Motoristical Maniasis
Very very very quiet, cool (as in temperature 22 degrees cool, not as in funky) day, spent reading The Amber Spyglass, and pootling on here. Duch is back from the States, but I'm still not sure if I've murdered all the greenery she ever planted, yet. I'm quite nervous about ringing her to find out....
I've updated lots of the blog entries from the last week or so with incriminating pictures of my friends, but I'm quite undecided about whether to use pseudonyms for them in future, or to continue with a mixture of real and made-up names. I suppose if they complain I should make it up - no, but the DH argued that it was an invasion of privacy years ago, so I guess I should make all names up. Arrrghhhh, that means I now have to be responsible for the names I make up - I most definitely have names ready for eveybody, but not names they would like....
Someone pointed out this truly idiotic road scheme to me on a dyke messageboard, today: I know I'm guilty of having become the world's most driver-centric bigot, in the two years since I passed my tests, but this thing seems dangerous.
Say you were in an accident, and the driver of the car that hit you had no m.o.t., then his/her car wouldn't have had this chip installed, and you'd be stuffed on your insurance (no joke, I wrote my car off in a crash in June, and my insurance now costs me #1300 per year).
The whole scheme sounds dreadful - not for the fact that it stops people speeding or driving in bus lanes (it won't, because the majority of people will simply not get an m.o.t., or get a dodgy one done, making our roads afar more dangerous place to be. Enough people don't pay road tax or dodge their m.o.t. as it is), but because of the offset invasion of our civil rights. I don't agree with i.d. cards, and I don't agree with the government tracking where and when I drive every day. It's simply too intrusive. (heck, I don't even have supermarkety loyalty cards.)
The people who are caught and fined will be a specific group of drivers - the law abiding group. Punitive rulings like this one simply ensure that this group becomes yet smaller, and that dangerous driving on our roads becomes ever more likely - even encouraged - and ever more dangerous.
If you're a cyclist or a pedestrian, your life will become yet more at risk, as in this scheme the government has created advantages to driving unsafe illegal vehicles, and simultaneously lowered the penalties for speeding, because these cars will be less likely to be caught.
Gah...simmer! And.... breathe.
Finally, if you get a second, there are three new blogs on the blogroll < == over there. Riverbend's blog, in particular, is so well written, it hurts. Do have a look.
Updated: Wednesday, 27 August 2003 11:48 PM BST
Post Comment | View Comments (8) | Permalink | Share This Post