Rowan

I know this is a bit of a strange post, but...

Health of you rather the car is a priority for anyone to retain and use a driver's licence.

I have been familiarised with this for almost exactly three years. The 10 years or more that I didn't have a car and rarely drove one have been expanded out to 13-plus because of a head injury I suffered in a workplace accident almost exactly three years ago.

A long period in hospital, and medical reports from doctors to our state's licence-issuer, and then an epileptic attact almost exactly 12 months later -- and only three days after I successfully did a test to regain the licence -- means I have probably said goodbye to a driver's licence for a long while. The epilepsy was attributed to the seriousness of the origilnal injury, and no, I wasn't driving at the time of both the original injury or the epilepsy attack.

Still, I can stilluse my bikes carefully, am still aware of traffic laws and the stupidity of an inproportionate number of driver's, have a wonderful chauffeur in Machka on the various rare occasions she is needed (and mostly to organise Audax bike events), and make use of buses which are excellent where I live.

Soooo.. after all that, I do know what it is like to go for an extended period car-free, get the vehicle travel back, and then lose it for somewhat different reasons. Cycling does play that pivotal role, however, in enabling people to maintain contact with life.

Take care, Joey. Look after yourself as well as you do your cars. And retain cycling as one of your primary methods of transport.