The Driving Life Across the Pond - A Life of Wot
#142
12-19-2006, 12:09 PM
 ops: you stop, scared sh*tless 'cause you think you're going to get electorcuted if you touch anything, then wait for the cops to come, then the local electric company, then the phone company 'cause you took that line out too. then once the electric is turned off and the wires moved, you wait for the cop to write you a ticket for "careless driving". some 4 hours later you're on your way ops: :roll: :wink: 
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#143
12-20-2006, 04:34 AM
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Dancing with the bright Pixies at University of Edinburgh
Posts: 2,575
Racing through the French countryside, I was pure shite-ing myself. I realised that if anyone had seen me and taken my licence number, I was gonna be cooked like a Yuletide goose. I had already left the scene though and thought I would play on the ignorance factor, you know...Gee! I really hit that? I,m sorry, I didn,t even know...Obviously this would have been no real defence but I felt I couldn,t say much else.
I parked on the industrial estate at St Pierre des Corps and gulped down a few beers(How that would have made things better if the Gendarmes arrived in the morning?....)I needed something to calm me down and help me sleep. Although this was hardly the crime of the century, I was well aware of the fact that any damages would be greatly inflated and exaggerated by the claimants, after all, thats something we all do. Next morning, I made my delivery asap and headed off towards the south of France and a place called Avignon. I was loading timber there and taking it to Slovenia. From there, I expected to reload in Italy with either marble, furniture or a shite load of groupage. It was gonna be a while before I passed that way again and thank God for that! I wonder if they still have that case file open? Another valuable lesson was learnt. European countries will only mark up the height of bridges, whereas in Britain, anything which crosses a road at a height of less than 16ft 6inches is clearly signed or marked. After that incident, nothing else happened for a good while. And then, one trip when I was returning from Italy......... Well, lets just say, I thank the Lord that I am here to tell the tale. A question..... I ask any reader this who has driven in the mountains. What is your greatest fear? Mine nearly came true!!! T.B.C
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#147
12-20-2006, 05:04 PM
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Dancing with the bright Pixies at University of Edinburgh
Posts: 2,575
The day I needed clean underwear urgently
As I have been writing, one or two of you have posted that you have driven in Italy, so its very likely that at least one person reading this will have made the descent from Tunnel du Frejus to St. Jean du Marianne. That certain person will be able to verify that the first stretch of this slope-to Modane- is steep and quite long; It also has a rather nasty left hand bend at the bottom, so its not a place where you want to be at one with the forces of gravity. At the time I am writing about, British general haulage trucks were limited to 38 tonnes. But, I,m sure you,ll all appreciate that even this weight can rapidly gain momentum down a mountain. You,re all aware of the fact that your choice of gear on such a perilous slope should be made at the top, not half way down, or God forbid, when you realise you,re just a titchy bit too fast and the fire engine behind you, is for YOU.... Well, I was in the gear I needed to be in, I was travelling at a more than sensible speed, using the gears and exhauster to keep me in the comfort zone, it was plain sailing. Until..... Lord have mercy upon my tormented soul.... The engine cut out, the steering lock engaged and I was gathering speed like an express train runaway. Being in a right hand drive, I could clearly see the tree tops on mountain tops that would end my charge and indeed my life. Frantically trying to get the engine going again, I did, at one point, consider opening the door and jumping out to take my chance with a roly poly down the side of the mountain; This wouldn,t have been like the games I played as a small boy, finding a trucks tyre and sitting inside whilst your friends roll you down a gentle slope. This was my staring oblivion in the face. It all happened so quickly, I simply can,t remember at which point it was that I decided to stay with the truck. I thought of children playing in the valleys below and the effect that a fireballing runaway truck would have. At long frigging last, the engine engaged and I was able to steer again. I still had problems though, big frigging problems! I was now hitting 65 mph and the bend was coming up. T.B.C
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#148
12-20-2006, 05:21 PM
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Dancing with the bright Pixies at University of Edinburgh
Posts: 2,575
Just to the right of centre on this picture
you can see the French town of Modane You can imagine how frightened I was. 
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