A Chinese Volvo ?

Not Good News!






The news this week is all about the fact that Volvo's owners, Ford are in a deal to sell Volvo to a Chinese group. Volvo, one of Sweden's proudest exports was bought by Ford for about six billion dollars a few years ago, and now Ford is selling the company at a monumental loss to the Chinese.



I own a Volvo, and I regard the mark as one of the very best cars on the planet. I also own a Hammel scooter that I regard as one of the worst made products to have come out of China. It just falls apart as you ride it as it is supposed to be ridden. Consequently it sits in my garage gathering dust, unsafe at any speed, in my opinion. I am afraid to sell it as I would be simply passing along the problem to someone else.



So, what I would really like as a Christmas present is that the company reverts to its original owners and remains that way. Sweden does some things really well. Making cars is one of them. Their motto is "Volvo for Life" If only it could be that way. I won't even consider purchasing another Volvo if the company is owned by the Chinese, and that is notwithstanding the fact that I do buy many things made in China.



Copyright (c) 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Season's Greetings!

Dear Readers,

At this festive time of year I want to take this opportunity to wish each and every one a safe Christmas, full of love, peace, hope and understanding.



Happy Holidays to Everyone around the World!





Eugene Carmichael

Give me a Sign

Where am I?


When driving through city streets we experience signage overload. If we are looking for McDonalds, or Burger King, we can spot their signs from a block away. The same is the case for Mercodona, Consum, or Carrefour. No problem in finding them.

Telepizza is easy to find, as is Dominoes’ Pizza. Media Market just jumps right out into your face. El Corte Ingles’ is the big boy that you couldn’t miss, even if you wanted to. In fact, most shops are well signposted. My problem is with the street names. They are all posted on postage stamp-sized signs with lettering as fine as the small print in contracts.

So what’s wrong with this picture? We need to know firstly what street this is, and we need to be able to see the sign and to be able to read it.

Please, City Hall, help us!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Expect the Unexpected – Always!

"A little Care will get you There!"

As many people will know, I am recuperating from a crash on my motorcycle. It happened because in spite of my dedication to the principle of anticipation, a lapse occurred and I failed to anticipate and that was my undoing.

Anticipation in motoring is simply the rule that if we can anticipate that something might happen we can prepare for it should it happen, to the best of our abilities.

A problem can occur as a result of travelling the same route every day, and we grow complacent. Nothing ever changes and we feel we know all there is to know. In my case I had turned into that particular one-way road system a brazillian times and the path was always clear. Everybody in the town knows that the direction of travel is going in. But, on the fateful day a man was visiting the town from Madrid and he turned his car into that roadway and drove counter to the correct direction, and that surprised me so much I over-compensated by braking very hard, and down went the bike.

We did not collide, (but came very close) and there is no damage to the bike as it fell on top of me. However, my left leg became trapped in just the right way for it to break.

This is about always expecting the unexpected. I have been thinking along these lines and amazingly as I do so I am seeing things happening that have not had any impact on me before, but these things do occur.

You are driving the correct direction along a one-way street when suddenly a vehicle approaches travelling in the wrong direction. What do you do? Firstly, you should assume this will happen, so you should situate your car to the right hand side as much as possible. That way, if there is room for the two vehicles to pass you will already be on the correct side.
You approach a junction with one-way cross traffic. You see the “No-Entry” sign that also indicates the direction from which traffic will be coming. Do you ignore the opposite side because there will not be traffic coming from that direction? The answer is it will be dangerous to assume that. Look both ways to be safe.
How safe is it to cut corners? It is never safe, especially if you can’t see that there is anything coming. This sounds rudimentary, but it is surprising how many people seem to think they are on the road alone.
Is reversing into the road an approved traffic manoeuvre? Sometimes it can’t be helped, but it is certainly not recommended. The risk of collision must surely be ten times greater when doing such a thing. If you have a passenger get that person to act as another pair of eyes for you.
Is it usually safe to speed on country roads that are deserted? Such roads present unexpected dangers such as slow moving farm equipment and animals on the loose. Consequentially, it is better to leave the speed to the motorway.
I noticed a man drive into a one-way street and promptly park his car in a legal space. When he came back to his car, instead on carrying on down the legal direction he turned around and drove out the way he came in. This was not someone who was confused. This was a deliberate and lazy act. Had a vehicle been in the act of turning into that street we would have had a repeat of my incident. The only thing you can do to protect yourself from such lunatics is to use more caution and expect that it may happen.

It should also be noted that the most dangerous spots on the road are those close to your own home. When you first get in the car it takes a little while to put on your driver's head, and when coming home we tend to relax in sight of our destination. Stay vigilant!

Perhaps I have made the point by now that out on the roadways and highways all sorts of things happen that shouldn’t. One out of two drivers are potentially a menace. If I’m not the one, then it must be you.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Spanish Drivers, Italian Killers?

Driving can be Hazardous to your Health

I live in Spain and have generally focused all my attention on driving and surviving on Spanish roads. We have lived here for ten years and have charted the experience over that period of time. When we first arrived I was absolutely horrified. Driving habits were off the chart, in so far as attitudes were concerned, however, a combination of determination on the part of the authorities to correct the savage aspect, and just plain driver education have turned things around.

Statistics that I have to hand reveal that in 2001 there were 5,517 funerals for family members who met their deaths on Spanish roads. In France the figure was 8,162, and in Italy it was 7,096. As is the norm in statistics, we would go on to consider the percentage of population. In the United States the latest figure is about 44,000 motor related deaths on the roads. I don’t care about percentages. To me, one death on the road is one far too many. When we receive our driver’s permit, no-one warns us that when we go out to buy a loaf of bread we may die.

It simply does not have to be like that. If you are a soldier and you go on patrol to find the enemy, there will be a very high probability that he may find you first, and if he does he will kill you. This is called warfare. Going out to the supermarket is not (supposed to be) a combative experience.

Driving through the various European countries brings various levels of risk, depending on the country. I suggest that you might like to read the various contributions on the Internet about driving in Italy before you go there. I have done that with the conclusion that I rule out Italy as a place to visit, or at least not to drive on their roads. One writer describes Italians as not so much drivers as killers with wheels. Regarding attitudes, expressions regularly appear such as, “don’t give a hoot for safety;” “drive like lunatics;” “pay scant regard to pedestrian crossings;” “mow down pedestrians;” “road signage is not helpful;” “overtaking as a death wish.”

Italian motorists drive much too fast, as do drivers in other parts of Europe. Speeding is probably the number one cause of so much death on the road, especially when coupled to inattention and drunkenness. I was told when I first came here to Spain that if these offences disappeared in Spain, then we would not be in Spain. However, the Spanish driver is finally getting the message and it is beginning to show on the road. In 2007 we had to attend only 3,823 funerals for this reason. It’s fair to say that France also attended 3,542 fewer funerals, there being only being 4,620. In 2001 there were 8,162 such funerals. Italy was also a country with a lower death rate. 1965 fewer people lost their lives than in 2001, with 5,131 having made space on the roads.

What is the difference that can make such a change? I am now seventy, so I’m old enough to know better. Consequently, when I’m in a bar I will order a beer without alcohol, or other soft drink. “I sometimes say that I’m driving, and once in a while the bartender will say, “Don’t blame you.” It’s amazing how just that little bit of encouragement means so much to me.

Incidentally, here’s a little bit of trivia: Most bartenders don’t drink alcohol.

I have started to hear other people say “No thanks, I’m driving.” Instead of being ridiculed we generally get support, or silence, which is the same thing.

Considering that so many people die on the roads there should be a great outcry and a major push for reform. But no, nothing much on an organised level happens. It could be that what is really going on in the road is a natural form of people culling. We have had major world wars in the past that have culled the species. The truth is that when people die they do leave space for others. There are people who scan the obituary columns for deaths when they are seeking a job or an apartment.

When people die they leave their possessions to others, sometimes their very body parts, so this is not all bad news. Sometimes the news is mixed to even the families who have been left behind. First comes the grief and shock of the loss, then that is followed by the reluctant joy. Who will get the house, who gets the car; and how to split up the savings account? These are the realities that we might want to call the plus side of premature death.

There is another more sinister side to all this carnage on the roads that receives very little reportage, and that is of the injuries. There are hidden stories here that are far worse than those who simply die and are buried. That story is done, but the injured, some injured for life, can present problems infinitely more difficult. People who are confined to wheelchairs, or their beds; who require 24-hour care; people whose lives are devoid of quality, all because of something that happened on the street.

If you are one of the people who are making an effort toward lowering the body count while driving, I think you are on the right track and that you should even re-double your efforts. It is possible to reach a point of no-one dying while driving. At least that should be the objective.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael