{"id":754,"date":"2008-10-29T13:30:38","date_gmt":"2008-10-29T13:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/?p=754"},"modified":"2012-05-03T18:04:23","modified_gmt":"2012-05-03T17:04:23","slug":"i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brennigjones.com\/blog\/?p=754","title":{"rendered":"I wandered lonely as a cloud"},"content":{"rendered":"

07.07<\/strong>
\nI gaze out of the window at the frost-covered Oxfordshire countryside. The sunrise is breaking over the horizon, blindingly low, painfully bright. The flock of sheep move slowly around their field occasionally breaking their pecking at the frozen grass to shift to a new location and try again.<\/p>\n

In the other neighbouring field a mixed herd of Guernseys and Jerseys have just been turned out to pasture, a couple of the younger bovines are gambolling friskily around in the permafrost; perhaps it is their first winter?<\/p>\n

I look downwards towards the tarmac at the huge quantity of shards of broken ice that has fallen off the roofs(1) during the night and early morning.<\/p>\n

It’s warmer now, than when I first got up; a balmy minus 12c; considerably higher than the minus 16c that frostily greeted me when I tried to get in to the car when I left the house.<\/p>\n

Tried to get in to the car.<\/p>\n

All of the bolts in the car door locks were frozen, but even with those freed the doors refused to budge; the four doors had been welded tight to the car body by the cold. I broke the handles of two of the car doors in my attempt to get in; a combination of over-playing my own strength and the locks made fragile by the deep cold.<\/p>\n

Bugger. That’s an additional future expense, getting those repaired!<\/p>\n

But on the bright side… despite the sub-zero temperatures outside and the attendant hazards of driving in extreme cold I made it to the Oxford park and ride on time. And the coach arrived on time. And left on time.<\/p>\n

But sadly, we won’t be arriving in London village on time. Won’t be arriving in London village on time because there has been a massive pile-up on the motorway, a pile-up of road-closing proportions.<\/p>\n

08.45<\/strong>
\nAt least I am inside – in the coach – I have food to eat (they provide breakfast and there’s a good supply onboard) and I have many cartons of orange-juice to drink (part of the breakfast service that the coach offers). And I have a toilet onboard too, should I need it. And WiFi. And 13amp sockets. So I’m not doing too badly really.<\/p>\n

When I remove my earbuds I can hear the driver’s two-way radio, the other coach drivers are feeding their intelligence in to the mix. I have heard reports of fourteen pile-ups on the southbound M40 between Oxford and London in the last hour alone. And six pile-ups on the northbound M40.<\/p>\n

Yes friends, the motorway is shut in both directions.<\/p>\n

Rhetorical questions occur, all along the lines of why is it that many motorists drive their cars in adverse weather conditions as if the situation on the roads were ‘normal’ (whatever ‘normal’ is)? Do they feel impervious to all pain? Do they think that, as they sit in their speeding tin cans, that the comfort of their favourite armchair magically bestows upon them some kind of invulnerability?<\/p>\n

Or perhaps they have such an inflated self-belief in their own driving abilities that the immutable laws of physics and inevitability (icy roads, speeding tin cans, massively lengthened breaking conditions, not enough distance between vehicles) don’t apply to them?<\/p>\n

Perhaps we need to retrain drivers and remove a fundamental tenet of the British driving test?<\/p>\n

I believe it is time for us to remove from the mindset of the motorist the whole paradigm of ‘the speed limit’. Yes that’s right. Do away with it entirely. Why? Because the thing that we call ‘the speed limit’ encourages people to believe they have an absolute right to drive in a preordained manner and that as long as they drive within the rules nothing is going to happen to them.<\/p>\n

Consequently, far too many people believe that if the law says they can drive on that piece of road at 70mph, then drive at 70mph on that piece of road is what they’re going to do \u00e2\u20ac\u201c regardless of the constantly changing conditions.<\/p>\n

09.55<\/strong>
\nThe M40, this morning – as are many other roads in the UK I’m sure – is testimony to that way of thinking being wrong, completely utterly and totally wrong.<\/p>\n

Maybe we should introduce a whole new concept; ‘the safety limit’ or perhaps ‘acceptable driving standards’? Perhaps it’s time to introduce and emphasise the concept of ‘the safety limit’ or ‘acceptability in driving’ in every single driver instruction session, and make prevalent use of the concept of ‘the safety limit’ or ‘acceptable driving standards’ in the driving test itself?<\/p>\n

10.47<\/strong>
\nIt’s very pretty out there. But we’re all bored and restless now. We’ve been on the coach since 06.30 and although we’re warm, comfortable and have access to food, drink and a toilet, it really is a waste of time for us \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and the tens of thousands of other motorway travellers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to be trapped here.<\/p>\n

I’ve dealt with several telephone calls to do with work matters and pinged off a few emails to get things rolling in various areas. The BBC are carrying the story as a front-page item<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My sympathies go out to the family of the deceased but my empathy does not allow me to shy away from the issue here. If the driver was operating his vehicle within acceptable levels for the conditions<\/strong> (and also, assuming the driver was fit and well), this tragic accident need not have happened. It’s as simple as that. I’m sorry if I appear harsh, but it’s the truth. It isn’t cars or lorries or buses that cause accidents, it’s the drivers operating the machines with less than the complete amount of care and responsibility.<\/p>\n

Some people might say in a faux sneering way ‘Oh, I’m sorry you were inconvenienced. But someone died you know?’. Yes I do know. And in making that statement they’ve made my point. Because the truth is… no-one had to die on the M40 this morning.<\/p>\n

If the speed limit is 70mph but the conditions are less than perfect, drive at 50mph; it really is as simple as that. But we don’t, do we? And that’s how accidents happen, isn’t it? The answer to both of those questions is obviously ‘yes’.<\/p>\n

11.05<\/strong>
\nThe driver is in agreement with the majority of the passengers. As soon as the coach has inched its way off the motorway at the next junction, instead of jamming for space on the ‘B’ and then the ‘A’ road along with all of the other traffic, she’s going to turn around and head back up the motorway to Oxford.<\/p>\n

Eminently sensible!<\/p>\n

But I’m going to write an email to the bus company in support of the driver, just in case her arse needs covering with regard to this decision. Yes, this is the right course of action, but someone somewhere might complain, supporting the driver in this decision costs nothing and it could ease any grief she gets when she’s back at HQ.<\/p>\n

11.15<\/strong>
\nTwo of the passengers have elected to get off the coach when we’re in the process of turning on to the northbound carriageway and get a taxi to Princes Risborough where they’ll catch a train to Marylebone. It’s an interesting idea. Except all of the southbound motorway traffic is also going in the direction of Princes Risborough. Given the enormous volume of the not-moving-on-the-‘B’-road traffic it sounds like an expensive way of passing time – sitting in a taxi not going anywhere watching the numbers clock up on the meter.<\/p>\n

But we’ve chatted, broken down a few social barriers that we Brits are so good at erecting between ourselves, passed the time in conversation. So it hasn’t been a total waste of time. No, not a total waste of time.<\/p>\n

B.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

(1) Roofs of passing motor vehicles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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