REDUCING TRUCK DEATHS

World transport ministers have a weak-knee approach to road safety

A fatal truck crash today in Pennsylvania has highlighted the weak-knee approach of governments, transport ministers and industry leaders to driver fatigue and its effect on road safety.

Semi driver, Steven Bernier, 50, of Reading, PA started work at 1:30 a.m. and fell asleep five hours later at 6:30 a.m. His 18 wheeler slammed into a line of cars waiting at a red traffic light, killing two people in separate vehicles and injuring nine others. Bernier has been charged with two counts of homicide and nine counts of aggravated assault, and other charges.

He will no doubt go to prison for a very long time and, for the authorities, everything will be forgotten and life will go on. But not for the victims or the truck driver. They, and their families, will have to live with this tragedy for the rest of their lives.

I like to compare road safety with flying safety because flying and driving started at about the same time, but they have a totally different stance on safety. In the early days of motoring speed and traffic volumes were low and accidents were few. On the other hand aviation started out badly and flying was about the most dangerous thing a human being could engage in.

The accident scene and the truck driver

A critical difference then, and now, is that flying accidents are generally less survivable than road accidents, but in spite of that aviation has achieved a safety record that should be the envy of all road users and road safety campaigners. One may ask, how did that happen? How did flying (not including private flying) become the safest mode of transport ever devised, while road safety made negligible progress?

 In a word, the answer lies in attitude. In aviation, safety comes first in every consideration. This applies not just to pilots, but to everyone involved in every aspect of aviation; aircraft designers, regulators, trainers and training, weather conditions, maintenance and servicing and repair, accident investigation and reporting. ‘She’ll be right’ has no place in the air the way it does on the roads. The aviation world understood early on that safety rules were vital for the survival pilots and passengers, and for the survival of aviation itself.

Meanwhile, for over 100 years road safety has been given little more than lip service only. On two factors alone the record is appalling. Seat belts were standard in all aircraft almost 100 years ago while few cars had seat belts prior to 1970 and many larger vehicles still don’t have them including many passenger buses. In some situations the authorities still allow unrestrained, standing passengers on public transport. That is reprehensible.

The second area where road safety is seriously lacking is with accident investigation and reporting. For at least the last 60 years all fatal flying accidents have been subject to thorough investigation by specially trained experts. They then publish a public report giving full details of the aircraft including manufacture, maintenance records, hours flown and other relevant details; the pilot including licence and type ratings, total flight time, hours on type, hours in previous three months and previous incidents; details of the flight and weather conditions, circumstances of the accident and examination of the wreckage; conclusions as to probable cause(s) and recommendations for preventing similar accidents in the future.

Continued below . . . .

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Road accident investigation by comparison is still primitive, and will do little if anything to make roads safer, and seems to focus only on the possibility of prosecutions and helping insurance companies settle claims. Indeed under existing law in most countries investigations along the lines of aircraft accident investigation would be impossible because of a lack of logbooks or data recording devices.

In aviation the emphasis is on ongoing training and education. Everyone learns to fly with a qualified instructor and undergoes regular re-checking. You can’t teach a friend or family member how to fly. Meanwhile on the roads most people do learn to drive with a friend of family member who will pass on their own bad habits and lack of professionalism and there is no re-checking or ongoing training. Instead of training and education, as in aviation, on the roads it is just a case of policing, prosecuting and punishing, and it doesn't work.

Author Peter Blakeborough

But to return to the tragedy in Pennsylvania, drivers work inhumane hours in inhumane conditions for wages that are a pittance. And all over the world governments simply don’t care. All things considered the vast majority of professional drivers are safe drivers and that can be verified by insurance statistics which show that in truck/car collisions 70% of liability rests with car drivers and only 30% with truck drivers. Truck drivers typically spend a big part of their long day avoiding collisions with cars that are being driven inappropriately. However, there has been no suggestion of another vehicle being responsible in Bernier’s case.

But I wonder what circumstances in the preceding hours and days led this professional driver to fall asleep at the wheel. He can legally be on duty and driving for 70 hours a week while frequently having his starting and finishing times altered substantially. A person working under those conditions may not even be aware that he is fatigued. Unlike an airline pilot, he does not have a co-pilot with dual controls or a rule requiring a rest period of at least the same duration as the duty period preceding it. He is not restricted to a maximum of 100 hours in a 28 day period, nor is he limited to an annual maximum of 900 hours, like the airline pilot.

The rules of the road and attitudes to safety need to change, but it is not something that one company or employer, one country can do. The changes need to be led by the United Nations, just as the International Civil Aviation Organization (an agency of the UN) has led the way with air safety.

But the sad thing is that most people will not be even remotely interested in reading posts like this. It is just too easy to think, it won’t happen to me.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

The Smashwords interview with author Peter Blakeborough

Mark Coker, CEO and founder
of Smashwords

Smashwords is based in Los Gatos, California and is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of e-books. The company was founded by Mark Coker in 2008 and has grown rapidly to include 276,000 titles written by 83,000 authors. The Smashwords community and turnover is now equal to a small country.

Below is the full Smashwords interview with Peter Blakeborough:

What is your e-reading device of choice?

A Kindle while traveling. It takes up so little space and can hold such a lot of reading. At home I read on Kindle for PC. I just find it convenient when I spend so much of my time on the computer.

What book marketing techniques have been most effective for you?

When I had print books for sale I took them direct to bookstores and libraries. The books really just sold themselves with almost no paid advertising. But I was fortunate to receive a lot of free publicity from newspapers, radio and television interviews during my travels. Speaking at a variety of meetings about my books and writing also generated lots of sales.

Author Peter Blakeborough

Describe your desk

Cluttered! Whoever said that a tidy desk indicates a tidy mind was probably talking about someone who was unemployed, or was running a business that was awaiting its first sale. From my desk I research books, write books, design books and I sell books. Everything is at my fingertips, even if it is several layers down.

Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?

I grew up in rural districts of New Zealand. On dairy farms a young person learns to be skilled at many different jobs while keeping in touch with nature. It was a wonderful way to grow up and it provided a good background for creating plots for novels. Later, I lived in cities and small towns, and that has enabled me to include both town and country scenes in my novels.

When did you first start writing?

At school I had a flair for storytelling. But that was a talent that later lay dormant for many years. I always wanted to write novels, but believed that first I needed a broad experience of life. I did quite a lot of non-fiction writing; editing club newsletters, that kind of thing. In 1966 I published my first non fiction title, The Coinage of New Zealand and it sold 3,000 copies. After that I became the editor of a national monthly magazine for coin collectors. It wasn't until 1995 that I started writing my first novel, Nathaniel's Bloodline.

How has Smashwords contributed to your success?

Smashwords enables me to reach a wider market with prices that print books cannot compete with.

What is the greatest joy of writing for you?

No single answer here. It gives me a wonderful feeling to review what I have written and I have to ask myself often, "Did I write that?" I still get a thrill when I pick up one of my print books and thumb through the pages, pausing to read a passage or two. But the greatest joy with writing comes from the readers who come back for more books and to tell me how much they enjoyed the books they already have.

What inspires you to get out of bed each day?

The need to put into a manuscript a scene that has formed in my mind in the early hours. I do my best writing in bed.

When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?

It's a busy life for someone who is supposed to be retired. I just love to travel. I like being with people, and taking them on coach tours is a great way to see happy people while beautiful scenery passes by. I'm a paid tourist. Many years ago I was a pilot and flew more than 50 aircraft types. Now I fly with a flight simulator which means that I can enjoy a private flight in a Boeing, Airbus or WWII fighter without breaking the bank. I have a motor-home and enjoy time away in that with my wife. We also go to country music events where I pretend to be Johnnie Cash or Merle Haggard. It's a busy retirement and I have no idea how I ever managed to work full-time.

Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?

That's a good question. I do remember being praised for excellent work at school, but I now have no recollection of the story itself. Whatever it was it must have been all lies.

How do you approach cover design?

It is said that a book should not be judged by its cover - but many people do just that. The cover can be the most important part of the book because it creates the first impression. The experts say that the cover should be designed by a professional and I'm sure they are right. But I design my own covers, not because I'm good at design, but simply because I love to play around with different designs and styles. For me its part of the challenge and when it's finished it is my book completely.

What do you read for pleasure?

My reading habits have long been wide ranging. I like history, technical subjects, travel, news and current affairs, biographies, politics. About one in three books that I read will be fiction including historical fiction, romance, thrillers, crime and mysteries. I think novelists should keep a balance between fiction and non-fiction reading.

What are you working on next?

I often work on more than one book at a time. Currently I have a non-fiction title, The New Zealand Tour Commentary, which is being updated. It was previously sold as a print book only, but the new edition will be on Smashwords along with my other books. I am also working on another novel, as yet unnamed, which may be completed within the next year.

Who are your favorite authors?

Early on I read authors like Neville Shute and Ernest Ghan. More recently my favorites have been Bill Bryson, John Grisham, Ruth Rendell, Robert Ludlum, Maeve Binchy and Arthur Hailey.

Published 2014-07-28. 
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MALAYSIA AIRLINES SAFETY

Is Malaysia an airline to avoid?

Two total aircraft losses, along with all on board, within four months are frightening to say the least. Airline passengers are avoiding Malaysia Airlines like the plague, but is that a reasonable and logical response?

Let’s look at some facts about Malaysia’s national carrier.

The seeds for a national airline in Malaysia were sown in 1937 when two Australian brothers, the Wearnes, started an air service between Singapore and Penang using an eight-seat de Havilland Dragon Rapide aircraft. Within a short time they were using a second Rapide to operate other routes. However, WWII and the Japanese occupation meant that WAS, as it was known, was forced to cease operations.

A Malaya Airways Airspeed Consul

Along with the rest of the world, Malaysia was gaining experience in airline operations, and at the same time that Wearnes Air Service was operating bigger things were in the making. The Ocean Steamship Company, Straits Steamship Company and Imperial Airways registered Malaya Airways on October 12, 1937, but again due to the war, the first Malaya passengers could not be carried until 1947.

The first flight was from the British Straits Settlement (now Singapore) to Kuala Lumpur in Malaya using an Airspeed Consul twin engine aircraft.

The airline continued to grow throughout the 1940s and 1950s with co-operation and assistance from BOAC and Qantas. The airline joined IATA and went public in 1957. They operated DC-3s, DC-4s, Vickers Viscounts, Bristol Britannias, Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations and de Havilland Comet 4s. This was no fly-by-night (pardon the pun) operator. Malaya was a serious airline. The route network included domestic and short haul international flights.

In the 1960s Singapore became a part of the Malaysian Federation and Malaya Airways became Malaysia Singapore Airlines (MSA) and established a strong international brand and continued to grow, adding new jet aircraft and long haul destinations.

When Singapore left the federation in 1972 the national airline was divided up with Singapore taking the international assets and Malaysia taking the domestic assets. That made sense at the time because all flights from Singapore would be international while Malaysia had a large number of domestic flights. But Malaysia quickly expanded with the introduction of international flights.

Over the years Malaysia faced strong competition from neighboring airlines including their former partner Singapore as well as Qantas, Thai and British Airways, which all had strong brands. Malaysian became a poor cousin to these other airlines, but only in terms of marketing and route network strategies. Operationally, it was a sound airline with an excellent safety record.

Along with most airlines, Malaysian has had its good and bad years economically over the years including the most recent recession. But it continued to grow from the 1970s to the present day and the aircraft types have included B-707s, B-737s, DC-10-30s, B-747s, B-777s, Airbus A-330s, and A-380s. The current fleet size is 93 jets.

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 taking-off

To return to the two flights that were lost this year, I can understand how most people would feel about flying with an airline in the situation that Malaysia finds itself in today. I had that same feeling in September 2001 when I flew from London to Los Angeles with American Airlines on their first trans Atlantic flight on the day that international flights resumed after 9/11. Constantly on my mind was the fact that this airline, five days earlier (yesterday, if you discount the days they were grounded) had lost two aircraft to terrorists. And terrorism was almost certainly on the minds of many passengers when I was asked to leave the aircraft at Heathrow so that my checked luggage could be examined. As I walked from the back of the aircraft to the front I could feel hundreds of eyeballs piercing the back of my skull. But it was all a false alarm and I was allowed to board the aircraft again for an uneventful flight. (I have told this story in more detail in my book Highway America)

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Several years ago I had six flights with Malaysia Airlines on six different aircraft with six different crews and I became a Malaysia supporter. All the aircraft, inside and out, were immaculate, the crews utterly professional and the service equal to the best.

But what about safety, you ask. Well, let’s look at the record. Prior to 2014 Malaysia had had just two flights that ended fatally. In 1977 a Malaysia Boeing 737 was hijacked and later crashed with loss of 100 lives. That can happen with any airline. In 1995 a Malaysia Fokker 50 overshot a runway and 33 people died. That was pilot error and travelers should remember that all airlines employ pilots.

Until 2014 that was the record of fatal flights for this airline – just two. From small beginnings in 1947 and later with millions of miles flown every day that is an outstanding record of safety.

2014 Makes all the difference of course, but is the airline to blame for the two most recent tragedies? Well, the jury is still out on the March loss, but so far there is no evidence that pins anything on the airline. With the Ukraine tragedy, I think we can safely assume that the airline did not fire the missile.

Would I fly again with Malaysia? I would probably take Malaysia in preference to any other operator, because I think it would be a great shame to see such a good airline disappear from the skies and Malaysia cannot survive without passengers.

FIRST TIME AUTHORS

Publicity advice for first time authors
By Paula Margulies

First published here on August 31, 2012 and still relevant in 2014.

I receive a lot of calls from first-time authors with questions about how they should promote their books. Here are a few of the questions I hear most often, along with my responses:

1) Do I really need a website and a blogsite to market my book?
Yes, you really do need both. When I contact media producers and editors on your behalf, they will be looking to see what kind of presence you have on the web and whether or not you’re starting to develop any kind of following among readers. And readers interested in your work will want to visit your web and blog sites to learn more about you.

2) I edited my book carefully myself, and my wife/husband edited it, as well. Isn’t that enough?
Sorry, but self-editing (or editing via friends or family who are not professionals) doesn’t cut it. Whether you plan to self-publish or go the traditional route, you should have your work edited by a professional.

Your book is your product – it can have the greatest storyline or nonfiction content in the world, but if it’s poorly written and/or contains errors, readers will notice and say so in reviews. And it will be more difficult to obtain that all-important word-of-mouth promotion that helps some first-time books breakout. There are always exceptions to these guidelines (some might list Fifty Shades of Grey as an example), but in most instances, if you want to sell well, you must have a product that is polished and well-written, and the best way to do that is to have a professional editor review your work.

3) I want publicity for my book, but I don’t want to blog/travel/appear publicly/give interviews. What can you do for me?
If you are a first-time author, you need to find methods to reach your target audience. The best way to do that is to put yourself out there; if you’re unwilling to do so, then hiring a publicist is probably not going to help you.

And, yes, there are methods of reaching out that don’t require personal appearances or blogging. You can pay for advertising, for example, or hire a blog tour company to get bloggers to post about you and your book on their sites.

But remember, there are over 32 million books on the market right now, and experts predict that number will continue to grow. How will you make your book stand out from all the others? If you want readers to know about you and your book, you’re going to have to get yourself in front of them in as many ways as possible, be it online, on paper, via traditional media and advertising, or through in-person appearances. The more of these activities you do, the better chance you have of reaching readers.

4) How can I promote my book if I don’t have a platform?
Having a platform means that you, the author, have a strong background or some kind of expertise that is newsworthy and will make you a good potential interview candidate for the media. Promoting a book without a strong author platform is difficult, so if your platform is weak or nonexistent, you’ll need to build one.

The best way to build a platform is to establish yourself as an expert in your book’s content area (this is true for fiction, as well as nonfiction). Many authors mistakenly believe this means that they should try to position themselves as experts on writing. That’s true if your book is about writing, but if it isn’t, you’ll want to position yourself as an expert in the genre or subject area that your readers buy. The best way to do this is to create blogs on topics that interest your readers, become a guest blogger on other sites in your genre or specialty area, teach classes, write articles, and do whatever you can to be seen as someone with expertise in the realm in which your book (and its potential readers) reside. Again, this means putting some effort into developing a following on social media sites, writing blogs, making public appearances, writing articles for online and print publications, etc. (Those who are uncomfortable with doing these things, please reread my answer to question #3).

5) I have a good book, but no platform, or I have a great platform, but my book isn’t quite there yet. Will you represent me?
When I read a book by a potential client (and I always read potential clients’ books before I agree to take them on), I ask myself three questions: Is the book well-written and professionally edited? Does the author have a good platform? And can I successfully promote this book and author to my contacts? I will only represent an author if I can answer yes to all three questions.

6) Some pundits are saying that I should have at least three books published before I start any promotion. Is this true?
Many established authors have discovered that if they are successful in a certain genre, they can generate more sales by creating sequels for those books that sell well. And readers are proving loyal to characters and storylines that they love. So, if you write a book that lends itself to creating a series, particularly if it’s genre fiction, it can be a good idea to do so. 
Continued below . . . .

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But, if you’re self-publishing your work, it’s sometimes hard to know if you have a potential success (or a potential successful series) until you get that first book out there. Even if you plan to write follow-on books, I believe it’s still a good idea to spend some time promoting the first book. And if you have a second book in the wings, you can often build on the publicity for the first book to successfully promote the second.

7) From a publicity standpoint, what general advice do you have for me as a first-time author?
Great question – here’s what I recommend:
● Make sure your book has been heavily workshopped, ruthlessly revised, and polished to perfection by a professional editor before submitting it to agents, editors, or publicists, and certainly before publishing it online or in print.
● Educate yourself on promotion and marketing. Read everything you can by experts and successful authors who publish in your genre. Some of the advice will be tremendously helpful, while some of it may not fit you or your goals for your book; adopt what is useful, and commit yourself to doing what those experts recommend to help your book sell.
● Decide how much in the way of time, effort, and money you’re willing to spend on promoting your book and develop a schedule and budget you can live with.
● Plan to promote your first book full-bore for a set amount time (6-8 months after release is a good rule-of-thumb) and then consider creating a self-sustaining/long-term strategy, so you can focus on writing the next book. 

More on Paula's Blog: http://paulamargulies.blogspot.co.nz

WE SHOT DOWN AN AIRLINER

Newspaper publishes transcript of war crime conversation

The English language newspaper Kylv Post in Ukraine has published a transcript of an intercepted conversation between a Russian military intelligence officer in Donetsk and a colonel at the Russian armed forces headquarters.

Here is their conversation:

Igor Bezler: We have just shot down a plane. Group Minera. It fell down beyond Yenakievo (Donetsk Oblast).

Vasili Geranin: Pilots. Where are the pilots?

IB: Gone to search for and photograph the plane. It's smoking.

VG: How many minutes ago?

IB: About 30 minutes ago.

SBU comment: After examining the site of the plane the terrorists come to the conclusion that they have shot down a civilian plane. The next part of the conversation took place about 40 minutes later.

"Major": These are Chernukhin folks who shot down the plane. From the Chernukhin check point. Those cossacks who are based in Chernukhino.

"Greek": Yes, Major.

"Major": The plane fell apart in the air. In the area of Petropavlovskaya mine. The first "200" (code word for dead person). We have found the first "200". A Civilian.

"Greek": Well, what do you have there?

"Major": In short, it was 100 per cent a passenger (civilian) aircraft.

"Greek": Are many people there?

"Major": Holy sh----t! The debris fell right into the yards (of homes).

"Greek": What kind of aircraft?

"Major": I haven't ascertained this. I haven't been to the main sight. I am only surveying the scene where the first bodies fell. There are the remains of internal brackets, seats and bodies.

"Greek": Is there anything left of the weapon?

"Major": Absolutely nothing. Civilian items, medicinal stuff, towels, toilet paper.

"Greek": Are there documents?

"Major": Yes, of one Indonesian student. From a university in Thompson.

Militant: Regarding the plane shot down in the area of Snizhne-Torez. It's a civilian one. Fell down near Grabove. There are lots of corpses of women and children. The Cossacks are out there looking at all this.

They say on TV it's AN-26 transport plane, but they say it's written Malaysia Airlines on the plane. What was it doing on Ukraine's territory?

Nikolay Kozitsin: That means they were carrying spies. They shouldn't be f***ing flying. There is a war going on.

Source: Kyiv Post

How shocking is that?

These military criminals feel nothing for their victims. They even try to make victims of themselves as they justify their horrific actions.

To them, nothing is more important than their precious war and this is obvious from their assertion that the airliner had no right to be where it was. Well, get this, you murderous criminals. You have no right to be having a war, in Ukraine, Russia, or anywhere else.

It has been reported that they have found a Black Box and have sent it to Moscow, and now the fox will investigate the demise of the chickens. The site should have been protected to make sure nothing was moved until a properly constituted air accident investigation team arrived.

Russia has no authority to interfere in the investigation. The aircraft was not Russian owned or registered, was not flying in Russian territory, and probably had no Russians on board. There was nothing Russian about this tragedy, except for the 298 murders committed by Pro-Russian criminals, using Russian supplied arms.

Finally, will the sleeping giant that is the United Nations, be aroused now and take control in Ukraine?

CHICAGO AND MURDER

Gun mad Chicago celebrates independence with multiple murders

Al Capone is alive and well, or so it would seem in Chicago, America’s third most populated urban area. Chicago has 8.6 million people compared with New York’s 18.3 and Los Angeles’s 12.1 million. But Chicago remains the only American city to record more than 500 murders in a year, almost all of them shootings.

In Chicago this year, Independence Day started with a bang. Corey Hudson aged 34 was shot dead while walking with a friend on the street. That was at 2:30 am Friday and it was quickly followed by other slayings.

Over the holiday weekend seven people died and 50 were injured. One shooting involved police shooting dead a suspect. Two others were wounded by police gunfire. Increased policing since 2012 has seen a slight reduction in the murder rate for 2013 when 415 people were murdered in the windy city. But a further 2,185 people were injured by gunfire, and all in the name of the right to bear arms.

Without weapons, Americans would have to use their fists for protection and it is rare for fist-fight victims to die. Fist-fights can be one-sided depending on the age, fitness and size of the combatants, but surely it is preferable to shooting an attacker dead before he shoots you dead.

Evidence that America’s gun laws are crazy can be found in world murder statistics. When the American rate for murder without guns is compared with countries that have restricted access to guns, America comes out very close to the average for developed countries. It is the gun-related murder rate that tips the scales.

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Carrying a gun for protection, except in a military conflict, is foolish and invites death at the hands of a like-minded individual. Carrying a gun for protection can, in a split-second, turn a defender into an accused criminal and, in many states, a candidate for government murder. Who wants that?

Anyone doubting the danger of carrying guns for protection should look at Chicago’s record for the last week of June 2014. In that week Chicago had 43 murders and all but three involved guns.

People who are genuinely concerned about safety should not carry guns, and they should not listen to the advocates for the National Rifle Association. They are hunting on a different planet.

PAIN RELIEF

How Ralph Linford invented Elmore Oil to beat arthritis

Ralph Linford was 78 years old when he invented and named Elmore Oil in his hometown of Elmore in Victoria, Australia.

Ralph Linford

Elmore became a pastoral farming settlement in the 1840s and was at first known as Bertrams Inn. Then it became Campaspie after the river that flows through the town, then Runnymede and finally in 1882 the locals settled for Elmore.

The next year Elmore was the first place in Australia to hold a Madi Gras festival and the town also hosts an annual machinery field days event which is well attended by Victorian farmers. But for the rest of Australia, and the world, Elmore and its 700 residents was a ‘Where?’ town until Ralph Linford changed all that.

Ralph was born in Victoria in 1920 and spent most of his life in manufacturing and was always interested in nature and natural remedies. In 1998 his aging body was suffering from arthritis and he started developing his own natural remedy. He told friends that he knew he was in trouble when he could no longer hold a pot of beer.

Elmore, Victoria

He developed his special potion by blending vanilla oil with olive oil, tea tree oil and eucalyptus oil, when he had perfected the potion he named it Elmore Oil after his home town and started manufacturing it for sale to other suffers of arthritis, back pain, headaches, sciatica and other muscular pains.

After a television program in 2005, sales of Elmore Oil began to soar and the product soon found its way into Australian pharmacies and that was followed by shipments to, and distributorships in, more than a dozen countries.

Some of the oils used may have side-effects for some people if used undiluted. Eucalyptus oil can be fatal if 3.5 ml is swallowed undiluted. In lesser amounts it can cause a whole range of side-effects including stomach pain, burning, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and drowsiness. Just ask any koala bear.

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Elmore Oil, in very small amounts, is applied to the skin of the affected area and then massaged for about 30 seconds to bring immediate relief.

Ralph Linford always recommended that Elmore Oil should be used sparingly and that frequent use is always better than over use. Ralph passed away in 2011 aged over 90 and the business has been run by his son Mark since 2004. Mark has carried on a tradition established by his father of supporting charities in Australia and abroad.

NEW ZEALAND ROAD SAFETY

Sharing the road downunder

New Zealand’s extra short passing lanes, usually just one kilometre long, are death traps.

Drivers get plenty of warning that passing lanes are coming up with advance signs at two kilometres, one kilometre, 400 metres and finally a sign to keep left unless passing. But at the death-end of the passing lane there is just one small sign showing the lanes merging in 200 metres, and that sign could easily be obscured from overtaking traffic by the traffic keeping left. (Readers from most countries should note that in New Zealand we drive on the left and have the steering wheel on the right, and there is no plan to come into line with the rest of the world)

Dangerous features of the passing lanes include the fact that the lanes merge after exactly one kilometre regardless of visibility. It could be on a crest of a hill or on a blind  curve and it matters not to the road engineers or the source of the funds. The money runs out after one kilometre, live or die.

For many drivers one kilometre is long enough to start a race, but not long enough to finish the race. The death-end works like a concertina where the music comes from screeching rubber, crushing metal and mortal screams. But in spite of close shaves by the minute, ignorance continues to dictate that speed should have right of way over caution and overtaking is more important than merging.

In her article Sharing the Road, Trena Marshall has touched on two topics that are dear to my heart; road safety and motor caravans.

I fully endorse her comments about freedom campers who don’t play the game with toilet habits. It may be time to outlaw rental motor-homes that are not fully self-contained, or alternately require the renting companies to prominently display the rules and the consequences inside their vehicles.

But, having said that, perhaps it is time also for central and/or local government to start providing more public facilities along tourist routes. Other developed countries don’t have the problems that we do because they appreciate the benefits that tourism spending has on the economy and employment, and cater accordingly for their visitors.

Here is Trena Marshall’s article:

Freedom camping has endured some blight but it comprises two distinct groups.

There are those who hire a van set up as a camper. It will have a bed and cooking facilities but no toilet – and some tourists, considering it is all-natural anyway, head for the bushes.

Then there are those who use public toilets, or drive or tow self-contained vehicles with cassette toilets on board and willingly use dump stations.

The excellent, professional New Zealand Motor Caravan Association (NZMCA) – membership now nearly 54,000 individuals – publishes a monthly magazine as well as a biennial Travel Directory bible which sets out information and GPS co-ordinates about where dump stations are situated, as well as giving detailed maps and listings of camping grounds, private park-over properties, free parking, Department of Conservation camps, the facilities provided at each, and much more. 

It has also been going into bat to educate councils as they contemplate overly restrictive freedom camping bylaws, brought about because of those irresponsible enough not to use toilet facilities – and because the Government’s Freedom Camping Act 2011 did not distinguish between certified self-contained vehicles and non-self-contained.

Some towns are happy to take on the label motor home friendly – a wise move.

The NZMCA rallies can generate a great deal of money to local economies. The 2013 NZMCA National Easter Rally was held at New Plymouth.

The event poured $1.6 million into the region. Latest figures on the Easter rally held in Mosgiel have yet to come in.

Skilled association members can issue self-containment certificates after a thorough check and other bonuses are discounts, for instance on the Bluebridge ferry crossing. I arranged my insurance, signed up to the association, and set out. 

I thought towing a caravan would be like towing the trailer – I am an expert at that after growing up in a farmyard. Abe – my caravan – would follow like the waking wisps of a dream. Lord knows, he was snuggled up close enough behind the car.

Except that it wasn’t easy. For some reason, we struggled up the hills. When I came across another vintage caravan parked in a rest area, of course I pulled in for a chat.

We left together but their little car and quaint Lilliput caravan were soon miles ahead, going at a jaunty pace up the hills while I seemed to get slower and slower.

It wasn’t until I reached Kaikoura, alerted by squealing brakes, that I found the handbrake on the caravan needed adjusting – it was half on.

If driving an automatic, as I was, make sure it’s awash with fresh fluid: oil and transmission. Changing the latter every 40,000km would be advisable the Honda dealership told me.

Back on the road, I tried to be a courteous driver. So intensely did I concentrate on the rear vision mirror as well as the road up front that I nearly came back with one eye higher than the other. As soon as I saw traffic behind, I searched for a place to pull over to the left a bit and let it pass.

The trouble is, the courtesy wasn’t a two-way street, and my pulling over to the left where a wider stretch of tarmac allowed became a repeated exercise in fright as my bay ran out and the cars behind poured on the power, arrows determined to make it through – and too bad about the car and caravan with nowhere to go any more.

Running out of road has a way of wearing on the nerves so after a few hundred kilometres of this I changed from pulling left as soon as possible the second I reached a passing lane.

Then I would let out a breath, slow down, and let them go.

Only passing lanes also run out. That last little bit of gap became the hell-bent goal for yet one more car, and my hair would start to frizz again.

Some encouragement came during a phone call from Paul Cooper, in Pukekohe, who did the restoration work on Abe. He wondered how I was faring on my first long-range trip: “Remember you have as much right to be on the road as anyone else,” he said.

It wasn’t all hard work. At times, I forgot Abe was there. Backing was no problem whatsoever. I could turn that caravan in a tiny space if I had to. The three-point turn stretched a bit but I could do it.

Abe is now resting up in my neighbour’s paddock. I am going to get back into the saddle again soon for a weekend trip.

That beautiful caravan deserves to be under cover though so if any Waikato farmer out there has an empty bay in a barn, please phone (07) 825 8191.

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