Good manners might seem old fashioned to some but they cost nothing and show you have an air of grace. However, good manners seem to be lost on many of this county’s drivers.
Have you ever travelled down a narrow country road only to find yourself head on with another vehicle forcing one of you to reverse to make room for the other to pass?
Well if you haven’t you’re not Irish because it is impossible to travel the highways and byways of Ireland without putting your reversing skills to test.
But has your blood boiled when you find yourself balancing on a grassy verge, one wheel precariously balancing on the edge of the road, the adjoining field at least a metre below road level, only for a truck or tractor or some kind of vehicle to whizz past without any acknowledgement of your efforts.
It seems when some people get behind the wheel of their car they leave their manners at home. They adopt the opinion that paying road tax gives them the right to bulldoze others off the road. A simple hand gesture or a smile or a nod of the head to say thank you to someone who has pulled in off the road to let him by would be a simple act of good manners which most of us learned the hard way throughout our childhood.
Have our lives become so busy, are we that self obsessed, does nothing else matter but how quickly we can get to our destination?
People say this recession will restore positive values to society which diminished during the boom times. But I wish they would hurry up because I’m fed up of ignorant and arrogant drivers who think they own the roads. We all pay road tax.
It’s like this, the hedges will be growing across the roads and the potholes getting bigger if the latest Government road cuts are anything to go by and the country roads will be those most affected. So when you see someone pull his car over to the sound of scratching hawthorn bushes and into long grass verges, give that person a nod to acknowledge his effort in making your journey a bit easier.
Patience is needed by motorists on back roads. And those who are using them as a short cut or rat run should remember that children live along those roads and use them to walk to and from school, and while you might be using it in an effort to cut a few minutes off your journey time, if you don’t slow down and drive at a speed which is suitable for the conditions, you could have a child’s blood on your hands.
Judge Mary Devins made a judgment recently where she fined a tractor driver for failing to pull into the roadside and let the cars pass which had been held up for miles. It was a court case that generated a lot of discussion in this county and one which made many happy about the outcome. No driver, no matter what type of vehicle he drives, has the right to stick to the white line and hold up a line of traffic behind him for miles. I’m not condoning speeding. Far from it. But the point is driving at an exceptionally slow speed on a very good stretch of road is disrespectful of other road users. The Road Safety Authority tell us to drive for the conditions. If that means driving with dipped head lights, or reducing our speed, or pulling over if the rain is coming down in buckets, then so be it. Just have manners and remember every life is valuable.
