So the last few weeks have been challenging both physically and mentally and for some reason yesterday was a very bad day. If it hadn’t been for three lovely ladies it could well have been even worse. I had a hug and lots of positive energy from my favourite checkout lady in Coles, spent a very enjoyable three hours being pampered by the wonderful Linny and of course had the evening with the love of my life Denise all of which tipped the balance and I went to bed in a fairly positive mood.
This morning I got up, had a quick breakfast and headed to Nannup to put another coat of paint on the ceilings. The forecast for the day was not good so I thought I would be better occupied over there than at home where I could easily have got into a depressed state. I hate rain! Over the last twelve years I have traveled the road to Nannup countless times and know every bend and bump and I know where it’s safe to overtake and where it’s not. Now I appreciate that I was lucky enough to be taught to drive by an ex police tactical pursuit driver back in the late eighties and I haven’t forgotten anything he thought me but this morning I encountered a classic example of someone who had no concept of who else was on the road. It was something that Peter instilled into me, always know what the car in front and the car behind is, how fast they are traveling and expect the driver to have no idea you are there. I was not in any kind of hurry this morning, it was raining and I was nursing the car a little bit as there was less than quarter of a tank on board and as much as I knew I would get there and back with ease you just never know what you might encounter. I could see I was gaining on this particular Toyota Hilux and I could also see in the distance that we were both gaining on a truck which appeared to be traveling quite slowly. I thought to myself we are both going to come up behind the truck at exactly the same moment which we did. From further back I could see the road ahead was clear, checked my mirror, indicated and pulled out to go past them both. I might ad that I had headlights on so was very visible. Just as I started to pass the Hilux the driver just started to pull out, no signal, no mirror check, I sounded my horn to let him know I was there, he must have had the fright of his life to see his mirror full of Volkswagen Amarok coming up beside him, he braked and pulled back in behind the truck which was turning left so had slowed even more then made some sort of gesture at me as I went past. Seriously what is wrong with some drivers? If I had been on a motorbike he would probably have knocked me off. So here is the real rant! All we hear is that “speed kills” and we should all slow down, when are the authorities going to get it that it isn’t speed which kills people it’s badly educated drivers, drivers who don’t pay attention and drivers who are distracted. When you think about it there aren’t many skills or qualifications which don’t require regular training and refreshing, how is driving a car any different? Cars have changed enormously over the last twenty years, they are quicker, and thankfully safer but all you need is a driver not paying attention and it doesn’t matter how safe the car is there will still be crashes. While I am on the subject, some of the safety features on new cars are truly amazing but do we really need a buzzer to go off if we don’t steer a path between the white lines? Isn’t that and lots of the other features adorned by most new cars taking away the responsibility of driving and encouraging people to rely on them instead of being alert and in control? Just saying?