Bolton Advanced Motorists

Newsletter

Chairman's Chatter . . .

Friday morning, February 5th, 09.20hrs and a Ember Rental flat bed truck stands in the middle of the road by Lostock railway bridge. On the back of it is a mound of tarmac. The day is wet and cold and the two workmen carry on with their task. They are pothole fillers. The hole is not prepared in any way, no cutting out of the damaged edges of the pothole, no sweeping out of the rubble in the bottom of the hole. They don't even sweep out the rainwater!! A shovel full of tarmac is dumped into the hole and unceremoniously kicked around with a workmans boot. The little 'whacker' machine is run over the surface to flatten it in. Job done - and they move a foot or so to the next pothole! But how long will it last? Have we, as tax and ratepayers, paid for a quality repair - or a cheap bodge? Is this really good value for money? Two weeks later and the patches are still there - but for how much longer. According to the national TV News, the average cost of repairing a pothole is £70. Seems a lot to pay for less than 5 minutes work!
There are some strange goings on with petrol prices near to where I live. Over the last few weeks there has been up to 4p a litre difference between the big four supermarkets (ASDA, Sainsburys, Morrisons and Tesco) and the petrol companies (Shell and Esso). So bearing in mind that they are all big players in the fuel market and can purchase at the best prices, who is ripping off the customers and making lots of extra profit? Are the supermarkets like Tesco (who have had the highest price by 2p, 3p and even 4p a litre for some weeks) milking the motorist to fund the instore bargains? If Shell, Esso, Sainsburys and Morrisons can sell at 108.9p and ASDA at 109.9p, why do Tescos need to charge 111.9p? So next time you see the "5p off if you spend £50 in store", think about whether or not you are actually better off - maybe you have been paying over the odds for weeks! Is that a bargain - or not? Or are we all creatures of habit and just carry on buying where we have always bought. In Bolton more than ever, it pays to shop around - or you could just let their marketing strategies lead you!
Finally, I have received just one suggestion as to why the Highways Agency may have changed the overhead gantry message boards on the motorways to show "Salt Spreading" instead of "Gritting in Progress". The suggestion was that the new message needs around 27% less bulbs to light the new message - so that could mean 27% less electricity consumed. Food for thought?

Roy Sammons

Secretary's Scribbles . . .

I would like to extend a warm welcome to those who joined the Group in February (see page 6) and hope that you will enjoy your advanced driving course as much as I did. If you have any problems don't suffer in silence or give up, talk them over with your mentor. The Group is now in its 40th year and I am sure that the experience we have built up over those years will help sort them out.
The tragic death of a baby in Accrington, killed when a car driven by an elderly driver mounted the pavement, returned the spotlight to the question of whether older drivers should have more checks than at present. The subject was discussed on the BBC TV programme North West Tonight on February 10. The current system relies on drivers' honesty in declaring that they are free from conditions which may affect their driving. I wrote about this in Secretary's Scribbles of March 2008. Looking back it was good to see that my views hadn't changed but little else had - certainly the government doesn't seem to have taken any action.
I argued that a scheme of continuous assessment of drivers of all ages should be introduced so that everyone was kept up to scratch. This would provide the Group with, I thought, an endless stream of new associates.
Since continuous assessment is unlikely in the near future, please take every opportunity to talk to family, friends and colleagues about the benefits of advanced driving and the cash backs offered by the Bolton Group. One of the greatest benefits is the opportunity to make savings by insuring your car with IAM Surety. At the end of January the IAM announced a new service, IAM Surety Family, which is offered for the first time to the immediate family of IAM members. Details are on the IAM website at www.iam.org.uk/member benefits/iamsuretyfamily.html. Why not check them out when the insurance of your family members comes up for renewal.

Gary Whittle
  

 
 
Home : Course Details : How To Join : Meeting Place : Events : Fun Quiz : Contact Us : Driving Tips