The Ultimate

It's only June and even before Summer officially started we had been having some of the highest temperatures that we have ever seen so early in the year here in Spain. I shudder to think what July and August will be like. The entire country has been on red alert against fires but fortunately the rains have started and will shortly cover the entire peninsula, thereby reducing the chance of out of control forest fires like the one that has caused so many deaths in Portugal.

Ramadan has just ended. I have not heard any stories such as those that occurred last year where so many people died because they were strict adherents, refusing to take even water during super hot days. In the general community the elderly and the fragile will have to use supreme common sense and caution to avoid sun poisoning, another killer. Extremes of weather are to be guarded against, even in the young group where our youth think they are indestructible. They go out in the noonday sun on the beach and lay out and go to sleep unprotected. Not a smart idea.

When it's hot we really don't need anyone to tell us that it's hot, although we do that with everyone we meet. It makes us uncomfortable if we're standing in the full sun, so we move into the shade. If the air-conditioning is working in our cars we drive with it on full bore. When we stop and shut the engine down, if we are parked out in the open we know how quickly the car heats up. We can't wait to get out and move away.

So, here's my question: if the driver closes up the car with a child or an animal inside, saying daddy or mommy will be right back, how stupid must you be to think that is a reasonable thing to do. The thing that is so worrying is that it is happening in more than one country around the world. Children and animals have died, and others have had to be rescued and put through emergency procedures to save their lives, and the people who do these things always ask of their child or their puppy who has been rescued, when can I have it back? What?

Talk about being terminally stupid! Duh!

The first step in punishing anyone guilty of such behaviour is to take away their licence to drive a car. The public don't need anyone with such an empty head coming towards us. Such a person would be a hazard to society.

To those of us who know this is not the reasonable thing to do we must be aware that in every car we pass as we walk along the sidewalk there may be a child/animal locked inside. It will be an oven and only your awareness and quick action can save the child or animal from someone who is as deadly as a terrorist with a bomb or a knife.

By all means I hope you enjoy your Summer, but please stay vigilant. I would also add a note to remind anyone who might lock their child or animal in their car to please don't do that, but who am I kidding, such people are not capable of being able to read and comprehend.

Copyright (c) 2017

Eugene Carmichael
 

Now I have definitely seen everything!

This past week I was in Javea, a large seaside Mediterranean town which is famous for ex-pat living. It has a wonderful beach community and an important port. There are so many different nationalities living there as to form a real melting pot of humanity.

I was there on Wednesday, a really hot day with brilliant sunshine but also with a lovely cooling breeze. I was sitting under the shade of a terrace having a BLT sandwich and a cooling drink when I looked up and was struck by the ultimate in lunacy.

A young man who was evidently born with not so much as one iota of brains went riding his scooter along the major avenue allowing the bike to steer itself as he held his mobile in both hands while he sent text messages. This meant that not only was he not controlling the bike, he wasn't even watching where he was going.

The offense of which he was guilty was "Conducting a vehicle without due care and attention." He was on his way to perhaps knock down a pedestrian, or to run into another motorcycle, or to crash into a car or truck. In the process he would likely harm himself or even die in the crash he would cause.

I know that being young also usually means one's intellect is not fully developed, but this was taking things over the top. Addiction to mobiles is a modern problem that is totally out of control. I recognise how it starts and I know that you have to fight against it. Young people don't seem to have the strength as it just takes them and they become totally caught up in the wonder of that powerful instrument.

The irony is that in this modern world of ours we need to be aware of what is going on around us more than ever. People have been simply going about their business only to become victims of terrorist strikes by being deliberately run down by trucks and cars. To be absorbed in your mobile to the exclusion of what is taking place around you is a recipe for disaster. Some people have actually walked into their own deaths because they were unaware of oncoming traffic.

To deliberately relinquish control of your motor vehicle for the purpose of texting while in motion is taking stupidity to a new level and cannot end well. In the world of young people if one person is seen doing it others will follow just because it's so stupid.

I suppose we will have to be patient while it plays itself out. There will be death and injury but although we can try to counsel young people they will not listen and heed the advice of us old fogies. We will just have to wait and see.

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichael

Summer Driving and Smoking

Summer's here again with heat and flies. Without having given it any thought I always assumed that everybody would welcome this time of the year but the truth is that many people prefer Winter. Both Summer and Winter can be dangerous and uncomfortable in their extremes.People die as a result of prolonged exposure to both heat and cold, but if I had to choose I think I would choose the heat.

During the Summer drivers often open the car windows but if you are a smoker this could lead to problems for other road users. I often see drivers smoking while driving and flicking the ash out the window. This becomes a problem to following motorcyclists who take the ash in their faces. Presumably this must lead to some heated discussions. It wouldn't be a surprise to anybody if it did.

It also seems to be a temptation for the driver to flick his still lit cigarette into the undergrowth at the side of the roads. Why these people don't realize that they are probably starting a forest fire with all that involves, I just don't know. Spain has suffered some major disasters in the past with fires that were started in this way that have gone on to cause great property loss and distress to many people.

How many people have actually lost their lives because a driver suffered fallen hot ash in their laps? I have never come across any statistics to that effect but we can be certain, it has happened. I can attest to a near miss head-on crash that was caused by a driver who was trying to light his cigarette from the electric starter in the car. Our cars were encountering each other on a gentle bend, but because he had his head down trying to connect the lighter to the cigarette in his mouth he didn't realise he was floating directly toward me. I blew my horn, he looked up and dropped the cigarette and threw the lighter towards the back seat while swerving away from me.

Another coat of paint on our cars and we would have collided! They say that smoking kills, and while that can be true we are not always aware of the many ways that can happen.

Lastly, I can never understand people who load up their cars with their children and who smoke while they drive. There is no nice way to say this, but geez guys; how can you be so selfish and irresponsible. It would be easy for you to tell me to mind my own business but that does nothing towards solving the problem that you are creating. You are still irresponsible and selfish to your own children who you chose to bring into the world.

If you die a horrible painful death through throat or lung cancer caused by your own selfishness, justice will be served. I don't mean that in a bitter way, just that it would be a fact.

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichael

S.O.S.

S.O.S. in this case stands for Save Our Syclists.


I wrote in a blog a few weeks ago that we could pay homage to the three cyclists who lost their lives, and to their companions who have been damaged for the rest of their lives in that well publicized crash by conducting ourselves as drivers to make that crash the very last.

I have been excited to notice that my fellow drivers have that sad crash very much on our minds as we approach cyclists by slowing and overtaking by passing into the opposite lane when safe to do so. This is great that it is happening, but the loss of our fellow citizens is still fresh and very raw. In time the memory will fade and we might be tempted to go back to our old ways. How can we avoid that happening?

It would help for all cyclists to wear some form of clothing that is high visibility with the message "Please give me space!" That will keep the awareness fresh. Another method to keep drivers constantly aware is that each of us as individuals have to share the roads with a number of other traffic classifications. They have a right just as we do and we must respect their right.

This is a matter of driver education and is a constant. We will inevitably find ourselves crawling behind something moving slower than we would like to be moving. That is when our discipline comes into play. It may not come naturally to each and every one of us but we must learn to be patient. This is a bitter lesson some of us must take in and to do that the government, through the justice system needs to step down hard on people who cause death and injury just because they were impatient and in a hurry.

There is also a flip side to cyclists safety and that is where cyclists themselves behave in a manner that is in their own self-preservation. What can cyclists do to help themselves.

Always wear high visibility clothing so that you can be seen to be safe.

Never ride more than two abreast.

Most importantly, where cycling lanes exists always use them. Do not choose to use the roadway together with motor traffic instead. This is perhaps one of the most important bits of advice because we see this happening all the time. The government has gone to the time and expense of putting in cycling lanes and whole groups of cyclists choose not to use them.

This is terribly frustrating to drivers because we do have to undergo a certain amount of stress in order to keep you guys safe. Why do we not have your cooperation? I think I speak for all drivers when I say that we mean you no harm, but if you do put yourself in harm's way by using the highway when there was a cycle lane running parallel you will have yourself to blame.

That is just common sense!

Stay safe!

Copyright (c) 2017

Eugene Carmichael