The perils of Underground Parking

I drove my Jaguar Sovereign into an underground parking garage and I parked it with some thought in mind, but evidently not nearly enough. My car is a long-wheel base and the garage was one long strip room which was probably fine for short cars, but the problem for long cars is that once you are parked with cars on both sides of you it becomes nearly impossible to leave your space and make the turn to move to the exit.

It took me nearly twenty minutes to get out of my spot with the help of two other people which I fortunately was able to do without scratching the other car or mine.

Next time I will have to be certain that I not only park properly but also that I can get out when other cars come and park next to me.

Something to keep in mind.

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael

Some fascinating road facts

I am a retired Insurance Accountant/Insurance company manager. It will be interesting to bear that in mind.

The Association of motor insurers of Spain deem women to be superior drivers based on the lack of claims. Women are safer drivers because they lack the testosterone in their systems to mix with gasoline that we men are afflicted with. Without that mix they usually have no need to prove how cool they are by doing donuts and they are only rarely found to be speed demons. When a driver is showing off and doing totally stupid things it's because he is trying to impress a woman.

 

So, in spite of all the jokes we men make about women drivers, jokes that are made to cover up our own failings, women turn out to be better drivers than men.

When it comes to the general ratings as to which class of professional driver rates worst and which is best, apparently at the very top of the worst class are we bloody accountants. According to an article I picked up in the Costa News of Spain, in Britain accountants are responsible for about 16,000 claims each year, which is approximately 44 every day. Wow! Why on earth would that be?

I know that we usually carry around in our heads lots of facts and figures, and we're always cross-checking something or the other, but to such an extent that we take our concentration off the road surprises me a lot. For instance, as an accountant I think I am just the opposite. I drive with anticipation of what the other person is likely to do so that I can be ready. It's amazing how right I am, and as a result I have avoided so many crashes because I was ready.

It's hardly likely that accountants drive like lunatics, or on drink or drugs as we accountants tend to be boringly responsible. We are your bankers, (oops!) and insurance company officers, and auditors, and company CEO's and CFO's and billionaires and investment managers, etc.

However, it's important to note that not too far behind accountants are the lawyers who present about 15,000 claims a year. I hope none of you lawyers were laughing at the position we accountants find ourselves in. Amidst the lawyer crowd are to be found the magistrates and judges who would look sternly upon we accountants while pronouncing sentencing for our roles in causing car crashes. They might even tut while declaring how disappointed they are in us.

As if to make matters unnecessarily worse, third in line for these unenviable awards come the doctors. The suggestion is made that they do so badly on the road because they spend all their efforts in doing well in their place of work. These are the very people whom we rely on to redress the wrongs that we do on the road by making whole the people we injure. However, their record on the road is not that enviable either.

The article goes on to say that within the list of worst drivers are also found financial advisors, real estate agents, airline cabin crew and pharmacists. Blimey! This sounds like a case for a major study to determine just what is going on here, especially when we consider that roofers were the group with the best record, followed by farm workers, builders, lorry drivers, cleaners, carpet fitters and butchers.

Definitely there is a pressing need to delve deeply in this mystery. Just leaving things at the statistics stage is not good enough, in spite of the fact that as an accountant I love statistics.

Copyright (c) 2016

Eugene Carmichael

Post Easter driving

Driving at peak times should be avoided as though it were some kind of plague. we have taken a couple of holiday road trips, but we have always left the day before, or very late on the day when everyone starts their journey. That has worked well, leaving us with normal driving conditions. However, on one of those journeys we ended up returning with everyone else. It was not pleasant. In fact, it was really dangerous and super stressful.

This past Easter our son had to leave on the same day as the rest of the country took to the roads because he had a long journey with commitments at his destination. He loaded his car with his things because he was moving, and that gave added weight to the car, as though he was carrying three or four passengers.

He was aware of the need to keep an appropriate distance between his car and the one ahead of him. The problem is that when you try to do that at peak times another car is inserted in that space, so its almost impossible to maintain proper distance.

Traffic was moving along at about 100 kph when suddenly up ahead there was a crash and all traffic came to an abrupt halt. He almost had enough space to stop safely, but not quite enough. He hit the car in front of him once and that car was propelled into the car in front of it. His car was heavy compared to the car he hit. It took three tow trucks to clear the scene but everybody walked away.

When a member of the family is involved in something like that it comes home to everyone. However, in his case there was not drink or drugs or excessive speed involved. If you hit someone from behind you are automatically deemed to be at least negligent for not having kept your distance. He was given a ticket for that, and ironically so was the driver he hit for the same thing for running into the car ahead of him. The proximate cause of their crash was the original one, so those tickets may be annulled.

In my case I had to crawl along with all lanes nose to tail for over three hours, something I will go to extreme measures to avoid in the future, even if I have to stay home.

The moral of the story is to avoid being a part of the problem, no matter what you need to do.

Copyright (c) 2016

Eugene Carmichael

An Awful Easter on the Road

Easter on the road is not over yet and already thirty-six people have lost their lives. This is already eleven more than last year. When so many vehicles take to the road all at once conventional wisdom says that I should not be one of them. I should either leave home the day before, or I should wait until late in the day after the crowd has passed. When we do decide on a road trip this has been our strategy and it works just fine. The idea is to not have any absolute deadlines so time is not of the essence.

I just don't understand what happens to people's brains during peak times on the road. So many people just seem to disengage from their brains, or they replace their brains with excrement. There are so many reasons why cars are made to crash. One of the most avoidable reasons is driver fatigue. All it takes is for you to close your eyes once and you will probably never open them again. However, all too many times total and absolute stupidity is the cause.

Last night I was driving along a two lane road approaching the top of a rise when four cars came up from behind me when I was travelling at 80kph, the maximum allowed. As we approached the top of the hill we were required to lower our speed to sixty because over the hill there is a junction from our right. During the day often there are heavy goods vehicles entering the main road, either continuing along the lane we were in, or crossing over to proceed in the opposite direction. These are extra long vehicles that take a count of fifteen to cross one lane.

Those four cars overtook me and another car behind me as we neared the top of that hill, having no idea whether a vehicle was approaching in the opposite direction. Had there been a car in that lane there would have resulted a crash that would have involved at least six, and possibly seven vehicles because of the insanity of those four drivers.

If I could have had my way I would have taken all four of those cars and had them destroyed and the permits taken away from the drivers. I would have also given them each a damn good flogging for trying their best to add to the carnage on the road.

There can be no excuse at all for such terminal nonsense like that!

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael