Ethics is an objective, metaphysical necessity
of man’s survival.

Police have confirmed that Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman is being investigated over her involvement in a car collision.

It follows claims that she allegedly left the scene of an accident without giving her insurance details – an offence carrying a possible six-month jail term.

The Mail on Sunday said the accident happened when the Leader of the House of Commons drove into a parked car while talking on her mobile phone.

But a spokeswoman for the MP for Camberwell and Peckham said Ms Harman strongly refuted the allegations.

via Harriet Harman Investigated By Police Over Car Crash In Dulwich | UK News | Sky News.

Via BBC NEWS | England | Wiltshire | Town switches off speed cameras.

Swindon has become the first English authority to scrap the use of its fixed speed cameras.

The Conservative-run borough council said it was reinvesting the £320,000 a year maintenance costs for the five cameras in road safety measures.

Let’s hope people reward their good faith by behaving responsibly.

This morning, I coached two drivers via ClubDriving. We began with a demonstration in my car, followed by about 90 minutes each in a Mazda RX-8 and a Honda Civic.

Both drivers were well-qualified — IAM senior observer and RoSPA Gold — and their drives were excellent.  All of us found details to improve in the endless struggle to be ever more safe, systematic and smooth.

The RX-8 is a superb car: taught, sporty and comfortable. The power from the rotary engine is exciting at all engine speeds, with a turbine-like delivery. It was a welcome change from the usual inline 4, but I’m glad I don’t have to meet its fuel bills!

An idea for another time:

What is Motorail?  Normal passenger trains dont carry cars or motorbikes, just passengers and sometimes bicycles.  However, special Motorail trains carry cars & motorbikes using car transporters attached to the back or front of the train.  These run on a limited number of holiday routes, usually on certain days of the week, usually summer-only.

via A guide to Motorail trains in Europe: Taking your car by train.

A worthwhile drive:

View Larger Map

There was some congestion and some of the roadworks were lengthy, but for the most part, the autobahn had moderate traffic and no speed limit. Where there was a limit away from hazards, it was 120 kph, which is still 75 mph.

On this trip, the roof box kept my speeds down to double digits, but cruising at 90 mph was a joy.  Even with the extra drag, my Saab was still more efficient over this high-speed journey than it is over mixed British routes.

There’s something magnificent about people driving responsibly at well over 100 mph without drama. However, it seems most autobahn drivers select around 90 mph (145 kph), a speed remarkably similar to that chosen by all those naughty drivers on UK motorways who choose to ignore the limit. I wonder if it would be the 85th percentile…

Since Austria, with its 130 kph motorway limit, was a joy too, one wonders what we are missing in the UK and why we are being asked to trundle around at 70 mph, a limit which anyone who drives on the motorway will know is both generally ignored and unenforced. Wouldn’t it be better to have a credible limit, greater compliance and consistent, fair enforcement?

And so it’s time for me to make my way through “Road Accidents, Prevent or Punish”: more later.

Apparently, the ease and convenience of the online car tax system means that DVLA in 2007 took 25% more online every day than that retail leviathan, Tesco. Apparently:

In July 2007, our Electronic Vehicle Licensing (EVL) service was awarded the Orange Best Use of Technology in Business Award (Wales & West Country) at the National Business Awards.

and:

By August 2007, our Electronic Vehicle Licensing service is estimated to have saved 13,500 tonnes of CO 2 from 48m miles of journeys to the Post Office or local offices to complete an over the counter transaction, this is equivalent to 217 journeys to the moon.

So far, so super. Read more

The Assault on Liberty continues:

Thousands more motorists will lose their licences under plans to give police the power to issue penalty points for careless driving without evidence being heard in court.

…

Unlike existing fixed-penalty offences, such as speeding and using a hand-held mobile phone at the wheel, the evidence for careless driving is much less clear-cut and is often a matter of the officer’s opinion.

At present police must take drivers to court if they want to prosecute them for careless driving. This is a time-consuming process involving large amounts of paperwork and officers rarely bother to prosecute, preferring to pull motorists over and give them a warning.

The Government believes that allowing police to issue fixed penalties for careless driving will make roads safer because motorists will know that they are more likely to be punished.

Via On-the-spot points for careless driving.

Of course people should take responsibility and improve their careless driving — which may be symptomatic of a larger problem of detachment from the concerns of others — but, again, it is time for a fundamental reappraisal of the nature of the relationship between citizen and state.
Read more

During a good session coaching advanced driving this Saturday, I was reminded how useful driving can be in developing a different approach to doing anything well.

We concentrated on personal state management, which ties in with Don Palmers’ Driving Handbook:

At the core level you manage your personal state – that is, your physical, mental and emotional state. Being in a fit state to drive is fundamental to effective driving. No amount of knowledge or skill will allow you to drive safely if, for example, you’re on the verge of falling asleep or distracted by being in a highly charged emotional state.

We usually spend most of our time discussing roadcraft, observation, planning and use of controls: it was a privilege to enable a different kind of transformation.

To drive well, eliminate hurry and distraction. Relax, focus and flow to be safe, systematic and smooth.

Two road safety initiatives struck me today:

Drivers will have to declare every 10 years whether they are medically able to get behind the wheel, according to proposals to be set out early in the new year.

via Drivers to have 10-year health checks under driver licence reforms and:

Automatic speed control devices should be installed in cars to force motorists to stick to speed limits, an influential pressure group recommended today.

via ‘Speed control’ devices should be installed in cars, say campaigners. The Times fails to point out that the proponent “pressure group”, the Motorists’ Forum, is part of the Government quango The Comission for Integrated Transport. 

Both proposals diminish personal responsibility. Both will be costly for someone. Both have voluntary elements which don’t sound like they will be voluntary for long. Neither is very convincing.
Read more