THE TRAGEDY OF INCONVENIENCE

This is Junction 4 of the M20 Motorway - about half a mile from where I live. Most of the time, the Motorway is peaceful enough, with the sweep of the North Downs in the background, but early today there was a six-vehicle pile-up which closed the Motorway from this junction up to the next one, where the M26 peels off and heads west. The result has been that the local roads around our sleepy village have become gridlocked - and likely to remain so for some hours until the Motorway is reopened.

We were expecting a guy to arrive this morning to lay a carpet in our conservatory. He was due at about 9.30 but thoughtfully he telephoned to say that he didn`t have a clue what time he might arrive, if at all. Now, this is a bit inconvenient, but I cannot bring myself to be even the slightest bit annoyed about it, for our slight inconvenience is as nothing compared to the tragedy that has befallen another family as a result of this morning`s event.

Someone has lost a son, or a father, a husband or a partner in the mayhem which befell our local Motorway this morning, adding to the 3,000 or so annual fatalities on our country`s roads and my heart goes out to them. I do lots of driving and, touch wood, have never been involved in anything like that in 50 years of driving. Sometimes, I count my lucky stars and hope they continue to smile on me as I travel the motorways of life.