Road Menace?

Woman plummets onto subway tracks while carelessly texting - Engadget

The joys and the foolishness associated with speed is normally left to the youth of today as young Mr.Jeremy Parrott, 37, of Somerset,has amply demonstrated. He, according to the boys in blue, mounted acamera on his helmet and zipped through reasonably populated areas,including some school (no doubt encouraged by a bunch of screaming teenagers from the same school?) at over 100 mph (which is over 160 kmph to the rest of the metric world - more than the top speed on some cars!!). The camera recorded the route (a blur), occasionally switching to the speedometerto record the speed as we... particularly useful on youtube! The action sequence starts and ends at young Jeremy Parrott's residence (duly incorporating the license plate of the hydrocarbon guzzler in the driveway) and then gets posted on YouTube.....Brilliant! and given the mountain of evidence in the public domain...Jeremy Parrott, 37, of Somerset, wont be seen on top of or near a two wheeler in theforseeable future. However, no harm done - bike run (thrilling),recorded it (stupidity), posted it on Youtube (borders on certifiable lunacy). However, Jeremy Parrott, 37, of Somerset, is not the biggest threat to the populace at large for if one wishes to avoid Parrott, one merely needs to avoid Somerset and anything in the 100 mile radius.

The bigger problem is the mobile phone wielding multitude of lunatics plaguing every second of the day.. take example of this youngish lady who, thankfully not behind the wheel, nevertheless tumbles onto the tracks, in the path ofan oncoming commuter train - and no..she wasn't depressed or suicidal..she was merely sending a text (SMS) message!! Really?? andshe didn't notice the train, the platform or when nthe platform vanishes to make place for the train??? While the said bird survived the high stakes "text" otherwise known as modern day russion roulette [courtesy good brakes on the oncoming train and a rather speedy subway worker], sincerely hope it scared the living daylights out of her...which is more than can be said about the drifters I encounter at the local park on my evening runs.

These "drifters", armed with mobiles + spare extra lifebatteries - as oblivious to oncoming traffic (yours truly) as the train-text bird - are a mortal track hazard. Here is why;

Oncoming Traffic [travelling straight]

Drifter [Drifting right - mobile phone being glued to right ear]

Oncoming Traffic [Startled - Jumps left at 12kph]

Drifter[swiftly re-manoeuvring self and mobile to intercept the jump accompanied by a mobile conversation which always starts with ".....and you know what he said (interspersed with giggle/sob on alternate days).... what am I going to tell (him/her/my mom).....]

Oncoming traffic [petrified as the drifter in all her pear shaped glory, fills the field of vision, (somewhat like Alonso slamming the brakes when Sato is right behind)- jumps off the track..goes up the "grassy knoll" and, suitably unnerved, heads straight for the pharmacy]

(the same scenario can be recreated on a road with said participants inside of cars - citeris paribus)

note: clearly established link between mobile phones and tranquilizer abuse!

Notwithstanding my particular predicament, this explains why men like Bikes and, more importantly, trains .. and why......... ;-)

technorati tags:Mobile, women, trains, run

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