Christmas craziness- it is not OK to go slow

My day job is in the freight industry and the period leading up to Christmas is the busiest time of the year, this year we had record volumes flowing through our facilities. For the last 25 years I have had operational roles and have more or less worked up to the twenty fourth and then been knackered over Christmas itself.

This year it is a little different and I had the week before Christmas off and arrived at Christmas Day refreshed and relaxed.

I am also enjoying my longest break in my entire adult working career and still have a week to go before I get back to the grindstone and what is likely to be another busy year and have been on the road a lot one way or another.

This is the time of the year when many of us are on the roads. The roads are full of local and overseas travelers. And this is also the time of the year that there is the most tension and frustration on the road driven by volume and congestion and the driving antics of people that clearly couldn't give a rat's arse about everyone else they are sharing the road.

Given improvements in the main roads, vehicles, and also cultural changes to our acceptance of drunk driving and speed, the biggest danger on our roads are the people that constantly travel well below the speed limit and impede the flow of traffic behind them. These are the kind of people that cautiously negotiate corners at ten kilometres and hour below the signed speed suggestions and then once they hit a straight piece of road or a passing lane speed up so that it makes it more difficult for people to pass them.

Speed is still an issue but I don't know what value there is in pulling someone over for speeding on a good two lane highway and ignoring the mobile road block that has a tail of traffic behind it getting more and more frustrated at the lack of courtesy shown by that driver.

Over the years campaigns focusing on speed and drunk driving have been very successful in changing our attitudes to speeding and drink driving. It is about time the same focus was put on changing the habits of those of us that think it is ok to drive on the main roads at speeds that impede traffic. Maybe we can have a new motto- it is not ok to go slow.

My solution to traffic congestion..this is not an add...

This morning as I drove along the motorway I fell in love with cruise control. You'd think that at the ripe old age of almost fifty one I would be completely familiar with this functionality. But the truth is my new ute is the first vehicle I have ever owned that has cruise control.

For years I was quite satisfied with my late model Toyota Hiace vans until I decided on a changes and bought a ute two years ago.And cruise control? An effete option and besides why would you have it on a vehicle in this country anyway as we don't have the long straight highways that would make it worthwhile to have?

There was nothing wrong with the ute, it was a major improvement on the van in terms of ride comfort and safety, but it was really a bit rough around the edges in comparison to a car.

Enter the new model utes now on the market from all the main manufacturers over the last year or so and the the change in the ute market and the change in the expectations of many of the people that buy them. Just as many people buy them as their daily transport or to transport their toys around (like me) as do the businesses, farmers and tradesmen.

 Ok they are still small trucks and they drive like trucks but they have a lot more of the standard options that you would expect in a decent car and the new one is simply a quantum leap ahead over the old ute.

Roll forward to a month or so ago. I had been debating for ages whether to upgrade. I really agonise over this kind of decision. It's not about whether I have the money but whether I should spend it. You know the arguments. Sinking money into a new vehicle is a waste and yeah I could have paid the cash I put into a new vehicle off my mortgage but....... For me being able to buy new vehicles is a sign of success in my day job and I enjoy the new vehicle smell. No doubt my attitude would be a bit different if I wasn't lucky enough to qualify for a fleet discount which takes some of the pain away.

Fast forward to rolling down the motorway this fine Saturday morning in light traffic. One click and flick of a switch and there I am cruising along at 102 kilometres an hour. Assuming that my speedo is accurate I suddenly realised how slow the traffic flow really generally is even when there are very few cars on the road.

Make cruise control mandatory I say and maybe we wouldn't have so many bottle necks caused by people meandering along at low speeds on our motorways.
To easy right?