Friday 28 September 2007

Friday Massacre

Sitting here on a Friday afternoon safely tucked up in nice dry room, while the weather is atrocious outside, it's been pouring with rain most of the afternoon and now it's hammering down.
I'm thinking of the people travelling home along the A13 from London to South East Essex as I did from 1995 till late last year.
Friday nights was always "carnage night", people rushing home on a Friday night seemed to forget basic road sense in the hurry to get home for the weekend.
Even if the weather was ok, there would usually be one "prang" on the way home, and if it was raining like today you could almost guarantee that their would be a major pile up.
I can't remember how many mangled and wrecked cars I've seen and a fair share of body bags and bloodied drivers and passengers, and the many motorcyclists who rarely survive the impact after being hit by a lorry.
Certainly a contributing factor in my decision to leave, as I felt I'd ridden my luck pretty well in not being involved in any accidents in my 6-7,000 journies to and from East London.
Maybe I am a good driver (I think I am) or maybe I was just very lucky?
I've seen people taken out by lorries crossing the central reservation, lorries demolished by other lorries while parked on the hard shoulder, scaffold boards and pallets flying off trucks straight into oncoming traffic, and just too many dead motorcyclists.

No comments: