The combination of the back to school run and the end of the summer (ha!) holiday season can see Devon roads snarled up at all the hours of the day, and if the temperature outside the vehicle is less than seasonal, blood can certainly be boiling on the inside. None of this is conductive to the South Devon way of life, and the Axa Respect on the Road campaign is looking to bring courtesy and respect back to British roads.
It can take a cool head to stay calm as the queue of traffic in the famous Devon lanes grow behind a tractor – or worse – a caravan. Then there’s all the manoeuvring to accommodate oncoming traffic. And that’s even before you get to the queues around the towns, cities and attractions. It’s a situation suffered by local and tourist alike.
Respect on the road and good old courtesy and manners are what you’d expect, but they can sometimes go out of the window with the clunk of the car door as soon as people get behind the wheel. And it’s no use venting your rage in a car full of family, the Respect on the Road campaign has a video where five year old ‘Road Rage kids’ act out what could be learnt behaviour.
All too often, says the campaign, ‘inexperienced drivers give themselves away behind the wheel of a car; they lose their manners and sometimes their marbles too’.
As part of the I Respect the Road campaign, the AXA Car Insurance people put a web cam in a Black Cab to pry out the wisdom of the cabbie’s conversations, and, to be fair, better cycle ways and promoting walking don’t seem half bad. (In this clip, never mind Mayor Kevin, maybe Torbay mayor Nick Bye could take note too for his mayoral vision for The Bay.)
Check out more of the Cab Cam Respect the Road films to see if you share any of the opinions or experiences. Find out more and support the Respect on the Road campaign and ‘like’ the I Respect the Road Facebook page
Come and enjoy Devon – book a hotel and get away!
