an update on the tyranny

I’ve spoken to my British form of legal council that the Air Force gives us for free… it’s “officially” recommended that I take the Safe Driving Course. Apparently the fact that I didn’t cause the accident is not what’s being disputed (and isn’t what I would be prosecuted for). They assume that I wasn’t following at a safe speed for the distance in which I was following the cars in front of me. And if I was following at a safe speed, then I wasn’t following at a safe distance and I am thus to blame for the accident. The way it was explained to me, I’d be prosecuted for actually hitting the person, not for the accident itself. And, boy, you should hear the spin they’re putting on the whole situation.

So, unfortunately, I’m being forced to cough up approximately $410 for this day-and-a-half course. I’m going to learn how to be a “more aware” driver… a safer driver in England. They’re even being nice enough to me to let me attend the course in a different county. What nice guys.

This is a great goodbye present from the country that I’ve actually loved for the past three years. It’s definitely made the prospect of leaving easier to deal with. I’ll still miss my friends (of course) and the “beautifulness” of this country, but there’s no way I will miss this country and its asinine laws.

Let me clarify - I have nothing against the people of this country or most of its laws. Just against the way they decide someone’s at fault for something and the way they decide who to prosecute.

So, yeah - that’s the skinny I guess. I’ve pretty much been told to “shut up and color”. And color I will - with red, white and blue.