MOT woes
Posted: March 14, 2009 Filed under: Cars, Driving 4 Comments »Oh dear. I completely forgot about my car needing an MOT! I only just remembered this afternoon as I was driving along and thinking about having to renew my tax and get new insurance. It came to me in a blinding flash. And a bloody good job too, as the current MOT expires in two days’ time! Eeeek.
I’m going to have to try and find a garage that can do an MOT at short notice … but I’m at work on Monday – stress! And I’ll really need the car to pass … otherwise, what will happen? Presumably I am not insured after Monday if it fails the test. So how would I get the car to the garage for repair??!
I can’t believe I didn’t think about this before! Fingers crossed that I’m able to get it sorted.
Motorbikes in bus lanes
Posted: January 6, 2009 Filed under: Driving, London life, Stories in the news, Travels in the Metropolis 2 Comments »Since yesterday, motorbikes are allowed in most red route bus lanes in London. Is this a good idea? I don’t know.
I must say that I already worry about knocking over cyclists when I turn left across a bus lane (it’s a bit easier to see taxis and buses) and now there will be motorbikes to contend with/ worry about, too! On the other hand, I suppose it may discourage motorcyclists from weaving in and out traffic, which they are wont to do, and which must surely contribute to collisions involving motorbikes…
Boris says that the new scheme will help ease congestion in the capital … but honestly, how often do motorbikes wait in queues with cars? They usually just zoom on through.
Maybe he means that more people will be encouraged to travel into work by motorbike (rather than by car) and it will reduce congestion that way…? But is that really likely? How many car users would actually buy a motorbike rather than use the car they already have? Either car drivers (like me) are too scared to use a motorbike or they have a car for a particular reason (e.g. they need it to transport their family). And motorbikes aren’t cheap, are they?
I’m pleased that Boris is addressing the issues of both safety (for all road users) and congestion, but I am not sure whether this scheme is the right solution. Perhaps a better idea would be three separate lanes – one for bikes, one for motorbikes, taxis and buses, and a further one for cars. This would put public transport/ cars/ bikes on an equal footing, but would probably upset many car drivers and be hideously expensive to implement. And it doesn’t solve the problem of traffic turning left and knocking both types of cyclist over, either.
Obviously the ideal would be to have a super-duper, state-run, CHEAP and not- for-profit public transport system, and then nobody would need to use their own car/ motorbike for commuting anyway. Maybe I should write in to Boris and suggest that one. I’m sure he’d get that up and running in no time. 
Accident
Posted: January 1, 2009 Filed under: Driving 4 Comments »It’s 2.30 am and I’ve just got back from my New Year’s eve outing. I’m stone cold sober, as I was driving this evening. I went out for dinner with my very good friend, E. who lives in Hertfordshire, an hour’s drive away from here.
I had a shocking experience on the way there. Driving along the A1(M) motorway at about 65 mph, just near the junction with the M25, I saw an accident. There was a flash in my rear view mirror, and then a car about 100 metres behind me spun around several times and then flew off into the hard shoulder. A couple of other cars and a lorry narrowly avoided crashing into it. I think a car behind pulled over onto the hard shoulder to help, but I was too far ahead by this point.
I pulled off the motorway at the next junction and dialled 999. I had memorised the marker sign just after the accident (A27.2), but the operator still asked lots of questions about the position of the car, as well as questions about how many people were in the vehicle, whether there was a chemical spillage etc, none of which I could answer.
It was only after I got off the phone that the shock hit me and I started to cry: the people in that car could be dead or seriously injured. And if I had been driving a bit slower, or was a few cars behind, I could have been involved.
E. is a police officer and said that I had done the right thing by not stopping and running back along the motorway in my party shoes and black clothing. Of course I knew that, really, but I was glad to hear her say that, anyway.
I hope the people in the car were OK.
