Swimming against the tide

I just wanted to send out my heartfelt sympathy to the parents, family and friends to the two young girls from the Rhondda who died on the road between Merthyr and Hirwaun on Saturday. I know the road well having grown up in the area, and its near to where I had my crash on the Rhigos mountain.

The road can be awful in the rain, and its high time that alterations were made to it. I hate three lane roads( the Heads of the Valleys road past Dowlais is the same, and equally as dangerous) as they are confusing to navigate, especially in the dark winter evenings when you cannot see clearly the marked arrows on the road. Its always tragic to see people die so young, when they had their whole lives ahead of them.

I saw my life flash before me when I crashed in worse weather conditions over two years ago now. For me, it was lucky that there wasn't another car coming in the other direction as I skidded across the icy road, ever closer to side of the mountain. I will never forget the feeling of having no control, that I too could be another headline in the newspaper.

I draw comparisons to swimming when I think of car crashes like this- it doesn't matter how strong a swimmer you are, if you are out in the sea and the current pulls you away, it is almost impossible to battle against the elements. The same can be said of driving. When you are young, you often feel that you are invincible, and that you won't ever be in a crash of any kind.

I don't know if there are lessons to learn immediately from this, only that we have to be careful on the roads, and ensure that there are proper warnings on roads, and that people are aware of the conditions before they venture out in the car. I still have panic attacks if the weather is bad on the road, and try not to drive in such conditions, but that feeling of pure helplessness will be with me for the rest of my life.