Tuesday 7 March 2017

$340,000 in unpaid traffic fines

would seem rather excessive to me - but someone apparently owes that. She is a pensioner, lives in a caravan, and will be paying the debt off into the next century.
Of course she will never actually pay the debt off at all.
Why was she allowed to accumulate the debt in the first place? She was apparently driving unregistered,  uninsured, and then unlicensed as well. 
Why were those responsible for seeing to such behaviour not behaving in a responsible fashion and getting her off the road much earlier? (Yes, apparently they have now taken the car from her.) 
I can't actually drive a car. I tried once in my teens. The Senior Cat took me out in the family car onto the school oval after I had obtained my "learners' " - i.e. I had passed the multiple choice written test. I did that test with flying colours. I knew the road rules all right.
That was as far as I got. 
I sat there in the drivers' seat. I listened very carefully. I did everything that I was told to do. I did it because I really, really, really wanted to learn to drive. I saw it as freedom beyond my wildest dreams at the time. The idea of being able to get in a car and go somewhere without having to rely on someone else to take me, of being "independent", was something I had dreamed about for years. 
What I hadn't taken into account, what nobody had taken into account or even recognised, was my spatial problems. The Senior Cat had told me it didn't matter if I hit the hay bales that were on the oval for some school event. (They were small bales.) I wasn't going to damage the car.
I didn't get as far as the hay bales. He said something about turning the steering wheel. At that point I knew there was something wrong. There was nothing wrong with the car. There was nothing wrong with the way he was teaching me. There was something wrong with me. I wailed, "I don't know where I am in the space."
The car stopped. I suppose I stopped it by getting my foot off the correct pedal. I don't know. To this day though I can remember my terror and confusion.  I had no idea how my actions related to the movement of the car. It was nothing like riding the tricycle.
On consultation, the local doctor stopped all thought of my learning to drive. I was told never, ever get behind the wheel of a car again - and I haven't. It would be completely irresponsible of me. Her view was confirmed by a specialist later. You don't do it Cat, however much you might want to.
I wanted to all right. I still think it would be lovely to get behind the wheel and spend five minutes driving somewhere instead fifty minutes pedalling. 
And I am sure of something else too. I wouldn't be driving unregistered, uninsured, or unlicensed. I would be sticking to the road rules and trying to do everything right because driving isn't a right. It's a responsibility and a privilege - and nobody should be allowed to accrue large amounts in traffic fines.

2 comments:

Jodiebodie said...

I'm sad to learn that driving a vehicle is an option not open to you. I somehow thought you rode your tricycle by your own choice, not by necessity. As a former cycling enthusiast I used to actively choose my bike over other modes of transport because of convenience, fitness, kindness to the planet and the pure pleasure of it. Even these days there are many car journeys for which I would prefer to swap for a bike ride but I have been advised against it by my doctors. There's the difference...some 'choices' are free choices and others are forced upon us.

Jodiebodie said...

I'm sad to learn that driving a vehicle is an option not open to you. I somehow thought you rode your tricycle by your own choice, not by necessity. As a former cycling enthusiast I used to actively choose my bike over other modes of transport because of convenience, fitness, kindness to the planet and the pure pleasure of it. Even these days there are many car journeys for which I would prefer to swap for a bike ride but I have been advised against it by my doctors. There's the difference...some 'choices' are free choices and others are forced upon us.