Just heard the news that one of the presenters of the TV programme "Top gear" is seriously ill in hospital with head injuries followng a high speed car crash yesterday (he was attempting to break the land-speed record, they think, and it was being filmed for TV. His wife is at his bedside - my heart goes out to her, and him. It's always shocking to hear sad news like this.
I don't watch "Top Gear" - its audience comprises so called "petrol heads" and fans of the energetic and controversial lead-presenter, Jeremy Clarkson. I have seen snippets of it and know that it regularly features celebrities driving cars at high speed round a race track.
If you enjoy seeing cars driving at terrifying high speeds, come to my neck of the woods. I can guarantee that after driving for about five minutes around these avenues in the residential outskirts of London you will be rewarded by the sight of some young lunatic risking his own and your life by accelerating towards his own, imagined 'finish post' somewhere along Acacia Avenue.
I am 38 (I may need to update my profile with that sad news). I have lost count, LOST COUNT, of the number of people I have known who have been killed, KILLED, in road accidents. One was a talented musician, aged 21. One was a peer at university who had become a reporter for 'The Times' newspaper, 26. Two were still at school when they were killed on the roads. Only a fortnight ago, a friend's son, in his early 30s, was killed in a car crash. I have known people who have died of heart attacks, strokes, cancer and murder. But the number of people I have known who have died as a result of car crashes probably exceeds all of the above put together. It baffles me when people think Diana 'couldn't possibly have been killed merely as a result of a car crash and that it must have been a conspiracy' - the suggestion seems be that to die in a car crash is to die in some kind of freak accident. It's common. IT'S COMMON. IT HAPPENS MANY TIMES EVERY DAY. SLOW DOWN.
"Top Gear" highlights the thrills of driving at speed. I DO hope that it is in the habit of warning its viewer of the dangers of dangerous driving too.
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See if I can pip John to the post with this one too...
It's one of the things that never fails to surprise us - the number of otherwise apparently quite sensible, law-abiding, responsible people, who seem to think that speed-limits are either optional, or simply there to generate revenue from speeding fines.
No, speed limits are there precisely to stop people driving too fast and endangering others. And the fact that a fit, healthy, alert young person may be able to control their car at greater speed is irrelevant.
There is an advertising campaign (which I think is still ongoing), the details of which can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/r4hdc
- I'm particularly stunned to read that according to one survey, some people consider it more acceptable to drive at 40 mph in a 30 mph zone than to drop litter.
And breathe.
Sorry Ruth, I'll stop ranting, but you've pressed one of my buttons...
Cars are lethal weapons, used carelessly and indiscriminately.
And I step down from my soap box before I get started, or it'll be a long one!
x
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