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A crazy Texan robber swerved a blazing 18-wheel lorry full
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of timber across motorway lanes for almost two hours last week, almost destroying a fully laden school bus in his path. The driver hacked the truck following his escape from an armed robbery in Dallas, and it caught fire mid-chase. Police fired at least one shot at the driver who eventually gave himself up. Makes you proud to be English—no-one could zig zag around the M25!
Stretch your minds. Can you think of any pop links with the world of haulage? Was Cliff Richard's Devil Woman inspired by his anger against a female vehicle inspectorate ofIcial? Maybe not, But things might change thanks to ITV's Pop Idol show, in which one of the contestants aiming to become a star is Hayiey Evetts. Why her? Well, her father is lorry driver Malcolm Evetts who phoned in 1,000 votes to the show to help, successfully, get his daughter into the final. The bill? £1,000. She'd better win or bang goes next year's VED payment. The French are famed for their arrogance in many things and it seems this also includes driving. According to a recent poll three out of four think they drive well, with more than half blaming others for being poor drivers. They also have a very laissezfaire attitude to drink-driving. A third of drivers do not think it is a serious offence to drive after a few glasses of the red stuff.
But this arrogance seems to be misplaced. The death rate on French roads is rising rapidly. In 1998, 8.437 people were killed in French road accidents. This has now risen by 6.5%.
Get back on your bicycles!