Licenced to kill
I see the Idiot Varadkar is on whinging about road deaths again.
He is pleading with us to "take care" on the roads because the way things are going, this year more people are going to be killed on the roads than last year.
These pleas to "take care" never fail to amuse me. What the fuck does he think happens? Are the boy racers going to be doing the ton down the M5 when they suddenly remember the plea to "take care" so they slam on the breaks and drive like they're in a Morris Minor? Are we all supposed to drive with a man and a red flag in front of us because we want Varadcar's figures to look good, and he did ask us so nicely?
I have news for him. I always drive with care, not because he asks me to but simply because I don't want to put a dent in the car. Nothing he says or does is going to make the blindest bit of difference to the way I drive. And frankly the very last thing on my mind when I'm driving is Varadcar's Pearls of Wisdom.
I have more than a suspicion that he couldn't give a shite if people are killed . What he really cares about is that his record of ever decreasing deaths is about to be broken. He's not going to get any bragging rights in Brussels from that!
What he needs to realise is that he will never eliminate deaths on the road. There are tens of thousands of vehicles on the roads at any one time, so the odds are that quite a few are going to be driven by morons, so statistically those morons are going to kill people sooner or later.
It's a sad fact of life but the only way to stop so many deaths on the road is to stop handing out licences to any young kid who is able to drive twice around the town square on a sunny afternoon without hitting anyone.
I had one accident when I turned twenty, admittedly a car write-off accident. But then for 55 years, 360 days a year, I was behind a wheel of some kind and never had another accident. I regularly was speeding, way above the limit, but that was on main roads before 7.00am in the morning. I only slowed down when "I" felt my reflexes were slowing. Then Nanny made not sitting up straight in a car some kind of points offense so I avoid the car whenever possible. There are so many shagging rules and laws on the road now, all aimed at the lowest common denominator, that the true freedom and fun of driving is long gone.
Driving has become the simple function of getting from 'A' to 'B' without penalty points – fuck that !
Between motorbikes and cars, I have been driving for around forty six years. Loads of spills on the bike and a quare few accidents in the car. Of all the car smashes I have been in, only the very first was my fault. Like yourself, I let the road and the conditions dictate my speed – sometimes over and sometimes under "the limit". Probably the most dangerous aspect of modern motoring is the distraction of watching out for speed traps and garda cars.
PS: That should read "35 years"
Damn! 55 sounds much more impressive?
Verdacker can wait till next year and the onslaught of Romanian wrecks driving on the wrong side of the road over here! :-0
I'm just waiting for Brussels to demand that we switch to driving on the right! Then let the fun begin.
For years I've been advocating a simple procedure which could save thousands of lives on the roads every year. First, remove the driver's seatbelt, second remove any airbags, third, affix an 8" sharpened steel spike to the middle of the steering wheel which cannot be removed. Then let Darwin do the rest …
No bugger listens to me.
It might be an idea to make the body of the car [and especially the floor] transparent? There is nothing like the sight of the ground rushing past your arse at 90 to make you feel vulnerable?
Here's another old one. When the fuckwits in Brussels demand you drive on the right, Ireland will try it out by letting just lorries drive right for the first year. When there are no cars remaining, then implement the new rule for everyone. Simples!
Heh! Some time ago, I had a very similar proposal.
Just knew you would have been there first!
Over five and a half years ago. I've been at this game too long.
I find that I can really concentrate after 5-6 pints!!
It's also a known fact that intelligence and wit increase proportionally with the consumption of alcohol.
While learning to drive, I had several back-passengers and experienced armchair-drivers telling me to always watch out for the moron in front.
No different in politics.
Point driven.
Howya Hoop! You've been missing for a couple of years? Glad to see you haven't mellowed.