Category - News

It’s interesting how certain individuals, groups, and organisations can dig the most bizarre meanings out of simple and honest facts if it fits in with their warped agendas.

I saw this article in the newsfeeds from This is Money, about what they call “pay as you drive” insurance. They refer specifically to the AA’s Drivesafe Box, which I commented on recently, pointing out that everyone who gets one starts off on 50 points, and this goes up or down depending on how fast you go, how sharply you turn corners, and so on.

They then add:

But drivers living in areas where there are many winding roads — such as the countryside — will have to work harder to keep a good score, as insurers view these areas as more risky.

That is total speculation. Technology is a lot smarter than many journalists – something many journalists appear to be blissfully unaware of.

But it isn’t from This is Money’s mouth that this rubbish originates. It is the Countryside Alliance [broken link] – that group “representing the countryside” – which advocates, among other things, the legalisation of tearing foxes apart with hounds for the perverted pleasures of country types, shooting anything that moves, using whippets to tear rabbits apart “to control them”, the defence of its members who illegally kill Hen Harriers (a bird of prey) because the Harrier kills Grouse (which they farm to shoot), and so on.

One can only guess at their take on Hare Coursing and Badger Baiting to “control” the populations of those particular animals.

I also seem to remember that they took up graffiti – painting slogans across roads and stuff – when the original fox-hunting ban was being pushed through. They certainly stuck a huge number of their flyers up illegally on traffic signs (you still see some of them around). And they are not particularly vocal about the blatant violation of that law by hunts around the country whose members still get their sexual kicks out of chasing and killing foxes.

So, on this current matter, they say that it is unfair to penalise people for living in rural areas!

…we are also concerned that rural roads can be tricky to drive, so this device should recognise and not penalise rural drivers unfairly.

It doesn’t. It won’t. It penalises people for driving like pillocks – you could spend 100% of your time on rural roads and still get a good rating out of the thing, even without having to change anything.

It seems like these village idiots have got it into their heads that the AA’s device, which monitors how you turn corners (among other things), actually penalises you for going round them. What it does is give you a black mark if you try and go round them on two wheels!

Now, if the Countryside Alliance’s members are wont to drive that badly – speeding and such like (which of course, we all know they aren’t) – then they deserve to pay higher insurance. But they aren’t going to get penalised just for driving on country roads or going round corners. And while we’re on the subject, I don’t recall the Countryside Alliance throwing a hissy fit over the Co-op’s Smartbox, which uses the same technology.

Mind you, assuming they have been quoted in context, the AA hasn’t helped itself – the article doesn’t quote them directly, but says that the AA “concedes rural dwellers could pay more.” I suspect there was much more to that in the interview.

These devices are aimed at boy racers. Just because they might also happen to be young farmers doesn’t make them immune to the effects of juvenile testosterone.

This article from The Foreigner – an English language Norwegian news site – says that statistics suggest drivers from outside Norway are involved in more accidents than “domestic-born” ones.

This is the first Statement of the Blindingly Obvious I’ve seen this year. The second isn’t far behind…

A local Norwegian driving instructor of Pakistani origin says he isn’t surprised, and explains that people who come to Norway bring a completely different driving culture with them.

Apparently, the statistics show that male and female drivers from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia are more likely to have accidents in Norway.

The first thing I’d point out is that the problem isn’t confined to Norway. It happens in every country where non-native drivers mix it with the locals. The second thing is that it isn’t just Asians and Africans – British drivers unfamiliar with driving on the right are a big risk wherever they go.

In Nottingham, several years ago there was a large Irish contingent, and their standard of driving was noticeably, um… different. At the moment Nottingham has a lot of Polish and other eastern European drivers, and they can be very aggressive (especially the younger ones). Older Asian drivers – particularly around Hyson Green – are also very suspect.

I’ve been to Pakistan and I know what they drive like. My Indian pupils tell me it is the same in India. The older drivers bring that style over here, and will happily park on double yellow lines outside the Asian food stores to go inside and shop.

Hyson Green has the additional problem that many Asian taxi drivers use it as a meeting (and eating) point. As a result, they will think nothing of carrying out standard taxi manoeuvres in gridlocked traffic (i.e. U-turns, turns in the road, etc.) 5 metres away from traffic lights).

In this respect, they’re only slightly worse than native British women in 4x4s picking up their kids from school.

Going back to the article, what is amusing is that they have a photo of a clearly-British car with L-plates gaffer-taped on to it.

It just goes to show that no one is perfect – or above the law (well, maybe just a little to the side of it). This story details how a police officer in Scotland was driving to an incident involving a diesel spill – which doesn’t appear to have been an emergency from the way the wording goes (an earlier story says it was) – at speeds of up to 149mph!

The officer, Jacob Marshall, didn’t slow down as he passed a motorway slip road, and another driver pulled out to allow other traffic to merge. Marshall clipped the other driver (the earlier story says he “collided with” the other driver).

The BBC article doesn’t say what happened to the other driver (nor does the earlier story).

The judge expressed surprise that Marshall didn’t slow down “even a bit” as he approached the junction.

It’s worth pointing out that if Marshall was doing 149mph at the point where he hit the other car (the report suggests it was at least 120mph), and assuming the other car was driving at the speed limit of 70mph (he was probably going slower), then the police car would have closed in on the other car at 79mph! It’s not exactly something you’d expect, or be able to plan for if you were a normal member of the driving public.

Marshall was found guilty of the lesser charge of careless driving (down from dangerous driving, with which he was initially charged). Sentencing has been put off to allow the defence to put forward “mitigating arguments”.

It puts me in mind of the argument the advanced motoring group members like to put forward – about how they’re better drivers than anyone else (Police drivers are advanced drivers, of course).

They’re not. They’re human, like everyone else.

And even if they weren’t, all those thousands of other drivers are.

National Express West Midlands took on 420 drivers last year, out of 4,500 applicants. It has a further 170 vacancies – and yet it can’t fill them, even though there are so many people looking for work. Why?

It has the admirable recruitment criterion that applicants must not have ANY points on their licences.

According to the story, the industry “standard” (I think they used that word to try and suggest it is National Express who is in the wrong) is 3 points for those seeking to become drivers.

National Express throws out the application without further ado if the applicant has ANY points. It also requires candidates to take literacy and numeracy tests.

National Express West Midlands spokesman Jack Kelly said: “We are committed to developing opportunities for people in the West Midlands through Jobcentre Plus.

“As well as having a rigorous test people have to have a clean driving licence.”

Good for them. Let’s hope they aren’t forced to back down – the article also cites the case of London bus company, Abellio, who went to Poland to find drivers because they couldn’t get suitable applicants “among Britain’s 2.5 million unemployed” (again, implying that Abellio is at fault).

This is what happens when you dumb down education and don’t punish people who break the law. Eventually, being stupid becomes commonplace. I guess we’re seeing that now.

But I must confess I am seeing National Express in a much more positive light knowing that they have such high recruitment standards.