The Madman in the 4X4

When I came to Spain in the year 2000 every other driver was a madman. The behaviour was such that they were killing themselves right, left and centre. The road death toll was appalling and these were all termed "accidents." No they were not, and in fact many were murders/suicides, which is what happens when someone who is perhaps drunk or crazy on drugs drives with an absence of any shred of responsibility and runs into another vehicle, killing its occupants and himself.

The authorities were galvanised into action, first by tackling drunken driving. Frequent alcohol breath tests have become the norm and that was added to by the introduction of the Points system. Basically, if you lose all your points for any reason you lose your permit and realistically you will never get it back.

It is astonishing the difference that made on driver behaviour and the roads have been free of the recklessness that was so common in those days. However over the past month I have witnessed two incidents that fit the old style conduct.

One occurred in a moderately sized town with roads too narrow and too full of traffic. The idiot in the 4X4 flashed past the line of traffic I was in, going as fast as he could. He was stopped by traffic in the next block but impatiently as he could he whipped around them only to be stopped again at the following block,where this time he was held in place. He could not move.

He ran the risk of crashing into a vehicle turning into the lane in which he was illegally speeding, and worse there were many pedestrians about for him to have killed. Sometimes a person really does have an emergency that requires they get to their destination as quickly as possible. However, he was not headed in the direction of the medical clinic or hospital so if he did have such an emergency we have no hint what it may have been.

The second incident was even more alarming to me because this was the second time the same thing has happened , and at the same spot. This involved a car travelling fast overtaking myself and the car in front on a straight stretch of road that was uphill leading to the crest beyond which it was impossible to know if something was about to crest the hill.

Had something been there he would have crashed full head-on, hopefully killing himself but unfortunately he most likely would have carried those in the other car with him.

I can only assume that these are young boy racers who were not around in the earlier days to learn their lessons. I can only say that if you are one of these and you kill yourself, that lovely girlfriend of yours will end up in the arms of another man, and there is someone waiting to take your job and to move into your apartment..

Your death will not be a total loss and the roads will have become a little more safe. So go right ahead and Have a Nice Day!

Copyright (c) 2018
Eugene Carmichael