There’s a running joke between my friends and I that every time we cross the border into Scotland from England we are met with a good dose of some troubling weather. I made a visit to a relative near Cockburnspath (don’t laugh) and the trip there was no exception. There was some light rain, but nothing really too troubling. Of some concern was the ‘heavy showers expected’ road information sign.
After a wonderful day visiting the beach and a stunning area of natural beauty (if you’ve never been to Scotland then you’re genuinely missing out), a lovely pub meal was in order prior to a return home. Amazingly, we’d had a bout of glorious sunshine which just topped everything off. About ten minutes before the requisite goodbyes were said however, the heavens opened. I’m not just talking a little downpour either, this was serious, serious rain. The drops were bouncing back up off the pavement and a distinctly ominous murk had descended. Nonetheless, a drive had to be undertaken.
So, there we were in the dark, in a real downpour, on roads I was unfamiliar with, with little petrol and a fog bank settling. It was with some trepidation I can assure you that we did set off. My initial thoughts were ‘this isn’t too bad’, though this quickly changed. There was standing water on a number of fast moving roads and the fog bank grew ever denser. This made a good argument for switching on the fog lights, which I did.
I had a ‘lead car’ so to speak that I was following – a friend of mine was ensuring I made it to the nearby petrol station before I ran out of fuel or got lost. Unfortunately, his brand new super-safe and fairly rapid Volkswagen Polo meant that he was doing speeds that I decided were probably not as safe as I’d like in my own motor. When we hit the garage, fuel was obtained and even the rain started to ease.
So what did I learn from the drive? Well, it further emphasized the limitations and capabilities of both my car and myself. It also made a mockery of those who always say “Speed doesn’t cause accidents”. In those circumstances, excessive speed quite clearly could have caused a major disaster, given the extremely poor driving conditions. Lastly, it also highlighted just how many idiots there are on the road. A couple of times there were cars almost bumper to bumper with me. I also witnessed a car almost fly off the road due to aquaplaning.
Moral of the story? The age old adage is appropriate here I think – you don’t drive to the speed limit, you drive to the conditions.
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