30th July 2008

Travelling frequently from country to city, you notice more the driving habits of "townies" and their casual observance of the road code. A vast majority seem to have obtained their driving licence out of a packet of cornflakes rather than pass a test.

I've held mine for 47 years. My first car had a pair of turning indicators which consisted of a spring loaded arm which popped out behind the driver and front passenger window. They were notoriously unreliable and before making a turn you checked the side mirror to see if they had activated and if not, you hurriedly wound down the window and thrust your arm out to indicate. No one seems to bother much these days. One in three drivers changes lanes or overtakes without bothering to indicate or if they do it's a 2 second burst in the middle of the manouvre as a token to the law rather than a courtesy to a following driver. Many a time I've sat at an intersection indicating to turn and waiting for a vehicle coming towards me presumably going straight ahead only for it to turn at the last moment into the street I'm exiting. I guess it's typical of how self centred people have become these days. The traffic arm of the police don't seem too bothered about it other than use it as an excuse to stop a driver looking for deeper misdeeds such as drink driving. I've never seen a "campaign" mounted by them as they do for countless other bad driving habits.

We have become a lazy, careless society and driving habits are a symtom of it.

TC