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Thursday 17th 50-68F, 10-20C, light breeze clearing to sunshine. A little cooler today. The Head Gardener was going to send me to the shops early but it fell through. So I walked briskly to the village and back.
Just one kerb-stone protected, completely blind corner amongst many. Marked by countless vehicles literally climbing up the apex. What chance would any pedestrian have if they were walking around this corner? As I do most mornings. For scale, the corrugated blocks are about 2' long and set at 45°. The top tyre mark is a foot above the road surface!
It would only cause confusion if I simply said I had walked to the village. You'd have no idea if I returned safely. Not always a guaranteed result given the twisting route and the major lack of driving skills.
What do you say or when you see yet another lorry driver welded to his mobile phone? As his vast, intercontinental, 40 foot container, 7-axle lorry is on completely the wrong side of a twisting road. One with literally miles of unbroken, double white lines. [Double yellow lines if this were in the US.]
Just one kerb-stone protected, completely blind corner amongst many. Marked by countless vehicles literally climbing up the apex. What chance would any pedestrian have if they were walking around this corner? As I do most mornings. For scale, the corrugated blocks are about 2' long and set at 45°. The top tyre mark is a foot above the road surface!It would only cause confusion if I simply said I had walked to the village. You'd have no idea if I returned safely. Not always a guaranteed result given the twisting route and the major lack of driving skills.
What do you say or when you see yet another lorry driver welded to his mobile phone? As his vast, intercontinental, 40 foot container, 7-axle lorry is on completely the wrong side of a twisting road. One with literally miles of unbroken, double white lines. [Double yellow lines if this were in the US.]
Answer: You say and do nothing. To clearly identify the raving lunatic. Driving such a large an dangerous vehicle so badly, while on the 'phone. Would be to court a far higher sanction than the culprit would ever receive for such potentially lethal behaviour.Walk down the high street swinging a baseball bat and you seriously risk being shot by the police. Drive a 40 ton truck past the village schools and shops with literally one hand, everywhere you go, and you get off Scot free.
Welcome to the alternative reality of driving. Where the absolute right to freedom of movement exceeds the right of innocent children to survive. All in the interests of economy of transport. What would be the cost of a simple speed bump at each end of the shopping high street? Or outside every school?
One village had a gentle hump to remind drivers to slow down for the 50kph [30mph] speed limit. The hump was eventually dug up and flattened. Probably because the council had to pay some lunatic compensation after he smashed his sump by driving over it at 100mph. Despite its very gentle contours the hump was always heavily scarred and already well within the speed limit signs.
The school is only a couple of hundred yards further the village entrance. Hundreds of children swarm out mid-afternoon onto the pavements, gathering around bus stops, riding their bikes or crossing the busy road without any protection.
Not even a traffic island to provide a midway refuge for children crossing the road. The road past the school is wide and perfectly straight. I'll leave you to guess the average speed there.
Late morning ride to the shops. Only 7 miles. Going well again.
The school is only a couple of hundred yards further the village entrance. Hundreds of children swarm out mid-afternoon onto the pavements, gathering around bus stops, riding their bikes or crossing the busy road without any protection.Not even a traffic island to provide a midway refuge for children crossing the road. The road past the school is wide and perfectly straight. I'll leave you to guess the average speed there.
Late morning ride to the shops. Only 7 miles. Going well again.
Click on any image for an enlargement.
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