The Road Hog in a Porsche!
A group of us stood round admiring the deep blue Porsche sports convertible when the owner, a man of about 55, came up and pushed his way past us, got into the car, turned the key and over revved the engine, and with a great squeal of tyres he burnt rubber, leaving behind a cloud of foul smelling acrid smoke, as he fishtailed out of the area, causing other motorists to take evasive action.
He could only travel about 75 metres before he had to stop due to cross traffic. Without waiting for a clear opportunity he barged into the stream of passing traffic and crossed into the passing lane and burnt rubber again.
We were all gobsmacked. This was behaviour from a man who was old enough to know better. Sure, he was quite obviously wealthy, and he evidently wanted to impress us. That he did, but the impression that we got was not one I would recommend. He fails to understand that a punk in a Porsche is still a punk, and a lout in a Lexus is still a lout. A moron in a Mercedes is, well, just sad.
Is this your day?
On one of my journeys from Valencia to Torrevieja, a distance of over three hundred kilometres, two cars merged from the right with my lane of traffic. One went ahead of me, and the other came in behind, and for close to one hundred kilometres we were a convoy.
The car behind me made me very nervous, but I soon began to take notice of the one ahead of me because the driver was a good example of prudent driving habits. In other words, that driver was a good motorist. So was the driver behind me, but he still made me nervous.
The driver in front maintained a good speed, was careful and courteous, always defaulted to the right-hand lane after we passed slower moving vehicles, such as trucks. This was permitted as we were travelling along a dual-carriageway in one-way flow of traffic. I could tell that the driver employed anticipation, and I felt safe in following the example being set.
That car came to the place of their choosing to exit the motorway, and as I drew parallel I stole a glance, as you do, to see whether a man or woman was driving. The driver was a woman.
The car behind was still making me nervous, not that he was doing anything particularly wrong. There were two men, one driver and the other his passenger, and we continued along for about another thirty minutes until I stopped off at a rest stop.
They continued on, and as they drew alongside me I could see that they had another passenger, although I couldn’t make out whether male or female. That’s because the lid was fastened down on the coffin.
I suspect having a hearse following along behind would make anyone nervous. You might even think, “ Man, this is not my day!” Pray that they are not thinking, “According to our records, it is. Whenever you’re ready, we’re here for you!”
Gotcha!
I know from first-hand experience the feeling of getting caught after having been warned. Trust me, you feel really daft. You have to take signs like “Speed controlled by Radar”, and “No Parking” seriously.
Recently, in the town of Lliria, just off the main Ayuntamiento plaza the roads narrow considerably. There is a no parking sign, and just under that on the same pole, there is a graphic to show what will happen if you do park there. The sign shows a grua picking up a car ready to carry it off to the impound centre.
As I was passing on foot, sure enough there was an actual grua picking up the car that had been parked right under the sign. I stayed around to watch, hoping for the owner to come back so as to enjoy the drama when he realised what was happening. Unfortunately he did not show, and equally as unfortunate I did not have my camera at the time. That would have been one of those priceless photos that could have gone round the world.
Along the AP-7 there are several stretches of road where the speed is limited to 100 km/h, but along this particular stretch we are warned that our speed is being monitored by radar as the road branches off to the left. Fortunately for me I was cruising behind a lorry that was travelling at under a hundred, and I chose not to overtake. There was the radar, and just around the corner was the queue of traffic awaiting their speeding tickets.
The thing is, when we come upon a directive like that, we must be certain to have already reduced our speed to that mandated. It is usually not enough just to take our foot off the accelerator; we also have to apply our brakes. Especially along areas of road works it is important to cooperate with the slow-down signs as there are men working, and they are absolutely relying on drivers to watch out for their welfare.
Road Improvements!
I must not let this opportunity pass without giving praise to the Administration for the work that they are doing to improve the CV-35, and in particular the addition of the new CV-50 that cuts across from the CV-35 to connect with the Madrid road.
It is a really great stretch of road that will eventually circumvent Villamarchante and Cheste. It will also cross and connect with the Pedralba road, and will make redundant the need to pass through Villamarchante and Riba-roja. The reduction on those secondary roads should then be very noticeable, while making the drive from Pedralba and surrounding towns quite quick into Valencia city. Hurrah!
Motorist! Please take extra care with motorcyclists!
Copyright (c) 2008 Eugene Carmichael
