Formula One Next Door

Formula One Next Door -Simply Fabulous!

I live in a small pueblo in Valencia named Pedralba. We are way out of town in the mountains where nothing much happens and life is a leisurely stroll. I’m not complaining because I happen to think it is as close to Heaven as one can get on earth. However, our next-door neighbour is a pueblo named Cheste which is home to racing fans from all over the world. A lot of things take place there from time to time, most of which I ignore, but on February 1, 2nd, and 3rd, there will be Formula One racing practices ahead of the new season.

If I were to ignore that and I failed to attend even one day, what would be your verdict about my sanity? I have been a critic of such an expensive form of sport during these very difficult times. I’m not even a great fan of the sport, but organisers can’t be more helpful to me to be able to watch really fine driving. They have brought it right to my front door. I’m sure a lot of you will be saying “No way, Jose!” But it is true, so I will go along, prepared to be secretly thrilled.

The venue is the Ricardo Tormo Racing Circuit. It is a 4-kilometre course that hosts many and varied events, including primarily motorcycle racing, 50 c.c, 125 c.c and 250 c.c. Also touring car racing and of course, Grand prix racing. Formula One racing in Valencia is done in the streets of the City, but the track is heavily used for practice.

The normal direction of racing is contrary to Formula One that goes the reverse order, and this places an extra strain on drivers from the G-forces that pull and push neck muscles, but somehow they do manage. It is a very challenging course that does allow speeds to 300 kph.

The Circuit was inaugurated in 1999, and it takes its name from a giant in motorcycling racing, Ricardo Tormo. He was one of Valencia’s favourite sons who died in 1998 after having lost his battle with leukaemia.

The Ricardo Tormo Racing Circuit is a special favourite of speed fans. When they are in town the population of Cheste goes from about 3,000 to about 50,000. It is really something to behold.

Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael

Meeting by Accident

Meeting by Accident- Such a sad story.

This will be a very sad story about two beautiful and good people who met by accident. One person is a 16 year-old male student, and devout Seventh-Day Adventist who had been attending a religious rally on the day in question. He was on his way home riding his moped when he met the lady.

The lady was a 37year-old woman who held a job of great significance, and was a person who provided voluntary service to the community. On the day in question she spent the afternoon and evening at a downtown hotel, presumably with at least one friend, but probably with friends where she had copious amounts of alcohol to drink that put her two and a half times over the legal driving limit when she got in her car to drive home.

I will pause here to point out that in a society that I will describe as being a liquid one, in that people habitually drink to excess, it is not all that unusual for people to do as this young woman did, and the road death toll reflects this. It just means that the lessons are yet to be learned and a lot of people will die needlessly in the future until the penny drops.

To return to our story, as this lady “drove” her car fate brought the two people together. Our imaginations would need to work overtime to calculate the number of people she missed along the six-mile course she had travelled until she reached this point. Her car crossed over into the oncoming lane and ran headlong into a stone-wall and flipped over, landing on top of the moped and rider. It continued on and flipped again landing again on its roof. The woman was pulled from the car and taken to hospital, by ambulance, where it was determined she was suffering from minor injuries to her hand and leg.

It was only later that the young man was discovered in a very grave state. She had no idea that she had hit someone. This is what her afternoon of drinking and then driving inadvertently caused::
v He was found barely clinging to life.
v He suffered damaging head wounds and concussion that have left him with permanent intellectual deficit and memory loss.
v He sustained fractures to his jaw, collarbone, and hip.
v He suffered two broken legs.
v His wrist was broken.
v His lungs were damaged causing him respiratory pain and difficulty in breathing.
v He suffered lacerations to other parts of his body, too numerous to mention.
v He has spent three months in the local hospital, and a further month in an overseas rehabilitation clinic.
v He was a good and promising sportsman, but he will never be able to return to sports.
v His future is uncertain.

Her only defence was that she was totally drunk at the time she dropped her car on top of him.

The Court had some difficulty in dealing with the case because she is fundamentally a model citizen, (which is not to say that she had never driven before while impaired by alcohol), but she had no prior convictions against her for anything.. She is a very beautiful woman and no-one took any pleasure in sending her to jail. She realises the seriousness of her actions, and I think that when she is released from prison in one year’s time she will try and help her victim in any way that she can. I also hope that she will receive all the help that she needs to try and pull her life back together.

Her life is ruined in the country where this incident took place. It is also probably ruined in her own mind. She appears to be a person of conscience so will never be able to run away from herself. She said in open court that she hopes her story will resonate within the community so that people learn from it. The judge told her “despite all the good deeds you may perform, it only takes a moment to destroy it all.”

Her lawyer, whose job was to minimize her penalty, said that he hoped that any jail sentence would be suspended due to the mitigating circumstances of the case.

Such as?

This story certainly resonates with me. It could have been my own story as so many times my car drove itself home in my mad days. I was lucky that we managed to avoid gathering any victims, but that is in itself an accident.

The moral of the story is: “Be Responsible. Drink alcohol OR drive. Not both!”

This is just such a sad story. Take care it doesn’t become your own story.

Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael

A Cause for Celebration

A Cause for Celebration -Fewer Road Deaths

The results for 2010 are now in and drivers on Spanish roads can take pride in the fact that for another year the number of those whom we lost on our roads dropped from 1,897 in 2009 to 1,730 in 2010. This is a curious reason for celebrating because, make no mistake about it, 1,730 deaths on our roads resulted in 1,730 caskets, funerals, families with broken hearts. Driving is not supposed to confer a death sentence when you go out to the shopping centre, or on holiday.

I know for a fact that many of those deaths were caused needlessly by very stupid drivers because I see them pass me on their way looking for a tragedy to cause. We are learning, but not fast enough. People, both young and old still drink alcohol and get behind the wheel to go home. I know the type of discipline it takes to avoid doing that. It is something that I practice regularly, and now it comes easy to me. However, in the early stages it was the most difficult thing to do.

When everyone around you is drinking and having fun, to be the one who says no to alcohol is tough. Strangely, your host will try to press you to go ahead, have just one, instead of supporting your choice. Now, all my friends know what I’m like, I doubt that they would pour me a drink even if I asked for it. The choice starts with each and everyone of us.

Eventually the support is given because we all know that driving on these roads stone sober is a horrifying enough experience. I think that the next person who says that he did not intend to cause the death of another while driving carelessly, or excessively fast, or under the influence should be beaten with a whip one hundred times.

So, again congratulations to us drivers on Spanish roads! There were 167 fewer funerals to attend during 2010 and 6,947 fewer funerals (in one year) from the year when the highest loss occurred was

8,677.

These are the statistics that say it all!

Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael

A Drivers New Year Resolutions

A Drivers New Year Resolutions -2011

New Year’s Resolutions are fun. We make all sorts of promises to ourselves in good faith, knowing that we really should keep our word, but equally knowing that by the end of January things will be back to normal. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained. So, fellow drivers, please join with me in making some promises to ourselves and to each other that may help to ensure that we get to this point again in 2012.

We promise to drive responsibly and with care for the benefit of ourselves and to others.
We will not drive after consuming alcohol or drugs that may impair our abilities.
We will focus our attention on the matter of driving with due care and attention.
We will drive with discipline and courtesy to other road users.
We will be constantly on alert as to what may happen so that we may be prepared to meet the challenge.
We will observe the speed limits as they are generally well thought out.
We will moderate our speed to suit road conditions.

With those promises in mind 2011 could very well be a good year for driving. Best of good luck to each and everyone in 2011.

These are a repeat of the Resolutions that we made in 2010. With practice we may eventually get it right.

Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael

Driving on New Year’s Eve

Driving on New Year’s Eve - Drive Safely

New Year’s Eve is a very strange time of year. Custom has it that we dress up in our finest and spend way beyond our budgets for overpriced goods and services, and eat and drink to excess to welcome in the new year, even though we may not have any idea of what may lie ahead. We do these things completely without thinking and we have all been a part of the madness, unless we are part of a group that does not indulge in such nonsense.

For many years I was at the heart of the event, first working as a waiter to ply my willing guests with champagne, then later as a club manager leading the countdown. When we finally sent the last reveller out into the night I then had to get in my car and drive home. It was always instant justice because I realised that the next driver coming towards me was no longer drinking, he was already drunk. How I survived all those many years can only be summed up as very good luck.

Those were the days when we had no conscience about smoking or drinking. They were the bad old days by comparison with how things are done today. Sure, there are people who continue to do the same old things but at least the authorities are trying to direct behaviour. Here in Spain a zero tolerance attitude is taken towards driving while impaired, and last night every policeman was looking for you if you were driving while impaired by alcohol.

In my native Bermuda we grew weary by the news of the First of January detailing the people who died the night before, and now, every New Year’s Eve the government will pay for the taxi fare to take you home. In spite of many people trying to take advantage by taking a taxi to go from club to club, the program has been incredibly successful.

The new statistics have begun for a new year. This is always a good time for us to make our resolutions, including losing weight and to stop smoking, but also to become more a part of the solution to road madness by doing our best to be better drivers.

I wish each and every driver Happy Highways during 2011 and that life will treat you well throughout this New Year.

Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael