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Geoff Maxted warns that you won?t see him coming . . . 
As an automotive writer I take my driving seriously. I also take the driving of other people seriously. It has become necessary for me to take the hard line view that driving standards are not what they were. My experience obviously is here in the UK but I expect that careless or just plain bad driving is a global issue. I have become a righteous and bold knight of the road, smiting with furious anger (in my mind) those that transgress the rules as I interpret them, and that is how I have carried on.
Until I made a mistake.
Nearly Departed
I had driven on business for several hours on mixed roads, including some lovely, winding, and typically British country lanes. Near the end of my long journey, I approached a crossroads, turned a blind bend and came face to face with a low autumn sun that temporarily blinded me. I misjudged the junction and was only alerted by a blare of car horns. This time I got away with it, but it gave me two salutary lessons: that being tired means a lack of alertness and that winter driving conditions are very different from those of summer.
We become accustomed to the time of year. Even in Britain where a Californian summer is but a hot, fetid dream, we do occasionally get some decent weather and we forget that only too soon, the dark nights will draw in and engulf us like a Dementor’s shadow.
Photo courtesy of Life-Of-Pix.
In Th...