It's time for someone else to have a say on my opinion pieces as published in the last couple of months. So I thought you might like to read a most enjoyable email from a regular reader, Tony Stanton of Little Grove, the most southerly town in Western Australia, commenting on a pair of recent road-safety pieces I've penned. He really does have a great feel for the important factors in road safety. And also tells a funny little tale that may sound almost trivial, but which illustrates a major factor in staying alive and happy on our roads.
Hi Ewan,
I have read with interest your columns “Caring is Sharing Behind the Wheel” and “Dobbing in Stupid Drivers”.
In the “Caring” the last few sentences really sum up things – if you are happy you will certainly drive with more consideration for others. A couple of years ago in the supermarket car park, I was looking for a spot when I noticed a 50 something woman coming thru’ a couple of rows of parked cars.
She had obviously forgotten where her car was as she was looking all round and over the tops of cars as she pushed her trolley. I could see she was going to come out onto the car park road right in front of me so I stopped. The trolley came out with her still looking around and suddenly she saw my car.
Her reaction was to stop and then turn back in panic. I stuck my head out the window and said “Don’t worry, I never run over the good looking ones”. Her reaction was to stop and wave saying “Thank you, that was a wonderful compliment, I haven’t felt so good for ages”. She left for her parking spot which she had spotted and I drove away feeling happy that I had given someone a “lift” for the day. I certainly felt the world was relaxed and so was I.
With the “Dobbers” I don’t think it is a good idea just to have a general driving misdemeanour “dob in” line. As you say, people with grudges, or even those mistaken on the spur of the moment can cause innocent drivers unnecessary trouble. Our local police encourage everyone to “dob” in “hoons” burning rubber and cutting up the bitumen. This is reasonable as the marks are there to see even if the “hoons” have left and a car number means the marks can be matched with the car tread.
I have “dobbed in” a car containing four people that was weaving all over a back road that leads out of town. It wasn’t speeding (about 40-50 km/h) but the people all looked the worse for wear and they were a danger to others who were travelling legitimately at 90 km/h. A patrol car passed me about five minutes later and I read in the paper the car had been stopped and the driver charged with drink driving. This meant the police caught the people red handed, which, I believe is legitimate.
So I say, dob them in if the police can catch them but don’t have a general misdemeanour “hot line” for the motoring public.
Regards
Tony
You too can have a say on this or any other thoughts, my email address is:
ewan@marque.com.au
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