Summer Driving

Everybody's headed out of town


My wife and I have done road trips during the Summer, but we leave after the mass exodus from the city, and we come back before everyone else. Consequently our experience is much like every day driving. However,  family vacation driving during June, July, and August can be a nightmare. Firstly, it seems that drivers think they cannot have a good time if they don't gulp down great quantities of beer or alcohol. Then, because the car is loaded with the kids they will almost certainly get on the nerves of the driver, but he or she has to stay concentrated on what they are doing.

The death on the roads during Summer attests to all the things that can go wrong. What a shame because people are in pursuit of leisure and pleasure. Instead their lives are ended.

Recently, a car carrying four men was completely demolished by an oncoming truck because the driver fell asleep. He may have been one of those drivers carrying goods to a supermarket that operate on a just- in- time inventory system. Such systems usually work well, but if things go wrong for the trucker carrying replacement goods he may have to push extra hard to make up time. Falling asleep could result, ending in lives lost.

Another crash occured on the roundabout at the entrance into Chelva on the CV-35. Three people were killed instantly in that case, plus another person was taken to intensive care. Traffic was backed up for over 12 kilometres for several hours in the blazing afternoon sun. Ten minutes after this crash at 15:30, another calamity occurred when a truck and trailer overturned on a paralell road that completely blocked all traffic.

When reading about these incidents the thought that occurs to me,other than the impact on the victims and their families, is how did the other motorists cope? I suspect that most of us normally jump into the car and set off without first thinking about water and other neccessities if we get caught in such a jam.

Invariably these things happen away from built-up areas, so you wouldn't have the opportunity to just pop across the road and buy water, or to use the toilet.  Of course, whether you find yourself stuck in a traffic jam or an elevator the first thing that occurs is the need to take a piss.

We humans are funny that way. When faced with some kind of emergency we immediately need to intake or output water. Go figure!

Copyright (c) 2014  Eugene Carmichael