A Wholly Avoidable Tragedy

This did not have to happen!

The night of June 23rd , and on into the morning of June 24th is considered the festival of San Juan, the shortest night of the Summer. Custom demands that all roads lead to the beach from early evening until daybreak. Fires are lit in dugout sand pits, dinner is consumed with lots of alcohol, and a curious ritual is engaged in by jumping over the fires barefoot. At midnight, for good luck everyone goes into the water up the their knees to jump over the first seven waves.

In a word, it’s a time of enjoyment, bonhomie, and goodwill, and generally is marked by an absence of anyone getting hurt. Notwithstanding the fact that part of the leftovers are hot coals smouldering in the sand waiting for bare feet, the clean up is very efficient, so not even that is supposed to end in any kind of medical emergency.

This year was different. A massive tragedy took place, and it was not even supposed to have been possible. A large group of celebrants took the local train to a station alongside the beach in Castellon, got off the train and then did something that common sense says never to do. They needed to cross over to the other side of the tracks, and so they went in front of the train and started to make the crossing.

Someone must have led the way, probably stating out loud with great bravado “come on, we can go this way.” However, given the danger, there is an underground pass built for pedestrian crossing. It means that a person has to go down the steps, and then up again. What a lot of bother for the partygoers. Better to just cross over the tracks even though to step out in front of the stopped train meant doing so blindly.

I imagine that as a large group they felt the power of their numbers to keep the train at a standstill, but they didn’t reckon on the fast through train that they didn’t even see coming. It mowed down everyone in its path, instantly killing 12 people and injuring another 15. The pain and suffering being endured by the families left behind is quite enough without being added to by criticism of the actions of the deceased and injured. It is plain for all to see how this disaster could, and should have been avoided.

What’s done is done, and the only thing of any positive aspect now is to learn the lesson that has so painfully been laid out before us. The taking of reckless risks is always something to be avoided, and all too frequently ends in tears.

For this reason we should always hold the night of San Juan as a reminder to be careful and vigilant in our daily lives. At least that would give some meaning to an event that otherwise would be a complete and utter folly.

Needless to say, the person whose idea it was to cross the tracks most probably survived to look back on the result of his recklessness. I wonder how he is feeling today.

Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael

Now for the truth

When road signs are as clear as the one on the right!

STOP! is not a Spanish word.

What’s the first thing that comes out of our mouths when someone runs a stop sign? Can’t you read?

I have been amazed to have seen many elderly drivers cruise through stop signs as though they just aren’t there. Some of these people were driving top of the line cars, and I gave them credit for being more responsible. If for no other reason they were driving cars that you would normally take care of.

I had not been in the country for long before I saw my first broadside crash. All the people were badly shaken up, so it was no light matter. Eventually it would be my turn to narrowly escape being crashed into, but only because I could hear the car nearing the main road that I was on and it didn’t sound as though it was going to stop; so I did. We ended up with only centimetres to spare between us.

Next, I observed a van driving at about 40 to 50 kph broadside a family car driven by a mother taking her daughter to school. The mother thought she was on a main street with the right of way, but in effect she was driving along an area where the vehicle on her right, (the van ) had the right of way, simply because it was on her right. Two times I have been a witness to such collisions, and once almost a participant, and I can tell you that it is a traumatising experience.

I can’t say absolutely that the greater percentage of such accidents will involve the fault of a Spanish driver. Other non-English speaking drivers could just as well be to blame. If it is so, I think that might just be the luck of the draw. What I have been discovering is that many of the older Spanish drivers have never taken any kind of test, and they have no idea about these (new) international road signs. Consequently, there is a whole army of drivers who go about their daily lives driving vans, cars, trucks and tractors totally oblivious of what those red and white signs are demanding that they do. They should recognize red stoplights, but that is another story.

I can’t speak for you, of course, but that puts the fear of God in me. Especially when we couple that with men who are driving very large trucks without a license, and I have to question whether I really want to go out onto the road.

I have been driving in Spain for eleven years and I have been involved in two accidents where people ran into the back of me. Otherwise, I have lost count of the number of crashes I have avoided by exercising a very high level of due care. With this added knowledge I will have to be even more careful.

What about you?

Copyright (c) 2010 Eugene Carmichael

Spain, Sweet Spain!

Spain, Sweet Spain!

We have had a gathering storm in Spain as the government has seen its reserves depleted. One response was to press the police into going after the softest target of all, the motorist, as a source of funds to pay salaries, etc. I have long complained about the act of bringing into disrepute the officer of the law by insisting that he act as a revenue officer, rather than the enforcer of the law.

Suddenly we found ourselves under strict inspection by large groups of police who seemed to be intent on fining us for any infringement at all, even down to the state of our tyres. I agree that it is important to drive on tyres that are in good condition, but I had never heard of police checks to inspect the tyres. Fines were threatened of up to 200 euros for each deficient tyre, so things could get very serious.

In days of old it was the highwaymen who stopped the passersby and demanded: “Who goes there? Hand over your purse!” Now, city hall has the police doing that. It was all being driven by the fact that we are in financial crisis, and that has led the government to look for ways to reduce spending. That makes sense, of course, so the government decided to cut the salaries of public workers and parliamentarians. Seems they forgot that the police are public workers too, and they are not pleased to have their salaries cut by 5%.

Drivers are somewhat amazed to be stopped by the police and informed of their offence and told what the fine is, then told to continue on their way without having to pay the fine. Apparently one senior officer said that some days they have not actually fined anyone. The situation looks to get worse. Naturally, that just suits the public, but we will soon slide into anarchy, and then it won’t seem so fine.

Meanwhile, Formula 1 rolls on, regardless of everyone’s financial worries, and in spite of the World Cup Soccer competition that will have a lot of Formula 1 spectators glued to their televisions watching football. Some admission tickets will sell at 2,800 euros each for the VIP Paddock Club section in the Valencia street circuit. Who is still making that kind of money that they can splash out on such extravagance? It must be nice work if you can get it.

If all you want to do is watch cars that are driven too fast, stand alongside the side of the A-7 any day of the week and catch the show.

Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael

New Valencian Traffic Laws

More New Valencian Traffic Laws

I’m certain that the Valencian government’s strategy is to keep us confused by ever changing rules and laws, and to fine us when we are out of step or just plain all mixed up. I hate to use this example, but in days of yore it was the highway man who cried out “halt! Give me your money and your valuables.” These days the police are the ones who are undertaking this activity: To make maters worse the likely fine to be suffered has risen to a minimum of 100 euros for minor offences, and to 200 euros for more serious breaches. If you commit a very serious offence indeed the minimum fine will be 500 euros.

When we add all that bad news to the increase in the iva tax, and the reduction is wages for many workers, or no wages for many, many more people the stage is set to make people very angry indeed. That may be why someone has prevailed and added that when a driver is fined he can receive a discount of 50% if he pays the fine within 20 days.

Make no mistake about it, the crisis is hitting City Hall very hard. Lately the Guardia presence on the street is amazing. I didn’t realise there were so many officers in the force, and they are taking very close note to our driving habits. Things that have simply been allowed to pass in the pass are now receiving close examination, such as the maximum speed for coming off the autovia or autopista, and the maximum speeds when passing through road works areas.

If you ride a pedal cycle at night without a front light you will be fined. If you park in a blue zone parking area with a ticket that has not run out of time your car will be towed away. At the impound centre you will have to pay the towing charge, and as was my experience, I was also charged the parking fine, only to receive a ticket for the fine again. Because I could not find my receipt I had to pay the fine again. How likely was that to have been a coincidence?

The Minister for the Interior assures us that the government does not fine people for pleasure. I believe him. A traffic fine is supposed to be like the tuition charge to learn a lesson that you will not wish to repeat. It’s all part of the safety process, and we are learning something about driving, judging by the falling death toll. In 2009 1,897 people lost their live unnecessarily. In some year gone by the toll was over 7,000, so you could say that things are getting better. However, the nitpicking that is going on seems to have more to do with bring in revenue from the motoring public, always a soft target, than to do with real police work.

If you do not wish to cooperate than you can drive as though the car behind you or in front of you is an unmarked police car. You can expect to find them parked around the next bend, over the crest of the next hill, and the radar is always pointed at you. They are in the sky, and they are watching us via their cameras. Be good!

Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael