Facepage Youbook

I've just joined a new group on that Facepageyoubook thingy. It's called "I hate people who don't indicate" and I suppose it gives you an opportunity to let off a bit of steam for things that wind you up (in my case, idiots who drive through dense fog with no lights, then hurtle around blinding everyone on a clear day (or night) with their foglights full on and people who don't indicate). Anyway, a couple of friends had joined up, so I thought I would - along, it turns out, with 1,677 others! Not just me that it winds up then! So, having joined the group I thought I really ought to write something on the "wall" - here's my contribution:

"I could have saved the entire British car industry with one very simple idea, saving billions in one fell swoop. Remove from the car's wiring loom all of that very expensive wiring that runs from the steering column to each corner of the car, plus all of that horrendously expensive switch gear on aforementioned steering column. By my reckoning, if you take the shortest route there's probably in the region of 20 metres of cable per car, excluding wing repeater lights. Keeping the figure simple let's say it's a quid a metre, plus if you go to a main dealer maybe an average of £100 for the switchgear. Six lightbulbs no longer required, another quid each. Maybe a couple of hours to install the lights at say £15 an hour; a kilo perhaps of amber plastic (being a product of the petrochemical industry it costs the earth). Now - only one in four drivers appear to have the intelligence to know how to use their indicators, so that means 3/4 don't. Create legislation to make these people buy our special new indicatorless car (27,401,793 drivers outside London who don't indicate) - work out the saving, plus the jobs created, for yourself! I'm a bloody genius!"

Rant over - well, almost; yesterday I drove through to Blackburn in what could best be described as poor visibility - there was a significant amount of fog about. We did a potted survey of cars with no lights or just on sidelights. Around half hadn't bothered at all, and I'm afraid of those very nearly all were female. Hmmm!