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