I have become rather anxious by the Government’s news that we will all have to drive electric vehicles very soon. I fear that there will be fast, silent killers on all our roads and lanes.
I am fortunate to own and drive a second-hand hybrid car which, on the occasions when I have very light pressure on my right pedal, I travel along in silence.
Cyclists are not aware I am behind them.
Recently, a young schoolgirl stepped straight off the kerb as I was quietly (and slowly) approaching her. Clearly, she should have adhered to the kerb-side code but with no mechanical sounds coming from my vehicle, she wasn’t prompted to check around her as she stepped into the road head down with something on her mind.
It’s the problem of having access to charging points that I have serious concerns, with roads full of these vehicles on the move and drivers having one nervous eye on their electric meter.
It takes a few minutes to fill a car with fuel and move on. How long will it take cars plugged into charging points to become fully charged? I envisage queues of waiting electric vehicles, with almost discharged engines, at motorway stops and stretching back onto the motorways.
Or perhaps, will we have to endure forests of charging pods at every garage and motorway stop?
Furthermore, how many home dwellers have garages? Many dwellings have had their front gardens converted from lawns and rose bushes to multi-car tarred forecourts. Soon electric cables will be strewn all around, tripping up the early morning milkman or post-person (note my diversity training!).
And then there is the matter of car owners who have to leave their vehicles at the roadside, notwithstanding those car owners living in flats and apartments.My concerns about electric vehicles on our roads may fade into obscurity, as I witness those drivers who forget that they are driving a killing machine. BOOK FIVE of POEMS BY AN OLD CODGER contains a poem – the contents you may agree with. Let me know.
MODERN LIFE ON THE ROAD
Traffic calming high raised strips of tarmac
Taken many an exhaust pipe and human back.
Damaging tyres, corded edges left in shreds,
Suspensions weakened and stripped bolt threads.
Because of a few selfish law-defying motorists,
Ignore the highway code, blatant non-conformists.
Law abiding motorists obliged to daily mount these hurdles,
And as I do, my blood just curdles.
Tailgating, undertaking, alcoholic and drugged-up eyes,
Souped up cars, altered bore and piston size.
Noisy exhausts to pierce one’s ears,
Showing off to their moron peers.
There are laws to stop this, but what an ask,
Enforcing them is an impossible task.
Policing them is a thankless job,
Lenient penalties, petty fines of just a few ‘Bob’.
We are all God’s Children, so they say,
But there are those who got away.
Joined the Devil and all his dealings,
Living a life as his selfish siblings.
Our roads are littered with humps and signs,
Cycle tracks and painted lines.
The Highway Code spells it out,
Never read by any motoring lout.
“You are driving a killer machine,”
Said my instructor, and he was keen
To press it home and make the point.
So lay off drink and give up the ‘joint’.
No insurance nor tax, for their auto,
Tyres not checked, but away they go.
To be driving they have an embargo,
Each a dangerous motoring rogue.
I pray for a time we never chance to meet
These inconsiderate people motoring along on any street.
No care for others, enjoying their noisy radio soiree,
Just lock them up and lose the key.
Copyright 2023 Neil Davies
So why not treat yourself to a copy of one of my books – POEMS BY AN OLD CODGER and have it with you in your electric car. Finding yourself in one of those long charging queues you can sit back and dip into my book of poems.
Stay safe,
Neil.