We always welcome a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below. This by David Moorse. Ed
When is it apparently OK to drive on the wrong side of the road and accelerate towards oncoming traffic?
Although my recollection of the highway code says differently, if a recent evening’s little trip to drop off a friend’s car for its MOT and service is anything to go by, there are two situations when it appears to be appropriate driving procedure on the Isle of Wight.
Firstly, in Whitwell at about 5:15pm, a lady cheerfully drove directly at my car with a closing speed of around 50mph, completely oblivious that she made me do an emergency stop as she was clearly in deep conversation on her mobile phone – she was so close I could clearly see the colour of its cover, not quite sure if I got the serial number right or not!
Lack of understanding when overtaking cyclists
Secondly, and this happened twice on my return journey between Godshill and Whiteley bank at around 5:50 (I was now cycling after dropping off the car at Niton Undercliff).
It appears that it is OK to drive on the wrong side of the road and accelerate towards oncoming traffic, making them swerve or brake severely if you are overtaking a bicycle!
On the first occasion I was nearly a witness to a head-on collision (closing speed in excess of 60mph), then, on a blind corner, a 4×4 revved past me and cut in sharply to avoid the on-coming double-decker bus which was clearly too small for the 4×4 driver to notice – it was only as it was cutting in that I realised that it wasn’t just a 4×4, but it was towing a long trailer (approx 5m) carrying around four kayaks. I had to leave the road to avoid becoming road-kill.
The huge amount of time that the driver saved by overtaking me was clearly demonstrated as I pulled up by him at the traffic queue at the Whiteley bank roundabout, 200yards further on – He saved absolutely ZERO seconds, and nearly killed me into the bargain.
Stronger penalties
Perhaps, instead of offering a jolly little road safety awareness seminar for such driving offences, if an automatic six month ban was standard, perhaps we might pay a little more attention to the highway code and drive more safely.
Image: westmidlandspolice under CC BY 2.0
