Dangerous and hazardous drives

English: Transpennine Trail at Gateacre. This long-distance cycle path runs from Southport on the Irish Sea to the North Sea coast. It is using the old railway line at this point which ran from Southport through the suburbs of Liverpool to Halewood to join the main Liverpool-Manchester line. Nearby is a junction which will take the cyclist to the Pier Head. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I live on the west coast on the shores of the Irish Sea in a town called Southport. It is about twenty miles north as the crow flies of the city in which I was born and raised, Liverpool. I can therefore only travel north, south or east by road or rail if I wish to go elsewhere on land and even if I have to fly I still have to get to one of the airports initially. Going north or south is no problem as far as driving is concerned and going eastward is too providing it isn’t that early in the morning when the sun is rising during the colder months. Most of my journeys eastward are in connection with my work and so I am often out as the sun is just above the horizon. That’s fine if there are clouds in the sky but when the day is forecast to have cloud-free skies it can be a nightmare to drive eastward. Similarly, though not often as bad is driving back westward to home near sunset. On Friday morning I had one such job that took me eastward between eight-thirty and nine o’clock and the sun was pretty much in my face the whole journey. The road I took was across country and was the most direct route to take. I had anticipated the need for sunglasses and was wearing a pair. I also had the visor down but the sun shone beneath it and at times I had to stretch my neck to keep the sun from my eyes. Traffic coming in the opposite direction was moving at a fast pace as the sun was behind them and along the country roads that can be a little unnerving. There are always idiots on the road and I had one behind me for a mile or two. It was a female driver who seemingly was late for an appointment or for work and wasn’t aware of the danger of driving fast into the brilliant sunshine. I kept my speed at a sensible level and was in no hurry to kill myself in an avoidable accident. I let her sail past when she had the opportunity. It is sheer madness taking unnecessary risks. On the way back home later I saw the remnants of an accident whereby a small car had apparently run into the side of a parked pick-up truck and severely damaged the car’s near side bodywork. It may have happened because the driver was momentarily blinded by the sun whilst driving too fast for the conditions. We all know that driving in the snow, on ice or in heavy rain is thwart with danger but forget that driving in the bright sunshine can be too. Along the route to the job lies a humped-back bridge which more or less points east-west. It is only wide enough to take traffic in one direction at a time so one has to approach it slowly to be able to see if there is any oncoming traffic. For car drivers it is more difficult but for larger vehicles not so. My vehicle is taller than the average car but smaller in height than other vans and trucks so my seeing capability still requires caution. As I approached the bridge a handful of vehicles came speeding over it from out of the sun. Finally I was able to continue but as I reached the brow I was driving blind. I couldn’t see the walls either side and had to creep across to the probable annoyance of the driver of the vehicle behind me. It didn’t matter, I simply had to drive at a snail’s pace but once over the bridge it wasn’t too bad, though the sun was still in my face. Surprisingly the whole journey of about ten miles or thereabout didn’t take much longer than normal. More haste, less speed eh? The journey homeward was very pleasant and it promised to be sunny and dry all day long. It might have been nicer to cycle there and back if it were possible in my job but the road would be far more hazardous to a cyclist given that some drivers can’t see the dangers. Taking a cycle route as in the picture wasn’t possible anyway as there aren’t any en-route.

Shirley Anne