An inconvenient tradition...
A FEW years ago I wrote to the Press speculating over the purpose of the mysterious strips of raised tarmac alongside some of our roads. Only recently I heard a rumour that these 'pavements' were originally a sort of primitive health and safety device, used by people to walk alongside passing traffic without fear of being horribly maimed. As these so-called pavements clearly have no relevance now, I was sceptical of this theory. I've been driving on them for as long as I can remember and no one, apart from the elderly lady whom I forced to dive into a hedge last week, has so much as batted an eyelid. But then, after some Googling, I found that in some places in the world (i.e. everywhere that isn't Guernsey) they continue to pay a charming reverence to this quaint old tradition and reserve the use of their public footpaths exclusively for pedestrians.
The other day I was sharing my findings at work when a colleague remarked that high-speed pavement surfing has now become so prevalent in Guernsey that many drivers seem to have forgotten what these pavements are supposed to be for.
He said that he no longer feels safe walking anywhere and is too scared to allow his children to walk to school in the morning. He said he wished 'they' would take the problem more seriously and take stronger action to dissuade people from driving in this dangerous way. He then went on to say that we drivers need to think about what we are doing, take more care and, if necessary, slow down instead of speeding along pavements.
Well, I could hardly believe my ears. Slow down?
What my simple friend failed to appreciate is just how tremendously inconvenient this would be. I am an important person, with important things to do and I need get to the next queue of stationary traffic as quickly possible to reflect upon this fact.
I'm certainly not going to suffer the bother of 'slowing down' just to pander to some antiquated piece of health and safety legislation.
He tried to argue that not being able to use a footpath for its intended purpose is extremely inconvenient for him – but if he can't be bothered to drive, then that's not really my problem is it? He then recounted how his mother was nearly killed when some idiot came round a blind corner riding the pavement.
I quickly put an end to this hysteria, however, by pointing out that 'nearly killed' is not the same as 'actually killed'. And until that happens, I can't see any reason whatsoever for us drivers to inconvenience ourselves.
Name and address withheld.
