Brexit and the British registered car

There are a couple of people who I note have been living here in Spain for years and they are still driving their cars with British plates. That means the cars have not been tested for road worthiness for years, and even if they were submitted to the ITV I don't think such a certificate has any validity.

It should be borne in mind that the ultimate test we have to pass is the one when we are making a claim on our policy that will eventually cost the insurance company lots of money. First question will be: Is the insured car in compliance with all relevant rules and regulations in the relevant country?

Second question: Is the driver authorised and of an appropriate age and in possession of all relevant documentation?

We have a contract with our insurer in which we must do our part and they must do theirs. If we fail in any way, such as to have our car tested by ITV before the expiry date of our present certificate and to correct any defects, that is a reason for denial of claim.
If we fail to do anything necessary to comply with Spanish driving regulations, including the taking of a health test when due to determine our fitness to drive, this will be a reason for denial of claim. There are many people from Britain living here in Spain who cannot be bothered to exchange their British license for a Spanish permit. The British permit does not require periodic health checks, and that's fine for driving in England, but the Spanish permit does require it.

From time to time the Spanish police crack down on cars with British plates and impound them while the situation is corrected. I have seen them visiting garages where work is being done and detaining cars. What a surprise to the car owners.

With Brexit many things will change and one of those things will be that British registered cars on Spanish roads will only be allowed to be driven by bona-fide visitors. We can only presume that visitors from Britain will need a visa and a special permit for your car. Therefore, to British residents driving on British licenses and with British plates the time to act is now. You would be well advised to take steps now to regularize the situation.

Meanwhile you may continue to get away with driving outside the regulations but if you are the cause of an expensive accident you may be personally called upon to pay the piper, and that's something worth thinking about!

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichael

Roadside Conference

I was driving along a two-way B road when I turned a corner and saw ahead of me a massive collection of cars and trucks pulled over along the side as though there was some kind of roadside conference. I first looked for the results of a crash, but there was none, however, in the midst of all those vehicles there was one Guardia Civil car and two motorcycles. Apparently all those civilians had inadvertently driven into a police speed trap. That was a Conference of Speeders.

There are a lot more of those events taking place where you drive past the entrance and the time you take to exit the distance equals your speed. Don't you just feel like you've been punked if going too fast?

I agree that there have to be rules of the road and they must be obeyed otherwise there will be even more deaths and injuries than at present. In order to ensure compliance the police will be checking from time to time, of that we can be certain. We should therefore always drive as though the police are driving right behind us.

If we ever want a definition of stress that would be it. To be followed by a marked police car, as I was along this very route which is 13 kilometers, and have them follow me the entire distance is not only stressful, but it brought to mind every rule in the book. I even indicated when making certain turns, although I had to kind of search for the correct stick to make the turn signal. I found it after trying the windshield wiper.

The problem is that drivers have always been thought of as easy targets. The government needs more money they send their officers out to get it from the driving community. They call it a charge to remind us to obey the speed limits or to buckle up, or any other thing they can impose a fine upon us, but it can get to be a very fine line between making money, taxing us, and enforcing the law.

In the old days of transport by horse there was always the highwayman to be worried about. He was the one who suddenly appeared in front of us declaring, Stand and Deliver! This is a lot like that.

There is a way that we can defeat their strategy and that is by sticking to the speed limit at all times. I'm not suggesting I will do that, but it's something to consider.

As I drove along there was a straightaway ahead of me and a car was overtaking another as they both headed along the test stretch. It will be bad enough if you were travelling at 90 in a 80 kilometre zone, but if you speed up to overtake that will only make things worse even though you slowed after passing the slowpoke.

Be careful out there! The Highwayman awaits.

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichael

Summer's Gone - Part Two

In my previous blog on this subject I noted how sad I get at this time of year because the best part of the year is fading fast as it gives way to cold weather. This weekend we are getting a little taste of what's to come.

However, we also got a bit of good news to relieve the dread as we have early figures relating to the road deaths statistics for the Summer. We are told that in the Community of Valencia the number of people who died this year has fallen by 50%. Last year 34 people lost their lives which resulted in thirty-four families in grief, which possibly might mean for the rest of those people's lives. This year, while even one person lost to death on the road is one too many, we lost 17 fewer people which resulted in 17 fewer funerals and 17 families that were not affected negatively and unnecessarily.

We see life sometimes very strangely. When a person decides to end his life through suicide and he leaves us a note saying why, we get sad and a little angry. We say that what that person did was selfish and uncaring for his family. We are left with a stigma for the rest of all time because our loved one hung himself, or shot or drowned or cut himself to bleed out. Very sad

However, take that same individual who dies in a hospital as a result of lung cancer that is directly tied to his 30 cigarettes-a-day smoking habit and there's no stigma associated with that.

Perhaps he drove his car quite regularly while under the influence of drink or drugs and this time he ran into a wall or a tree that wouldn't get out of his way and he died. Both of these examples are suicides, they are perfectly good methods of ending one's life, the only difference is we don't leave a note, so therefore no stigma.

I noticed a package of cigarettes that says, "Smoking Kills" with a picture of a young woman who had just spit up blood. I am absolutely amazed that anyone would buy a product with such a warning on the cover.

Driving while under the influence of anything that will impair our judgement is an attempt to commit suicide, and it is also an attempt at murder. We don't even care who we kill, just as long as we have that drink or hit of drugs. That makes the person at fault deeply flawed.

The good news continued that loss of life throughout the country during the Summer dropped from last year's 253 to 226. Very encouraging!

Let's all try our best to make this year's annual numbers decrease by a meaningful amount. It's too late for zero deaths but there's still time to make an impressionable decrease over last year, but it's not too late to aim for zero for 2018.

We can do it, Yes we Can!

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichael

Summer's Gone

I always think that this is the saddest time of the year. It has been a long, very hot Summer here in Spain with record numbers of visitors from other countries. Terrorists have driven many people to our shores and more Spaniards have stayed home to take their leisure in the mountains or along the beaches, so Spain has had a very good year indeed.

The thing that has blotted the picture was the attack along Las Ramblas in Barcelona which was totally senseless. Sixteen people dead for no reason and people from 34 countries impacted to prove what? Spain as a country cannot take an arbitrary action of simply throwing out all Muslims but individual Spanish patience is well frayed. It seems to me to be down to the Muslim community itself to control its bad apples less they all have to pay the price.

There is always a bad side to a wonderful Summer and that is so many people died on the road just getting from one place to the other. I'm convinced this is not necessary. In so many cases the cause can be put down to just plain stupidity or irresponsibility. If you are the driver when you arrive at your destination with your car filled with your family, you do not join in the fun by drinking alcohol or taking drugs. You are the one charged with the responsibility of getting everyone back home safely. That's your job! Your family are depending on you and no one else can do that for you.

We often hear of the statistics that note how many died and how many were injured. If only there were some way in which the lives of those people who were left behind could be documented so that the pain and the effects of the death of the one who died could be shared by the community as a whole.

We see the flowers that are left by the roadside to mark the spot where someone died. Many years ago I regularly passed a spot in Torreviejo where I noticed that the flowers were constantly changed for fresh ones, so I tried to meet the person who was changing them. I finally did meet the lady who turned out to be the victim's mother. He was a young boy who lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into the wall. It was a single vehicle crash that led to his death. No mother should ever have to bury her son, especially under such circumstances.

For her life stopped for both of them at the same time. She was obliged to continue to be animated and to go through the motions of living but in reality she was as dead as her son. The only thing she lived for was to bring her son flowers and to communicate with him. She didn't take the flowers to his grave because that was not where his soul was; his soul was where she thought he left it, right there on that bend in the road.

I am aware of one of those people who contribute to the injured statistics. In many ways those who die from their collisions are the lucky ones. Those who suffer life altering injuries bear much heavier burdens. Some are life sentences, as in the case of young men who ride fast and crash and who are left paralysed for life.

There is a man who crashed into a car, or perhaps it was the other way round, but he is left in a body brace where he will remain for at least two or three years. I think I would have preferred to have simply died and have done with it. What he is left with can hardly be called life, although his family would disagree.

We will wait for the grim news yet again while at the same time giving thanks that those of us who are alive and uninjured made it through another season of enjoyment.

Be careful out there.

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichael