The Civils Side of Life

Road Marking - Flickr: Wrote

When I first started my blog I deliberately chose not to write about all my pet hates with this wonderful world we live in. I knew that my blog would soon be full of moaning. Unfortunately for you, the reader, I can no longer hold my peace on one subject.

Working in the construction industry means I am never in one place for much longer than a few months. I spend a good portion of my time driving along major road in the Midlands. I often miss heavy traffic in the mornings as I need to be on site at the latest 07:30. After work is another matter and I often have to fight my way home.

Why are British drivers getting worse at controlling their vehicles and following the most basic rules of the road?

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Collection of UK Tax Discs

Before I started work as a fully fledged adult, I had the joy of driving a classic Mini. It was a 1989 ‘F’-reg City model, a little rusty around the edges but great fun to drive. My dad drove it once and had to stop during the the journey to get out and giggle! These days I’m force to drive a company car, therefore my little Mini was consigned to the garage. Forever to live out it’s days hidden away from sight propped up on bricks, waiting for the day I would drive it once more.

My responsibilities did not stop with the locking of the garage door, once a year the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency send me a letter and hope to get me to hand over £110 of my hard earned money. Thankfully there is a handy little get-out clause. If you do not use your car and do not intend to use your car you can declare it off-road or SORN. This allows me to retain the ownership of my car in the eyes of the DVLA but not pay road tax. I do long to drive my little red Mini, it needs a lot of maintenance to make it work again and I would really like to return it to it’s forecourt originality. This of course will take a lot of time and money. Neither of which will be in abundance this year.

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