Driving Spain's EMT

Spain's EMT Bus-Right on Time!

They are so numerous that they are invisible. I'm talking about Spain's city buses, red in colour, very comfortable, and they squeeze in the most impossible spaces. For the passengers the sight of something big and red is welcomed. The system apparently works extremely well and is sent by God himself to deliver those who need to get from A to B within the city.

Here in Valencia the buses were the last thing for me to master. Moving into a new location is always confusing, and for me buses simply appeared from parts unknown, and they went onto places mysterious. However, there are clues to help the passenger. Each bus has a number, and they have two names, one shows the bus starting point and the other it's destination. I'm sure that if I look I will find that there is a complete route map for every bus. I have never made that search, instead I find the bus I need by observing which ones pass by the place I am, and deciding next time I will come by the number 49 bus, instead of making life so difficult.

Being the driver of such buses seems to assure him of continuous employment. They seem to made their work appear stress-free, but I'm certain that nothing could be farther from the truth. Firstly, they have bus lanes at their disposal, but bloody drivers of all sorts of vehicles insist on parking in their lanes, "just for a minute." I am under the impression that each bus carries a video camera and recorder that is turned over to the police who send out tickets to such offending vehicles for illegal parking.

The driver has to collect the fares, which is the easy part, then comes the hard part of navigating a very large vehicle through city traffic without crashing into anything, and without having to make sudden stops that would result in throwing his passengers around. He does all that while maintaining a courteous attitude and staying on schedule.

In my own country I have known some really great people who drove the bus, people who got joy from their routine by interacting with the passengers, even to the extent of stopping at people's homes or gates for them. For me, I would have to be one of those drivers, because otherwise the humdrum of crisscrossing the city day after day would drive me crazy.

I am a very infrequent passenger on Valencia's buses but I don't take the driver for granted because it is easy to see the stress that he copes with on behalf of we passengers. I for one appreciate it, and deem the bus drivers of Valencia as our unsung heroes.

Copyright (c) 2012   Eugene Carmichael 

A World Upside Down

Stay Right side Up. The view is better

The past week I was driving along a straight and level road with two lanes in the same direction, when I came upon a car in the left lane that flipped and lay on its roof.  An ambulance was there, several police cars, and a tow truck. There was loads of glass in the road, but the driver and his passengers, if any were nowhere to be seen. The emergency personnel all seemed to be scratching their heads in trying to figure out how he managed to flip his car on an uncluttered street.

My question would be: "Why?"  Why did he flip his car? Many years ago while driving over in the vicinity of Torreviejo I came across a bridge and found a car that was flipped on its side with driver and passenger still inside and buckled in. I was the first person on the scene.  My first action was to  release them from their seat harness, which was very tricky, and to haul them out of the car.

I asked the driver what happened, and he said he didn't know. That he had been talking to his girlfriend and the next he knew was that the car was on its side. Since then I have conducted a little experiment with flipped vehicles. Most contained one or more passengers, and very few had only the drivers. My theory is that a failure to take due care and attention to the job at hand is the cause because of the distraction of talking to the person beside you.

Here's an experiment that you can conduct for yourself; preferably it should be off-road and in a field. While staring straight ahead turn your head to the right and focus on what happens to the hand that holds the steering wheel. The tendency is for the hand to follow the head, so that the driver who turns to look at his front seat passenger automatically drives the car into the ditch if he is not careful.

A driver alone who lights a cigarette experiences the same motion and ends up driving into trouble. Remember, your car will do what you tell it to, so be careful!

However, having said all that does not explain what happened in the story at the top of the page, because the car was on its roof in the left hand lane, with no suggestion that it was ever in the right side. So, how the hell do you flip your car when there is nothing around to trip you up?  I compare that to walking along and stumbling, but when you look around to see what tripped you up, there is nothing.  Very strange !!!

Copyright (c)  2012  Eugene  Carmichael

A St. Valentine's Day Fable

Once upon a time there was a man who fell deeply in love, not with a person, but with an inanimate object. He loved the object as dearly as he could ever love a person, and he pampered, and cared for the object with all his might.

That certainly sounds like a fable, but the reality is that men all over the world are guilty of having such love affairs with a variety of objects. There are those who love their fishing tackle; golf clubs; gardening tools; but I think that there are none so rabid about the objects of our love as car and motorcycle aficionados.

I am a member of the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club, a worldwide grouping of mostly, grown men, who go "ooh!" and "aah!" over the sight of a Jaguar model, especially if it is standing shiny and bright in the midday sun. Very occasionally I find myself admitting that our enthusiasm is over the top, but then I revert to form and go back to being a silly youngster about my ride.

In our club there are periodic meetings where we bring our much prized possessions to meet others of a like persuasion. We show our model off, and even if it is exactly like one hundred others there at the time, I don't think there is any jealousy. It's not like showing off our women, which we do as well, and we may even get a little envious on that subject, but with the cars we discuss problems and where to get parts, and even make deals to swap with one another. That is the cars, not the wives.

Why this should be something that interests predominently males is really quite beyond me. After all, women are free to buy Jaguars, and do so, but they just don't get the bug to swagger and show off something that anyone with the money can acquire. Women, however are smart enough to support their men in our infantile pursuit of pleasure of this sort. If the car is the other woman, at least she is one that the wife can control.

A reminder to all of my fellow Jaguar petrolheads that for St. Valentine's Day the order is, celebrate your wife first and your Jag takes second place. Now, repeat after me, "Wife first, Jag second!"  Bear that in mind and you should have a pleasent week. Get it wrong, and I wouldn't want to trade places with you.

Copyright (c) 2012   Eugene Carmichael

The Fate worse than Death

A Humble mode of Transport

We generally think in terms of road casualties resulting in death, as that seems to be the worst case concerning vehicle crashes, but perhaps there is something far worse. Yes,  we are aware that people sustain injuries in the course of collisions on the road, but curiously, that stastic receives little emphasis. The truth is that even an injury received from a minor accident can cause the person who has to live with it, discomfort and disfigurement for the rest of their life.

However, there are those who are very aware of personal damages received. They are the insurance companies to whom we turn to request help in coping with our disabilities. The human body is the most fragile participant in a collision and the least able to be returned to the situation in which they were before the occurrance.  Here in Spain young children under the age of 14 are the greatest group affected, followed closely by the over age 65. Most of the people in these groups are hit during daylight hours, within cities, and the months of April and June are the worst months for such happenings. The Spanish insurance giant Mapfre has reported these findings from their research, which, they say arise from general carelessness, high speed on the part of drivers, and a loss of awareness on both the parts of children and senior citizens.

Adults get hit usually during the evening between six and nine pm. These are the hours when children are mainly at home and adults are leaving work after a hard day at the office. Perhaps they are still preoccupied with office-type things on their minds and they simply fail to realise they are about to step out into the path of traffic. I personally experienced this situation as a driver, when a lady simply stepped off the sidewalk. I had another car on my right, so my movement was restricted. Had she taken two steps more I would have had no choice but to hit her. Fortunately another person yelled at her and awoke her from her reverie.

As a pedestrian I only knew I had to cross the road, and I was at a pedestrian crossing about to step out into the path of an oncoming car. Fortunately for me a man grabbed me by the arm and saved me some serious pain. Can I explain that? No!  I have no idea where my mind was. I have fallen from my motorcycle, the last time resulting in permanent screws in my leg. I have been very lucky in comparison with so many other people who are confined to their wheelchairs without even the hope of being released to be able to walk again.

Unfortunately, many very young men and women are injured for life in their teens. Perhaps it was because they rode too fast, or took unreasonable chances, because that is what you do when you are young and indestructable. The truth is that we are mere mortals and we break all too easy. To find out the hard way is a lesson we can do without.

I'm thinking about a young man who lived in my native country who had a massive crash that left him paralysed in a wheelchair. He lived in a full-service home located close to the sea, and several times security found him leaving the home at night. He would be returned to his room. Finally, one night when the security officer was busy with something this young man glided soundlessly out the door, and drove his electric chair along the roadway for three kilometros until he arrived at a boat launching ramp. With determination he drove his chair into the sea where he was electrocuted and drowned.

Being confined to a bed or wheelchair is no laughing matter, especially if its a life sentence. Let us spare a thought for people in these situations, and especially be careful when driving where there are people about. 

If you can avoid injuring someone because you moderated your speed, or thought ahead, that would be a very fine thing indeed. If we all do that, you may be the one to be spared the agony of an existence worst than death.

Copyright (c)  2012   Eugene Carmichael