And I spent it in the car...
Seeing the range and number of bikers out, mainly passing me as I struggled up the A9 en route to Crieff and then again on the way back, made me itch to get back out myself. If past experience is anything to go by, a good weekend when I've not been able to get any two-wheeled miles done is invariably trailed by bad weather during the week and into the following weekend.
There was a pride of BMW GS machines that cruised past at one point - looked very tasty indeed. I only hope they didn't get picked up by the 'safety' camera van: the proliferation of these, especially parked at places almost guaranteed to make revenue without having the slightest impact on safety, is getting on my nerves. Long straight stretches, clear visibility, no side turnings - is it really necessary to police our roads in this way? I challenge anyone who seriously believes that these scams are related to safety to support their use without the funneling of fines to interested parties. If caught speeding, I'll put my hands up to it without a problem, but I really object to the cash incentive to trap people. There are more important concepts in crime or accident prevention, but little that's easier to impose.
There's a serious trend towards 'defensive' driving being forced by the cameras. And I don't mean that in the normal, good sense. Instead, people are concentrating too much on the possibility of being flashed and are no longer giving real conditions the attention they deserve. What happens when some drivers spot a scamera? They slam the brakes on regardless of conditions and crawl past, usually 10-15 mph below the limit. This causes problems for other traffic which was making normal progress until Mr Cautious panics. Result - increased danger, not decreased.
Bad move, guys. I hope that one day the powers that be will see sense, but I suspect that the country as a whole will be cowed into submission, and we'll eventually lose the right to make our own decisons.
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