Friday 30 September 2005

An RTA is now an RTC

Now and then a driver gets on the radio and warns other drivers that there has been an RTA some where, adding such information as, traffic movement, road blocked, emergency services on scene. RTA in this context means, or used to mean Road Traffic Accident.

It can also mean Road Traffic Act. This definition effects us mainly in the hours we drive. We are not allowed to drive for more than 5 1/2 hours without a 30 min break or we can drive for 8 1/2 hours but must take 45 mins break in that time and if we must take a 30 mins break before driving again. We are not allowed to drive more than 10 hours in a day and not allowed to drive more than 13 days without a day off. Actually day off is wrong. You can finish driving at say, 12:30 pm one day and start the next day at 12:31 pm. The 5 1/2 hour rule is the one we follow at work and it is just about as long as any one should drive. I did once drive for almost 7 hours but that was on the day of the Big Storm last Oct and it took 90 mins to get through the diversion when the sea front was closed. I also once drove for 39 days in a 40 day period a few years ago when we were desperately short of drivers during the height of summer but that is now only for the young, foolish and desperate for overtime people.

RTA used to stand for Road Traffic Accident. The problem with that is that there are almost no accidents on the roads these days. In fact there never have been very many.Not even back in the old days when Boadicea was a young girl and drove her parents mad when she keep wanting to borrow the chariote and keep crashing it into Romans. The person driving along a road with his window open and a bee flys in his car and stings him and he passes out from the shock and his car crashes in to a bus queue killing 20 people. Now that's an accident. The same person driving along at 50 mph in a 30 limit and 10 pints of Tennents Extra Strong Lager in side him and looses control of his car and hits the same bus queue with the same result is not.

So now we have RTC. Road Traffic Collision. Don't be in one. They are not nice.

1 comment:

Sam said...

That looks like the same car from the traffic warden photo just without the L plates - was it a vengeful act of despair by some raging motorist?