Musing on a motorway

Yesterday I was travelling to and from a VC-pitch contest in Bristol (more on this later).

First up I was not doing it in the Volvo. And this is a car designed to lollop along motorways.

No, I was in the missus' Golf, while she took mine.

The reason was simple: cost (and this, plus time, was why I wasn't in a train). I don't happen to like it as there is no way I can afford to get a car that does what The Volvo does, only cheaper, but my actions were shaped by market forces.

The other was not on the motorway. Just after Gloucester I got on the road that takes one back to Ross. And on my tail, the whole way, mostly through countryside, I was bang on 50, 40 and 30mph.

After 15 miles I had a tailback of 20 cars. Ironically, if the police car had been at the front I suspect we'd all have got there a lot quicker. And safer.

Because, despite having a Road Angel, without cruise control I had my eye glued on the speedo the whole time, as the merest blip on the gas or downward slope was taking me over the limit, even by the 10% allowed'.

This was... is...plain stupid. Rules vs. common sense. Box-ticks vs. desired result. And from the look on the police driver's face as I checked along the route, he thought so to.