NIGEL THORNTON: Are Peterborians just bad drivers?

Barely a day goes by without one of the major roads in or around Peterborough being closed because of an accident.
Thornton on Thursday column with Peterborough Telegraph's deputy editor Nigel Thornton - peterboroughtoday.co.ukThornton on Thursday column with Peterborough Telegraph's deputy editor Nigel Thornton - peterboroughtoday.co.uk
Thornton on Thursday column with Peterborough Telegraph's deputy editor Nigel Thornton - peterboroughtoday.co.uk

It is one of the perils of our hectic modern day society, and no city is exempt from the problem.

But is Peterborough worse than other places?

I’m not a subscriber to the ‘there are no dangerous roads, only dangerous drivers’ theory as some are clearly worse than others.

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Roads such as the A605, A14, A47 and parts of the A1 are ones that any sensible driver would treat with caution. And that’s without mentioning the narrow and twisty Fen roads.

But, that said the number of accidents and road closures in this area seems disproportionately high.

Last week chief officers of emergency services and other bodies “signed a declaration’’ to cut down the number of collisions.

Fine words, but I’m not sure what they will achieve.

Last year the Department of Transport estimated that accidents in Peterborough cost the city £33.4 million and was in the bottom quarter for local authority areas for the number of accidents.

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Add to that the city was ranked third worst for road rage incidents and that more drivers were caught speeding at over 100mph in Cambridgeshire than anywhere else in the country.

Perhaps Peterborians are just bad drivers.

Ironically, while I was halfway through writing this piece I received a phone call from my wife.

Another car had driven into the back of her car as she was stopped at a junction at Cardea. Fortunately, no-one was hurt, and the twisted metal that resulted can be repaired, but it was an avoidable “accident’’.

Perhaps Peterborians are just bad drivers.

Steaming mad

Such was the inexplicably (to me anyway) enthusiastic reaction to the Flying Scotsman’s return to Peterborough I thought George Boyd must be re-signing for Posh. It was more interesting than the Olympic torch but that’s not saying much.

Thanks a million

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Good luck to Deeping couple Gerry and Lisa Cannings after their breathtaking £32million lottery win. Their initial spending plans are fairly modest, including a car wide enough for Gerry to get his golf clubs in (Gerry, you could hire Rory McIlroy as your chauffeur if you wanted!).

But £32million is a ridiculous amount of money, who needs that much?Wouldn’t it be better to have 32 people each winning £1million?

Europe

Soggiorno voto

I’m not sure what to make of the YouGov survey that claims Peterborough is the second most Eurosceptic area in the country. Other than to say that they obviously didn’t ask anyone in Fletton and Stanground.

Diary Of A Bad Dad

I knew the moment I did it I was making a tactical error. I pointed out to Mrs T an article about so-called “glory’’ parenting.I thought we’d share a chuckle but all it did was open a can of festering worms.

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Glory parenting, is essentially a variation on good cop, bad cop. One parent does all the hard yards with the children – clearing up, telling off –while the other (guess which one?) swans in for the fun from bedtime stories to trips to the park.

I’ll admit a bedtime story with Toddler T is one of my jobs – but as I’ve told Mrs T on numerous occasions she’s welcome to it. If I have to read one more Disney princess story I swear my head will explode.

Mrs T has a point about discipline though. If Toddler T’s naughty the closest I get to disciplining her is to warn her “I’ll tell mum.’’

Similarly, if Toddler T wants something like another chocolate biscuit my response is either to give in to her or, if I’m feeling brave, to tell her “go ask your mum’’.

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Toddler T didn’t exactly help matters. We were playing superheroes – she was Supergirl and Fixergirl (she’d ‘mended’ one of her brother’s toys she claimed). She dubbed me ‘Superdad’, which I was okay with!

But then Mrs T asked: “Who am I then?’’

“You’re Cookgirl,’’ was Toddler T’s very unhelpful response.

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