Common Sense

I do seem to find myself becoming increasingly frustrated and angered whenever I drive anywhere in South Holland. The habits of drivers in this area are no longer limited to speeding and poor indicator use. A large number it seems do not know when it is appropriate to use their lights.
Take today for instance, most of the area around Spalding is blanketed by a thick layer of dense fog. Visibility is very poor as a consequence and on the faster roads, it is impossible to spot vehicles until they are just a hundred feet away or less. Why therefore are there so many drivers who choose to make themselves impossible to see by not using their headlights? I have this afternoon driven back from Spalding and I have honestly lost count of the number of cars without lights, front or rear. It's not just the older cars at fault, most of the offenders are the new larger cars such as Land Rovers and Mercedes. For some reason best known to them, they don't seem to need lights. Perhaps it is just too much effort for them. What would their excuse be I wonder when explaining to a police officer why they hit a car pulling out from a junction on a 60 mph road? It is just this type of driver and their plain ignorance and lack of basic common sense that puts other road users in danger and causes accidents. Headlight use should be mandatory and the penalty for failing to use them should be severe. There can be no excuse.

Continuing in a similar vein, the funeral is being held in Sutton Bridge this afternoon for the two young sisters tragically killed a couple of weeks ago on the A47 near Wisbech. Apparently the two young girls attended the Westmere School in Sutton Bridge - which is federated with my son's school. There is no indication of what caused the accident but it serves as a stark reminder of how dangerous our roads can be.