Some months ago I was told that Auntie Skid was spread all over the road surface near the puffin crossing. At first I was really concerned because I thought there had been a terrible accident involving some relative of Mr Sparks the mechanic.

I was so relieved to learn that Auntie Skid was actually Anti Skid, a mixture of plastic, stone and granite that is being used to cover the approach to junctions and crossings. Mr Mayor decided that we should use Anti Skid where ever accidents are likely.

Mr Jess from the road safety office told me they target sites where there have been 4 or more collisions resulting in injury in the last 3 years, he also said that an added benefit of the Anti Skid surface was that it highlighted the area, drawing the drivers attention to the hazard.



The company that make and apply the Anti Skid surface is Trustseal Ltd, I visited their website to get some facts for you about reduced stopping distances and the like, but it was too technical for a little toy like me, it made my head hurt and I had to go and have a lie down.

Let’s just say that I am truly convinced that this Anti Skid stuff really does work. It gives the tyres something to grip to, which means there are less skids which means there will be less collisions. It all seems to make sense, so why do I get annoyed every time I see the stuff?

Whenever I cure a pupils fault I use one main rule, that is to be certain I have found the cause of the fault before I attempt a cure. Mr Mayor seems, in this case, to have decided to address the symptom and encourage the cause.

I was doing some theory test training with Tessie Cat the other day and we got to the question about the main cause of skidding. Now Tessie Cat is not the brightest of kittens, and she has a bit of an attitude problem when it comes to being told she is wrong, so we argued long and hard over this one. She was adamant that the main cause of skidding was the road surface, she said that must be true because in places where there has been lots of skidding the mayor says we must improve the road surface.

I was quite shocked by this so I used Q+A technique to dig deeper. It turns out that Tessie Cat actually believes that Anti Skid will allow drivers to approach hazards faster because they know they have better stopping power! But when I thought about it, isn’t that what we teach our pupils? That they should drive at a speed at which they can stop safely in the distance they can see to be clear ahead.

If the road surface allows us to stop in a shorter distance, does that not mean that by applying our instruction they can approach faster?

Whenever a skid occurs it is caused by bad planning on the drivers part, by making it easier to stop on approach to a hazard we validate the drivers driving. We engender a false sense of security and move the emphasis away from planning and on to reaction. What will happen when the Toytown driver goes to drive in areas without these porridge slicks all over the road? Might it be possible that they will become a danger to other road users because their safety net has been pulled from under their wheels?

Why then do we choose to tolerate bad driving habits, and focus attention on changing the road surface which we already know is only of secondary importance when it comes to the cause of the skid?

And its not just Anti Skid, what about crossroads? We teach our pupils that the safest way to deal with a right turn at crossroads is to do it offside to offside, yet more and more I see road markings at crossroads guiding us into a nearside to nearside turn. The only reason for this must be the confusion caused by the Goblins who block off the road ahead when turning offside to offside.

So because of the bad driving habits of our drivers our authorities seem to be endorsing a technique that it is agreed is the less safe of the two options. And when they do paint a big X in the middle of a junction denoting a nearside to nearside turn, half the silly Toys on our roads treat the line of the X (that is there to guide the traffic from the right and left), as a stop line. They stop five yards from the line of passing traffic with their back end totally blocking your view, so you don’t get away any quicker anyway!

Box junctions are a waste of time too, the rule is that you don’t enter a box junction unless your exit is clear, right? Well can anyone tell me how that differs from any other junction? My pupils don’t enter any situation unless they can get out of it, but the standard of driving in Towtown is so poor that we have to go painting massive yellow stripes all over our busiest junctions to remind people of what they should already know.

Box junctions may help to keep some junctions clear but they just reinforce the misunderstanding that it’s ok to block a junction without a yellow box.

And it’s not just Anti Skid, Crossroads and Box Junctions

What about roadsigns? Talk about overkill. What about Bus Lanes? Waste of time. What about Cyclists? Learn to indicate! 4 Wheelers on the School run? Pass me my Uzi. Level Crossings? Level? Level? You call that level? ………

Sorry everyone, Roddy has had to go and have a lie down, his head was hurting, but he really enjoyed speaking to you all and can’t wait till next time.

Bye Everyone.

What's in a Name? John Brown - Driving Includes U

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