I’ve mentioned bad driving in Bradford a few times, but one example today really worried me. There was an Asian family in a rather full car, with what looked like the grandmother in the front passenger seat. Standing on her knee was a young girl (probably no more than 4 years old) – not only was she not wearing a seatbelt she wasn’t even seated. Had the driver needed to make an emergency stop she’d have been straight through the front windscreen. Which, alas, with all the other dodgy drivers in Bradford, is probably more often than elsewhere.
Surprisingly enough, legislation on wearing seatbelts wasn’t introduced because a few politicians got stoned one night and thought it was a good idea at the time – it’s there because wearing a seat belt can help to save your life in the event of a crash or an emergency stop.
On a brighter note, it appears the Bradford branch of the Halifax bank are much more used to dealing with cheques in foreign currency than in York. Whereas back home the cashier originally thought they didn’t accept them, and then had to get supervisor over to help him deal with it, the cashier I had today knew exactly what to do and got it done quickly and without any fuss. I imagine this might be because Bradford’s population tends to have more people with relatives in foreign countries so they’re probably more used to dealing with cheques in all manner of currencies.
And while I’m here I might as well let you know that like everyone else I have a ridiculous amount of Gmail invites (well, 50) to give away to anyone who wants one.
This made me go ‘raaah’
February 5, 2005
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February 5, 2005 at 23:43
This type of thing isn’t uncommon in Bradford. The road I walk down to university is fairly busy with families travelling to an Asian supermarket. The majority of these people, both young and old, don’t seem to be wearing seatbelts. The kids climbing around in the back.
February 6, 2005 at 13:44
Somehow, I also managed to get 50. (newintentions/at/gmail/dot/com)
February 6, 2005 at 14:20
Gah. People need to be more careful. The law’s there for a reason.
(also, send your GMail invites over to gmail@isnoop.net so that they can offer them at http://isnoop.net/gmailomatic.php – it does work.)
February 6, 2005 at 20:29
This reminds me of this Snopes page, about a guy who campaigned to repeal mandatory seat belt laws.
February 6, 2005 at 20:32
Yeah, I linked to that on my sideblog a few weeks ago. There’s a cruel irony in that article.
February 7, 2005 at 22:08
I think it’s interesting you mentioned the family in the car was Asian, but didn’t mention the origin of the cashier at Halifax.
February 7, 2005 at 23:01
Yes, I suppose it is. The cashier, incidently, was white, although some of her colleagues were Asian – she just happened to be the only one free. But in either case I don’t think it would have been an issue – had the ethnicities of the two parties been the other way around it wouldn’t change anything.
February 12, 2005 at 00:37
Get a Life!!
February 12, 2005 at 01:33
I’m quite happy with my current one, thanks.