Skip to main content

I know just what I want for Christmas – but I’m not sure it’s legal | Adrian Chiles

Wouldn’t it be great to have an LED sign in the back window of your car to send messages to other drivers and put an end to waving and gesturing? Well, such a device exists

I know what I want for Christmas – an LED sign for the back window of my car. I’ve only just realised these things are readily available. I assumed otherwise because in all my years of motoring I’ve only ever seen one in operation. It was about six years ago on the A55 heading south towards Wrexham. I was riding my motorbike. It was a beautiful moment. A black Range Rover ahead of me was indicating a wish to move into my lane. I slowed down a little and nodded my helmet to signal my assent. And blow me down if an LED sign in the back window didn’t flash up a cheery THANK YOU. So sweet. But then I felt a bit rotten because I had no way of returning this friendly fire when I overtook him. It felt impolite not to say NOT AT ALL! But it’s difficult to physically communicate that, especially on a motorbike. With a random head movement and a slightly raised thumb, I did the best I could. All in all, it really was a most satisfactory exchange.

You get a lot of thinking time when you’re riding a motorbike, so I came to wondering what he might have flashed up if I hadn’t allowed him to pull in front of me. If he’d been disappointed enough to chase me down and get past me, what might have been his message? I thought of THANKS FOR NOTHING, or perhaps a simple FUCK YOU.

Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and Guardian columnist

Continue reading...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nissan open to making cars for Chinese partner in Sunderland, says CEO

Ivan Espinosa says UK plant will not be hit by cost cuts as Japanese firm reveals seven factories to close Business live – latest updates Nissan’s new chief executive has said the Japanese carmaker would be open to building cars for a Chinese partner at its factory in Sunderland as he confirmed it would not be closed in a round of deep cost cuts. This week Nissan revealed plans to close seven factories and cut 20,000 jobs after sustaining heavy losses. Continue reading...
Post a Comment
Read more

The car made pedestrians second-class citizens. Don’t let driverless vehicles push us off the road altogether | Adam Tranter

If we want autonomous tech to succeed it must be designed to share space with us, rather than forcing us to adapt to it Adam Tranter is the co-host of the Streets Ahead podcast. He was formerly West Midlands cycling and walking commissioner under mayor Andy Street This week, the UK government announced its plans to fast-track driverless vehicle trials in the UK. One of the key companies involved noted that London presents a significant challenge: “It has seven times more jaywalkers than San Francisco.” There’s more than one problem with that statement – and it encapsulates so much of what’s already going wrong in the adoption of driverless cars. For a start, “jaywalking” isn’t even a thing in the UK. We thankfully have no such concept or offence. Unlike in many US cities, pedestrians here are free to cross the road wherever they see fit. And thank goodness for that. Adam Tranter is the co-host of the Streets Ahead podcast. He was formerly West Midlands cycling and walking co...
Post a Comment
Read more

EU carmakers pave way for Chinese rivals as balance in market shifts

Many European motoring manufacturers are in retreat with plants to off–load – while China’s industry is on the march Chinese carmaker Xpeng is on the hunt for a factory in Europe. Volkswagen is aiming to reduce the number of its factories. It seems like it should have been the perfect set-up for a deal. Yet there was one problem with the plant on offer, according to Elvis Cheng, Xpeng’s managing director of north-eastern Europe: “It’s a little bit, I would say, old.” Continue reading...
Post a Comment
Read more