:: Driving me Crazy... ::

:: Saturday, October 05, 2002 ::

The things you see in car parks...

Did you know that the Nissan 200SX is too wide to fit into a single space in my local supermarket? The driver apparently thought so- either that or he was being extra-courteous and making sure he didn't hit my car when he opened the doors. I presume that's why he put the centre line of the car directly over one of the lines marking a space. With that kind of precision it's difficult to believe that he couldn't have made it into the space if he'd wanted to.

There was also one very lucky lady who was trying to park her Micra, struggling to avoid the steel pipes marking the place where trolleys are kept and the car on her left. I'm sure she would have had a much easier time had she not been using one hand to hold a mobile phone. I kept waiting for the tortured scream of bending metal but I think she got away with it.

I'm going back to Donington again tomorrow, for the FIA GT championship. We'll see how different the traffic is, and I'll let you know probably tomorrow evening. Shouldn't be as bad- this is not the last round of a televised season, and we're not expecting great weather.
:: Gary 5.10.02 [+] ::
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Sorry, I know I've not been as dedicated as I should have been. Let me bring you up to speed on what's been happening on the roads around me.

I've almost had one of those accidents where you assume the car ahead of you will go onto the roundabout so you try and follow it, only to realise that it's not moving. Thankfully I saw and reacted in time so no contact. I've also pulled onto the same roundabout, following a car that did go onto it when really I should have stayed where I was and waited for a better gap. I got away with that too, but through luck rather than judgement.

Donington Park last Sunday for the BTCC final round. A really good day out with some mates I'd not seen for a few weeks (you know who you are!) that was utterly spoiled by the farce when we tried to leave the circuit. I was parked outside the circuit, just by the Dunlop Bridge ticket office. At 6:20 I started the car, turned 180 degrees, and joined the traffic queue heading for the exit. At 8:30, we actually got out through the gate. In total, I'd travelled about 400 yards in that time. Never have I seen such a shameful display of blind self-interest, complete territorial aggression and wilful stupidity. Do you think it was a factor that most of the drivers were male, and had been watching some highly competitive motorsport? Cars in the queue were about half an inch apart, and where two streams tried to meet that gap got smaller, in case someone else got in. People started realising that the queue wasn't going anywhere, so they formed a different one at the exit by cutting straight across the car park. Eventually there were about twelve streams of trafic all trying to merge into a single lane, about 20 feet from the exit... Those 20 feet were some of the most nerve-wracking of my driving career. I hardly dared breathe, I had two cars in front of me, side by side trying to get through a gap only wide enough for one of them, and two more to my left trying to beat each other into the space where I was sitting. All this with another car on my right and two more behind me. Nobody in any stream was prepared to let anyone else in, and nobody had anywhere to go. There was absolutely no sign of a Donington official- at least no sign that I could see. In the end, someone was a little slow to react and I had to just hit the gas and hope that nobody else did the same. If you know me, you know how much that car means to me and just how nervous I would have been with that maneuver. This time I was lucky. That got me into a position where I was safe and was able to let in a transit towing a trailer. Once the trailer passed me I realised what was on the back of it- only Yvan Muller's Astra...

This evening I was very nearly smeared across the central reservation on the A50. A silver VW saloon came off the slip road to join the A50, and continued in a graceful curve straight to the outside lane. Unfortunately, I was in the spot where the curve ended and the lady wanted to put the VW. When I saw that she was alongside me and still crossing into the outside lane I hit the horn. No effect, no notice. I had to emergency-brake to avoid being pushed into the barrier, and she still nearly took the nose off the car. I genuinely don't think the driver realised how close she came to a very serious accident, or even noticed that I was there. I'm willing to bet that even if she read this she wouldn't realise I was writing about her, and doesn't even know there was an incident. That kind of negligence with a lethal weapon scares me. She gave absolutely no indication that she'd seen me, let alone an apology, even after she'd made it to the outside lane. I'd publish her registration if I'd had the presence of mind to read it- that's how serious I think the moment was. I hate incidents like that, because I'm completely powerless. I was furious, and frustrated. I wanted to chase her down, stop her, and ask at what point she'd realised she was about to collide with my car (probable answer: "Oh- was I?"). But of course, you can't do that. Frankly, if I'd managed to get in front of her and brake sharply I think she'd have driven straight through my car. The VW continued serenely on at about 95mph by my best guess. Never a police car around when you need one, but always when you make a mistake yourself...
:: Gary 30.9.02 [+] ::
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