrived the next morning what they found was that all the cars had disappeared, except their number plates, and the elaborate offices had been dismantled. Everything and everybody had gone. Presumably the cars had been placed in containers and dispatched to the port for shipment abroad. Only three people with some small connections were picked up by the Guardia Civil, but the big fish were long gone.

As a scam this is a new one. We have long heard about the theft of luxury cars that are then shipped to north Africa, but this one is original in that instead of having to go out and steal the vehicles, one by one, they have simply had the owners bring them in.

The moral of the story is, of course, trust no one. Don’t allow yourself to be persuaded by what appears to be stability, and most of all, if it seems to be too good to be true, that is usually the case.

Can I fault the victims? Only because they trusted their property to others whom they really did not know. Could I have been a victim? I very nearly was. When greed starts to get in the way of common sense any of us could be taken in.

Meanwhile, I really am sorry for the losses of some very good people.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Formula One Cockup!

Girls and Fast cars

The thing is that I don’t believe in coincidence. For the Valencia edition of the Formula One 2009 contest things are not shaping up well at all. Two things went horribly wrong: Fernando Alonso’s team got themselves banned from the race because they allowed him to leave the pit with a improperly fitted wheel which came off endangering Alonso and other racers. Felipe Massa suffered the oddest occurrence when a spring from another driver’s car fell off and struck Massa in the head entering through his helmet. He blacked out and crashed the Ferrari and has gone home to recuperate for the rest of the season.

Michael Schumacher, the acknowledged King of Formula One who is retired offered Ferrari to come back to substitute for Massa, and that set off a round of wild excitement. Ticket sales for the Valencia circuit were moving along very slowly thereby giving organisers cause for serious worry. One whole section of viewing stands has not been erected, as predictions for attendance were so bad.

Then it was announced that Schumacher WOULD substitute for Massa and ticket sales exploded. From the time of the announcement and his eventual stand-down, some ten thousand tickets were sold. Now, we know that every driver has his own fans, and there are some so well heeled that they can fly around the world following their idols, but now a new question arises, and that is, do fans have any legal right to expect their special drivers to appear?

The ban on Alonso certainly seemed to place a damper on possible attendance in his home country, and when Lewis Hamilton races in England the fans come out by the droves, although this year they have been as disappointed with his performance and that of his car. I know that there are many factors that can affect the appearance of a particular driver, such as accidents, failing to qualify, sickness, etc.

Now, let’s be clear, I’m not pointing the finger of blame of anyone….yet! Michael Schumacher has had to abandon his comeback attempt because he is not medically fit. I understand that, however, he had that neck problem before which must have caused him some concern. Clearly, before being absolutely certain that he would be in the driver’s seat there were a lot of hurdles to clear.

The question now is who made the announcement that he would race? I can accept that it would have been impossible for Schu to have done anything in secret that even suggested that he might be available to substitute, but there should have been very strong cautions from officials that they were a long way from that happening.

Perhaps I’m muddying the waters and there won’t be anybody who will seek to cancel their tickets out of disappointment, but I suspect that there will be some folk who are royally annoyed with the way that things have been handled.

What they will do about it remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the race stewards could help matters greatly by reviewing their punishment of Renault and adjusting their ban order to allow Alonso to race in front of Spanish fans.

Already race organisers are saying that refunds on the basis that Schu will not race will not be honoured because at no time are racing participants guaranteed. They may get away with it this time, but it sure is a great way to alienate the fans. Time will tell!


Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Where is Everybody?

Is Anybody out There?

August in the city is wonderful! Everyone has gone away leaving, it seems, just me. I can drive into the city of Valencia and at times I find that I am the only car in what is otherwise overcrowded avenues. I can find on-street parking, and in the stores there is a deathly hush.

I made a visit to an office only to find that there was one sole person in attendance. Where was everybody? On vacation!

Spain has changed dramatically over the past ten years. There was a time when all shops closed for the three-hour lunch break and siesta. That is no longer the case as the modern world has caught up with the country. The smaller shops continue this practise but the large chain stores stay open from nine until nine.

It was also the case that during August all businesses except restaurants and bars closed while staff went off on vacation. But international business came to Spain and legal offices that closed during August came back to find that their clients had changed to those offices that stayed open. It’s very difficult when trying to do business with the world. Different time zones make that very hard to cope with, especially when some of your clients are on the West Coast of America and others are in Japan.

While many offices remain open with skeleton staffs, tradition dictates that August is the month of rest and that leads to a wholesale exodus from the city. Business is encouraging staff to split their holiday so that some go in July and the rest in August, but most go in August and the effect is remarkable. The city feels empty, and for those of us who remain here the sense of relief from people everywhere is wonderful.

Valencia plays host to Formula One racing in the third week of August, and that actually brings visitors into the city. Talk has it that city dwellers did not want to be bothered by on-street racing. We have a perfectly good racing circuit on the outskirts of the city and they could not understand why the racing could not be done there. However, City Hall suggested that August could be the month for the races and it was a done deal as most city folk will be away. What’s more, if they play their cards right they could rent out their homes for a very tidy sum.

So, while it is hot in August it is my favourite month as I can I can breath and stretch my arms. Long Live August!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

It Happens every Year

Here we go Again

There are some things you can set your watch by, and the annual exodus and returns from the city are one of those things. People just can’t wait to get out of their offices and to hit the road on their way to vacation-land. Personally, I cannot fault them for feeling like this. The first day of June, and July, and possibly the day or two before are the days for the mass exodus, and by mass I do mean just that. Millions of people stack themselves into little tin cans with wheels and head on out.

For the Traffic Department this must be their time of year for the greatest headaches. It is when over-crowding becomes very real. There are whole families all in one moving place thereby making the possibility of total disaster so much closer to happening. I have sworn that during these times I will not join in the madness. If I have to drive at all it will only be very short distances.

Coastal towns become besieged by people from the interior of the country, as well, people who live along one part of the coast decide they want to go to another, or that they want to go to their holiday homes with swimming pools inland.

These are supposed to be happy times. However, all to often families suffer disasters while in motion. It doesn’t have to be this way. There are some things that drivers can do to ensure that they will not be part of the unhappy statistics:

- Never drive when you are tired. Be sure that the night before you get a decent rest that will prepare you for the day ahead. Stop every two hours for a rest.
- Never, never, never drink alcohol and then take control of a vehicle. Forget custom, start a new trend and leave alcohol or drugs out of your consideration.
- Everybody has to wear a seatbelt. Remember, a toddler roaming around loose in the car will kill everybody through causing a distraction.
- Be super alert and attentive. Anticipate what might happen and prepare for it.
- Eat light meals along the way so that you are not made drowsy by heavy meals.
- As the driver, your judgement will make or break the holiday. Be a hero to your family and get them there and back safely.

My wish is that during this Summer there will be no fatal crashes. However, if I can’t have that wish, then at least there should be as few as possible.

Good Luck Everybody, and Happy Motoring!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Has Justice been Served?

I wrote last week about a case that was being processed through the courts. That case has now been concluded and a verdict and sentence have been delivered. The question is whether a reasonable man would consider that the result is satisfactory.

Summary:
A man and his female partner were driving when they suddenly came upon an accident scene where a cycle had collided with a car and the rider was down. Unfortunately, unavoidably, the newly arrived driver came into contact with the rider, actually driving the front wheels over the young man. At that point the car was stopped for a few seconds, and then the driver recommenced his forward motion. A part of the young man’s clothing became interlocked with the car, but nevertheless the defendant driver drove at speed dragging the young man for two kilometres. All throughout this ordeal the victim was alive.

When the driver reached the turn into his urbanisation he stopped the car, then he moved backwards and forwards until disengaging the victim. When the attachment broke he drove over the young man and continued on home leaving the young man to his own fate. It was shortly after this that the seventeen year-old drew his last breath.

Horrified eye- witnesses and cctv cameras recorded the chain of events, but the driver and his passenger denied that they had been involved in any way.

The court deemed that the actions of the driver were as cold bloodied as can be, and his passenger was found guilty of failing to take any discernible action to stop the driver and for doing nothing to assist the victim and the law.

The driver was fined 300,000 euros and sentenced to serve 13 years in jail. His partner was sentenced to serve eighteen months behind bars.

The test of whether justice has been fully served is to put yourself into the shoes of the boy’s mother and father. It may be that youthful incaution got him into trouble in the first place, as is the case with so many young men who consider that they are indestructible at that age. Even the unavoidable act of driving over him with the front wheels might be forgiven, as that was apparently completely an accident. However, to deliberately drive off meant to pass the rear wheels over the young man. In my opinion that is the act of a monster.

I am a person who avoids doing violence to other humans, so to be able to do something like this is outside my ability to comprehend. Most people are like that, especially because that was such an inhumane act.

To further continue driving when he knew without a doubt that he was dragging a human being at speed down the motorway beggars disbelief. I consider that to be nazi-like thinking. I won’t even entertain the suggestion that he must have been mad. What must the parents make of such disrespect to their son?

He has deliberately extinguished the life of another person with very malicious intent and with complete disregard to his victim’s right to life. The Court has considered that for his actions he should spend the next 13 years of his own life behind bars. After that, he can do as he wishes, but his victim will still be dead. My feeling is that anyone who commits the sort of crime as he has been found guilty of should expect to forfeit his own quality of life until he dies. The only encouraging thing in this case is that he is 57 years old, so he might indeed die in prison. Otherwise he should be 70 upon leaving prison. At that point his British license will expire and I doubt whether anyone will reissue him, so he will never drive again. However, that is just by luck as there was no mention of the loss of his driving permit.

In my opinion Justice has not been fully served, although the courts think differently. How that can be justified I just don’t know. Additionally his partner was only sentenced to serve 18 months because she failed in her civil obligation. It doesn’t even appear that she made any attempt to stop what was happening, and she lied to authorities, so that seems to me to make her a full accessory to the fact. She should have been given the same sentence as he.

It makes you wonder what the hell's wrong with these people!

Finally, both accused are British guests in this country, and as such they have thoroughly embarrassed all reasonable thinking other British people. It’s true that we cannot be held responsible for their actions, but nonetheless, it’s hard to hold our heads high when faced by our Spanish hosts.


Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

What Sort of Crime is This?

What Sort of Crime is This when it pushes the envelope to the Extreme?

There is a case currently before the courts that I would like to write about, but I have to be careful as the matter being sub-judice, my words might influence the justices. The essential facts being alleged are as follows: A man and his female passenger while driving came upon a young motorcyclist lying in the road after having been involved in an accident with another car. Accidentally, they drove over the man and immediately stopped. At this point, I doubt that the suspects have committed any offence. What has happened to the motorcyclist is very tragic, but I think that none of the blame for anything that has happened can be put on the suspects.

Many things take place in the course of the driving day that are peculiar. We can only avoid becoming involved in tragedies if we are vigilant and if we anticipate what could happen, so in order to try to avoid them happening. For instance, many people drive as though they are the only people using the road. That is the completely incorrect assumption, of course, so it is our responsibility to be in the correct position in the road at all times. The other thing that is in our own interests is to choose a speed at which to travel that is safe and comfortable.

Continuing with the story: our suspects are in a situation in which any driver might find himself. We have come upon a young accident victim lying in the road and we have been unable to avoid running over him. We have stopped with the young man trapped under our car. This is horrible! What should we do next? I hear you say get out of the car and give as much help as you can. That makes sense to me, and is mandated by law, especially to drivers and their passengers who are involved in an accident.

It is alleged that the suspects in this case did not do that. Instead, they drove off, dragging the man, and it had to be obvious to them that he was being dragged. It is further alleged that they drove on for two kilometres with the body still attached to their car. At the end of the two kilometres, according to an eyewitness, they turned off the main road onto a side road, and inside that side road the car was driven backwards and forwards until the body became disentangled

The suspects deny that any of these things happened involving them, but the driver is charged with murder, and his passenger is charged with failing to give assistance to the victim. It seems that eye witness reports and cctv cameras do place them where they don’t want to be placed.

So, if the facts are as the prosecution allege, I have three questions: Why? Why? And Why?

Why would a driver, finding himself in the predicament of having collided with a person in the road, and now stooped, drive off instead of getting out of his car to offer assistance?

It might be because he had no driver’s license and insurance; or was drunk; or was carrying something in his car that would cause great difficulty.



Why drive on dragging a person, who, it is alleged, had life in him?

This is the one question that no one else other than the driver can answer, if he knows. I can believe that his passenger is as horrified as I am, and judging by the body language of the photo taken of the two of them in court, (he is sitting at one end of a bench, and she is at the other), he cannot expect much help from her.

Finally, why, after dragging a man’s body for two kilometres could a person be so heartless as to drive his car backwards and forwards until the body became dislodged and then drive away? This is a statement of man’s inhumanity that makes me very uncomfortable. I know that in war times, particularly involving the nazis, some things were done that are simply impossible to believe, and I find it beyond my own comprehension that I, or anyone whom I know, could stoop so low.

So, I end this with another question: What crime has actually been committed? Prosecutors have charged this man with murder, but that seems to me to not properly reflect the gravity of the crime. No one else should feel free to do the same thing because they will be free again after serving a few years behind bars. The judge in the case, if finding the man guilty as charged, should be able to throw the whole book at him. Most importantly the family of the young man must gain the satisfaction of believing that justice has been properly served.

I have a son about his age who rides a motorcycle. Were I in the shoes of that most unfortunate family, it would take a whole lot more than the standard sentence for murder to convince me that justice was well and truly done. Of that you can be sure!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Summer Driving

Where is Everybody?

There is that time of year when so many people leave the city and their jobs and head out to parts unknown, leaving the cityscape and the immediate surroundings blissfully quiet. When school is out the tension and contest for road space is immediately relieved, and I find myself giving a huge sigh of relief. That’s when you know Summer is here.

Driving along the motorway is uncrowded and I can change lanes as many times as I wish, and I don’t even need to indicate. There is simply no one else around to whom to advise of my wishes. It’s a sort of disturbing feeling being all-alone on stretches of road where ordinarily I would be surrounded. It’s as though everybody went away and I didn’t get the memo.

So I urge the rest of my fellow home-aloners to enjoy the feeling because it won’t last.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Eight into Two Can’t Go

As part of my daily driving experience I often find that the big road that I’m on becomes a much smaller road as we drop lanes as we go. I have also noticed several places where as many as eight lanes have to rapidily squeeze into two lanes, and then down to one lane. There are a few places around Valencia where for sheer entertainment you could go and watch the action at these spots.

I’m not talking about Formula 1, this is everyday driving I’m talking about. You really have to be on your toes because things change quickly. The newspaper recently reported on the completion of a tunnel for a major exit from the city of Valencia that has taken years to complete. At its opening we now find that what these folks have been doing all this time is the following:

They have built a four-lane highway underground to channel traffic out of the city heading north. However, just as the traffic exits the tunnel three of those lanes come to an abrupt halt. To make matters worse there are no markings warning motorists that they will have to merge to the left. Meanwhile, traffic above ground have another four lanes on the right, three of which will merge with the four coming out from the tunnel. Confused? What a nightmare this is!

We assume, wrongly it seems, that designers of our motorways know what they are doing. We should have gotten wise by now with some of the things that they have given us to contend with.

I will make it a point to give this area a wide berth. I don’t need to fall in with the unfortunates who find themselves in that mess.

What’s the name of this place? I really don’t know, except the word “Folly” should be part of it.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

The Funeral Car

A Big Scene


In spite of the fact that the spelling of Funeral begins with FUN, this is not a car to have fun in. Although, you can be sure that there are some young ladies that could tell us a tale or two about their early sexual experiences and the funeral hearse. Personally I would rather not hear them. I come upon this topic because we are all thinking along the lines of the death of Michael Jackson. I find myself trying to visualize what sort of final farewell is being planned. If it will be big, it will be way over the top. Even a State funeral fit for a president would be eclipsed, so in reality it should be private.

But MJ was a public person, and a show person, and this is Show Business, so I think it should be Mega-Big. This is a man who worked so hard to entertain us that his final journey should be no less an event.

So, bring on the stretch limousines for the Hollywood and music glitterati, the chauffered big wheel 4x4s for the politicians and their wives. The Hummers for the rap artists, the Cadillacs and Town cars and top of the line marques, and make it one event that no one will ever forget.

The one big question still to be answered is will “The Beast” remain parked where it is, or will it make the journey as well with its very famous passengers.

Only time will tell!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Formula One Mess and Mystery

It's a Messy Mystery

Topic “A” in the world of driving must surely be the impending split of F1 racing teams into one group that want to spend as much money as they can and wish, and the other team that wants a cap on spending budgets.

The economic crisis is affecting just about everyone in the world except, apparently Ferrari. We now have two entities, FOTA and FIA. Bernie Ecclestone, the Commercial Rights Holder heads FIA the original sponsors of Formula 1 Racing, and under their leadership Formula Racing has become what it is today. However, being sensitive to the effects that the slowdown in car sales are having on motor companies, and with the survival of the sport in mind, FIA have tried to negotiate with the teams a cap on spending.

The problem with implementing such a noble idea is that long-term participants have built up a huge infrastructure to back their cars, and to now cut spending would mean cutting that infrastructure. That’s not an easy thing to do. In the world of high cost, high stakes sports the question is perhaps simply can you afford to play the game or not. If you have to ask what will it cost, then you perhaps shouldn’t be in it. Those companies that can no longer afford the outlay have simply opted out.

At the moment eight teams have lined up on Ferrari’s side, and only five have confirmed to stay with the FIA. The FOTA have said that after 2012 they will mount their own racing series, but that remains to be seen.

Of particular interest is the fact that certain countries have entered into the incredible expense of constructing racing circuits especially for F1, and then those venues have been dropped in favour of newcomers. This would appear to be especially harsh to me.

The mystery element enters when we take a look at what is happening on the track. There was a time when race results were predictable. We knew from one year to the next that Michael Schumacher would win in his Ferrari. However, since his retirement a magical thing has happened. The world championship is anyone’s game and there is no way of telling beforehand what will happen. However, that may be in question.

During Michael Schumacher’s days F1 suffered a fall-off in interest as he was such a powerful force together with his car. That was only natural, and for a time tennis was affected by the same thing as the Williams sisters dominated, and over in golf Tiger Woods was unbeatable. Now, however, one year we are seeing one man winning race after race to become world champion, and the next year he disappears off the radar. He is the official defending champion, but he completes his races way back in the pack.

This year we have Jenson Button who can do no wrong. I really must ask myself what is going on with “The Curious case of Jenson Button.” Sorry, I couldn’t resist that, but it does help to underscore my case. I am asking myself whether there could be some kind of manipulation as to the results in the interest of keeping the sport alive. I could certainly understand the motivation, however, it would be dishonest, and if fans come to suspect that race results are fixed then interest will evaporate like smoke into thin air.

FOTA is a new organisation whose initials stand for “Formula One Teams Association.” Their objective is “To promote the development of Formula One and enhance its worldwide image and reputation.”

FIA is the “Federation Internationale de l’Automobile.” As the name implies it is a huge organisation based in Paris, France whose remit is the welfare and well-being of the automotive public at large, as well as concentrating on Formula One racing.

Formula One has descended into both mess and mystery and bears watching carefully. We certainly have not heard the last from this sport, and that’s for certain.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Making the Points

Don't Miss the Points


The Spanish DGT has announced that in celebration of the three-year anniversary of the points system, those drivers who have not lost any points will actually be given two more points. At the end of the next three year period those drivers who have not lost any points over the six-year period will then be given an extra point bringing the total to fifteen, the maximum available.

That’s a good thing and very encouraging as drivers here in Spain worry more about losing points than they seem to worry about losing their lives. A curious thing that, but the statistics did reflect the potential loss of points by bringing down the death rate when all else failed.

While this is a positive development the story on the other hand is about a great many drivers who have lost all twelve of their points, and they lost additional points that they never had, some having lost twenty points in all. That is quite astonishing and speaks to the hardcore bad driver. There are some people who should not hold a driving permit as they are a menace to everyone else.

The giving of additional points is not without its irony as the people who have held their points intact seemingly don’t actually need more as presumably they’ll protect those as well. The people who need additional points are the ones who have lost all their original issue. However, points are not tradeable, and I hope they never will be as the last thing that we need is to keep the bad guys on the road.

Drive safely, keep a watch for cyclists, and guard your points.


Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

One dead Motorcyclist a Day

May, 2009 was notable for the fact that in Spain a motorcyclist a day lost his life on the roads. This is a striking fact that should have the alarm bells ringing in earnest. These were young men on their way to one place or another when they collided with death itself. Presumably there are as many reasons why these things happened as there are cases, but the bottom line is that we are losing tomorrow’s leaders for reasons that are all preventable.

Unfortunately the first image that comes to mind is that of the careless and reckless rider who crashes his motorcycle into a wall or huge truck at top speed. It’s a shame when even that happens. I was young once and I seem to remember that I did not always think through my next move before I took action, so we have to remember that simply being young is a hazard in itself.

This is no time for recriminations. We would do well to remember that every lost son leaves behind people who find that they loved him more than they knew. For parents who have to bury their sons because they crashed their motorcycle is very hard to accept. If our country is at war and we lose our son in battle that is still very difficult to live with. At least his life would have been cut short in the noble execution of his duty.

What needs to happen in order to stop these losses from occurring?

Firstly, as a bike rider it needs to be recognised that the rider has no real protection at all. Consequently we should try and avoid all surprises. To do that we have to keep our eyes on the road ahead as well as trying to anticipate what may come from the sides.

Secondly, appropriate speed under all conditions is vital. Riding too fast is the number one cause of spills. The speed limit that is posted along a stretch of road may be fine under normal conditions. Such conditions that involved dry, clean streets and a fluid flow of traffic would be fine. However, if it is raining and at night that same stretch requires a reduction in speed.

The urge to “show off” is something that is reserved for guys, and it will always be our downfall. Give a young guy an audience and he will want to draw attention to himself. Maybe he hopes that the pretty girl will be drawn to his skill and derring-do and she will become his. The dopey thing is that even if she does consent to perch her cute hot pants bum on his bike, he will still do silly things in an attempt to continue to impress her. The shame is that all he has to do to truly impress her is to get her back home safely. So, avoid the temptation to Grand Stand if you want to live another day.

Drivers are asked to be vigilant for cyclists. The problem is that so often they are hard to spot in the midst of so much environmental clutter. Cyclist are therefore urged to “Be Seen to be Safe!” What this means is that they should wear a reflective jacket over their clothes. The difference is amazing to see how drivers will give motorcyclists a much wider berth if they are so dressed. This is because the excuse is taken away that the driver just didn’t see the bike coming. Just one glimpse of a reflective jacket means that probably it is being worn by a person, so take care!

Nowhere is it written that by simply going to work, or to the movies or to the supermarket you are running a 99% risk of meeting your death. However, if you are coming home from the bar on your bike after having consumed several alcoholic drinks, the chances are more than likely that will be your last ride.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Finally, Something New in the World of Cars!

It's a Revolution!

The world has been consumed with the need to get away from using fossil fuels for energy. Such fuels contaminate and are not unlimited, and have a way of financing some of the most unpleasant providers on the planet. The one advantage that travel by boat has always had is that there was an option to move without cost, and that is by wind. A day out sailing can be both very delightful as well as cost free.

Driving has never been free, and never will be. However, the search has been to make it as cheap as possible. The most promising development to date had been the Electric Car, but electricity has a significant cost. It has the benefit however, as it makes the actual running of the car quiet and pollution-free.

Now, introducing The Air Car!

This incorporates a new concept that uses only compressed air to move the vehicle. There’s no need for a battery or even an ounce of petrol, however, on compressed air you can only get it up to 55 kmph. To go faster than that you will have to accept the use of a conventional backup gasoline motor.

France is the country that gets the award for this radical new and practical method of energy. It is really great news to the energy world as being nothing short of revolutionary. The company that will mass produce the Air car is Tata Motors of India. Not Renault, but Tata, and that leads me to ask how long has this technology been ready to be produced for mass transport?

Automakers around the world are in big trouble. They have manufactured cars that no one wants to buy because of a lack of quality, or simply because they have become victims of the worldwide economic crisis like everyone else. It doesn’t seem to be sheer coincidence that this “brand new” technology is now being released upon the world.

I understand that there are vast investments tied up in the fossil fuel driven vehicle. However, we are seeing cars being sold at cut-prices, and even then buyers are scarce. General Motors of the United States will have declared bankruptcy by the time you read this. I try to imagine the scope of the impact of that upon the world and it seems to me like pulling out the one last rock that held up the mountain, or on a smaller scale to aid imagination, if we accept the image of a pile of oranges as being the world, what would happen if you were to pull out one of the bottom oranges. Catastrophe!

In an earlier blog on this very topic of coping with rising fuel costs I suggested that there are probably technologies that are variable to that upon which we rely, but that they are being kept under wraps. The Air Car is likely one of those.

Anyway, the news item appearing in The Costa Blanca News says that 2010 is the year that the car will make its debut, and America is the selected country that the market will be tested for it. An initial run of 10,000 cars will be available for sale at a price range of about 18,000 dollars. The cost of running one will be ridiculously low, as it will cost about two dollars to cover approximately 300 kilometres, and general maintenance will be about zero cost. From the models shown it appears that they are for single person travel,on up to five-seaters.

With this car automobile travel has truly turned a corner and opened up possibilities for the future that are straight out of science fiction.

Like all very good ideas this is so simple. Why didn’t I, or you think of it first?

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

I Don’t Want to go to Jail

You Don't have to go to Jail if you don't want to!

Since anyone can remember lawlessness on the roads has been rampant. The DGT has made passing the tests to obtain a driving license so difficult that many people simply gave up. They bought a cheap acr and drove without a permit, insurance, or without paying the road tax. When they were finally stopped and their car was taken from them, they simply went out and bought another.

The implications of that were horrific. When such people were the cause of an accident they simply left the scene. They were uninsured so that left their victims at a disadvantage. Finally, the lawmakers got tough. They mandated that anyone found driving under the influence of drink or drugs would be taken straight to jail. However, they were picking up lawmakers themselves, and law enforcers. So, there was a backing off from that.

After the passing of time the proposal was brought back with the added provision that anyone driving who had never held a license would also go to jail This made sense because those people who drove around in wrecks that they dared the police to take from them, now faced going straight to jail. That gave many of them pause. But, now the courts are very reluctant to send people to prison for these offences. Instead they are sentencing people to do Community Service.

In principle that sounds noble, however, there are so many people out of work that these jobs should be a means of returning people to employment so that they can earn a living. It’s all very well declaring to the judge that “I don’t want to go to jail” for my sins of driving while drunk or without a license, but you really shouldn’t expect to be taken seriously. But, that is exactly what is happening in the courts.

What is wrong with this picture!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Not Among the Usual Suspects

To Protect and to Serve

If you were in Valencia during this week, May 11th to 16th, you might have noticed the police presence. The fact is that seldom has so many police been seen so close together. It appeared that the focus was on proper documentation. As I drove around I came upon check- points in downtown Valencia, in the suburbs, in the boonies, in fact, just about everywhere.

It got to be so ridiculous that motorists were stopped at one roundabout, and when they left that one they were possibly stopped again at the very next roundabout. The extraordinary thing is that I drove throughout the week and went through many of these police stops without actually being pulled over. I have to say that I am a black man from Bermuda, which is so close to the United States I can’t help making comparisons between Spain and the U.S.

I have said this before, and it bears repeating: the Spanish police appear to be one of the most disciplined bodies that I have ever seen. There might be those who disagree, but from the standpoint of policing without prejudice they seem to have it right.

Respect for law and order starts with the police enforcement in the streets. In democracies policing is by consent, so to have the police acting like Nazis brings the institution into disrepute. That never stopped the police of several cities in the U.S. Ask any black man about their experience with the police, and whether they have respect for them. Unfortunately, the response will always be negative, even when you are talking to professionals, especially the lawyers. The practise of bigoted policemen was, and probably still is to harass black men, and if the citizen appears to be someone upstanding and professional they become a special target. Should he be driving a high end car he is made to step out of the car, and to prove how he was able to buy the car.

The most amazing thing is that when there are two policemen on duty together, and one is black the harassment continues. However, when the police come upon the gang-bangers driving their customized Humvees that were obviously bought with drug money, the cops pass them by. That is because they know the car is loaded with guns.

So, imagine if you can a situation where you only get stopped if you merit it, or you simply draw the short straw. I fully expect to be pulled over from time to time and have to produce my documentation. This is simply the role of the police, and when they are doing this they are protecting me against unlicensed and uninsured drivers, so I have no objection at all. It’s just very nice to live in a country where the rule of law is served even-handed.


Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Diplomatic Plates

I have just purchased a second-hand big, beautiful, shiny Jaguar with diplomatic plates. Unfortunately I have had to turn in the plates, but I’m left holding this marvellous car, and that has led me to wondering what would it be like to drive a car with immunity to prosecution?

The whole topic of the Diplomatic Corp is so off the radar that average people can have no real concept of what Diplomatic Immunity can mean. Fundamentally it is an agreement between governments not to prosecute each other’s agents while they are performing their duties in foreign countries. It is ancient practise based upon mutual and reciprocal understanding that a person so protected will not have to appear before the court in the host country.

However, under certain circumstances the host country may request that the diplomat be withdrawn, or the host country may expel that person. In cases of serious crimes committed by the diplomat the immunity may be withdrawn by the official’s home country, and that would allow for full prosecution as an ordinary citizen.

While all this protection sounds wonderful, the fact is that a person who is a diplomat should be the last person to break the law. Usually we expect someone in that position to be undertaking very serious work on behalf of their native country, and consequently should know better.

That has a nice sound to it, but the fact is that the most egregious acts committed by diplomats usually happen when they are under the influence of alcohol. Drunken diplomats behind the wheel have killed people, and if the home country refuses to lift the immunity the host country cannot prosecute. The record is complete with many examples of this sort of thing happening; however, these days the trend is more towards either lifting the immunity in the host country, or bringing the official home to be prosecuted under home laws. Governments are becoming less tolerant of irresponsible behaviour by their officials abroad. At the least it is an embarrassment, and at worse it seriously damages the reputation of the home country.

There is one area that tends to frustrate more than anything else, and that is parking. In New York, home to the United Nations, and consequently the place where practically every other person is a diplomat, cars on diplomatic plates are regularly parked provocatively against the law. Curiously, policemen insist on ticketing such cars, and those tickets get ignored leading the City to complain to The State Department. Countries tend to have a rule that such parking tickets should be paid and the offence not repeated. However, these offences tend to be committed by drivers in their bosses’ name, presumably as a means to feel big.

So, just for a moment I thought it might be nice to be able to do things that not even the police can do…… with their police cars. But then, I went and lay down until the feeling went away, and I gave back the plates.

We can all dream, can’t we?


Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

20 Minutes

It only takes two seconds to have a collision

My driving story this week is a real winner. It is all about whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

I discovered a 1995 Jaguar XJ6 Sovereign that has been maintained in showroom condition as it is a diplomatic car on diplomatic plates. It has been used to ferry top brass for American NATO in Europe, but after fourteen years its time to move on.

Fortunately, my Volvo has been demanding a lot of attention as it needs a number of parts to be replaced. This I understand, but it does mean that the car is constantly not available to me as it goes through this refurbishment stage, so I decided I would need a second car to get me around.

This brought me into contact with one of the greatest guys I could ever hope to meet. He has been absolutely wonderful, to the extent that acquiring the car is probably the least of it. With people such as Chris going about the world as ambassadors the United States will soon regain its position in the world as a country that everyone looks up to, especially for its people.

So, we concluded our business in the sale and purchase of the car, and I drove away. The plan was to meet with friends for a coffee, then to go home. I never made it to the meeting place.

I was driving along when I encountered a pedestrian crossing with two pedestrian about to cross, so I bought the automatic JAG to a nice and gentle halt. Then, I heard the screeching of tyres as a 4x4 came bearing down on me. With the pedestrians now right in front of me I could do nothing but wait for the impact. However, the 4x4 came to a halt with only about a hair’s width between us, but before I could exhale there came a crash from behind the 4x4, that in turn caused it to bump into me. At this point, I had possession of the car for twenty minutes.

I simply could not believe it!

My first reaction was to go ballistic, but I soon cooled down and went to take a look. Where was the damage? The third car had plenty to contend with. The second car had it back and front. I had nothing. This was too good to be true. I checked over the car several times, and I noticed that the license plate of the 4x4 was bent, meaning that it had collided with my bumper. The effect of that was to give me a little push, and also lessening the pressure I had on the brake, thereby moving the JAG forward. By this time the pedestrians had jumped out of the way.

It seems that the 4x4 was being driven by a mother who appears to have been distracted by her daughter (who may not have been wearing a seatbelt). When realising that I had stopped she braked hard, and that may have thrown the little girl around. We pulled off the road and there was much commotion around that car. The husband got out to exchange details and the wife sped off with pandemonium taking place in the car.

Of course, in a case like this, it’s always the driver who comes from behind that is at fault. The Seat was at fault for the damage caused to the 4x4, and the 4x4 was responsible to me. Had I been closer to the pedestrian crossing to cause injury to the pedestrians that would have been my fault. So, apart from not boding well for my ownership of this fabulous car, there are some lessons to be learned. When you are driving you cannot allow yourself to be distracted or panicked. You are completely in charge of a motor vehicle, so therefore it is your absolute responsibility. Secondly, driving at an appropriate speed is always appropriate, taking all circumstances into consideration.

All passengers must be strapped in. I cannot say for certain that the little girl was allowed to move around without a seatbelt, but it did appear that way. Fortunately she didn’t seem to be too badly hurt, although that is difficult to say. Lastly, something that I have learned over the more than fifty years of driving experience is that you always need to leave adequate room between yourself and the person or thing in front of you, just in case of situations such as this.

This is the thing that people find difficult to understand: that if you are pushed into someone or something in front of you, it becomes your fault for not having left enough room to consider the faults of others.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

CUENCA

Who Did This?

Over the Easter holidays four of us took a little drive from Valencia to Cuenca City. It was the realisation of a long held promise by Pepe to give us a guided tour of the city in which he grew up and came to know so well. He made this promise ten years ago, and finally we got to make the journey.

The city itself is an important centre of commerce with about 50,000 residents. It seems to be fairly well laid out and quite modern. Pepe had not been in the city for a long enough period to notice that there had been many changes. To begin with, he first visited the hotel in which we lodged when he was nine years old. He recalled going there to visit when it was a Convent, trembling with fear that was appropriate for the nuns.

It is now a Parador, a state-owned and run hotel that has a commanding view over the great Gorge. It retains vestiges of its religious past, including the confessional that now houses a telephone in each recess. I tried to convince Pepe that modern technology allowed for him to place a direct call to El Jefe, instead of having to go through someone here on earth. He was not amused.

The principal reason why there were several busloads of Japanese tourists there was to see the Hanging Houses, (Las Casas Colgadas). In my opinion, we go there to celebrate this bit of utter lunacy. While there are only three houses that have been built in this manner, the entire Gorge is lined with other buildings that are close to the edge, but far enough back to be reasonable. If the ground ever moves in that area the famous three houses will be history.

So we, like the Japanese went for the same reason, and to add to that bit of folly we dared to have lunch in the building that is the restaurant. Many jokes were made about whether we should start with dessert, just in case the meal didn’t last all the way through to that point.

I can hear in my head the builders who put it all together standing back when it was finished and musing “I wonder how long the houses will stay there?” Well, apparently a very long time. The historical blurb states that it is not known who the architect/culprit responsible was, although it seems to have Moorish origins. The buildings date back to about the 14th-15th centuries and are now used partly by the Museum of Abstract Art, (Las Casas del Rey), and the restaurant (La Casa de la Sirena). Although I am being a little critical I nonetheless recommend you should visit as you won’t believe your eyes.

As you are in the Province of Cuenca there are a couple of other things that are worthy of your time and interest. One is to pay a visit to the birthplace of the River Cuervo. (El Nacimiento del Rio Cuervo). If you’re like me, from a country that has no rivers or lakes, to be in the presence of such a great river is a real treat. It begins in the normal manner of water flooding out from underground, but this river then immediately falls from a great height before going on its way, a very impressive start to a journey that will impact so heavily upon so many regions and people. We were there as the snow was melting and that added to the authenticity.

I reserve my greatest plaudits for something so incredible as to be practically beyond belief. I’m talking about El Ciudad de Encantada, The Enchanted City. Apparently, many moons ago, in spite of the high elevation this area was under water, and the wash of the water worn down the rocks forming many extraordinary natural shapes. You do have to have an imagination, but it doesn’t have to be that good for you to be able to see all manner of replications of animals and ships and this and that. It is truly astounding for the fact that it is all-natural. In this it is sort of a Disney World type of experience except that man has not had any hand in its design and making.

The amazing thing to me on top of everything else was that Pepe reflected on the many visits that he made as a young child, and again with his family when it was not a tourist point of interest, and the fact that they climbed all over areas that are now practically sacred.

How cool is that?

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

The Surprise at the End of the Road

The Different Personalities of a Roadway

I’m sure that at one time or another you have travelled most of the length of a particular road, but I believe that there are very few people who have actually gone end-to-end on any road. I just wondered how things might turn out for you if you did. I recently got to drive a distance farther than I have ever done before along the CV-35, otherwise known as the Pista de Ademuz in Valencia.

This is a roadway that I travel in part most days. I usually enter it at about kilometre 27 or 24 and I go in the direction towards Valencia City, so I’m counting down to zero. This section of the road has been upgraded and is now a first class Autovia with three and sometimes four lanes in the same direction. All of the bottlenecks that have caused us so much pain have been deleted, and it is now a real joy.

With a little imagination we can see the highway as something that has character. With this particular roadway it has a big, bold, brass, city-slicker personality the closer we get to downtown Valencia. It keeps up this façade until we pass La Pobla del Valbona. At that time a bit of its bravado slips and we go from three lanes to two in the same direction. Now, gone are the brassy Centro Comerciales with all their bright lights. We are evidently entering The Country side of life. Farms actually become noticeable, and we can feel a sigh escape us as we sense less claustrophobia. The condition of the road remains very good as we pass Lliria, the seat of the government in the east.

Soon there will be a major hospital located in this region to serve residents, who have had to make the journey all the way into Valencia to attend at a major centre.

We continue along a straight two-lane very excellent road that some people mistake for a racetrack. This is real country now with wide-open spaces on both sides of the road. We pass Domeño and head for the town of Casinos. The road previously ran right through the town. Now it by-passes Casinos altogether. We wonder how much of a loss that might be for the merchants.

Now the road is down to one lane in each direction, although the road is in excellent condition. For the remainder of the CV-35 we will have to be content with no more than that. However, it’s the state of those two lanes that are the subject of concern. The road will take us through Losa del Obispo, Calles, Chelva, Tuéjar, Titaguas, Aras del Olmas, all of which are within the Communidad de Valencia. The road, although it degrades, is still reasonably good up until kilometre 90. Then it degrades further into not much more than a country cami, the sort of roadway that existed and served the Seat 600 so long ago. There are curves upon curves, and two cars of today’s sizes can barely pass without knocking off mirrors.

The CV-35 ends at kilometre 107. That’s where we pass out of the Valencian community until we re-enter at Ademuz. At km 107 we can hardly believe that this is a part of the bold and sassy CV-35 we know from farther down the line.

When we think back and reflect upon all the complaints we had because we were delayed for a few moments, and we compare that with conditions at the end of the line, we realise we didn’t have anything to complain about after all.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Underground Parking Lots

Underground Parking Lots
The entrance into Hell?

I came upon an underground parking lot in Valencia with which I have no complaints at all. The drive in is wide and comfortable to manoeuvre; the bays are wide enough to park even a large car with room enough to open the doors; and getting out again can be done without leaving your paintwork along the sides of the walls. This is a new site and truly an exception in an otherwise hellish experience offered to drivers.

To begin with such places are usually under lit, giving the impression that you have ventured down into the depths of hell. Often just paying for your stay can be frustrating. I have been into a few that make it a challenge to get a Volvo five-seater car into without scratching or denting the vehicle. The smog bastards who run these places simply say it’s not their fault if you damage your car. It certainly is their fault!

I recently was leaving a department store and I could not find where to pay for my ticket. There are several exits from the store into the parking garage, but only one in which the machines are located. There is not one sign that directs drivers to that place, consequently so much time is wasted (and paid for) while trying to pay. Then, the exits involve very tight turns so that unless you are driving anything other than a Smart Car you will have to be very careful indeed. There is ample evidence of people who were not careful enough.

As if all that were not enough to bring on Parking Garage rage, there’s the cost involved. This seems to be one recession-proof industry as costs continue on an upward spiral.

That’s why you need to know that the Agua Shopping Mall in Valencia that is located alongside the Arts and Science Museum offers shoppers three hours free parking; and the Mercado Fuencarril, located along the old river bed at the base of Avda Campoamour offers two hours free in garages that are fairly well appointed and well lit.

Better still, leave the car on the outskirts of the city and travel in on public transport.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

My Mechanic and Me

Of one thing I’m certain: it’s a man thing. It’s amazing how we can value our motor mechanic relationship higher than the one with our doctor. In both cases finding just the relationship that works is very difficult. So many of us prize our cars and we want someone who is knowledgeable and sympathetic to care for our pride and joy.

How ridiculous can our obsession get? I once had a Volkswagon Scirroco that I prized to the extreme. Each evening when I got home I would give it a wipe over, put it in the garage, then cover it. How dopey is that? It’s a car! It’s a utility that gets me from A to B and back again. It will get dirty and scratched and pranged and dented, and worse. That is the nature of the game. But, there I was treating it as though it were a live thing, with the greatest of Tender Loving Care. Women can only wish that we men take the same degree of care and attention with them. Like I said, it’s a silly man thing.

Like so many things, there comes a time when we have to trust to others to take care of business, and so it was when my car came to a full stop suffering from a broken hose spilling a lot of boiling hot water into the street. I did the natural thing by calling a grua, (tow-truck) to pick it up and take it to my trusted garage. I called them to say what had happened, fully expecting that as they were the authorised dealer they would figure out where the break had taken place, and to fix it. Wrong! Big mistake! A 700 euro mistake, as it turned out.

They put the water system under pressure but no water appeared to escape, so they changed the radiator and a pump, as being the most likely culprits. I drove the car away only to find that it was having the same problem I went in with. Back it went to have the problem taken care of, but now we have a new problem. I have paid a bill for 700 euros (910 dollars) for things that I did not need at the time to be changed. Granted, a new radiator and pump would add life to my old car, and if I actually had that much money that I would not miss, there would not have been a problem. But, in these days, or even in the good old times, a 700 euro mistake is a big one.

I take my car to an authorised dealer because they are supposed to have the equipment and the experience to avoid guessing. I can get guessing at a much less cost. My mechanic guessed and got it completely wrong, at my cost. Now that the parts are on the car, would it have been reasonable to ask that they be removed and the original be put back, assuming that the originals were available? Probably not!

Well, now we know that the leak was coming from the heating element and water went everywhere when it was hot. When the water was cold it simply went inside my car where it went undetected under my carpets. Could this really have been the first time something like that had occurred? If it should ever happen to me again I will be sure to check that possibility out.

When your doctor lets you down and you die, that’s just one of those things. When your mechanic lets you down and you lose your faith, that’s the end of the world!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Take Care out There

I wish this motorcyclist was wearing a reflective vest to be seen to be safe!

The following scene all took place within about ten seconds. It was completely instructive and could have saved the average driving student weeks of training.

A motorcyclist was following a car far too closely and apparently was intending to overtake inappropriately.
The car driver seemed to suddenly realise that he needed to enter a side road that he was then passing, so he made a sharp left turn into the entrance. Were it not for the motorcyclist who was entirely too close, no-one else would have been disturbed by the manoeuvre.
The cyclist became so alarmed and enraged that he started giving the car loud mouth abuse while at the same time looking over his shoulder to deliver it. I don’t think that the driver had any clue what was happening.
Coming towards the biker was another car and they were headed for a head-on collision. The driver blasted his horn and the biker got another scare, and the collision was avoided by mere millimetres.

The moral of the story is: (a) Keep your distance; (b) do not overtake along two-way road systems unless it is abundantly clear that it is safe to do so; (c) when in the process of making a mistake it is safer to play the mistake out properly by going on to the next roundabout or entrance, then driving back. (d) Lastly, keep your eyes on the road ahead. Road conditions are constantly changing.

It’s a jungle out there! Take care.


Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Go Full, Return Empty

A Yellow Canary

This isn’t even possible, but in the world of hire cars this is one of the very common terms that you are expected to adhere to. Basically, if you don’t have to hire a car then you would be well advised not to do so. One thing is clear, whatever you think you will pay you will eventually end up paying more….much more.

We have just completed an around Andalusia driving tour, and the truth is that we thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but the hire companies do get you. We responded to a come on from one company that promised a car for six days at a cost of 60 euros. The actual cost to us before we even turned the key was 127 euros. The terrible thing was that the company that we chose was one of the better ones.

The basic rental was as advertised, however, added to that was the cost of the full tank of petrol at 48 euros. This was a Kia Picanto, bright yellow, that reminded me of driving around in a canary, with a very small tank that holds 35 litros. The cost to fill up is about 30 euros.

Then, they charge 2 euros a day for the second driver. What’s this for? Probably nothing, but they can charge it, so they do

You are advised to take out comprehensive insurance cover that pays from the first euro. No excess charge fee for the insured driver is a very good thing, because if there is an excess charge you’ll probably get stuck with it, even for minor scratches that were already there but not noticed by you when you picked up the car. (At least that has been my experience.)

Then there is the little matter of the cost of the insurance. Comprehensive cover for my car in my name would cost about 750 euros annually. That’s about 2 euros a day. However, some companies charge a per day charge of a specific amount for this cover that is over and above the basic rental. I have paid around Î5.00 a day. We can quickly see the profit involved there.

Car hire is like travelling by plane. You know it’s going to be painful, but it’s just one of those irritants that we learn to live with.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

General Motors and All that Jazz

We have been hearing for some time that automakers in the United States have been facing some very difficult times. They have been before the U.S. Senate asking for government funding to keep them afloat. Originally their request was denied, however former president Bush signed an executive order appropriating funds to assist them. However, General Motors are now saying that was not enough, and that their problems are so deep seated that they are seriously facing bankruptcy.

The three major automakers in the U.S. are GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Together, with smaller parts makers, they are the most labour intensive industry in the United States. The consequences of GM closing are the same as the sky falling. It simply cannot be imagined.

U.S. automakers are in large part their own worst enemy. They have failed to make good, fuel economy cars that Americans want to buy. That gave an opportunity to Japanese firms to satisfy that market, resulting in the loss of that market to the Big Three. But the problem that they now face is common to all automakers, in that as people lose their jobs, or watch a shrinking economy, car sales have fallen like a heavy rock.

Many of their workers have already been sent home as they are overproducing inventory that no one is buying. A complete closure would add so many people to the unemployed roster as to spell complete disaster.

Filmmakers have put their imagination to work in creating disaster films where people live like rats in underground sewers and abandoned buildings without law and order.

As a reality, is this so difficult to imagine? Stay tuned!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

The Annual Examination

Here in Spain the examination of your vehicle is undertaken by the ITV, which means Inspeción Tecnica Vehiculo. This is a private business that works in concert for the government, something that we call a Quango in the U.K. The government here would say that it has outsourced the problem.

I have written about annual examinations before, and I return briefly to say that life has gotten a little bit better as they streamline their operations. Now, you can make an appointment on-line for your annual inspection. Instead of showing up without an appointment you can now show up at the designated time and be seen to within a reasonable waiting period.

Normally, this is a very painful experience that takes up to two hours of staying with your vehicle and moving it forward one car space at a time. Taxi drivers demanded that the system be improved so that they need not spend two hours going through this twice a year.

So, the appointment system was created for them, but other people saw what was happening and spoke up in indignation. In response the opportunity has been thrown open to everyone, but amazingly most people still prefer to go and simply wait the two, or more hours.

I expect the system will catch on. Then it will change into one whereby it will be difficult to get an appointment unless booking a year ahead.

Good Luck!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Goodbye Old Friend

Well, it’s taken me five years to do it, but I finally called in the grua to take away our1992 Fiat Tempra station wagon. It has sat around on the property all that time as a good and faithful friend. Every time that I went to run the engine it answered promptly, even though the spiders took it over as their own home. It developed that old person smell after a while, as compared to the new car smell, so we knew it was getting along in age.

We stopped driving it because it developed a problem of jack-rabbiting, or hiccupps that absolutely no mechanic in the land was able to clear up. They could alleviate the effects a bit, but the problem always came back again. To say that it was embarrassing is an understatement. Finally, we bought another car and simply parked the Fiat and forgot about it.

I did start it periodically to keep the battery charged, and then, after about a year of this I decided that it was time to get rid of it. So, I started it up and moved it and the problem was no longer in evidence, and was never experienced again. It seems that all it needed was a vacation. However, to pass it through itv it would also have needed a few other things done to it that would have probably cost more than we could have sold it for.

So, with reluctance and a heavy heart I called in the grua and we drove it on to the truck, I gave it a pat on its rump to say “farewell and thank you”, and it was gone.
It’s funny how attached we can become to things. A car is supposed to be an inanimate object, but once we turn the key it bursts forth into life and becomes something full of energy. We call our cars names, even some not-so-polite ones, but that has the effect of endearing them to us. It might be an SOB, but it’s my SOB.

So Fiat Tempra V-7964-EB, wherever you are, you are gone but not forgotten.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Games Drivers Play

I can’t say that I actually enjoy driving, but I do enjoy the right to get up and go when I wish, and the facility of getting from point “A” to point “B” at my own leisure. In fact, while making my journeys I can get quite a bit bored, especially when going over the same territory every day. So, I like so many other people turn to simple games, or worse, daydreaming about what I will do with my winnings from the lottery.

That’s not good because sometimes you get into your own little world and fail to take in all the details that are necessary. I try to avoid that, but a simple little game of taking note of car license plates is harmless enough.

You may have noticed that here in Spain the numbering system employs four digits numerals. These range from 0000 to 9999. Therefore, there are 9999 vehicles in each grouping, followed by alphabet letters to denote the number grouping. What I mean by that is, the first grouping would have been 0000 to 9999 –A. There would have been 26 groups of single letter plates. At the front of the series would be the community letter. Thus, V-9999-A was a vehicle that was registered in the Valencia community, and was the last one in that series.

It is always a joy for me to spot a car with a single letter. It will be a very old car, because when you buy a new car you usually have to accept the new registration number.

Once all the single letters were issued they moved on to double letter series, repeating the same formula. Now three letters are being employed. I have already seen CNT and FCK. I can’t wait for the four-letter series.

The Spanish DGT (Trafico) had its origins in 1778 under Royal Decree that gave it it’s mandate. The General Rules of the Road (las normativos) were not formed until 1899. The original speed limits were 28km/h on roads between towns, and 15 km/h in town. In Valencia City that speed has hardly increased on most days. Some times, on average it has decreased.

The first car in Europe was created in 1769 for a man named Nicolas Joseph Cugnot. It was operated on steam and was invented by a man named James Walt.

The modern car had its birth in Germany in 1886. It was developed by Karl benz and Gottlieb Daimeler. The original matricula was PM-1. I suppose if that was in Britain it might have meant Prime Minister.

So, my game continues to be trying to make something of license plates. I am reminded of people whom I know back in Bermuda when I see their license plate numbers, and I can also make up words by adding the missing letter.

I agree its silly, but it keeps me sane.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Daddy, What can you See?

Get ready for this!

This is about road traffic jams.

We all have experienced them at one time or another. Some people have to go through it every day. How tiresome must that be? The equivalent scare word to Boo! to motorists must surely be “Road Works Ahead!” The problem is that as each country tries to work itself out of its economic problems there will be lots of make-work projects like roads to be built or repaired or hedges trimmed, and a lot of that work will be carried out by previously high priced executives.

The one thing that will be common is that we the motorists will pay dearly with our patience. Those people who have nowhere to go will stay at home rather than go through all that business of just sitting in your car while craning their necks trying to see what the problem is.

The types of problems that we consider legitimate that make us late for work are crashes. The bigger the crash the more we have to enlarge on when we finally get to work. Even events that take place on the opposite lane can have the effect of causing a tailback on our side. People tend to have to rubberneck to see what’s going on. The result often is accidents happen on our side as we drive into one another.

There was once a major fire along the highway most travelled by me. It was in a large warehouse with lots of attending firemen. Nothing to do with traffic but lines formed for miles as we all had to get a snapshot on our mobile phones.

I have learnt a lesson that I try to live by, but not everybody agrees that if I have an important appointment I should leave lots of time for getting there to try and take account of possible traffic jams. Once I am parked and outside my destination I can always go and get a coffee or read a newspaper.

My big question about traffic jams is that men, and only men seem to have to get out of the car to see what’s happening. Women don’t do this. It is only a man thing. In the history of driving no man has ever answered the question “What’s the problem, Daddy?” with anything other than “I don’t know!”

Funny, don’t you think?

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Driving Music

Is it just me, or are you too affected by your choice of music while driving?

The radio/cd player is an integral part of the safety features of your car. It is there not just to entertain you, but more importantly to avoid the driver falling asleep through boredom. It is as much a part of the safety features as a good set of tyres, and it should be used with common sense.

Especially when engaging on long drives it should be employed for its prime use. The problem arises in the choice of music to listen to, and this is where the human factor comes in, and is as variable as the weather. The objective is to stop yourself falling asleep, so your choice of artist is completely up to the individual.

My favourite group are The Toasters, a popular Ska Band of very long standing. Their music is so good and so pumped up that it is impossible to fall asleep. The problem is that they are such high energy that I find my foot pressing the accelerator too much. I actually drive faster than I would without their influence. The opposite occurs when listening to music with a calming effect. On a long journey that is actually dangerous.

The best choice for me is a disc with various artists presenting a wide variety of songs. If I start to get going too fast another selection with a more calming effect will bring me back to my senses. My Volvo sound system is very good, and some songs just beg to be blasted as they are so powerful. This is a mistake to do in a moving vehicle because with the windows rolled up you will not be able to hear any road sounds. Naturally, we need to hear sirens and other warning sounds.

This may be considered as a cautionary tale to be careful when mixing driving with music. The worst case would be to collide with another vehicle and your music just keeps on pumping.

Copyright (c) 2009 Eugene Carmichael

The Crisis Bites Hard

The economic crisis is hitting Spain very hard. Some say that the effect is being felt harder in this economic zone, especially if we look to the rising tide of unemployed. For a little background perspective we need look no further that the building industry.

When we arrived here ten years ago crime, especially against homes was flourishing. So many people were without work that if you had a home and others didn’t, you were considered fair game. Then came the change from pesetas to euros. That had the effect of forcing a mountain of money out into the open. It had been a form of national sport to cheat the taxman, so money that was held in cash behind all that ironwork covering doors and windows of people’s homes had to be converted into euros. Simply taking it to the bank was not an option as the game would have been exposed. Instead, people did a very strange thing with it: they bought property and built towers for business or for homes, and they also bought expensive cars and yachts, etc. In other words, secret money was turned into very obvious things.

However, the building boom didn’t stop once the changeover to the euro was complete. New developments continued at an alarming pace. The value of real estate rocketed and a lot of people got very rich in the process. Personally, I could not see what was driving the runaway development. It was all around us in our little town of L’Eliana. So much new building was taking place at the same time, the sky was dotted with building cranes, as though they were television antennas.

When I asked who would inhabit all the new buildings people would simply shrug their shoulders. It was hoped that people from Madrid would invest their money in second homes that gave them access to the beaches of Valencia, but other than that there was a definite shortage of warm bodies.

But now all of that has come to a grinding halt. Many building projects have simply been put on hold until circumstances allow for their completion, and new projects are simply not being started except in very few cases. Added to all of that misery is the huge inventory of unsold properties.


That has led to the loss of so many jobs that were held by workers directly involved in building, as well as those in support. This does not augur well for Spain. It suggests coming days of darkness in the near future. Many people who came to Spain in search of work from elsewhere in Europe have either returned home or gone to other countries. Needless to say crime is on the upsurge.

One sector that is being hit hard is that involving driving licenses. Driving schools are seeing their student enrolments falling off. To keep their customers the schools are having to allow credit terms. I have just read that proof of the situation can be seen clearly in the examination centre at El Saler in Valencia where crowds of people would be found all day to take their theory exams or their practicals. Apparently, now by noontime the place is deserted.

The irony is that Trafico has been making it ever more difficult for people to get a pass. Now it seems that circumstances external have taken over that limit the number of new drivers on the road. However, that only means that there will be fewer legal drivers, although to be caught driving without a permit and/or insurance means going straight to jail from the car.


Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

The Perfect Student Driver

To the Perfect Student Driver-Congratulations!

Our son, Nathaniel, came home today and declared that he had passed his practical driving test for a car license. I might have been terrified had he his eyes on my car, however I drive a Volvo so I don’t have to worry, but his mother drives a Seat Leon so I think she may be a little concerned. Maybe that’s why in a week’s time he will be off to Australia.

Most parents complain when they are caught up in the act of providing taxi services for their children, but they forget that there is something even worse that’s to come. That is when the kids get their own driving permits.

This is intended to be a homage to our son because he has a perfect record in the matter of gaining his permits to travel independent of us. First there was the case of getting a permit to ride a moped when he was fourteen. That really did not require much from him at all. But that’s the problem, very young children go out on the road on their slow moving mopeds, and far too many don’t get to grow up.

Next came his desire to move up to 125 cc motorbikes. To do that he was required to sit a theory examination that was in two parts. The first part was regarding the motorcycle aspect, and the second part was for motor-cars. I don’t know what the thinking is other than perhaps he will be circulating along motorways and should know the rules for that. Both examinations must be sat on the same day at different times. Most people fail them both, or pass one and fail the other. Nathaniel passed them both on the first try.

Then came the practical test for the bike that was difficult enough then, but has become even more difficult today. He passed that on the first try. So far, so good! He is showing off his Carmichael mettle.

That was almost two years ago. He has had to wait until attaining his eighteenth birthday before he could go anywhere trying his hand at driving a car. Having already passed the theory test he had only to successfully complete the car practical. He has worked hard, both with myself and with the driving instructor from the school. Here in Spain we are not allowed to enter the road system with a student driver, as is the case in Britain. Therefore, experience comes very expensively as every time out has to be paid for. There are so many little things that can go wrong to trip the student up.

The first one is nerves. Even I, a veteran driver of over 50 years felt a rush of nerves as I thought wouldn’t it be so embarrassing if I were to fail after having been a driver for so long. The fact is that most experienced people would fail had they to take a new test. We build up such a list of bad habits and they come into play when the driving gets tough. Those are the things the examiner looks for in such drivers.

I digress to tell the tale of the lady friend who had to be tested for a Spanish license and just couldn’t get a passing grade. So, on her fourth try she had a vodka and tonic before the test and sailed right through.

There were several things that conspired to foul me when I was being tested. Firstly the examiner had me turn left through a purpose built break in the median, something I would never do on my own, but I did it to his satisfaction. Then, while driving along the one-way street I came upon a truck parked partly on a pedestrian crossing. I couldn’t see whether anyone was using it so I stopped as though it was in use. Just as well as out stepped a lady while I was stationary. Then as I proceeded a small dog ran out between the cars, but my calm speed made sure I was not going to hit it. Then, I had to turn away from the lane that I had been instructed to drive as the police had cordoned it off, and that put me in a proper fix to get back on track. But, all was accomplished with aplomb as I had long stopped worrying about my passenger.

For our son to pass his practical on the first try gave him a perfect track record, which is something of a rarity, and for us we are so very proud of him. That augurs well for his chosen path in life. At the moment he is keen of working in medicine. It is clear to us that when he puts his mind to something he can get it right.

So I think that we can expect great things from our young man. Australia will help to shape him and the future for him looks rosy and bright. I think he can be whatever he decides he wants to be.

Good luck Nathaniel! We love you and you do us proud!


Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Another Cautionary Tale

Driving in Spain

A friend called me recently while somewhat distressed. A Guardia Civil officer was in the process of writing her a ticket because she was carrying something in her boot that was too large, and consequently she was travelling with the boot open. It was on this basis that she was fined. However, a re-reading of the Highway Code does not show this as an offence. Fundamentally, the law wants us to employ a van or truck when we have items of such volume that would make this necessary and common sense. We are allowed to carry certain goods on the top of our cars, even if they protrude to the front and extend to the back.

What then is so special about travelling only with the boot firmly closed? The answer could be that under such circumstances the car is pulling inside poisonous carbon monoxide. However, this can be offset somewhat by opening all the car windows so that it won’t likely kill those inside, but nonetheless an effect could be that of impairing the driver’s concentration.

We cannot see any other reason for the officer making out a ticket, so perhaps he was in reality making an effort to save the lives of people. I’m sure that the way things work in Spain not every officer would see this as an offence, but it is worth be aware that unlike England and America where no one thinks twice about driving with the boot open, but Spain is apparently different.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Yes! We Can!

Our pledge to make 2009 the year of the least number of collisions.

Yes! We Can!

The world seems to be falling apart before our very eyes. Everywhere we look, in the financial sector, the political sector, socially, in religion, and anywhere else, things that can be called traditional are breaking down. However, there is one area that each of us have the power within our grasp to affect. We can determine that we are not going to become a mere statistic this year, nor are we going to put others in that category. No one else can drive for us therefore it is up to us to do it right. Stay off the mobile phone while underway in your car. Mankind was not made to always be contactable. Turn the thing off and relax and concentrate on what you are doing behind the wheel.

Never allow yourself to become drowsy while driving. Stop and rest. Better still, get a good night’s rest beforehand and eat lightly while completing your voyage. Never drink alcohol or take drugs, legal or otherwise, that will impair your judgment. If you don’t want to do these things for yourself, do them for that one special person for whom the sun shines from your eyes.

Try not to overtake along two-way road systems just because you are impatient with the slow pace of the driver in front of you. Head-on collisions happen on such roads and can be avoided completely if you practise patience.

If you are a cyclist or a motorcyclist and you want to avoid being hit by a motorist who “just didn’t see you” wear a reflective jacket over your other gear. “Be Seen to be Safe.”

When you find yourself saying that it’s just too much trouble to do any of these things, repeat after me: “Yes! We Can! “Yes! I can!”

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

The Overtaken

Everbody overtakes me! Driving on Spanish roads it seems no matter how quickly or slow I’m driving, I get overtaken. I’m no slouch, but even at 120 there’s a constant parade of cars going past me as though I have my brakes on.

Well, I’m sorry, but I just won’t drive at a speed greater than 120 in a 120 zone. I just can’t get my head around why people seem to think that driving at 180 is just fine. I think it important to remember that practically every collision involves too much speed. That does not necessarily mean that it was a case of exceeding the posted speed limit. It just means that there was too much speed for the circumstances at the time.

Driving along country roads at night that are not lit by road lights should encourage the driver to reduce speed. But no, for many, it means light traffic indicates I can go as fast as I want.

Wet road conditions suggests to common sense to reduce speed. For many drivers it appears that they are desperately trying to make up the extra time spent in bed by pushing hard to get there on time. Many do not arrive at all. That wouldn’t be so bad by itself, but they too often take others with them. I hope people are allowed to fight in the after-life.

I have no intention of changing the way I drive. Fundamentally I try not to exceed the posted limit by more than ten kilometres because I get to pass in case of speed traps. But, it boggles my mind when I see drivers treating police officers in their official cars in the same way they treat me. It appears that they are simply not there, and to make matters worse I have never seen a patrol car go after one of these speed demons.

So maybe it’s just me after all. If you are one of those people to go flying past me, you might like to wish me to have a good day, preferably by not showing me the middle finger.

Happy Motoring!

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Stupidity Once More

I wrote a couple of weeks ago that I thought that if stupidity could be eliminated from our roads so would what we call accidents. And then I witnessed an incident of stupidity so grave, so outrageous, that if I had the power I would have liked to have caught up with the cretin responsible, and at that point I would have pointed out to him that he had provided evidence that he was so stupid as to be a clear and present danger against all humankind. I then would have placed a bullet between his blank eyes.

The incident took place on a roundabout that is encountered when exiting a motorway. The roundabout is also used as part of the system to enter the motorway. There were four cars involved. I was car number one; the car ahead of me was car number two. We were both using the left hand lane of the two-lane roundabout. Car number three was an Audi that entered the roundabout in spite of the presence of the two of us. That was the first stupid thing to happen, although not particularly dangerous. Car number four, a red Volkswagon also decided to squeeze on to the roundabout. The Audi took the first exit and was gone. The red car increased its speed and inserted itself across the path of the car ahead of me, just as that driver was about to cross over to the right hand lane to leave the roundabout.

No collision occurred, but the margin between the two cars must have been so small I wouldn’t have tried to pass a slip of paper between them. The other driver didn’t even touch his brakes as it happened all so very fast, but I’m fairly certain there would have been a lot of cursing in that car.

The most awful part of this scene is that had a broadside collision occurred, when the police attended they would have applied the blame on the driver who was ahead of me, as the law states that no car may lawfully leave a roundabout at the expense of impeding the progress of the car in the right-hand lane. For red car driver to have deliberately inserted himself in that position takes the act of stupidity to a very high art.

That bothered me intensely, and every time after that when I came on to that roundabout I remembered the incident. About ten days later, while being on the roundabout in the left-hand lane, as I approached the point at which traffic from the motorway should have come to a halt, another dopey driver shot out alongside me and sped up to get ahead of me so that he could do the exact same thing as red car driver. That did enrage me, but it also taught me a lesson. In order to control such morons, and apparently there are more than one on our roads, I need to take charge of the right hand lane as soon as possible and to hold my ground.

As for yourself, you may wish to take this as a reasonable warning.

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Parking in the Blue Zone

I suppose you could say that as part of my research I was issued a ticket for parking in a blue zone without paying the twenty cents for a half hour. But I was just running to the ATM at the bank. How long would that take? Long enough for the warden, who was evidently near enough to have watched my actions to write out a ticket for a 20 euro fine.

I was back in minutes, and there to greet me was my ticket. A kind stranger gave me this advice, and I’m sharing it with you, dear reader, as like most English residents of Valencia we don’t have a clue about these things.

There is s facility whereby if you come back to your car within one hour of the tickets having been written, you can “anul la denuncia” by paying 4:00 euros into the machine on the spot, instead of the 20 euros that it would otherwise cost. Following the instructions you will push the button on the top for tarifas and the screen will give you the option to cancel the ticket. Pay in the four euros, then push the button towards the bottom to receive your receipt.

At the end of the receipt there is a part that you are expected to clip off with scissors so that you can retain it for your records. (No problem this as we all walk about with a pair of scissors for just this purpose.)

Put the receipt with the parking ticket and place in the envelope supplied. Then, at the base of the machine there is a small box into which you can insert the envelope. And that should be the end of it.

However, my ticket was issued on a windy nasty night, I tried reading the instructions in the dark that were first in Valenciano; and the box is so well hidden that at night it is invisible. During the day it can be found.

I am usually so good about paying to park in these zones as they are usually the concession of a charity. On this occasion I neglected to do so and turned an expense of 20 cents into four euros. I hope I won’t be required to pay anything additional as I left the scene before depositing the envelope. I went back the next day and did that, so I might not be out of the woods yet.

A country that gives discounts on fines is a country that loves a bargain.

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

What’s Normal?

On Wednesday, 26th November, 2008 a student driver went to the Realistic Driving school in Petrer, Alicante Province, Spain to have a driving lesson. He had already done the exercises whereby he had learnt the co-ordination things about clutch and brake and accelerator. Today was going to take things up a notch, for today he would go out on the road for the first time.

To say that our young eighteen-year old was excited was an understatement, but he was a fast learner and he took in the counsel of his instructor well. He had been told that there are only two types of actual accidents. They are (a) when a wild animal plunges into the path of an oncoming vehicle and they collide, that is deemed an accident because the animal cannot be blamed. The second type occurs when a driver is overcome by a major sneeze. We cannot sneeze with our eyes open, and a sneeze has a mind of its own. We don’t have to have an actual cold in order for this to happen, so very often these things come to us out of the blue.

Everything else has a fault attached to it. Someone did something that they ought not to have done, or they didn’t do as they were supposed to do. Possibly the collision occurred as a result of bad road engineering or faulty design of the vehicle itself. Examine the circumstances of collisions, large and small and you will be able to lay the blame on someone. In the United States that someone gets to be sued.

After preparing properly the instructor said something else that is very important: he said that in driving, if we can anticipate that something will, or could happen, when it does we can be ready for it to the best of our ability. This day would not tax our young student very much as they would only drive around the block so that he got a feel for being in a real life situation.

They left the driving school parking lot, turned right and proceeded to the traffic lights at the junction. When it was possible they turned right onto the main road and proceeded to pass Cam Bank. At the bank, a bit of excitement was taking place that our student driver was unaware of. Two would-be armed robbers were in the bank. Their names were Mr. Dumb, and his accomplice; Mr. Dumber. Mr. Dumb had been in the process of trying to get the manager to open up the safe, but in spite of taking a beating he refused to do so.

In the process the alarm was sent and the bank became surrounded by police. Mr. Dumb decided that things were not going at all as planned, and so he decided to make a run for it and he came out blazing, wounding four people. He ran into the street in front of the approaching student driver and he fell, promptly got up and pointed his pistol at the police who took him down in a hail of bullets that crossed just in front of the car’s windscreen. It would have been much simpler had he simply dropped his pistol and raised his hands.

The student driver slowed, then he remembered that he had an accelerator and pressed down hard. The car gave out a great cloud of smoke and leapt forward and he was gone. Reportedly he didn’t stop until the car ran out of fuel, somewhere near Madrid.

He apologised to the instructor for getting so rattled as he understood that he failed to anticipate that happening. He thought that for Realistic Driving to go to such lengths was incredibly good training, and that if he decided to continue to drive he would have to get tougher and more accepting of what was normal. Perhaps, he said, he might just leave the driving to his mother and father.

Meanwhile, back at the bank Dumber thought that he needed to be someplace else so in order to get out he would use the multitude of hostages under his command. “Now listen up, you lot. We’re all going to move to the door and you will surround me as we go outside.” Problem: the maximum number of people who could pass through the door at one time was two. He was pretty sure that if he allowed the hostages to go ahead of him they would bolt, so he would go first with a hostage and the others would follow.
As he passed through the door some smart ass locked it and everybody scattered.

“Mi carga en la leche!” he swore. “OK friend, it’s you and me.” But as they moved forward the hostage tripped him and fell to the ground leaving Dumber fully exposed. So, did he drop his pistol and reach for the sky? No, he did not. He thought of himself as Butch Cassiday and started shooting and that was met with a predictable response. He was not immediately killed, but instead he was taken off to hospital suffering from too much lead in his system.

Of course I have made up certain aspects of this story, however there was an actual daylight robbery attempt and the bandits were shot by the police in front of a passing driving school car.

I would just love to hear the driver’s actual impression.

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

The Monster in the Mirror

“Images in mirror may be closer than they appear.”

This warning appears on most car mirrors, but was never more pertinent than on the car mirror that was being chased by a dinosaur in the film, Jurassic Park. However, I’m not talking about those types of monsters, simply other cars that share the road with us.

We’ve all had the experience of driving along in the far left lane when suddenly there appears in our mirror the image of a car coming up fast behind us. The driver clearly wants to get past and he’s (it’s usually a he) in a real hurry. Most people feel something of a start upon being in this position and panic. We pull over to the side as quickly as possible to let the speed freak get by.

Driving these days is a whole lot about being able to keep your nerve, and frankly being a bit bloody minded. When driving the motorway and occupying the extreme left hand lane we are only obliged to maintain a maximum speed of 120 km/h. We need only be in that lane when overtaking and when that manoeuvre is complete we need to return to the right hand lane promptly to comply with the rules of the road. However, the problem arises because the roads are occupied by a lot of fools who can only be pleased when the rest of us stay at home.

This is where the bloody-minded part comes in. We all pay for the privilege of using the roads, and the bit of space you are presently on is yours to occupy for the moment. It’s your little piece of real estate and it shouldn’t be given up easily.

I do admit however, that the sudden appearance in the mirror of something coming up from behind when I’m blocking its path and it wants to get by is reason for me to come back to reality from my daydreams of what I would do if I win the “El Gordo” lottery this year. That’s made even more threatening if he’s tailgating and flashing his lights. The problem also is the size of some of today’s cars.

Jeep has a very impressive front, as does the Volvo XC90, and the top of the line Chrysler saloon. The VW Taureg, Kia People Carriers, Land Rovers of any description, BMW X series, Mercedes, and so on. The biggest monster of all that you really don’t want to suddenly find hot on your heels is the giant Hummer from America. People who drive these things are boldly advertising to the world that “I am a person who definitely has far more money that sense.” I have seen them transporting the kids to school. Give me a break! Their petrol bill for just getting out of the driveway would put most of us in the poor house.

It’s quite something to be able to show off and laud it all over everybody else when you’re up high in one of those things, however, most of us are muttering to ourselves, “so, that’s what a drug dealer looks like!” What a Bummer to be in a Hummer!

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Billboards

As though we are not busy enough trying to safely navigate our way through the heavy traffic loads, thousands of merchants place their messages, which they seem to think are s-o-o-o important, right where they will distract us the most. The roadsides are becoming so fully lined with these idiotic signs that if you did what they are suggesting and read each one, it would be like reading the newspaper while driving. How on earth are you supposed to drive with due care and caution if you are supposed to pay attention to these things?

Firstly, I have some news for the advertisers who pay good money to hire these board spaces: I have never been persuaded to buy one single solitary thing by a billboard message, and I feel so bloody minded about them that I never will.

For the purposes of this piece I stopped my car, got out to actually take note of what the advertisers want me to see. Well, just how important are these messages. Upon entering L’Eliana from the CV-35 we are confronted by nothing but boards. The fact that most of these boards are on the first major roundabout is not lost on drivers. We are wondering who on earth approved these things in the exact worst spot one can imagine.

There is one for Bingo Osito. Somewhere in the shopping centre at El Osito is a Bingo hall and they would like all of us to change direction and come play Bingo with them. I don’t think so! The people who are into that sort of thing know they are there.

Corporea Wellness Club would like to welcome us into their group. Well, good health is important, but if I’m trying to read their board and I run into the car in front of me, that will do nothing to promote my good health.

The Music Escuela, “Musicorum” really want us to come learn to play the guitar. Can’t that wait? Peralta Fabrica de Compras seem to be trying to sell us something. You won’t be able to figure out what while on the move. A lot of good that’s doing!

Decathalon have just opened a huge new shop on the opposite side of the road to the entrance to L’Eliana. The building is impossible not to see when entering and leaving L’Eliana. So, do they really need to place their message on billboards so close to their store? Also, Leroy Merlin operates a massive presence within El Osito, and very close to it there’s a billboard announcing I should come and shop with them. The billboard nearly obscures the store when you catch the angle just right.

I stood in front of a board advertising “Olvidate”, that’s “forget about it” when translated. A very good idea because I can’t figure out what this wants me to do other than forget it. Mark that one done.

There’s also one advertising J&B Scotch, which I do drink, and Rokelin, who offer the taste of something or other.

The one that tops them all is the sign for the Blue Sex Factory that suggests gifts for mujeres and couples. Nothing for guys? That’s one thing about the culture in Spain that I do appreciate, and that is the healthy attitude towards sex. Here they seem to feel everyone should do it until well satisfied.

Anyway, you get the idea. However, this gets me going so much probably because I come from an island where billboard advertising is simply not allowed. Neither are neon lit signs, and there are size restrictions on business names that are fixed to their buildings. I’m actually irritated by all this clutter, so much so that when I’m driving out of it and into the country where there is nothing of the sort I feel a big relief.

I do know about subliminal suggestions that give a person ideas that he is not aware he has taken on, but I can assure all of those responsible for the above mess, they have utterly failed to sell me anything. Where I have bought something that they sell it was because of entirely different reasons. I might even consider penalizing advertisers who spoil the environment by not supporting them.

So, to the Minister(s) responsible I say, clean up this act. No-one is going to go to sleep while driving because they don’t have anything to read.

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Lewis "One Point" Hamilton

I’m convinced that this is a very extraordinary young man. In fact, he is not just an ordinary and average racing driver, I think he is the consummate entertainer. In his first year of racing this monster machine he lost the world championship by just one point.

At the start of this season he was unstoppable, taking one race after another. At one point we were all wondering whether this was Michael Schumacher over again, and fans began to give one giant yawn. But then, things started to go wrong for Lewis. He started to make mistakes. True, they were mistakes that everybody else make with routine monotony, but still it was Lewis himself who was making them. I thought he was bigger than that, but then I reminded myself that he was only human and as such he was subject to make mistakes.

Felipe Massa took advantage of every error on the part of Lewis to increase his total of points, and to cut the points gap between himself and Lewis. Then Lewis did something that I felt was along the same lines as Mike Tyson doing an ear bite: Lewis cut across a bend to get out in front of Felipe. I saw that as desperation, and the rules committee agreed. He did finish that race in first position but he was made subject to a time penalty and the first position went to Massa. Now, this was serious business, and I, along with everybody else sat upright and started to worry.

If Lewis was to have a real chance to win the championship he would have to pull up his socks and start to work his magic. But, not so fast, Fernando Alonso had something to say about that. He got his winning ways back and finished a couple of races in first position. Perhaps we were seeing in Lewis a young man who had peaked.

We saw something like that in Tiger Woods. That first year that he won the Masters Tournament in America was an amazing thing to watch. He was masterful and hypnotic. I had gone to a golf club on some other business. I walked into the lounge that was as quiet as an empty church, although every table was full. Someone made a telephone call to a golfing buddy who was out on the course, suggesting that he might like to abandon the round and get back to the clubhouse pronto. For a while Tiger continued his dominance, but then he started to lose some games. So it was with Lewis.

The thing that Hamilton, Woods, and President-elect Barack Obama all have in common is that when they come under pressure they maintain their calm. However, as fans of Lewis Hamilton we were biting our nails and sitting forward on our seats. The points spread continued to narrow, but Lewis said that he was comfortable with that. But then, came the moment of truth, the final race of the season in Brasil. He was neither ruled out or in as the eventual winner ahead of the race. He could only pull off a win if he finished no lower than fifth place. But he had to finish, and a fifth place would give him a one-point lead over Massa, who was up in the front pack.

People all over the world watched that race who had never watched a Formula One race before, just as the same thing happened in golf, and in America’s presidential race for president. The tension around the world was so palpable that it could truly have been sliced with a knife. Nowhere was that more so than in the U.K. This was a chance for a British title, and in the history of the race, it was also a chance for the title to be taken home by a young black man for the very first time. To say that a lot was riding on the outcome is a true understatement.

Around and around they went and Lewis was nowhere near to where he needed to be. In the closing rounds of the race he made up ground and with only two more corners to go he was in sixth place. Disappointed fans began to turn their backs on the screens as they could not bear to watch his loss. But suddenly, the most enormous roar went up around the world that surely could have been heard in outer space. On the second to last corner Lewis found his opening and went for it in flawless style and crossed the bar in fifth place, one point ahead of Massa to win with a total of accumulated points for the season of 98, compared with 97 for Massa.

Britain shook with the excitement of the win, and even Her Majesty watched as he brought home the title. This was drama at its finest. It was the best of all that had gone before, so much so that few of us can remember who actually finished first on that day.

Lewis Hamilton is a very nice guy. He honours his family, his country, and his team. He is handsome and well spoken and the right sort of role model for a lot of young people who are otherwise following paths to hell. They can see that should they wish to turn their lives around they too can make something substantial of themselves. If only they would believe that, “Yes, we can!”

Lewis Hamilton, Driver, World Champion Formula One and great humanitarian. But how great is he really? Stay tuned for the 2009 Formula One racing season. We’ll see!

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

117,000

Between 117,000 and 130,000, that’s the number of paid admissions to the Moto GP at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo Cheste stadium on Sunday, October 26th. That was a day of great thrills and spills for the spectators and racers, but even more so for the organisers.

The event is an annual one at this same time of the year, but this year presented some very special problems brought about by heavy rains that had persisted for more than two weeks. The country had been experiencing the Gota Fria with all the usual floods and destruction. As an organiser that must have brought on many sleepless nights as to cater for so many people for an event of this magnitude must surely have been the ultimate nightmare. Even if the weather was cooperating perfectly there are so very many things that can go wrong.

The town of Cheste is usually a very quiet place. People go about their business, that is primarily agriculture and generally keep themselves to their own. But once or twice a year the racetrack draws half the world and their cousins and the town becomes overrun with the enthusiasm of racing fever. For the Grand Moto GP this is even further exaggerated as young people on their magnificent bikes come rolling into town like the thunder of the gods seeking fun. It seems to be an accepted thing that somebody has to die during the period.

This year, on the first of three days of racing and celebration, two people lost their lives. I’m not speaking of official racers, but spectators in attendance. The temptation to attract attention to one’s self during this time is very strong, so there is no shortage of guys showing off their shiny pride and joy. Unfortunately, sometimes things get out of hand and go horribly wrong. It’s hard to imagine how parents feel when told that they have lost their son or daughter at a time when they were only seeking to have fun.

To make matters worse for the organisers, this year the approach to the circuit was in the midst of hard major works as the new high-speed train from Madrid is in the process of being developed. Consequently, with temporary access of a very confusing nature the ability to cater to so much traffic was daunting. But even this was further complicated by the fact that the non-paved parking lots around the circuit were under water, so parking could not be allowed anyway.

Someone came up with the brilliant idea of having motor homes and cars to park about 20 minutes away and the occupants shifted by bus. Even under the best of circumstances this would not have worked very well, but that was before they knew that so many people would eventually show up.

Saturday it was still raining and the forecast was for more rain on Sunday. A disaster!

Sunday dawned dry and bright and it quickly became apparent that the day was going to be absolutely fabulous. So people who otherwise thought they might not bother got up early and headed for Cheste. The organisers panicked, but in a good way. They wisely concluded that the area around the stadium had to be made park-able, and they only had about an hour to get it done. Yes, it was impossible, but made even more so by arguing about it.

The trucks rolled and the heavy machinery scooped and smoothed and in one hour it was done. A calamity of superior proportions was avoided, and the young people arrived in just about everything that moved. 117,000 of them paid admission to the circuit producing several million in income for the track. That was 5,000 more than paid to see Formula One on the streets of Valencia. To say that this was unexpected is a great understatement.

In spite of all the excitement and the unabated testosterone the crowd behaved itself and all went off without any major hitches. Certainly you needed patience because of so many people just to get anything at all. The trains and buses did a roaring trade as a great many people heeded advice to leave their vehicles in Valencia.

I did not attend the races myself as I have been nursing a healing foot, but mid-afternoon I made my way over to Cheste, which is the next town to mine, to see how things were progressing. I arrived just as the races had ended and all those people were leaving. Now try to imagine that you are the only person going the wrong way.

Cheste survived another invasion, everyone had a great time it seems, and the papers and tv reports were glowing in their praise for the event. Young people arrived and camped out in the weather and did their fun thing which reminds me that young people are pretty wonderful. Is youth wasted on the young as someone once said? I think not, but would I like to be young again? Sounds like a lot of hard work to me.

Copyright (c) 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Spanish Parking

We drivers in Spain do not park our cars, instead we abandon them. Patience is not generally thought of as our long suite, so what happens usually is that we drive into the town centre to get as close to where we want to conduct business, and we park alongside the row of cars that is already there and try to be quick about getting things done.

For new comers and foreigners to Spain this is very difficult to understand. Where is the consideration for our fellow man? True, the unwritten rule is that if you are going to do this, you should leave your parking brake off so that your car can be moved forward or backward. Frankly, this is very dangerous. If the road surface has a gradual decline you are asking for trouble.

I once watched as a poor man came back to find that his car was hemmed in by a line of double-parked cars the entire length of the block. He didn’t have the time to wait for the owners to come back, so he started at the head of the line and moved that car out into the path of crossing traffic. One by one he moved all the cars that he needed in order to give himself an opportunity to leave. He was not gentle and several cars suffered scratches.

I find it very difficult to understand the mentality of people who are so self-serving that to lock in another motorist until the offending driver returns is off the radar of selfishness. However, it does seem to stop there. I have never seen a fight break out because of this. I think that you might be taking your life in your hands if you did such a thing in Los Angeles. What is going on here?

Well, first, there’s simply too much traffic inflicting itself in the downtown areas. People need to get in the habit of parking outside city limits and taking public transport into the heart of the city. We also have to learn that walking is good exercise. As a practical matter, if we can park a little farther away from our destination and walk the distance, we do our bodies good.

My general idea is to leave my car several kilometres outside town and ride the bus or metro. Parking in pay parking has grown so expensive as to be offensive. So, these places should be avoided as rip-off stations. Add to that they try to pack in as many cars as possible, and that leads many people to leave the colour of their cars behind.

Moving through the city is an interesting experience in seeing how far people are prepared to go to leave their cars for the duration. The space that is marked for pedestrians is heaven sent for so many drivers who say that if it were not for that they would not have any place to park.

Sidewalks provide much needed parking for off-road space, and any building lot not actively being worked on is welcome space. I recently saw one driver had pushed the edge of the envelope to the extreme by parking nose in between two cars. Very novel indeed!

One final thought: In many ways I recognize that I am becoming just like the Spanish. A case of "When in Spain do as the Spanish do?"

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Driving while Injured

The law states that you must not drive while impaired in any way. Apart from those people who are so moronic that they should not come anywhere near a vehicle, what does that statement actually mean?

An easy interpretation would be that if the driver is suffering in any way the use of his full faculties then he must not take up the position of controlling his vehicle. So, whether you have a hurt foot or arm or hand or eyesight, or anything of that sort, the edict is to take a break.

However, having said that we have driving by special disabled operators, so that seems to call into question whether every injury automatically bars driving. Certainly drunkenness or impairment through default of sight are clearly acceptable reasons why we need to stay away from trying to drive. Also, we have to acknowledge that disabled drivers usually have specially customized cars to assist them

What if we have an automatic car, can we still drive if we have injured our left foot? This is a foot that is simply not necessary for driving an automatic. But can we still drive a manual shift if we have sustained an injury to that foot. It really all depends on how severe the injury, as you certainly have to be able to apply the clutch.

If you have an injured right arm that disallows the changing of gears, can you cope? Doesn’t sound like it as you should never remove both hands from the steering wheel while in motion. I do recall seeing a man doing just that to have a mobile telephone conversation, but that’s as we say, another story.

What about the left arm injury? Can it be used to at least hold the steering wheel and to make turns, because if it cannot you will be taking an exceptional risks in going out into traffic.

I want to say that in the case of the sufferance of injury commonsense has a great role to play. Getting around by vehicle is such an important part of our every day life that sometimes stretching things may be necessary, however, should you ever have to make such a decision it is critical that you err on the side of safety. A reckless decision now might lead to horrific results later.


Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Miles to Go!

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.” (Frost)



We do a lot of driving, most of which is not an actual enjoyable experience, although being able to do so is a real privilege. My wife and I visited our friend, the fabulous Ms. G who lives in Ojen which is located just eight kilometros inland of Marbella. Ojen is a small white village that sits on the side of a mountain. It is very typical of so many villages but each has its own story.

Ojen was in fiestas and the party went on in spite of the uncooperative weather. There are very few flat parts to the village, and every thing is a mini of what Madrid or Valencia would have. It is a town of locals and others, and that is made very clear as the locals don’t go out of their way for us foreigners, however, we were perfectly free to roam about and to enjoy ourselves, which we did.

I did wonder what effect a hillside town has on its aging population. Do people live longer because of the strength they build from walking up such steep inclines, or do they depart this life at a younger age? That is the question.

Our hostess was very kind to take us on a long drive through country roads over the mountains, and that is what I want to share. Driving through cities and along the national or autovias is the fundamentals of getting from point A to point B. This was just pleasure driving, something we have to go out of our way to achieve.

For this excursion we travelled from Ojen further inland to Ronda to see the great Gorge. Our journey took us along the A355 to Monda, then via a shortcut through Guaro to pick up the A366 to Ronda. Along the way we passed through Tolox, Alozaina, Yunguera, and El Burgo where we stopped for a rest. These are all small towns but they seemed to be well ordered with a functioning society built around agriculture.

This was a delightful trip for us passengers but for the driver it requires full concentration on the road as it was a mountain route with narrow roads and hairpin bends all the way. We are therefore very grateful to our friend who did the driving.

Taking the route that we did meant having to cross the Sierra Bermeja. We went up one side, then along the top at 1190 meters above sea level, and down the other side. I thought it quite astonishing that so many people live in these wide-open spaces. Mainly it is olive country so I suppose that’s the principal reason why there is such a large population so far away from the major centres. By contrast the density of people living down along the coast is horrific. At one point I actually closed my eyes away from the obscenity of that sight.

I observed something on that journey that was really striking: you pass from deeply forested areas into sudden arid conditions where hardly anything at all grows. The line is quite rigidly drawn and seems preposterous. After travelling for many kilometres the land changes again to one of no greenery at all. Now we were in rock country. This is the most amazing environment, it’s like what I would expect on other planets. I was going to try to describe the types of formations and colouring, which is basically different shades of grey, but I’ve concluded that would not be possible. It’s simply something one has to see with own eyes.

After leaving this area we re-enter the world of green, but in a gentle way with hedges and green grass, and then comes the outskirts of Ronda. This is a major town and also a significant tourist centre. Its draw is the El Tajo gorge. The land extends at one level, then suddenly falls away by about 300 feet. This must surely be something of a rarity in Spain. In the United States there is the Grand Canyon, and that would be something similar, except that with the Ronda Gorge the drop off is only on one side.

Amazingly, down below there are homes and farms and a mini-community. I’m sure that far too many people give in to the temptation to see how long something thrown takes to reach the bottom.

So, an enjoyable visit to the southern parts of Spain, and in particular the inland and remote parts that I’m sure many would say, “This is Real Spain.”

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

250 kmp/h

I was driving the CV-35 during a period when it was very quiet. It was a lovely day, and as I drove I had my driver’s side window down. Ahead of me in the right lane was a learner-driver cruising along at about 85, so I moved into the middle lane to overtake her as I was moving at about 115-120 kmp/h.

Suddenly, I was overtaken by two cars. The first was a white car, being either an Audi TT or a Porshce, and that was followed closely by a dark blue beemer. (BMW) They were travelling at about 250 kmp/h.

Mainly, I want to try to describe the experience of having that happen so unexpectedly, but I’m sure it can only be appreciated if you’ve lived through it.

I didn’t see them coming, so the first I knew was when they passed me. With my window open I was treated to both sudden sound and movement. If I tell you that the sound was of the nature of an explosion I’m sure you can appreciate that.

Blam! That was accompanied by a big push, and they were gone. I quite literally jumped and my heart went to my throat. I let out a foul cry, too objectionable for this blog, because I thought I’d been hit. I followed that with :” You stupid bastards! Slow down!”

I’ve said this before and I’m moved to say it again: Eliminate stupidity from the roads and our crash statistics will fall like a rock. Why would a person think that it was ok to push their car to that limit, at any time of the day or night, when they know that the maximum speed limit is 120 kmp/h? They don’t have to be particularly bright to know that up ahead there will be other road users travelling at half their speed, and that there would be no way that they could slow in time to avoid a crash.

It’s especially annoying that the people who do this type of stupidity are also rich. It’s too bad that the gain of money doesn’t necessarily mean a gain in common sense. The drivers who did that were simply hooligans, but rich ones. A hooligan is a hooligan, is a hooligan. That the person is rich doesn’t make him, or her, any better.

While we are on the topic, why do manufacturers release to the public vehicles that can travel so fast anyway? The speed limit is set at 120, so why does my car’s speedometer suggest that it can get up to 240. When am I likely to need to travel at that speed? I’m fairly certain that my car would start to disintegrate over 200 kmp/h, and I say that as a Volvo driver.

Apparently no crash occurred, but that in itself was an accident. Good fortune was firmly on everyone’s side that day. Those two morons were certainly tempting fate severely.

So, for goodness sake, let common sense rule. Slow down and save my life. I also suggest that we each preserve our own lives for the one’s who love us.

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.” (Frost)

Do we Drive Too Much?

To live free is truly a wonderful thing! We take it for granted and we forget about what it takes to keep us so. That’s a particular shame because people lose their lives in the commission of freedom. Those individuals and their families who make it possible should occupy a high position in our consciousness.

What do we do with our freedoms? All the many aspects of living go under that heading, even the committing of crimes. That’s what freedom means, to be able to do what we choose when we decide. This got me to thinking about our use of the highways, and the reasons we use our cars and bikes. I’m sure there is a real case to be made for overly using the facilities. England is thinking about charging a fee per trip. Should they do that, it will be interesting to note the effect on the consumer.

Lately I haven’t been out much. My petrol bill has been halved as I spend a lot more time in front of my computer. I have to admit that I get the urge to go out, and that usually means by car or motorbike. Why not just go for a walk? That would do me a lot of good, but I prefer to go by car.

I recall the time of my youth back in Bermuda before the car was introduced for public use. Cars appeared on our roads in general circulation in 1947, and it was many years after that before it could be said that they were in “normal” use. During those times people walked. Firstly, everybody kept a garden to grow vegetables. Ours was a family of seven children and two parents, so we had to be self-supporting. We also kept chickens, and on Fridays it was my duty after school to go and bring in the fish for dinner.

Please note that I was not commanded to try, I was told to just do it. I have no recollection of ever having failed. There were no supermarkets in those days, just Mom & Pop grocery stores where we went on Saturdays to get stuff that we couldn’t grow. What an adventure that was! I always looked forward to receiving an apple or orange. It was only after having moved here to Spain did I get in the habit of eating more than one fruit in a single sitting. My son can demolish a kilo or more of mandarins in one go.

Our shopping habits were vastly different back then in the good old days. We shopped once a week in spite of the fact that we did not have a refrigerator. These days food stores remain open 24-hours a day, and there is always someone inside doing their shopping.

So, in the old days we just didn’t move around much. Life was lived in the neighbourhood, and pretty much everything was local. We thought that it was amazing that my father cycled thirteen miles to see my mother. Since then, I have held courtships in other countries.

Recently Valencia held what it called una dia sin coches. That was a day to encourage people not to drive their cars. Instead we were invited to dust off our bicycles and to get around in that manner. I did cooperate by simply doing nothing.

As petrol prices began to climb I started to think carefully about the use of my car. It seems that I was forever going somewhere. Now, I try to combine into one journey several things. For instance, I live in Pedralba which is about 50 kilometros from downtown Valencia. So, if I need to drive into the city I try and save up several things that have to be done along the way. Clearly, if I can use one journey to accomplish many things I am cutting down on costs and fuel.

The peculiar thing about all this is that the CV-35 has now been upgraded and driving along it is such a pleasure as the congestion is a thing of the past. (Hopefully!) However, I do invite you to consider whether the next trip out in your car is really necessary, simply in the interest of reduced fuel and use of space.

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Unconscious Driving

One of my favourite columns is written by a psychologist/hypnotist. He covers some very interesting subject matter that serves to remind me of how complex we humans are.

He was trying to make the point that most people go through life in two forms. There is our conscious mind that drives us to do things when we are fully involved and perfectly aware of what we are doing. For the most part the sorts of things we are likely to do under this state are new things; current challenges; problems to be worked out on the fly. We have to be involved with these matters, as we have never encountered them before, so they require our full concentration.

Then he said that there is the other state of being that operates under our unconscious mind. I’m going to make bold and suggest that he may have intended to say our sub-conscious mind, because that seems more appropriate with what he suggested we do under this state.

Our sub-conscious accounts for our other personality. It deals with all the many things that we have learnt over the years that we now do without giving any thought. For instance, the simple typing of this piece involves both parts of me. I don’t have to think as I type, but I do have to think about what I’m typing. This is a new thread that requires my concentration, but the computer is something known to me.

When we eat we do so without thought, but what we eat does provoke us into being critical, praising, or just neutral. When it comes to riding a cycle, or horse, or driving a car, we go onto auto-control. However, while we really don’t have to think about the gear we just changed into, we do think about road conditions. It is entirely possible that many people end up in car crashes because they trusted too much to the sub-conscious.

I have written before about driving habits while we are too distracted. The trick is to remember that our car and our living room are two distinct entities and must never be confused. To mistake the situation when driving is potentially deadly. Have you ever come across a one-car crash along a straight road? The problem there was most likely that the driver turned his head to talk to his front seat passenger and simply drove off the road.

The rule to keep in mind is to pay attention to what you are doing that is of the primary purpose. Keep your eyes on the road and never let too much responsibility slip from your conscious to your sub-conscious mind.

If we do actually drive in an unconscious state, that might explain all those ridiculous crashes. Many people do seem to drive like that.

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Stupidity

I was thinking that if stupidity on the roads could be eliminated entirely, the number of motor “accidents” would fall tremendously.

Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing!

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Discipline

Driving is supposed to be a very disciplined activity, just by its definition. It’s all about the rules of the road and is dependent on everyone knowing what they are supposed to do, and carrying out their duties in a workman-like manner. So, when I approach a stop sign all other road users in the vicinity are supposed to be able to rely on me to stop at the appropriate place. In this country, the Spanish roads are notorious for indiscipline. It’s as though we’ve never heard of the word.

By comparison certain other countries develop drivers who are super disciplined, and it is an absolute eye opener to ride with such people. I have been passenger on two occasions when very careful people were driving the vehicles, and frankly, it was wonderful. I was somewhat concerned that other people had no idea of what was taking place. I could image conversations in the cars behind me going something like this: “What is he doing?” “I’m not sure, but it looks like he’s obeying the law.” “Why?”

I’m not talking about anything radical, just adhering to the rules that we are all supposed to know about. It goes something like this: After we all buckled up, our journey began. Even while we were still on the estate road turn signals were given, even if there were no other vehicles around. We maintained travel along the right side of the road, and when we came to stop signs we actually stopped and stood completely still for a count of three.

As we proceeded along the road we observed the speed limit signs precisely. Especially those signs that reduce speed were scruptously obeyed. In fact when we passed each sign our speed was compatible, even if our driver had to use the brakes to slow down.

Hands were always at the ten to two position except when shifting gears. No overtakes were even attempted except of tractors. When driving through towns our drivers were super alert to pedestrians suddenly appearing out in front of us, or traffic lights suddenly changing.

One of the drivers was from germany, and he explained that his reward for all that discipline was the autobahn when he can drive as fast as he wants. Even then he had never exceeded150 kmh/s.

This was all very commendable, and by comparison with the usual driver on Spanish roads was worthy of a medal. However, owing to the fundamental suspicious nature of the police, were they to be observers they would no doubt have wondered: what is that man carrying that is so illegal that he does not want to give us any cause to stop him?

Sometimes it’s very difficult to win.

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

The Elitist Valencia Formula One

The day was just fine. Glorious sunshine, excited crowds, more than 112,000 paid admissions, a brand-new track, and the dream came true. The waiting was over. There had been so much preparation and anxiety that it would be completed on time, but that was all in the past.

The idea was the brainchild of the president of the Valencia Community, Frances Camps, and the long-time mayoress of Valencia, Rita Barberá. Valencia has always been considered the poor cousin behind Madrid and Barcelona, but the dynamic duo have determined to change all that.

First they have set about doing what they can on a local level to encourage participation in the annual fiestas, and they have promoted Valencia for its exports and its sports, particularly football. Then, taking a huge gamble they bid for America’s Cup, and got it. That meant a massive investment in the port area that had been ignored for so many years. It was said that Valencia was a city that turned its back on the sea and its port.

So America’s Cup came to Valencia, and the average resident could not have cared less. It was an event that was held way out there on the water, and it brought higher prices on land as the teams sought the best accommodation, and drove up real estate and staple goods prices. Were it not for those things we could have ignored America’s Cup altogether, however, Formula One racing in the city was something else again.

This was an event that was loud and brash and in everybody’s face. City Hall was faced with major protests from city residents who were not amused by the prospect of so much noise. In her typical brilliant fashion, Mayor Barbará suggested that it be held in August, the traditional month when most residents head out of town on vacation. That was an instant hit. Because not only could many residents leave town, they could also rent out their balconies and rooftops for insane amounts of money, so Formula One was off to a fine start in first gear.

To accommodate the new track a swing bridge had to be built and new asphalt put down that would be of racing standard. Much of the track consists of existing roadways that take in a loop around the City of Arts and Sciences, the signature image for Valencia.

The reason I call this an elite event is that you had to be able to find at least two hundred euros to watch the action live. Tickets prices originally were between two hundred and five hundred euros, but when they sold out scalpers made a fortune. Obscene amounts of money were charged for balconies and rooftops for the three-day event. Missing was any accommodation for the general public of a standing-only area for spectators who could only afford more modest prices.

Organisers did set up a screen along the Malvarrosa beach for the public to follow the race on television. Apparently about 600 million people watched around the world, but the local television stations, Canal 9 and Punto 2 were free to show anything they wanted, just as long as it was not live action from the track. Such was the cost of broadcast rights. Understandably, this is one very expensive sport to fund, but by providing a section for cheap viewing, and by upgrading the public toilets from the portaloos to something more dignified, there would not have been any criticism at all.
I acknowledge that one-month before the real race there had been Formula Three racing to test the track at a cost of only 10 euros a day. I took full advantage of that
I also note that the City laid on free concerts for the general public, including Gloria Estafan. Shame about the rain!

I must not leave this thread without mentioning that Valencia has a first-class racing track at Cheste that led many of us to question why the race had to be held in the streets. The owners of the track at Cheste must have taken their snub very hard, but they have decided to strike back in a very positive way by bringing The Madonna Travelling Road Show to town. I’m almost tempted to go see the show, even though Madonna is not even on my list of admired artists, just to see what they do with 88 trailer loads of equipment.

For the future we can almost be sure that Valencia will become a centre for tennis.

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Formula One in Valencia

The time is here and all the waiting and scramble to complete the track on time is over. As I write this it is August 23rd, 2008 and we have seen the practise session on Friday, the 22nd and the qualifiers today. So far, all has gone well, even the weather has been cooperating in spite of rain in the area.

Excitement has been intense as the brand new circuit gets its baptism. Generally opinion has been complimentary except for the port-a-loos, and Sir Jackie Stewart’s comment that the venue looks like a dock, which it partly is.

Lewis Hamilton did his usual thing and leapfroged from behind only to lose pole to Massa, but no worries he will deal with that in his own style. For Fernando Alonso the worst possible thing happened, he failed to qualify in the top ten starters in front of his home crowd. Ah well, I guess these things happen and one has to roll with the punches.

Having attended the Formula Three trials back in July that tested the track ahead of this month’s historic race, I complained that patrons only got to see a little of the race at a time. However, giant screens have been erected that allow all the action to be followed.

Several buildings at various points around the circuit provide wonderful viewing, and a well known fact is that many people have taken advantage to rent out their space for a lot of cash. However, the town council declared such activities to be illegal after waiting long enough for contracts to be signed and money to change hands. I doubt if that is enforceable, but we’ll see.

So, the hour is at hand and by 4pm Valencia time on Sunday August 24th, another name will be declared winner on the day. I will be most disappointed if that name is not Lewis Hamilton.



Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

ROAD COURTESY

Introducing a new concept to a great many drivers and riders: courtesy on the road means simply having regard for one’s fellow motorists by extending little acts of consideration and kindness that assist them. For many this will be a radical line of thinking. They get in their cars and trucks, or on their bikes and the hell with everyone else. They want a clear road and let no one else impede their progress in any way.

This country is but one in which the driver who drives at the legal speed limit is considered a pest. How can this be? If there were not guidelines as to maximum speeds the death toll would be off the chart. Most limiting speeds are reasonable taking into consideration normal road conditions. Wet roads dictate that speeds be lessened in the interest of safety.

So, what on earth are those lunatics thinking when we see them ignoring all the rules of good common sense and even self-preservation. Do they have some kind of death wish. When I’m overtaken by someone in a very dangerous situation I simply wish them a nice death. Good riddance to them if they do lose the argument with a wall or a tree. The problem is that all too often they take out perfectly innocent people as well. I can only hope there is justice in the after life.

Road courtesy in action are those things that are appreciated by other drivers that make their journey a little safer. If the other driver does not have the right of way, but by giving way to him or her so that they are better able to execute their manoeuvre, that will be greatly appreciated. An example is that of the driver who needs to back into the roadway. Although you have the right of way, by taking just a second to allow him to complete the procedure without endangering other traffic you will have helped him on his way. You didn’t have to do it, but your help will be appreciated, and one day you will become the beneficiary if this radical idea catches hold.

Normally, not much is required in order to carry out a random act of kindness and courtesy. England used to be famous for courtesy on the roads, and there are some old school drivers still around. These are people whose actions are sometimes not immediately understood. They stop to let you pass when it would have been just as fine for you to have waited. They will hold up several cars while you take your time to square up in the supermarket car park. They will take special care around pedestrians and children, and even animals. These are the things that elevate a person from being a good driver to a good motorist.

Unfortunately, their actions are not always appreciated, even sometimes by the people they are attempting to assist. However, I really do think that if a person is subject often enough to courtesies shown to him he will come to realize that this is a better way to do life, and in spite of himself it is human nature to pay it forward. When someone does us a favour we can best repay it by doing a favour for someone else who needs it. After all, the person who did you the favour was giving you the gift of kindness and doesn’t really want it back.

There is one other thing that I would add, and it is this: When someone does extend to you a courtesy on the road, please be sure to encourage them by a simple gesture that says “Thank You!” That costs nothing but its value is incalculable.


Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

What is a Motor Accident

The Sneeze

Recently, a man collided with a stray dog along one of Valencia’s roads, and that resulted in harm to man and animal, and to his vehicle. Acting apparently on the advice of a lawyer he brought suit against the Valencian government for negligence. His suit charged that the government, the owners of the road system, allowed an animal that was without a private owner to roam freely, to the extent that the dog was able to gain access to the road and come into contact with a motor vehicle.

Furthermore, he asserted that in the case of animals that have not been adopted by a member of the public, such animals are the property of the State by default. As would be the case were the animal the property of an individual, should it bring harm or damage in the course of its unsupervised ramblings, the owner has absolute responsibility for the consequences.

Nice try, sir! Probably the suit might succeed in the United States for millions of dollars, but not in Spain.

The one true description of an accident is where a wild animal suddenly appears in front of a moving vehicle. Even in those areas where the public are warned that animal crossings are frequent, a collision between animal and vehicle must be considered a happenstance that is accidental. That is to say that if an animal can find its way over, around or under the protective fence that we see bordering the highway and come into contact with our vehicle; or otherwise crosses the road without supervision of any kind, that constitutes an accident. As road users we accept that truth, along with certain others when we use the roads.

The courts say that any other circumstance most probably involves a person who is culpable and responsible. If you fall asleep at the wheel you’ve not rested properly. If you just didn’t see in time you were either distracted, or your eyesight is the problem. If some other medical crisis, such as a heart attack leads to a crash, it’s most likely that the condition had a lead up that was either ignored or underestimated.

Should you drink alcohol or take any type of drug that impairs judgement you must not drive. Should your vehicle fail, its maintenance is faulty or insufficient; or perhaps the problem is one of design flaw. Somebody is responsible. When all else fails take a look at the road design. All these things lead to a responsible party who can, and should be held accountable for the harm that is caused to third parties.

There is one other situation that can lead to a calamitous scenario, and that is the common sneeze. That would be sudden, unexpected, they come in threes, and are completely out of the control of the sneezer. Good luck with that one.


Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Valencia Street Circuit

Together with my friends, we attended the Formula Three races on the brand new Valencia Street Circuit, (pronounced “Sirkweeet”) on July 26th and 27th, 2008. We were there for the first ever, historical formal race, which was the Grand Prix GTA. I should tell you that I did enjoy myself because you might not be able to conclude that based on my following observations, but the fact is that we did have a good time.

The fun thing to do is pick a contestant and root for him with all your might. That way you get fully engaged and you’ll be elated or disappointed, as the case might be.

These races were actually trials of the track itself which had been newly and purpose built, although never before tested. Personnel, security, gate flow, seating, will all be put to extensive pressure for the Formula One that expects 112,000 paid attendance so this was a rehearsal for that event.

One reason why I was able to fully enjoy myself was because I had paid ten euros a day to attend. We sat in a section that will cost a minimum of 379 euros covering three days, August 22, 23, and the day of the actual race, the 24th. That will work out at 126 euros per day. Top price for the really super section is 480 euros, or 160 euros per day. These tickets are now being sold to late-comers at vastly higher prices.

I’m now going to play devil’s advocate and be picky, but please remember that I did enjoy myself.

Firstly, just on the outskirts of Valencia city is the world-class racing track at Cheste. I have watched Formula One trials there, and albeit, that track is a counter-clockwise course, I wonder if that really does make it impossible to hold the event there. From my viewpoint, there would be definite advantages for the spectator. For one thing the action can be followed all round the course from the comfort of every seat.

Why then, should the races be held in a street circuit? No matter where you sit you only get to see part of the action, and there does not appear to be any intention to place large screens around the course. That would be a definite advantage for it would then combine both live and broadcast action. Also, a programme showing who was driving which car would have helped. Perhaps this will be available for the big race.

Our tickets were sold by section and by specific seat, but on the days that we attended the seat numbers had not been put in place. That was an advantage to us as we could pick and choose as we pleased.

It was exceedingly hot on those bleachers in the exposed sun, so a small parasol was good thinking, just as long as it didn’t block out the action for others. Do not copy the selfish act of one patron who thought it perfectly alright to open up a gigantic umbrella in a key spot that blocked the view of hundreds of people. He was roundly condemned and had to take it down.

Security was generous, but for reasons best known to themselves all bottles of liquid had to have their tops removed and discarded. Probably not a good idea to take in champagne then.

As one might expect, anything that was purchased from vendors came at a ridiculous price. A small bottle of water at 2.00 euros. An ice cream that normally sells for 1.50 sold for 3.50.

I reserve my harshest barbs for sanitation. Organisers are relying on port-a-loos to serve the needs of such vast crowds. These things are hot as hell, smell like hell, and are probably what the real hell will be like. If there really is no other practical solution then I suggest that they need to be regularly patrolled by a small army of cleaners as they are an insult to people who are paying top euro to attend what is billed as a world-class event. That alone will bring the prestige of the event down.

Track workers will have to work much faster to clear crashed cars from the track. One such crash that happened for our benefit, that was little more than a fender bender, took a full half-hour to clear and stopped the race. That cannot stand for Formula One.

And finally, without getting into the rights or wrongs of worker’s disputes, once again, and right on cue, the Valencia Metro workers went on strike for the two days of Formula Three, and they will be on strike for the three days of Formula One. They can also be counted on to strike over Fallas, and most other major events that need to move massive numbers of people. By now, one wonders, whether this is legitimate labour negotiations in action or just plain blackmail of the public.

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Crash !

If you have ever been so unfortunate as to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time to bear witness to a collision on the road, you will know what a traumatic experience it is. Of course people actually pay to see spectacular crashes on the racetrack, but those are somewhat controlled. At least they are in so much as the drivers have extra safety measures built-in to the cage, and the risks are reduced by the fact that there will usually be only one class of vehicle, and they all start off going the same way.

It was my bad luck to have a crash happen directly in front of me, the results of which might well have been worse that they were. This is a cautionary tale for us all, as it could have so easily been anyone.

It happened in the town of Vilamarxant, in the suburbs of Valencia city. The set-up for this crash is a maze of narrow cross streets. The rule is that should you have traffic approaching from your right, that traffic has the presumed right of way. All traffic should therefore circulate at walking pace speed, ready to stop until certain who will proceed first. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works in practise.

I had made my way along a street that was crossed by one-way traffic that was alternately coming from my right and then my left. I did have to give way to crossing traffic, and we did so safely. That was because I anticipated that it would happen, and I was moving at walking pace and therefore able to stop in time. I did this even for those junctions in which I had right of way, just in case the other vehicle did not give way to me. (Avoid the accident by any means necessary.)

Having parked my car and locked it I was waiting on a car coming along the same street that I had travelled. A mother carrying her eleven year-old to school drove the car. The girl was sitting in the front passenger seat. As they drew abreast of the cross street closest to me a white van appeared suddenly, moving at about 50 km/h and broad sided the car. I estimate that the car’s speed was about 40 km/h.

Within seconds both drivers were out of their vehicles accusing one another of being responsible. Meanwhile, the child passenger, who took the brunt of the crash, was badly shaken and traumatised, but otherwise unharmed. The material damage was mainly caused to the car in that the passenger side door was caved in, and that would result in a very expensive repair and loss of use of the vehicle for quite some time.

There were several things wrong with this situation: The most serious was that a young person was sitting in the passenger seat. It is not against the law provided that the youth is properly restrained, but is not to be recommended, as there is greater exposure to harm in the front passenger seat.

Secondly, neither of those drivers exercised a proper level of caution for the circumstances. Visibility was restricted to the last minute, which meant that both drivers were assuming that they were the only people using those roads at that time. That is always a dangerous and ridiculous thing to do, and they both received a short sharp, shocking lesson in the fallacy of such an assumption.

The lady driver repeated that she had priority as she was on a priority road. In cross town and urbanisation grids, this is rarely the case. Mostly, such roads have equal value. It is for drivers to take the appropriate precautions, and even if they are not certain about who has the right of way, they can deal with the situation by stopping and agreeing who may move first.

When the police came to sort out the matter the lady was disappointed to learn that she was indeed responsible for the incident. That meant that added to all her own inconveniences, she would also have to repair the damage to the van.

All things considered, not a good way to start the day. I repeat, the moral of this story seems to be, “Avoid the accident by any means necessary.”

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton is a Phenom. He seems to have come out of nowhere to take one of the most prestigious sporting events by storm. He seems to have been cut from the same cloth as Michael Schumacher in F1 Racing, or Tiger Woods in golf.

This is a compelling comparison to make because both Tiger Woods and Lewis come from humble beginnings, and they have entered into primarily white sporting circles without a shot having been fired. None of the privilege existed for them to grease their entry. Both young men had the benefit of strong fathers in their corners, which is a major plus and not to be glossed over, as both of these young men have black fathers.

There is another story here that is of greater depth and complexity about the black family experience, particularly in America and Britain. We’ll save that for another time, but trust me, all black fathers are taking note of what can be achieved by giving solid support to their sons and daughters. Venus and Serena Williams in tennis are prime examples also of having the full support of their father.

Another parallel is that both Tiger and Lewis present such charming public images. They are equally poised, well spoken, very handsome, and quite intelligent, and of course, accomplished. Those are all the qualities that allow their fans to be proud of them.

It is truly astonishing what a decade or two can mean in so far as change is concerned. Baseball had to endure a difficult period when it finally accepted black players, and golf in particular has had a chequered past. But that was then, this is now, and for the sport of Formula 1, the one to watch is Lewis Hamilton. He must take his turn as world champion one day. Perhaps that will happen this year. It didn’t happen for him last year, although he came exceedingly close. It would have been a remarkable achievement to have become world champion in his F1 debut year. That would have been an extraordinary record for the books, but probably the start of his decline, as it may have seemed too easy.

Silverstone was a superb win for Lewis and the Vodafone/McClaren team. It was on his home turf, under difficult conditions, and one to savour the sweet taste of for a long time to come. Performing on one’s home circuit is a double-edged sword for the same reason. The fans don’t forget the win or the loss. But, as they say, no pressure when that many people are desperate for results that please.

He drove a clear and flawless race when so many things were conspiring to trip him up. Unlike poor Felipe Massa who was in a continual spin throughout.

Now, the driver’s points standing is a three-way tie with 48 points each toward the world championship, Lewis, Massa, and Raikkonen. Anyone remember Fernando Alonso, former world champion. This season has not been kind to him at all. He has only managed to rack up 13 points. This is a tough and vicious sport. One minute you’re the Toast of the Town, and before you know it, you’re just plain toast.

Lewis dedicated his win at Silverstone to his family. That meant that four very proud people had really big smiles on their faces. His Mom Carmen, and his step-mom Linda; his younger brother Nicolas, whose eyes light up like street lights as he looks at Lewis; and particularly his Dad, Anthony, whose roots are from Grenada, in the West Indies.

To Anthony I say the following: “ Sir, it’s no wonder your son is a winner because that is what you are. You believed in your son, you were there for him; you inspired him; and you have apparently done that fathering thing with distinction. You have shown black fathers around the world where the real life satisfaction is, and how important it is to stay the course. So, thank you for your example, and congratulations on raising such a fine son. Oh! One more thing. You’re one heck of a spokesperson!”


Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Witness

Every day we hear of collisions taking place throughout the country, but rarely do we bear witness, and hopefully, even more rare are we directly involved ourselves. As a reminder, in Spain the law is that as a bystander to an automobile crash we are duty bound to render assistance until the scene comes under the control of emergency services

It was my unpleasant experience to be primary witness to a crash in the early hours of the day. In telling this tale it should serve as a good caution as the circumstances are all too ripe for the type of collision that occurred.

The place was the town of Vilamarxant, to the east of downtown Valencia. It is one of a hundred such towns with narrow streets that crisscross throughout. Driving through such areas is a nightmare, because typically there are those drivers who do know the rules on right-of-way, and those who do not have a clue.

On this occasion I had driven my car to a place where I wanted to park, and after locking the car I waited for a passing car before crossing the street. As the approaching car drew abreast of the cross street there suddenly appeared from the right a van that was moving at about 50 kmh speed. That resulted in a severe side impact that caved in the passenger door of the car. Unfortunately, the car was being driven by a mother taking her daughter to school, and the daughter was sitting in the front seat. I estimate that the daughter was about eleven.

For this to happen in front of my eyes was a real shock that made me actually jump. My mind slowed the action down to a manageable level so that I could take in what was happening. One minute the car was proceeding along towards me, and all seemed to be normal. The appearance of the van from the side street was so unexpected as there was no sound to forewarn of its presence. It struck the car as though it was a precision guided missile, and on impact it bounced back.

Barely a moment had passed before both drivers were out of their vehicles accusing each other of being in the wrong. There were several things wrong with this situation in my view. It’s good if we review each carefully.

The general rule is that when at a cross street, the right of way goes to the vehicle approaching you from your right. So, instantly the mother was suspect as being the cause of the collision for not giving way to the van that came from her right.
Both vehicles were proceeding at a speed far in excess of safety. Both drivers seemed to think that no one else was using the road that day. I had just made that same drive down that street and had avoided a crash by driving at walking pace at the crossings. I did encounter a car from my right to whom I owed right of way, and that was done safely.
The mother had her child sitting in the front passenger seat, although she was about eleven. The law does not disallow this provided the child is properly restrained, but in reality this is not a good idea. The young girl appeared not to have been physically injured, but she suffered the brunt of the impact and was quite seriously shaken.
Whether driving through a small town or an urbanisation the probability for this type of crash is very high. Both converging drivers should be prepared to stop and agree who is to proceed first. However, I’m sure it doesn’t always happen that way, but we do otherwise at our peril.

When the local police came and surveyed the scene they advised the lady driver that she was the cause of the crash as she had failed to give way to the van. She protested that she was driving on the priority road, but it was pointed out to her that both roads had equal standing.

That was not a very good start to one’s day.

Copyright (c) 2008 Eugene Carmichael

(SEVEN) WRONG-WAY WALLY

MOTORING´S SEVEN MORTAL SINS


One: Overtaking on two-lane, two-way traffic streets anywhere in Spain. Also making a left turn across oncoming traffic.
Two: Speeding, i.e. exceeding the speed limit, or using excessive speed for road conditions at the time.
Three: Exhaustion. i.e. Driver Fatigue
Four: Driving while impaired by drink or drugs.
Five: Dangerous and reckless driving without regard for others.
Six: Tailgating and inattention.
Seven: Driving on the wrong side of the road and clockwise around a roundabout.

(SEVEN) WRONG-WAY WALLY

There are two mistakes the holder of a U.K. license must never make when driving in Continental Europe. They are:

(a) Never, inadvertently drive on the left hand side of the road;
(b) Never drive round a roundabout clockwise.

These are unforgivable sins to commit, and the penalty for such unintended mistakes can be draconian. It is such a shame that there exists such a difference between countries over something so fundamental as which side of the road to habitually use that can produce such devastating effects. Sure we live with the challenge of different languages, sometimes leading to mistakes and misunderstandings, some costing a lot of money and/or embarrassment, but rarely actual death.

How easy is it to make such a mistake? After driving a right-hand drive car in a left-hand road system all of one’s adult life we have a habit, something that we no longer have to think about. We approach our vehicle to the right side, open the door and get in expecting the steering wheel to be on that side. We start the engine and shift the gear with our left hand, which for most people who are naturally right-handed, is an unnatural thing to do.

When we approach a road junction from a minor side road to enter into a major road, to turn left means not to have to cross over to the other side. Only when we turn right need we do that. The roundabout was probably a British invention, it being such a logical idea. Why then, here on the Continent do the Brits have such a tough time dealing with doing the roundabout dance? Probably, because here in Spain it’s a new innovation and everybody else hasn’t a clue. Granted, Spain has some highly artistic examples but what to do, that’s the question.

It would seem a difficult thing to go round a roundabout the wrong way, but some people, usually with Rental Car stickers on the back do manage to lose the plot. So, do I have anything positive to suggest as to how to get it right every time, as we must? Well, let’s be mindful of the following:

- As I’ve said, problems are likely to arise when approaching a major road from a minor side road. We come to the stop sign, and as bad luck would have it, there’s not another vehicle around to give us a clue. That is when it is so easy to turn left and set off in the left lane. It will feel entirely natural, but if we make it as far as the first bend in the road, I shudder to think of what will likely happen next. We cannot make this mistake, so we must constantly make certain that the action we are taking is correct. How? At the stop sign, before setting off, with your left arm, that’s the one that is by the window if you are driving a left-hand drive, make sure that your elbow is pointing at the centre of the road. If it is you will be on the right-hand side of the road, and your motto will be, “the right side is the right (correct) side”.

When going back to the U.K. and hiring a car there, simply reverse the procedure, although it will come more naturally to end up on the correct side. There, your motto will be, “ the right side is the wrong side!”

- Going the wrong way around a roundabout would seem to be a more difficult thing to do, but it does happen in spite of efforts to ensure that it does not. On approaching a roundabout there is the initial triangle with red border with three arrows indicating counter-clockwise flow around the circle, and an advisory to give-way to traffic already within the circle. Then, there is the round sign with blue background that indicates the message is mandatory, and that shows three arrows indicating counter-clockwise traffic flow. But strong habit says we should be going clockwise around the circle. To get it right requires concentration. We have to interrupt our conversation and focus. To do otherwise is to dance with disaster.

I have never personally met a driver coming around the circle the wrong way, but someone was telling me of his experience, and he said that it was like a slow-motion ballet. First, there was the recognition from across the circle that something was wrong. When his mind finally figured it out the only way he avoided the collision was to drive up onto the carefully sculpted centre garden while the car behind him went off to the right with much blowing of horns and curses galore. Meanwhile, the offending car, proudly displaying his rental sticker went the wrong way down the one-way street and disappeared off to the left.

What a Wally!

How to cope driving a right-hand drive in Europe or left-hand drive in England? I haven’t a clue!

Death on the roads? It doesn’t have to end like that!
Don’t overtake on two-way streets. Save your life for those who love you!
Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

MOTORING´S SEVEN MORTAL SINS

One: Overtaking on two-lane, two-way traffic streets anywhere in Spain. Also making a left turn across oncoming traffic.
Two: Speeding, i.e. exceeding the speed limit, or using excessive speed for road conditions at the time.
Three: Exhaustion. i.e. Driver Fatigue
Four: Driving while impaired by drink or drugs.
Five: Dangerous and reckless driving without regard for others.
Six: Tailgating and inattention.
Seven: Driving on the wrong side of the road and clockwise around a roundabout.

(FIVE & SIX): DANGEROUS DRIVING, TAILGATING AND INATTENTION


I’m certain that I’m not crazy! I don’t go round taking note of everybody’s driving mistakes, or commenting to myself every time someone does something strange or stupid. What’s more, all my fellow road users are ladies and gentlemen, not crazy so-and so’s. These things I do, or more to the point, don’t do for my own sanity. I am constantly refining my own driving so as not to be the source of annoyance to other road users. There is, however, a breed of motorist for whom we cannot do anything right other than get off the road so that they can have it all to themselves and they are the Tailgaters. Like alligators, there they are, snapping at our heels, driving us to distraction.

I try to see inside the heads of people whose behaviour is so wantonly bad on the road, and perhaps not surprisingly I come up with a blank. There’s no point in asking what are they thinking because they are not thinking anything. So, if not thought, instinct then? That doesn’t seem to be right either. Even an army of ants appear to have better manners and more method. Perhaps they are show-offs, people who must draw attention to themselves. If this is the case the attention they draw is not complimentary. Stupidity and ignorance are never complimentary. Men, who behave so very badly, are seen as little obnoxious boys who never grew up. The women they seek to impress are usually turned stone cold against them.

Driving is a necessary privilege in every country in the world. It is not a guaranteed right, which is why we have to have a driving permit. That is something that can be withdrawn if we choose to blatantly flout the rules. That’s fair enough. Give us reasonable driving exams; do nothing to complicate the process by which we get our permit, and then, should we choose to turn out like the ill-mannered and ignorant guest at the ball, we get exorcised and sent for re-education.

The points system aims to do just that. It will seek out those who can only be dealt with by monetary fine and re-education as to what makes a good motorist. I wish those people who needed this information the most would read the below-noted, but I doubt if that will happen. (The use of “he” actually means he or she).

- A good motorist is first and foremost considerate of other road users. He is not threatening to pedestrians or cyclists, and he keeps his distance from animals.
- He practises courtesy by allowing others to complete their manoeuvres by extending to them a little patience.
- He refrains from the needless use of the horn to sound his impatience. He leaves enough time to get to where he needs to go without having to climb over others to get there.
- He definitely does not engage in behaviour that runs other vehicles off the road.
- He is not a show-off. He really impresses by his safe and defensive driving abilities.
- He obeys the rules of the road. Most are there for the safe conduct of all users. “Stop”, to him means Stop!
- He realizes that most speed limiting signs should be obeyed, especially those that reduce speed through built-up areas. He doesn’t have to like to slow down, but he does so anyway for safety’s sake.
- Should he have to drive anywhere throughout the day or night he avoids anything that may impair his judgement, especially alcohol.
- A good motorist makes his passenger(s) feel safe and comfortable. He does not throw them around in the car through sharp and jerky car handling. He gets them to their destination safely.
- He is always attentive, as he knows that with congested roads it only needs the inattention of a split second to come to grief.
- It is the intention of a good motorist never to be the source of someone else’s grief. His reward will be 50 years plus of trouble-free motoring.

In summary, there’s a whole lot that can be learned from the good motorist. Given the high stakes involved, sometimes it’s the difference between living or dying. Some people are simply dying to show how bad they can be.

Death on the Roads? It doesn’t have to end that way!
Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Don’t overtake on two-way road systems. Save your life for those who love you!

MOTORING´S SEVEN MORTAL SINS

One: Overtaking on two-lane, two-way traffic streets anywhere in Spain. Also making a left turn across oncoming traffic.
Two: Speeding, i.e. exceeding the speed limit, or using excessive speed for road conditions at the time.
Three: Exhaustion. i.e. Driver Fatigue
Four: Driving while impaired by drink or drugs.
Five: Dangerous and reckless driving without regard for others.
Six: Tailgating and inattention.
Seven: Driving on the wrong side of the road and clockwise around a roundabout.

(THREE & FOUR):

FATIGUE AND DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE


Do you like a good horror story? I do, as long as it is intelligent, plausible, well written and without gratuitous formula shock effects. “The Exorcist”, “Salem’s Lot”, and “The Amityville Horror” are three examples of what I regard as good writing.

We are all living a horror story but I don’t suppose any of us like this one. The plot centres on the fact that when we say goodbye to our family when leaving the house, we really don’t know whether it’s a permanent goodbye or not. Now, I know there are worse places to live than Spain where daily insecurity is concerned. Iraq comes to mind immediately, but Spain is not a war zone. It is supposed to be a civilized country, but yet we are killing one another in droves on our roads, and we don’t seem to be doing enough to stop the carnage.

If ever a statistic tells of an increase in road fatalities, that would be a trend that is going the wrong way. There is a monster about, as evil as anything conjured up in the minds of the master horror writers. This monster is hungry and it needs to be fed. So, who’s to be its next meal? You? Me? One of us it must be. For the monster wants to be fed and it really doe not care who it takes next.

This year approximately 3,000 people will die prematurely on Spain’s roads. The real tragedy is that no-one absolutely has to die. I know, I have said this before and I must continue to say that these are all avoidable events. In spite of the numbers all these deaths are the exception to the rule, although one could be forgiven for believing this to be the norm.




Driver fatigue is a major cause of fatal accidents. “ He fell asleep at the wheel” is such a common cause of what occurred. You might have wondered what that white strip painted on the road is for that makes a loud noise when you drive on it. That’s a rumble strip, and sometime it runs alongside the road or across it, but the purpose is the same: to wake up drivers who are falling asleep, or who are asleep. When we take our place behind the steering wheel we take charge of a guided missile. The responsibilities that go along with that are awesome.

I knew a man once who killed a pregnant lady because he allowed his attention to stray. That raised the question for me: “How does one live with one’s self following such an event?” For many months after the event I would see him out walking, and he would be talking out loud to himself, or he would be crying. Eventually he disappeared off the radar, presumably he ended up in a psychiatric hospital.

A child once ran out in front of my car, stopped and just stood there frozen in fright. I had anticipated that might happen because I could see that he was not being supervised, so I conducted myself accordingly to ensure that the event was not going to happen. That did not stop the nightmares from coming, and the image of that child staring up at me is one that is stamped on my mind, never to be erased. And remember, nothing happened.

So much has been written about not driving after drinking. Everybody in the world knows it is foolhardy to do so, but until the world we live in decides that we are sick and tired of such nonsense and we are not going to participate or tolerate in it anymore, the monster will have as much to devour as it wants.

Want to get started now to starve the monster? Try the following simple things:

- Going out for the evening? The one to drive home stays free of alcohol.
- Don’t want to do that, take along someone as the designated driver.
- Take a taxi there and back. The price of the taxi will be well worth it.
- Moderate your alcohol intake. Think about how long it will take for your body to purge itself of booze before you can safely and legally drive again. Very often, the police conduct sobriety tests between 8am and 10am when people are on their way to work. They may still be intoxicated from the night before.

Death on the Roads? It doesn’t have to end that way!

Don’t overtake on two-way road systems. Save your life for those who love you!

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

MOTORING´S SEVEN MORTAL SINS

The Speed Camera: Government's Cash Machine

One: Overtaking on two-lane, two-way traffic streets anywhere in Spain. Also making a left turn across oncoming traffic.
Two: Speeding, i.e. exceeding the speed limit, or using excessive speed for road conditions at the time.
Three: Exhaustion. i.e. Driver Fatigue
Four: Driving while impaired by drink or drugs.
Five: Dangerous and reckless driving without regard for others.
Six: Tailgating and inattention.
Seven: Driving on the wrong side of the road and clockwise around a roundabout.


(TWO) : I DO BELIEVE I FEEL THE NEED FOR SPEED!

Motoring’s second mortal sin is almost on a par with number one, in that the words above are usually spoken by someone who is mixing gasoline with testosterone, one of the deadliest formulas known to mankind. Well, as males, we have all been there. We have all known what it is like to be raring to go, Faster! Faster! Faster! It is a time in our lives when we are invincible, unbreakable, immortal, imperishable. We feel that we can go out and conquer the world, or at least shape it in the image that we want it. This is indeed how Mother Nature gets things done. For change to happen requires this type of restlessness and energy in our young people. We older guys are too fat and lazy.

Speed on the racetrack is where it belongs. Let the young ones compete on the famous circuits of the world. Occasionally, I visit the circuit at Cheste in Valencia to watch motorcycle and even Formula-One events. We sit there and we see them race round the track in packs at top speed, weaving in and out. I think most people attend in the hope of witnessing some spectacular pile-ups or wipe-outs, because without those things happening it very quickly becomes as mundane as watching people on their way to work.

I’m always amused to see those races where the regular roads are turned into closed circuits, such as in Monte Carlo. Thousands line the roads to watch the professionals run through stop signs and red lights at top speeds. Of course, I never actually travel to Monte Carlo as I can see the same thing for free in downtown Valencia everyday.

Speed on the normal road system kills. On the racetrack, speeds reach ultra-high limits, but in spite of that and some amazing events where you see a car disintegrate before your eyes, there are very few deaths because of the controlled nature of it all. Our roads, however are in chaos. Spain will recorded in 2005, another sad fact that over 3,000 people lost their lives prematurely in motor “accidents”. The year 2005 was an especially tragic year around the world due to so many catastrophic natural events. Earthquakes, floods, the tsunami of Boxing Day, 2004. As I wrote this, humanitarian relief was on-going to the people of Pakistan where in excess of 30,000 died. Yet, the figure of 3,000 dead on our roads is more disturbing because not one of those deaths were absolutely necessary. Those who are caught in a natural event can do little or nothing to avoid their fate.

As drivers, we are absolutely responsible for how hard we press down the accelerator pedal. No-one else can make that control. Why do we speed?
- We didn’t hear the alarm clock and now we are late for work. We try to make up the time on the road.
- We speed because the car or bike is designed to top 200 km/h. So, we put the pedal to the metal on a busy road to try it out. What are we thinking?
- We are simply impatient people who have to be in front of everybody else.
- The reason that no-one seems to consider is, we speed because we just can’t wait to meet our own death.

In all but one of the above examples there is one thing in common, and it is this: we probably won’t achieve what we want to because, when we are speeding we increase the likelihood that we will have a crash, or in a best case, we will simply be stopped by the police. Consequently, we will be late for work; we will likely lose our license so the car will sit in the garage and the speedometer will read zero; we will have to take public transport and everybody else will get ahead of us; but the good news is that we will stay alive, and for those who love us, that will be very good news indeed.

I’m not such an old guy that I forget how it was when I was young. Yes, I felt the need for speed. At times I had so much energy I felt I was about to leap out of my skin. But I survived that period and I have lived to tell the tale. Every time I hear of some young person killed on the roads I try to think of what the parents must be experiencing. It goes against the laws of nature that a parent should have to bury a child. When that happens the parents die too. To lose one’s only child leaves very little to live for. That is a life sentence full of pain and overwhelming loss. I know people who are in such situations and for them they are the living dead. There can be no worse fate than that!

Death on the roads? It doesn’t have to end like that!
Don’t overtake on two-way roads. Save your life for those who love you!

Copyright (c) 2008 Eugene Carmichael

MOTORING´S SEVEN MORTAL SINS

One: Overtaking on two-lane, two-way traffic streets anywhere. Also making a left turn across oncoming traffic.
Two: Speeding, i.e. exceeding the speed limit, or using excessive speed for road conditions at the time.
Three: Exhaustion. i.e. Driver Fatigue
Four: Driving while impaired by drink or drugs.
Five: Dangerous and reckless driving without regard for others.
Six: Tailgating and inattention.
Seven: Driving on the wrong side of the road and clockwise around a roundabout.

(ONE) : OVERTAKING AND LEFT TURNS ACROSS ONCOMING TRAFFIC.

I place overtaking on the top of the list because it is fast accounting for a major share of the deaths that are occurring on the roads. This manoeuvre , and the left turn across oncoming traffic, if not done in absolute safe circumstances can produce the dreaded head-on collision. In such cases someone almost always has to die, notwithstanding seat belts and air-bags. Rarely is it possible for all to walk away from such an event.

The problem is that these roads have become so crowded, and are growing more so daily, that generally when one car is overtaking another it is only just possible to pass the one car before being confronted by a vehicle coming in the opposite direction. Often the car being overtaken has to slow, as does the oncoming vehicle so that the overtaking car can get back in the right-hand lane. When other motorists have to swerve or slow because of someone else´s judgement that person is acting as a bad and possibly dangerous motorist.

There is a major difference between being a good driver and a bad motorist. Fernando Alonso is a very good driver. Michael Schumacher is a very good driver. Lewis Hamilton is a Phenom. But if these gentlemen drove on the highway as they do on the Formula – One racetrack they would be very bad motorists indeed.

I´m certain I am being contentious when I suggest that we all should abandon the practise of overtaking on the N-330, the N-332, the N-340, the N-344, etc, especially if it´s simply out of impatience. Also, my suggestion would have to fly in the face of the seeming need of so many men (it´s usually men) who appear to have this burning need to be in front of everybody else. They are the people who hop around one car at a time creating unnecessary danger for all concerned, just so that they can end up at the head of the line at the red light.

Personally, if I did that, while I sat there at the light I would feel the stares from all the drivers who I would have practically run off the road, and I would have to know they all would be thinking “What an idiot/ imbecile/nut case/jerk/Tonto!/fool/and even worse.

And, what about that attitude that says “I have to be in front of you!” The thing is that if you really pressed a person to explain why they feel that way, they would surely tell you that they don´t know what it is. It simply is that way. “I have to be in front of you, and that is that!” Where the real problems start is when there are at least two people like that and they are competing. Then the race begins, and it can get nasty and out of hand often ending in road rage or worse.

I suggest that there must be something of a death wish about such behaviour. If that is the case I would like to encourage such people to give some thought, in fact give a lot of thought to the people who love them and who would be left in the wake of their own untimely deaths. Would anyone mourn them? Who would be most affected by their loss? Who would be left with a huge hole in their heart and a life-long sense of loss and pain like no other.

Did you ever spare a thought for the people who create those roadside monuments to a loved one who died there in a crash? I pass one quite regularly. No expense has been spared, but more to the point for over two years fresh flowers are placed there perhaps twice a week. How much pain is that? Does life really go on for such a person? As we contemplate who such a person might be in our own lives it becomes pretty clear that to repay a person who would be devastated by our premature death with overwhelming pain just for loving us, would be at least unconscionable. Might that person be a wife or husband, the children, and if so which one would likely be affected most. Perhaps you might be thinking of a very special grandchild . The point is, if not to drive safely and soberly for ourselves, do it for them.

Death on the roads? It doesn´t have to end like that!

Don’t overtake on two-way roads. Save your life for those who love you!

Copyright (c) 2008 Eugene Carmichael

A Cautionary Tale

On Saturday, May 10th, 2008, I was robbed in the car park of IKEA in Murcia in broad daylight, while several people were present. It was while loading up purchases in the boot of the car, a thief was unloading from the front of the car. To make certain the thief had a little more time to himself a car stopped to ask for bogus directions.

We have heard these stories before, and perhaps we do take on-board the warnings, but trust me, the lesson is never learned so well as when you are the victim. Please don’t say that it’ll never happen to me, because there can be no basis for that. Why not new?

My concern is that this sort of problem will get much worse. We in Europe are facing some very difficult times in the future as unemployment takes hold. At present those mainly heavily involved in the theft trade are people who have come to Spain expecting to better their lives, and have found that there’s nothing here for them, economically speaking.

The culprit is the very high value of the euro that is making exports very difficult, and so, if companies cannot sell their goods overseas they surely will not need the great numbers of workers they employ at present. When that happens chaos will take over. During such times you can be sure that whatever it is that you have, someone will want to take it from you.

Under such conditions, and to some degree those conditions presently exist, people will make it their occupation to steal from your home, your car, your person. You will never be able to relax your awareness. The slightest carelessness and your valuables are gone.

In my case, I opened my car door and put my small bag that contained my car documents on the driver’s seat. Attached to that bag were the keys to the car. There were at least five from my group standing around the car, but that didn’t stop the thief from approaching, and with the help of the distraction of the passing car asking for directions, he took the bag.

In actual fact he did not get much of monetary value, but he has my car’s documents and the keys, and potentially he could have made off with the car. He must have been gob smacked to have seen me drive away with the car. That was due to my having a duplicate set of keys on my person. I want to stress how important it is to have your duplicate keys with you, on your person. When you need that key, you invariably need it immediately. No duplicate key at home was ever of any use beyond walking distance from your home.

I have since changed the locks to my car doors and ignition, an expensive necessity, and I am on super alert. I take the time and effort to attend to my motoring security, and I recommend the same to everyone.

I’m fairly sure that shops like IKEA, and the large hardware and department stores must all be experiencing such problems. It would be very helpful if they could alert customers to use caution. They could do this by deploying their security staff to patrol the car parks keeping a special lookout for customers who are particularly vulnerable, and for the gangs who operate such rip-off scams.

You’ll know that we are truly in a crisis when you have your food purchases stolen when you take the shopping cart back.



Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Monday, 19th November, 2007

A Good News Day

Just once in a while the madness stops, if only for a short period of time. The above date is frozen in time as a day when absolutely no one lost his or her life while out on the Spanish roads. Sure, there were so-called accidents, but none that resulted in actual death. So often the reports state that more people died than there were collisions. To have a day in history that was death-free is especially note-worthy.

The last time that happened was on January 30th, 2006.

To give drivers in Spain their due, we are getting better every day in every way. In 1997, 5970 people lost their lives on the roads. That would have made a drive to the supermarket an exercise in survival. As at November 2007, loss of life for the year stood at approximately 2,500. We can reduce that figure even more significantly if we really want to. Between 2003 and 2007 the death rate fell by a staggering 32% on Spanish roads. We can even do better.

When we examine what went wrong in each case to cause a collision, it usually is due to driver error. The disturbing thing is that all too often it’s due to just plain stupidity, including drunkenness, which is the worst form of avoidable stupidity.

There is perhaps nothing so pathetic as the accused offering as an excuse,; “but, I was drunk, your honour”. Well then, that makes it all acceptable, doesn’t it? In order not to be misunderstood, let me explain that I have had my share of stupid moments. As a young man I made my mistakes, only I lived to tell about them. Probably I survived to share those mistakes with young people in the hope that they will not put their lives in mortal danger by repeating my mistakes.

What’s the chances of that happening? Probably not really good odds that young riders and drivers will listen to an “old man” (meaning anyone over thirty) like me. But we do the best we can, and put the information out there. If one life is spared as a result, that’s a good thing.

What would we need to do to have an accident-free day? Could we, meaning every rider, driver and pedestrian make that happen? It would take a supreme effort on everybody’s part, and we would have to be careful not to actually make accidents happen by being too careful. Confused?

To avoid being involved in an accident, whether as the cause or the victim, some of the things that we would have to do would be:
Simply do not drive or ride if you have taken alcohol or drugs that impair ability;
Be well rested and alert while driving;
Avoid talking on the telephone while driving, whether hands-free or otherwise;
Use speed conservatively, taking into consideration road conditions at the time;
Obey road traffic signs, especially those that call for moderation in speed.
Do not exceed speed limits.
Pedestrians would only walk when they have the green, and they would take care to ensure that the traffic has stopped for them at other non-light controlled crossings.
Pedestrians would wear reflective clothing when walking along roads without a sidewalk, day and night.
Pedal cyclists would ride single file while on the main roads, keeping as close to the side of the road as possible.
Be alert to conditions and anticipate what may lie ahead.
Drivers, be especially aware of cyclists, small children and the elderly.
Cyclists, wear the lime-green reflective “Gerry Jacket” at all times when riding. “Be Seen to be Safe.”
STOP means STOP! Completely!
Stay focused when in charge of your vehicle. Avoid becoming distracted.
Don’t bring Right-Hand Drive vehicles to the Continent. How will you pay toll-booth charges?
Maintain your vehicle in good condition.
Plan your day to leave more than adequate time for travelling.

These are just some of the things that would be applicable, amongst others to make for an accident-free day. Can we do it? “We, the People, can do anything we set our collective minds to.


Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Red Lights, Stop Signs, and You & Me

Well, you and I have both seen them as they drive right through red lights, or just cruise past stop signs as though they weren’t there. What are they thinking? Have you made the same mistakes? I have. I’m embarrassed to say that on more than one occasion I have gone through a red light quite inadvertently. On one of those times a collision was narrowly averted, but only due to the other driver’s vigilance.

I can honestly say that I have never run a stop sign, even those where there is a flashing orange light with stop sign. For those it is intended that you stop then proceed with extreme caution. But those lights that never go to green, but only switch from red to flashing orange can trip a person up. You glance at it and it is flashing orange. Then you focus your attention back to the car in front and you don’t notice that the light has stopped flashing but has gone to non-flashing orange, and then suddenly its on red.

I have run those a couple of times. However, just recently, having learned to keep a close eye on the light I very nearly committed the ultimate faux-pas as I had a Guardia Civil vehicle right behind me when the light suddenly did its trick. I stopped, but more abruptly than I would have preferred. However, I did save myself from a ticket.

With regard to stop signs, I will confess to not always coming to a complete stop with all wheels at standstill, and for a count of three. That’s what Stop! means, but there will be very few of us who do that especially when we can see that we have the all-clear. But, the cameras are watching, and if we don’t come to a complete halt we run the risk of receiving in the mail a demand to pay a fine for our folly.

One final thought: If you are ever tempted to roll off early, before the light actually changes to green, remember that on the cross street there is likely someone who is determined to squeeze the last little bit from the green light that has now changed to red. If the two of you must meet, try not to do so by accident.

Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

Gas Pains

On a slow day many petrol stations process on average three vehicles a minute with the normal top-up taking 90- seconds. That is, if the method of payment the customer intends is acceptable to the service station.

It has been discovered that in spite of the wide usage/acceptance of credit/debit cards, not all service station operators accept them. Individual operators are not obliged to accept cards, and that can be a problem in those stations where the customer is not informed before filling up. Consequently, the problem arises at the point of payment. If the customer does not have sufficient cash backup, and there is no cash point machine on premises that will accept his or her card, they will have to leave the car while going off on foot in search of cash.

To confuse matters more, even those stations that do accept cards do not necessarily indicate this anywhere on the premises. Thus, motorists need ask before filling up, or be certain that they have enough cash to cover the purchase. Otherwise a 90-second top-up could very easily become a 90-minute headache.

A great many service stations are now demanding that the customer pay first. That eliminates the above problem but raises another. How many of us can accurately estimate how much petrol we need. My problem tends to be an overestimation, so at the end I have money coming back to me. That means at least two trips to the cashier. The other day I paid and went to the pump, and it failed to start, so on that occasion I made three trips. One thing’s for certain, the companies don’t care about the inconvenience to me.

Having said all that, the thing that ticks me off the most is if there’s a really good price per litre and I underestimate how much I need, I end up driving away not completely filled to the brim. Does that bother you too?


Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael

How Not to do Road Repairs

I do not get pleasure from complaining or criticizing, but sometimes the frustration level rises so high as to just make you blow your top.

My pet peeve concerns Roads Work and Management. There is so much that one can point a finger at as to be overwhelming, but this week I saw something that was so bad that I was driven to my keyboard to let off steam.

In the Community of Valencia there is a region called the Camp de Turia, and three small towns sit next to one another as neighbours. There is the town of Pedralba, which serves as my town; and next to us further up river is the town of Bugarra, and farther on, Gestalger. These towns are connected by a very narrow ribbon of road that has become increasingly overcrowded in both volume of traffic, as well as size of vehicles.

Just prior to the March, 2008 elections the Valencian government promised that a long awaited by-pass road around Pedralba would get underway. In fact, there will be two by-passes to convey traffic around the town as it approaches from either of two directions. Certain sections of the road between Pedralba and Bugarra will be widened and hairpin bends eliminated.

So far, all of this is very welcome news as at present all of this very heavy traffic travels directly through the town of Pedralba, shaking the plaster from walls, and in some cases very high trucks have collided with balconies. The situation has become intolerable.

The thing that has got me upset is that for a lot of people what has been a ten minute drive will be turned into a 45 minute nightmare as the plan is to cut access between Pedralba and Bugarra along the existing road. The entire project may take as long as nine months, or more, but one would hope that the road will not be closed for that entire length of time. There are many houses in between, and a business or two and several farmer’s fields.

What annoyed me so much was to see the signs go up notifying of the closure of the road and advising the detour route. These signs were up and in plain sight of motorist who would have gone the long way round, while the shorter road continued to be open. After a couple of days the signs were covered up with black plastic, and will only be uncovered during those periods when it is necessary to actually close the road for temporary periods.

By displaying the signs falsely and causing the motoring public to take long and unnecessary detours did not seem to be of any concern to the road bosses. How do these people think, or more to the point, are they capable of rational thought?

I shudder to realize that these are the same people responsible for the design and construction of the very roads that we commit ourselves to get about safely. Somehow, anyone who can be capable of such cavalier attitudes and disregard of the motoring public can hardly be trusted for our safety.


Copyright © 2008 Eugene Carmichael