First Time Motorcyclists

Congratulations to my son, Nathaniel, on gaining his A1 motoring permit. This allows him to ride motorcycles up to 125 cc. In obtaining his permit he has achieved the near impossible, in that not only was he challenged to pass the theory exam for the motorcycle, which is difficult enough, but he also had to pass the exam for cars, although he won’t be eligible to drive one until he is eighteen. He is at present nearly seventeen.

The thinking behind this is that the same set of rules applies to both types of vehicles, and because the 125cc can travel at speeds of up to 120 km/h, he must be well versed in the rules as though he were applying for a car license. I personally can support that, and I would rather that his preparation was over complete, than lacking in important detail.

What makes this a difficult challenge is that he had to study from two sets of textbooks, and the exams were administered on the same day. He passed both tests on the first try, and the exams were taken in Spanish, and he did it all himself. Normally, with a bit of luck one might pass one and fail one. I am particularly proud of his achievement because I too took my theory in Spanish, having arrived in Spain with no command of the language at all. So, like father, like son, although he went one better and took two on the same day.

He then went on to do his practical, and that involved going to a special driving school that trains motorcyclists, truckers and bus drivers on a special track. The system here in Spain does not allow for gaining practical instruction by going on the road with an experienced driver, who might be one of your family, as is the case in the U.K. So, one can only get some experience by taking driving lessons in a school-owned car or motorbike.

He proved so adept that after only four training sessions he was deemed ready for the test, which is conducted in Valencia at the El Saler examination centre. Again, on the first try he passed. And now, he has his wings. Our young lad turned an important milestone, and we, as his parents will have concerns whenever he is out of the house. Time marches on and soon he will don tie and suit and have little people who will address him as Dad.

I wrote in a previous column on Young Motorists (see my blog address above) that this is just not enough to properly prepare our first-time motorists to deal with these roads. So, I’m going to share with you some of the extra tuition that I have given to my son:

Always wear your helmet securely on your head.

Particularly with bikes, too much speed is your worst enemy, and is almost always present in crashes. You are especially vulnerable without the surround of the cage that car drivers have. Also, stay focused; pay attention; avoid surprises.

You are not authorised to carry a pillion passenger until you have attained your eighteenth birthday.

Once you have your licence confine your riding to the daytime for at least a couple of weeks as you gain in riding experience and grow comfortable with your machine. Save night riding until later because there is a very real difference. Roads that are familiar during the day become new roads at night. Do one thing at a time.

If your bike has a sidestand that will allow you to operate the bike if it is still in the down position, discuss this with your mechanic, because should you move off with it in the down position it will probably result in your death. Have it removed or have it spring back to the up position the moment you take the weight of the bike off it.

If the bike is a 125 cc and can attain speeds of at least 100km/h, you have a perfect right to occupy the middle of the lane in which you are travelling. That is to say that if you position your bike close to the right hand side of the lane, cars will be tempted to push past you, even pushing you off the road. However, should you position your bike in the centre of the lane the car that wishes to overtake has to go around you and into the other lane. As he overtakes you can then move slightly to the right, as you are required to do.

The first words from the mouth of car drivers who collide with motorcycles is, “I just didn’t see him!” To rob the driver of this excuse, wear a reflective lime-green vest, that I call a “Gerry Jacket” during the day and at night. These jackets are worn by all road workers and police, and the mere hint of one says “Human Being!” There can be no excuse. The driver will have to look for another explanation.

Never operate your bike under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and that includes prescription drugs from your doctor or over the counter products that warn against the operation of machinery while taking the medication. A collision with an immovable object can kill you even at fairly low speeds.

Never intentionally run red lights or pass on the right. The overtake side is to the left. The Undertake (Undertaker’s) side is to the right. It’s always such a crying shame when someone young gives up his or her life too soon.

Don’t cut corners unless you can see that nothing is coming toward you.

Driving is all about the use of judgement, either good or bad. Good judgement and anticipation give a much better chance of having a long and safe road riding experience. Bad judgement is how people get killed before their time.

I conclude by relating that a young man with somebody’s daughter as a pillion passenger passed me on the right going as fast as he could, and when I blew my horn in protest he actually looked back at me, grinned and flipped me the finger. If he really wants to impress the girl all he has to do is get her home safely, every time.

Motorists! Please use extra care and caution for motorcyclists. Motorcyclists! “Be Seen to be Safe!” Wear the lime-green reflective “Gerry Jacket” by day and by night.

Copyright (c) 2007 Eugene Carmichael

EL BOTELLÓN (II)

Some time ago I wrote about the social phenomenon sweeping the country among Spanish youths and their friends, the Bring your own Bottle party. I also wrote a follow-up column that I called “The Telephone Call in the still small hours of the Morning.” This dealt with what can go horribly wrong when your son or daughter is out all night attending one of these parties. We almost lost our son to alcohol poisoning.

A reader e-mailed to ask me whether I had actually attended one of events. The answer was no, of course not. I am the enemy; I would be about as out of place as Waldo the Circus Clown in the boardroom of Telefonica. (Maybe not!) I was aware that things really get going after midnight, and that sometimes people attend from far away. Text messages get sent as invitations, and young people are drawn like moths to a flame.

These parties are hugely popular, with both sexes well represented. When I wrote the first article there were certain things that I had taken on good faith. I had passed by the congregation in the parking lot at just after midnight, and already the crowd was quite thick. I could see the boxes with bottles of liquor and the litre bottles of mixers. Already there was some serious drinking going on, but then, I went home where I was well past my bedtime.

My reader challenged me to write the whole story. I had apparently only scratched the surface. In order to get the full picture, I had to do as he had done. I had to get out of my bed at 4am and go see for myself. In his case, he actually went looking for his daughter and was so horrified by what he saw that he felt you should know too.

I don’t think that either he or I wish to spoil the fun for young people. We simply want them to survive this period in their lives, and if your teenager is one to hang out at these parties, there is something that you can do.

I arrived at Heron City in Paterna, Valencia at 3am, and I drove my car practically right inside the party zone and parked it. I stayed put for exactly two minutes, because that’s all the time it took for a very young looking girl with a green face to come lunging toward me with a look of abject panic. She then proceeded to upchuck the contents of her stomach over the car parked next to mine. I quickly reversed to a position of relative safety farther afield. Hopefully I was now out of the barf zone.

I felt like the latecomer to the party. Everybody else had a real big head start and there was a lot of laughing, camaraderie, and slurring of words. If you have difficulty understanding the Spanish language as it is spoke normally, you haven’t lived until you’ve heard it spoken by people who are totally out of their minds with booze.

To be perfectly honest, I really don’t mind if people drink a bit too much, the sort of thing that will result in a splitting head the next day. After all, it’s not my head that will hurt. But I watched a young lad take a bottle with a little coco-cola in the bottle and add what I think was vodka, so that the liquid in the bottle was about half full. He was already well wasted, his clothes were sticking to his body with what appeared to be sweat.

He then put that bottle to his lips, and to the cheers of his friends he proceeded to knock it back in one go. That is precisely the sort of challenge that ends in the person collapsed on the ground, dead as a doornail. In Russia, every year more than 42,000 persons die from alcohol poisoning from just this sort of binge drinking.

This is what we as parents can do. We can ensure that our children respect alcohol and the deadly effects of abuse. I am convinced that most of those young people on that night were blissfully unaware of what they were doing. Of course, once the party gets going it’s all too easy to throw caution to the winds anyway, but at least if you have done the research and you have sat your young person down at home and had them understand the dangers, that’s all that you can do. The rest is up to them.

I wrote in “The telephone call in the still small hours of the morning” about how my son ended up at a bottle party, even after I had a discussion with him three days earlier about the inappropriateness of doing just that. To be fair to him he thought he was attending a party in the disco.

Once he found himself in the midst of El Bottellón he accepted the first drink that was offered and then went on to drink himself into a stupor. He was eventually transported to the emergency department of a nearby hospital where I expect the staff have a lot of experience with this sort of patient.

We made certain that he was aware of just how close he came to losing his young life to alcohol abuse. He now understands that alcohol can kill, even without getting behind the wheel of a car. So far, he has demonstrated a very healthy respect for that demon drug, and long may it last.

I now see what the reader meant for me to see. The whole story of what goes on at one of these parties is wretched excess, too graphic for me to even attempt to describe on these pages. Even if I did or could be so explicit I can’t think of a good reason to do so. There has to be some compelling reason to tell the story, other than for the sake of content. I mean, these are young people going through their own rites of passage. I have been there and done that. Yes, it was a long time ago, but I still remember the sheer lunacy of it. That I get to remember and tell the tale is more due to good luck and a very worried and active guardian angel than my own knowledge and good judgement.

I just want your son and daughter to be a survivor. Give them a chance through education. Make sure that they know what they are doing. Research Alcohol Poisoning on the internet then share your findings with them. And Good Luck!

Drink, Drugs, Drive equals Suicide!



Copyright (c) 2007 Eugene Carmichael

Convoluted Thinking!

Insurance for newly-qualified drivers

A certain insurance company will not insure anyone, regardless of their age, who has not held their license for less than two years. So, how does that work?

Let us say that they provide cover on the family car. An additional member of the family obtains their Spanish driving permit. It need not be an 18 year old. It could be the other mature partner, but this insurance company will not let them drive for two years. So, for two years they have not been able to put in practise what they have learned. Also, as a newly-qualified driver during this two-year period they would have had certain restrictions placed upon them, such as being limited to drive at no more than 80 kmp/h, and virtually alcohol-free.

At the end of the two-year period this insurance company actually expects to retain that same client on its books, and it will be happy to then insure the new person, who by then, without experience, can go onto the highway and drive up to 120 kmp/h, and whose blood alcohol rate could be up to 0.25 milligrams per litre of air exhaled.

The general perception is that a driver is safest as a risk when they have just recently obtained their license; are desperately concerned not to do anything to lose it; are especially concerned about their new car, and are under restrictions to help them gain in experience safely.

Insuring Jewellery

This is not strictly speaking a driving matter, but it sure is strange thinking. We held a policy of contents insurance that included certain items of jewellery that were declared at the time of applying for cover. The insurers accepted our application without asking for any further proof or description of the jewellery items. This is quite normal if the total amount that is declared is within a certain bracket, and if no one piece is valued at more than ten percent of the whole. However, much later when a thief broke into our house and stole the items of jewellery and other contents, the insurers demanded that we provided proof that such items of jewellery existed in the first place.

Such “Cowboy” insurers, who clearly didn´t know what they were doing, should have asked all the questions they needed to before taking on the risk. That´s how real insurance companies do it!

Suggestion: It might be a good idea to call your insurance agent and discuss this with them. If they are going to want proff the best time to do that is while you still have the items.

Those Slow-Down Signs

In a well-documented case, a driver was in the act of entering a major road from a minor road. He had come to a full stop at the stop sign, and when it appeared to him that the way was clear he started out to cross the road. For traffic circulating along the major road there were speed reducing signs bringing speeds down from 80 km/h to 60 km/h in view of the fact that this was a stretch of road that presented some danger.

As the driver was crossing the road along came a car that was travelling at way in excess of the 60km/h restriction, and judging by the skid marks, she was most likely travelling way in excess of the 80km/h as well. Consequently she slammed broadside into the other car. She explained her speed by saying that she was late for work. Well, now she was later.

When the police came the officer in charge took the decision that the collision was the fault of the driver who was crossing the street as he had left the stop sign. He completely ignored the evidence of the skid marks that pointed to speeding on the part of the lady motorist. The officer was Spanish, the lady driver was Spanish, and the motorist was English.

Those signs that require motorist to slow-down are there for a purpose. Consider for a moment that the vehicle that was pulling away from the stop sign was a very large truck. These vehicles move very slowly as they are put through their many gears, and especially when they are hauling very heavy loads. These are very long vehicles. I observed one such vehicle recently crossing the road from a dead stop. I counted a full nine seconds before all of him had cleared my lane. Not only did I need to reduce my speed to 60, it was necessary to reduce it further to 40km/h.

With respect to that officers reasoning, someone needs to remind him that the sign said “Stop!” It did not say, “Stay!”

More than 3,300 people lost their lives unnecessarily during 2005 on Spanish roads. Although things are getting better and the death toll is falling, it's not falling fast enough.

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

Copyright (c) 2007 Eugene Carmichael

Copyright (c) "2007 Eugene Carmichael

Cigarette Smoking can Kill

Published on the 7/7/07. A day with all the sevens. Some consider this a good luck omen, others, not. Will today be a day of unspeakable atrocity by terrorists, or will it pass quietly and without incident. We'll see! One thing is clear, however, life has become one giant crapshoot, a lottery. El Gordo! If you lose, you lose all! Read on.......

The warnings on every pack of cigarettes sold here in Spain could not be clearer: Smoking Kills! I think that this means if you inhale the tar and nicotine contained in cigarettes, that eventually they may very well impact your health to the extent that your life expectancy may be shortened. That would be something that happened over time.

Cigarette smoking came very close to ending my life in one blinding second, and I don’t smoke.

While driving along a two-way country road I rounded a bend that opened onto a straight section of road, only to be faced by an oncoming car that was already over the middle line and heading directly for me on head-on collision course. The driver had his head inclined slightly to the right and looking down while he was in the act of lighting a cigarette from the car lighter.

With no time to spare I could not afford to panic. I simply hit the horn hard and veered as far to the right as I could go. To his credit the driver reacted immediately by veering to his right. As he brought his head up the cigarette flew from his mouth, and the stricken look on his face told the whole story.

As for me, I got that metallic taste in my mouth that comes just before certain calamity. If there was time for even a fleeting thought it would have been, “This is it! I’m going in.” But there was no time at all to think, just time to react.

As we passed each other we were so close we certainly could have shook hands. Maybe it’s just my imagination but the picture that is stuck in my mind is one of the driver with his eyes bugged right out of his head and the cigarette falling from his lips.

Of course I have replayed the scene over and over again in my head. I have concluded that what we had was a case of two motorists in the act of two separate activities. One was in the process of complete abandonment of vigilance; the other was practising anticipation and paying appropriate attention.

I travel that stretch of road regularly, and I know to be on the lookout for very large lorries that leave very little room for other traffic. Also, as it is a country road, early morning and toward sunset the chance of slow-moving tractors up ahead is a particular hazard.

Added to that, many other drivers see this as a speedway, more or less un-policed, and they drive like madmen. Especially, it seems the high-end makes get put through their paces. There have been numerous crashes along that road, the VP-6116 between Villamarchante and Pedralba, that traveses between massive orange fields. It would seem that the farmers are also growing a very curious crop of car bumpers.

I wonder why the parts of the cars that fall off are not collected, but rather left to add to the other garbage. I only wish that drivers would take a warning from it, but no, they appear only too happy to add their own car parts to the mess.

I have had some very narrow and close calls in my time. I would like to think that I have cheated death owning to my skill, calmness under duress, and readiness for all eventualities. The truth is probably that it simply has not been my time to go. There must be some purpose yet for me to fulfil. In this latest incident we were both travelling at between 60 to 80 km/h. It’s almost certain that the way the cars were lined up, with each driver directly facing the other, certain death would have come to both of us.

Had that happened, there would at least have been an argument in the hereafter about it.

So, what’s the moral of the story?
Our cars are not our living rooms.
When in charge of a vehicle our full attention is demanded at all times.
Lighting up of cigarettes is a no-no, and is the main reason the legislature is considering banning smoking while driving.
Holding a telephone up to one’s ear while trying to concentrate on traffic is an impossible task. Only women have the slightest chance because of their multi-tasking skills, but this is even beyond their capabilities.
Even talking on hands-free mobile units takes away too much concentration to be considered safe. Let it ring!
Drinking anything, while driving is not to be recommended, but drinking hot coffee is begging for trouble.
Anticipation is key to survival on the roads. If you can anticipate that something will happen, you can prepare for it to the best of circumstances. So, when you round a sharp bend and come face-to-face with an oversized vehicle, if you anticipated it might happen you would have slowed your speed and placed your car as far to the right as possible
When in charge of a vehicle you are not allowed the luxury of panic. It is natural at first to panic, but we must regain control instantly. After it’s all over and you have survived, you can then go to pieces if you like. During the event. You must have the calm of an astronaut. “Ah! Houston, we have a problem!” You would use the same voice that you use to ask for an ice-cream.
Finally, I appeal to drivers to be especially careful of motorcyclists, many of whom are very young people who are gaining their own road experience on slow moving bikes. Remember, you were once young too, and you may have sons and daughters, or other young relatives. Be careful for other people’s young relatives in order to expect the same from your fellow motorists for your kith and kin.

Cyclists! Always wear a lime-green reflective “Gerry Jacket”. Be Seen to be Safe!

A Timely Remnder

July 2006 was the day that a raft of new measures came into effect, designed as they were to change behaviour on Spanish roads. For a while we drove with these new sanctions in mind and we did alter our behaviour for the better. Also, the traffic police were pumped up for action, but one year later we are all sliding back to our bad habits, and the memory of the details has faded into the background.

At the top of the list of bad habits is our attitude towards stop signs, give-way signs, traffic lights on red, one-way streets, and of course, speed limits.. We have tended to regards these as mere suggestions. For a short while it was quite noticeable that adherence was much improved, and accident statistics reflected this. Lately however, I have noticed a regression back to the way that it was, and in some cases, behaviour is even worse.

I apologise for putting it this way, but frankly I really can’t think of a more polite way to say that sheer stupidity is at work in most cases involving crashes. If stupidity could only be outlawed and banished I wonder how much of an impact that would have.

The person who deliberately drives through a stop sign or red light is simply being stupid.

The person who drives at a speed that clearly endangers other road users is simply being stupid.

The person who passes the car on the right, only to promptly pull over into the right lane and then goes off into the exit lane, thereby cutting up the other car is being incredibly stupid.

And above all, when we drink to the point of being impaired, and regardless of that we get in our cars and drive, not only are we taking stupidity to its ultimate level, we are also being just about as irresponsible as we can be.

Speed:

The section dealing with speed is one to be carefully considered. Firstly, it would appear that an allowance is now being generally made whereby should you exceed the posted speed limit by 10 km/h nothing happens. That is not guaranteed!

Information taken from a page that appears to be posted by the Department of Traffic, (the DGT) on the internet gives the following chart: For a driver caught driving at between 101 and 120 km/h in a 90 km/h zone the penalty will be a fine of 120 euros, but no loss of points.


For a driver caught driving at between 199 and 208 km/h, the fine is 450 euros and a loss of 6 points. This would be considered a very serious offence.

Evidently, the rules have changed, because a year ago there was no 10 km/h free allowance, and by exceeding the posted speed limit by 50% or 30 km/h this was considered to be a “Very Serious” infraction. Very Serious meant the loss of one’s driving permit on the spot. It was simply taken by the Guardia Civil officer.

Someone once said that “Spain would not be Spain without alcohol impaired drivers.”
This is the one area in which the police seem to have actually stepped up their pressure. That is just as well because when we consider local custom it really is frightening. Alcohol has traditionally played such a prominent role in daily life that it’s no surprise that it is a factor in most collisions.

Forget starting the day with a coffee and a brandy. Forget stopping in at regular intervals throughout the day in the bar to tank up personally with a coffee and a brandy or scotch. Forget having a beer at the conveniently placed bar on the forecourt at the service station. Take a pass on that beer with the bocadillio at 11am, and wine with lunch. Entirely too many people lose their lives through this type of behaviour. Should a driver be caught driving over the alcohol limit while driving against the normal flow of traffic, (the wrong way) he loses 6 points per offence. i.e. all 12 points gone. Should he also be speeding at the time he will not be seen legally driving for some considerable time to come.

Should you lose your license it will be gone for at least six months, and before it will be returned you must take a driver’s re-education course during which you must spend at least 24 hours in the classroom. At the end you must pass a theory test.

For new applicants trying to obtain a driving permit the process is extremely difficult. Some people experience several tries and failures before finally passing the theory test. These people have done nothing wrong. I think it is reasonable to assume that if a person had a license and lost it for avoidable reasons, the likelihood that the license will be returned in six months is highly remote.

Other than the objective of changing driving behaviour, I believe that there is a second objective. I may be wrong as to whether authorities have it as a stated mission, but the end result will be the same, and that is a significant reduction of traffic on the roads. Certainly we have all seen the effect of so much more traffic. The building of so many new urbanisations in isolated locations requires that inhabitants have their own transportation. Consequently, 10,000 new housing units suggests at least that many new cars. In some areas saturation point has already been reached and we are headed for gridlock in the cities.

Finally, it has been reported that during the last 12 months, more than 5,000 drivers have lost more than 20 points each. Incredible!

While our annual death toll on the roads still hovers around the 3,000 mark, believe it or not, things are improving. Contrast that with the 5,790 deaths in 1997, with another 500,000 injuries sustained.

The granddaddy of all is the United States. In 1994, 40,676 people lost their lives on American roads, with another 4,100,000 injuries sustained.

Drive safely. The life you save may be mine! Thank you!




Stop Press! The road death figures have just been released for the periods, year-over-year 2005-2006, and 2006-2007. Throughout Spain, 3,272 people lost their lives unnecessarily between July 1, 2005 and 2006, but during the 12 months just ended the figure dropped by 14% to 2,795 deaths on the road. Compared with the awful year of 1997, that means that last year 2,995 fewer people died on our roads, so we are definately doing better.

Another very uncharitable way to put it is that every time a lunatic driver kills himself the roads are made a little safer for the rest of us. The shame is that almost always he takes others with him.




Copyright (c) 2007 Eugene Carmichael