That was then. I now try to restrict myself to 77. Plus 10% plus 2. At that speed, I’m sucked into a maelstrom of other traffic. It’s far, far more dangerous than when the outer lane was the fast lane, the middle the overtaking lane and the inner for caravans and lorries. Fastest: 120 on motorway abroad. Trouble is that at that speed, you only need someone not to see you coming and pull out in front of you. Haven’t done that again. Fastest I’ve been overtaken? Motorcyclists at well over the ton on roads I wouldn’t do 60 on. I worked with a bunch who had fast bikes: did track days etc. Their badge of honour was to “get the knee down” ie lean the bike over so far, the knee pad on their leathers scraped the tarmac. Is that why bikers make up the biggest slug of UK fatalities? Yes but as they don’t have front number plates they are invisible to speed cameras.
When I was an apprentice doing day release at S E London Tech....two of our lot didn't turn up one day.....we found out the next day that they had been racing each other down the Sidcup By-Pass.....at the end of a long straight was a right turn....and this was a spot called the Dutch House (A Pub)....the one who brakes first is chicken....they literally diced themselves by going through the metal railings in front of the pub.....speed kills...and both of them died aged 19yrs. My speed has been limited to a 1600S Beetle.....in the 60 plus years I've been driving...most of my cars have been 1400 cc max.....as for motorways Mrs Plym doesn't like speed over 40mph....so we stay off them..
Well racing (and all aggression on the road) is just plain stupidity, which is what killed, not speed as such. Indeed, as I tell my occasional chauffeuse, what causes accidents is doing something different. Do what the herd do and you're predictable and therefore safe.
‘Ello ‘Ello! What’s going on here then? Police hold outdoor meetings to boost visibility https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq55xlvwv98o Who dreamt up this woke nonsense? Can the public just walk up and join in? How do we know they aren’t just talking about last night’s footie? Who’s taking the minutes standing up? Where are the tea and biscuits?
The days of PC 49. George Dixon...."Evnin all"....the beat bobby with all his contacts on the streets......todays idea of policing would turn Jack Warner in his grave. It takes me back to a long gone era........I associate Jack Warner with Tommy Handley and his "It's that man again" radio programme ....(ITMA)....comedy on the "wireless" during those long dark days of war in the 1940's. keeping peoples "pepper" up....It reminds me as a 9/10 year old of seeing my mum cry for the first time....when it was announced in 1949 that he had died suddenly. The days when you could get a clip behind the ear from a bobby when you where caught "scrumping".....
