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