If you're nervous...

...what are you doing up here?
A couple of weeks ago, on the way back from skiing, we got stuck behind a flatlander who was clearly very, very nervous about mountain driving. She was barely touching 10mph in her minivan, and was driving with her hazard lights on. Even the slightest bend in the road caused the brake lights to come on. Now we have a law here that states that if you're holding up traffic on a mountain road, and there's more than three vehicles behind you, you have to pull over and let them pass. There were plenty of opportunities to pull over, but she ambled past every one of them. In the end, it resulted in people overtaking her in dangerous places, and you'd think she would have got the message when even the ski bus overtook her on a double yellow line. But no - she kept dawdling downhill, and by the time we got to the bottom, there were a good thirty vehicles behind her.
I did briefly consider that it might have been vehicle trouble that was making her drive so slowly, but as soon as we got out on to regular roads, she was off without any hesitation.
In other words she was selfish, irresponsible and unobservant. If you've read my blog for any length of time, you'll know I have very little time for drivers like this.
Use your mirrors. Understand the rules of the road. And if you're heading into territory you're nervous about, then here's an idea: don't go!

Turn left on red?

My final blog post about the recent trip back to England : why aren't they allowed to turn left on red? The equivalent of turning right on red in America? It solves so many congestion issues at junctions and intersections and it's so obvious. Because I now live in America but go back and forth with some regularity, it's always difficult for me to not turn left on red for the first day or so when I go back. I'm so used to doing it at home and it comes so naturally, that I have to think hard to stop myself breaking the law in England. Although having said that there have been several occasions where I've done exactly that - absent-mindedly breezed through a left turn lane on a red light because nothing was coming. Fortunately I've never been spotted doing this by anyone in officialdom but I'm sure it'll happen one of these days.

Lane discipline

My recent trip back to the UK highlighted another foible of the British sensibilities when driving - terrible lane discipline. Technically, you're not allowed to overtake on the inside, but the problem is that people sit in the middle lane even when the inside lane is empty. By doing this, they reduce the carrying capacity of the motorway in that area to 30% or less as everyone queues up behind them trying to get into the outside lane to go past. It was like this up until 2001 when I left the UK and it's been like this every time I go back. At least here in America we're able to overtake on both sides without fear of recrimination. I don't know why that option has never been allowed in England - it would solve the irritation created by centre lane owner-occupiers for good.

38mph

This is a PSA for drivers in England: the speed limit is not 38mph.
I know some of you know this but my driving experience there over the Christmas break leads me to have to point this out. 8, 10 maybe 12 times over 4 days we found ourselves bumbling down a 60mph road at 38mph with no opportunity to overtake. And naturally, as we entered 30mph zones, the car in front carried on at 38mph until we reached the 60mph limit on the other side - where the 38mph dawdle continued.
Now I don't know if this is because people are simply petrified of being caught on one of the tens of thousands of speed cameras, or whether it's that people think that 38mph is just a good all-round speed to travel at.
But I'll say this: it's a good way to cause accidents, because faced with the prospect of 20 to 30 miles behind someone doing 38mph who isn't even towing a caravan, a lot of following drivers take huge risks to get past.
So read the road signs, read the road, take your eyes off the GPS, put the cellphone down and drive faster than 38mph.

The Dakar rally and Robby Gordon

I don't know how many people follow the Dakar rally in America, but it's been spectacular again this year. Set again in Chile and Argentina (because of political unrest in Africa), it's been a mad charge across all sorts of terrain from rocky river beds to soaring sand dunes. The quads, bikes, cars and trucks have all been exciting to watch, as usual. The sense of sportsmanship was alive and well with many riders and drivers stopping at the expense of their stage time to help others out. Early on for example, Luca Manca stopped and gave Marc Coma his rear wheel off his bike. Not on the same team, just because he knew Coma needed it and was angling for a win. Sadly, the very next day, Manca spiralled over the handlebars of his own bike and fractured his skull - that was the end of his rally, but that's what the Dakar is all about; extremes of hardship and victory in equal measures.
With one notable exception - again. American Robby Gordon was brimming with entitlement, assuming he deserved to win. He failed two years ago, he failed last year, and ultimately, he failed this year. He never stopped to help anyone out. He never had a good word to say about any of his competitors. And he always blamed his mechanics or his vehicle for each day's failure. The Dakar is about sportsmanship and a sense of community amongst all the competitors and the huge bivouac or caravan that supports the rally. For the third year in a row, Gordon treated the entire event with a level of contempt that makes me believe he should go home with his tail between his legs and never come back. He's an arrogant S.O.B who has no place in an international sporting event.

Schumacher returns to Formula 1

This is something most Formula 1 fans have been hoping would happen : Michael Schumacher is actually returning to F1. He's signed a one year deal with the new Mercedes factory team to race for them this year. Whilst this is good news in itself, the better side of this story is that we're finally going to get to see Lewis Hamilton race head-to-head with Schumacher - the greatest driver in F1 history. Hamilton is talented - very much so - but he's not had to face a true champion since he joined F1. Sure he's raced against Alonso and Raikkonen, but neither of those drivers really have their hearts in it. Alonso is just a crybaby - always complaining about something - and Raikkonen never really tries (which is why he's out of F1 this year).
So for one, I'm looking forwards to seeing how this pans out. It's a shame Schumacher isn't racing for Ferrari, but it will be interesting to see if he can help Mercedes - a newcomer - to get some decent victories in their first year.