A poor attempt at a grown up rant..........
Having spent then last twentyseventysomething months glaring at my calendar I have noticed that my time is approaching. By ‘my time’ I mean the day my credit card sized slither of DVLA issued pink plastic lands on my doormat.
Foolishly I managed to rid myself of my much loved driving licence sometime ago. The details of the incident are sketchy at best, due to the obscene amounts of a cheap Polish liquid who someone had the bare faced cheek to call Vodka involved. I do remember my nice big BMW 5 series being intimate with a VW Passat, and I also remember both vehicles being a lot smaller than they were 10 minutes prior. And in a lot more pieces.
After months of court and other such nonsense it was all over, big fine and 18 month ban. Joy.
So now I’m in shock. Eighteen months ago, eighteen months ahead seemed a bloody long way into the future. But now it’s knocking on my door shouting ‘yoo hoo!’ It’s shocking how fast the time has gone. Back on that December day when three rather moody looking magistrates took my plastic away, I was distraught. My petrol driven world came crashing down around me. It was like having my legs chopped off. To all intents and purposes my identity had been robbed of the thing that makes me, me.
I learnt my lesson, make no mistake. But I’m not a person who’s on first name terms with his local policemen. I am, bar that one incident, a law-abiding member of the community. My crime wasn’t heinous. All the vehicles were insured and no one was hurt, just my pride and credibility. I will never step into my vehicle if any alcohol has ever stepped into me. Ever.
Now that’s me, someone so upset and ashamed of this that I’m officially never going to even risk risking it in the future. I’ve missed my licence like a family member who has gone travelling to far-flung corners of the globe. But what about the others? The ones who, as I type, are driving without authority or permission? I was given an extremely lenient conviction, which I’m infinitely thankful for. So surely this should work both ways. If a person has a history of disregarding the law they should be punished accordingly. Not given a metaphorical slap on the wrist. The system doesn’t work, I’ve heard of too many how don’t care and carry on regardless.
I don’t know what the ideal solution would be, but I know it needs to be looked at. I have learned my lesson, truly. But why should the few like me have to go through the same ropes the others ignore?
Answers on a postcard.
Foolishly I managed to rid myself of my much loved driving licence sometime ago. The details of the incident are sketchy at best, due to the obscene amounts of a cheap Polish liquid who someone had the bare faced cheek to call Vodka involved. I do remember my nice big BMW 5 series being intimate with a VW Passat, and I also remember both vehicles being a lot smaller than they were 10 minutes prior. And in a lot more pieces.
After months of court and other such nonsense it was all over, big fine and 18 month ban. Joy.
So now I’m in shock. Eighteen months ago, eighteen months ahead seemed a bloody long way into the future. But now it’s knocking on my door shouting ‘yoo hoo!’ It’s shocking how fast the time has gone. Back on that December day when three rather moody looking magistrates took my plastic away, I was distraught. My petrol driven world came crashing down around me. It was like having my legs chopped off. To all intents and purposes my identity had been robbed of the thing that makes me, me.
I learnt my lesson, make no mistake. But I’m not a person who’s on first name terms with his local policemen. I am, bar that one incident, a law-abiding member of the community. My crime wasn’t heinous. All the vehicles were insured and no one was hurt, just my pride and credibility. I will never step into my vehicle if any alcohol has ever stepped into me. Ever.
Now that’s me, someone so upset and ashamed of this that I’m officially never going to even risk risking it in the future. I’ve missed my licence like a family member who has gone travelling to far-flung corners of the globe. But what about the others? The ones who, as I type, are driving without authority or permission? I was given an extremely lenient conviction, which I’m infinitely thankful for. So surely this should work both ways. If a person has a history of disregarding the law they should be punished accordingly. Not given a metaphorical slap on the wrist. The system doesn’t work, I’ve heard of too many how don’t care and carry on regardless.
I don’t know what the ideal solution would be, but I know it needs to be looked at. I have learned my lesson, truly. But why should the few like me have to go through the same ropes the others ignore?
Answers on a postcard.
posted by Chris at 4:20 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home