Category Archives: Motoring

New Car Leasing Website Goes Live

Posted by David Hurst on January 27, 2012 None comments

It’s been a lot of hard work, and there’s still much to do, but WeLeaseAnyCar.com is now live.

2012 MotoGP Team and Rider Line-Up

Posted by David Hurst on November 17, 2011 1 comments

The MotoGP 2011 season is behind us, notable for Casey Stoner’s demolition of the entire field, and the tragic death of Marco Simoncelli. 2012 looks set to be an interesting year with 1000cc factory bikes, some older 800cc bikes and 1000cc CRT bikes.

Here’s my best stab at the team and rider line-ups for 2012. Please comment below if you know any different, or if I’ve made any mistakes.

Repsol Honda
The factory Honda team are dropping back down to two bikes for 2012, which will be ridden by:
27 – Casey Stoner (AUS)
26 – Dani Pedrosa (SPA)

Yamaha Factory Racing
No changes at Yamaha in 2012, so the line-up will be:
99 – Jorge Lorenzo (SPA)
11 – Ben Spies (USA)

Ducati Team
After a very disappointing year, Ducati will be hoping for better in 2012 but aren’t making any changes to their riders:
46 – Valentino Rossi (ITA)
69 – Nicky Hayden (USA)

Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Tech 3 have announced that Bradley Smith will be joining in 2013, and have in the meantime signed Dovi on a 1 year deal. The pressure will be on for Cal, but let’s hope for an all British line-up in 2013. For 2012 the riders are:
35 – Cal Crutchlow (GBR)
4 – Andrea Dovizioso (ITA)

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
After running only one bike in 2011 and seeing Alvaro Bautista jump ship, Suzuki will not contend the 2012 MotoGP at all. They are looking at a return with a new bike in 2014.

San Carlo Honda Gresini
After the untimely death of Marco Simoncelli and Aoyama’s move to World Superbikes, Gresini has had to adjust the team around. They are joining forces with British frame manufacturers FTR and will be running the second bike with a Honda CBR1000 based engine as a CRT (claiming rules team) in 2012. Bautista will ride the Honda RC213V factory bike.
19 – Alvaro Bautista (SPA) - Honda factory bike
CRT bike – rider yet to be announced

Pramac Racing Team
After the retirement of Loris Capirossi, Pramac announced the signing of Barbera. Randy de Puniet is also out and it would seem that Pramac will run one bike in 2012.
8 – Hector Barbera (SPA)

LCR Honda MotoGP
After talks with both Randy de Puniet and John Hopkins, LCR have instead settled on 2011 Moto2 champion Stefan Bradl to ride their RC213V in 2012. It looks like Toni Elias is headed to World Superbikes.
65 – Stefan Bradl (GER)

Cardion AB Motoracing
No changes at Cardion, which is no surprise given Karel Abraham Senior owns the team…
17 – Karel Abraham (CZE)

Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP
Alvaro has left and Mapfre Aspar have announced they are ditching the satellite factory bike in favour of CRT bikes with Aprilia engines.
14 – Randy de Puniet
40 – Aleix Espargaro

NGM Forward Racing
A new CRT entry to the premier class, Forward Racing have confirmed one bike so far, which will be a Suter chassis and a BMW S1000RR based engine:
5 – Colin Edwards (USA)

Speed Master
Another new CRT entry, Speed Master will be running an Aprillia engine (no word on chassis yet) and have secured the services of former top class rider (Honda 2001, Kawasaki 2007-2008) Anthony West.
13 – Anthony West (AUS)

Marc VDS Racing Team
Like Forward Racing, Marc VDS will use a Suter/BMW combination as a CRT team. Looks like one bike to be ridden by:
36 – Mika Kallio (FIN)

Paul Bird Racing
A very recent announcement from Paul Bird Racing confirms their entry as a CRT team for 2012, likely using a FTR/Aprillia bike, with a British rider who has previous premier class experience:
77 – James Ellison (GBR)

IODA Racing
Another CRT team not on the original CRT entry list. IODA will be running a Suter/BMW bike ridden by:
9 – Danilo Petrucci (ITA)

By Queroseno Racing (BQR)
Limited information is available on BQR’s CRT entry for 2012. It seems they will be using a FTR chassis with a Kawasaki engine and running a second bike by Inmotec. During testing the following riders featured:
68 – Yonny Hernandez (COL) - FTR/Kawasaki
22 – Ivan Silva (SPA) - Inmotec

Team Laglisse
I don’t know much about this CRT team, but in testing they ran a Suter/BMW bike ridden by:
31 – Carmelo Morales (SPA)

Grillini Racing Team
I know less than nothing about this team. They fielded a bike for the Valencia test with two different riders. I’ll post more when I find it.

Marco Simoncelli – Death of a Legend in the Making

Posted by David Hurst on October 23, 2011 7 comments

Marco SimoncelliThis has been a MotoGP Sunday like no other as the world of motorsport comes to terms with the shocking news that Marco Simoncelli has died.

Marco was, without any shadow of doubt, one of the most talented riders on the MotoGP grid. Already a 250CC World Champion, it is unquestionable that he would have taken a top class MotoGP world title within the next few years, and probably more than one. In many races this year, Marco Simoncelli was by far and away the fastest rider on the grid, though he was clearly still learning his race craft. He was developing as a rider all year, scoring pole positions and podiums, and securing his first 2nd place finish just last week at Phillip Island.

Words cannot express the bitter and deep sadness that I feel for the loss of Marco, yet I didn’t personally know him. I’m just one of the millions he entertained week in week out with his exuberant and flamboyant style both on and off his bike.

That Simoncelli should be dead at all is nothing more than a case of appalling bad luck. He’s had numerous crashes throughout his career without suffering serious injury. As is almost always the case with motorcycle accidents, whether on the race track or the road, it’s not coming off the bike that’s the problem, it’s what hits you after you do. At Sepang, Marco lost control of his machine at turn 11 and tried to correct the problem with his knee and elbow. Had he ditched the bike, it and he would have slid harmlessly into the runoff area. Instead, with Marco hanging off the side of the bike as the corner exited, the motorcycle veered back across the track into the path of Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi.

Neither Colin nor Valentino could have avoided the accident. Edwards’ bike collided with Simoncelli, hitting both rider and machine, and flipping Colin over the top. In the process, Edwards nudged Rossi, who veered to the side colliding with poor Marco Simoncelli’s head, removing his helmet in the process. Rossi managed to stay on his bike, but Colin Edwards suffered a heavy fall and a dislocated shoulder.

After losing his helmet, Marco doesn’t appear to hit his head again, but the force required to remove the helmet and it’s strap alone must have been considerable. The trauma he suffered to his head, neck and chest was too much, and despite the best efforts of the medical team who continued CPR for 45 minutes, Marco succumbed to his injuries.

It was a freak accident, but one that has caused Marco Simoncelli to pay the ultimate price, and it’s a price that he didn’t deserve to pay. The world has lost a great guy and the sport has lost a future legend – a rider that could have genuinely been as good as the great Valentino Rossi. And, one wonders whether we could be deprived of seeing Valentino on the grid himself? Rossi and Simoncelli were good friends, and I imagine Valentino is going through hell over this. It wasn’t his fault, but that won’t make it any easier to deal with.

Marco Simoncelli was a pleasure to watch. He made MotoGP exciting. In a season that has turned out to be almost entirely predictable, Simoncelli was the wild card, the joker in the pack, the guy capable of doing something amazing. He deserved his chance to shine at the top of the world and I for one am crushed and devastated that he won’t get that opportunity.

R.I.P. Marco Simoncelli – you will be sorely missed.

 

Car Leasing and Contract Hire for business and personal use

Posted by David Hurst on August 1, 2011 1 comments

“If it appreciates, buy it. If it depreciates, lease it.” – John Paul Getty

I’ve recently been working on a website for a car leasing company and thought I’d share a few words of newly acquired wisdom on the topic. The terms “car leasing” and “contract hire” are interchangeable, since when you lease a vehicle, you are simply hiring or renting it for an agreed contract period.

If you purchase a new car or van, you (usually) pay the full retail price for a vehicle that will begin depreciating before you even turn the key for the first time. As soon as you sign the documentation to become the first owner, your new motor starts reducing in value. To get the best value for your considerable initial outlay, you must run the vehicle for a good proportion of its lifespan, and that inevitably means driving around in an older car with increasing maintenance cost and declining appeal.

If on the other hand you lease a car or van, you only pay for the part of its life that you use. Often, the contract hire company can obtain better rates on the retail price of the vehicle, which makes this even more cost effective. For example, if a car costs £18,000 today and will be worth £9,000 in three years’ time, you are only funding the difference of £9,000, and that makes leasing cheaper than conventional finance agreements.

At the end of the agreement, you hand the car back with no worries about trade-in values.

If you’re a business managing fleets of cars or vans, business leasing and contract hire make perfect sense. Depreciation and maintenance costs can be eliminated, whilst the newer fleet presents a better company image and makes for a happy workforce.

Corporate fleet managers and personal leasing clients benefit from our influence with the UK’s largest finance houses. We have instant access to 12 different finance company quotation systems, which allows FVL to offer the most competitive car and van finance rates in the market meaning our customers get more motoring for their money.

I think the term you’re looking for is “no brainer”.

Honda VFR for sale – VFR 750 F

Posted by David Hurst on June 26, 2011 1 comments

Honda VFR 750 F for saleSOLD

The Honda VFR750F is widely regarded by the motorcycling press as one of the best motorcycles ever built. It’s easy to see why when you ride it – great handling, lovely engine and comfort all in a design that still looks good 15 years later. The 748CC V4 lump puts out 100BHP and 53.5 ft/lbs of torque, and is good for over 150MPH. The bikes have a reputation for racking up high (and trouble-free) mileage too.

Sadly Honda don’t make the VFR750 any more, but don’t fret, you can still buy one… mine to be precise…

It’s on eBay with all the details. Come and view it, make me an offer, and it can be yours.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230639636689

Connor Cummins TT 2010

Posted by David Hurst on June 9, 2011 None comments

You gotta love the TT. Year after year the death toll increases, yet no-one would dream of cancelling it and wrecking the Isle of Man’s economy. And still the racers come back for more… including Conor Cummins, who is racing in this year’s TT after recovering from this accident in the 2010 TT.

It’s dangerous. I would never do it. But I love watching it…

MotoGP 2011 Riders & Team Line-Ups

Posted by David Hurst on November 12, 2010 4 comments

With the 2010 season over and the dust settling on the Valencia testing, I thought I would list the line-ups and my predictions for MotoGP 2011. I’m probably completely wrong – feel free to add a comment with your own predictions.

Fiat Yamaha

The factory Yamaha team looks set to shine again in 2011, with a strong rider line-up and apparently a revised engine.

99. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA)
The current world champion will take some beating – Jorge has gone from strength to strength this season. Not only does he have talent in spade loads and a brilliant bike to ride, he has consistency, and that’s what wins championships.

Valencia test position & time: 2nd @ 1m 32.179s
My prediction for 2011: 2nd

11. Ben Spies (USA)
The 2009 World Superbike Champion (in his rookie year no less) had a good first season in MotoGP with the Tech 3 Yamaha team, finishing a respectable 6th. Now Ben has the faster factory M1 to ride, and it is highly likely that he will be pushing Lorenzo all the way in 2011. His 3rd place in the Valencia test bodes very well indeed.

Valencia test position & time: 3rd @ 1m 32.322s
My prediction for 2011: 4th

Repsol Honda

Honda’s factory team looks set to dominate the constructors title in 2011 with their line-up of 3 extremely talented riders.

27. Casey Stoner (AUS)
Casey hasn’t had a great time the last two seasons, with his illness in 2009, and his crashes in the 2010 season. A move away from the unpredictable Ducati to the super-smooth Honda was perhaps inevitable. Frankly, Stoner on a Honda is a frightening proposition and I cannot see him coming away with anything less than 1st place in the 2011 championship. This is borne out by his test times in Valencia, which really are stunning considering the fact he is getting used to a completely different bike.

Valencia test position & time: 1st @ 1m 32.066s
My prediction for 2011: 1st

26. Dani Pedrosa (SPA)
Dani had a good season in 2010 finishing 2nd in the championship, and had it not been for injury causing him to miss some of the end of the season, the gap between him and Lorenzo might not have been so large. Dani is the king of the race starts and he knows the Honda well, so you wouldn’t bet against him in 2011. I can’t see him being quicker than Stoner though.

Valencia test position & time: 5th @ 1m 32.497s
My prediction for 2011: 3rd

4. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA)
Dovi had a mixed 2010 season and seemed to be a little lacking in consistency, and he will be looking to improve on his 5th place in 2011. I don’t think he’ll manage it.

Valencia test position & time: 9th @ 1m 32.942s
My prediction for 2011: 6th

Ducati Marlboro

Everyone will be watching Ducati with great interest following their signing of Valentino Rossi for 2011, and with a new bike, it should be interesting. Rossi and Hayden both got to test “big bang” and “screamer” versions of the thumping V4, and it’ll probably be the “big bang” engine that makes the cut. Not the first time Rossi and Hayden have been team mates either.

46. Valentino Rossi (ITA)
Arguably the greatest motorcycle racer ever and a worth world champion in 2009, but thanks to a broken leg only managed 3rd in the 2010 season. Still, even if he hadn’t had the accident, he wouldn’t have beaten Lorenzo, and at times he didn’t look much like the Rossi of old. Hopefully his planned shoulder surgery in the off-season will go well and he will be back to his best next year. Personally, I think he might find it difficult to compete with Ducati and that he should seriously look at moving to Formula 1 before that opportunity disappears. Still, you’d never bet against him…

Valencia test position & time: 15th @ 1m 33.793s
My prediction for 2011: 5th

69. Nicky Hayden (USA)
Nicky managed a 7th in 2010 and I reckon he’ll be there or thereabouts again this year. His being more familiar with the Ducati resulted in better test times in Valencia, which give a better indication of how the Ducati will perform next year.

Valencia test position & time: 6th @ 1m 32.583s
My prediction for 2011: 8th

Rizla Suzuki

How sad that Suzuki will only be running one bike in 2011. At least it will be an improved bike, if Alvaro’s test times are anything to go by.

19. Alvaro Bautista (SPA)
Alvaro finished 13th in 2010, and I reckon with a better bike under him a bit more experience he should be doing better in 2011.

Valencia test position & time: 7th @ 1m 32.738s
My prediction for 2011: 9th

San Carlo Honda Gresini

The satellite Honda team has an excellent talent in Simoncelli, and clearly a bike that is not far off the performance of the factory machine.

58. Marco Simoncelli (ITA)
One of the real rising stars of MotoGP, surely Marco will have a factory ride before much longer. His performances towards the end of 2010 were stunning, and his test times at Valencia show there’s more of the same to come. Simoncelli could be the real surprise package of 2011.

Valencia test position & time: 4th @ 1m 32.450s
My prediction for 2011: 7th

7. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN)
Hiroshi had a reasonable season in 2010 finishing 15th, and he’ll be hoping for better in 2011, particularly since Marco is ably demonstrating the capabilities of the bike. I can’t see him doing much better though.

Valencia test position & time: 10th @ 1m 33.105s
My prediction for 2011: 14th

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Ben Spies showed in 2010 what the satellite Yamaha bike is capable of, but it’s clearly no match for the factory machines, and with a relatively weak rider line-up, I can’t see 2011 being a great season for Tech 3.

5. Colin Edwards (USA)
Colin is getting on a bit now and it seems unlikely that he will have anything new to offer in 2011. Still a great rider, and may pull the odd surprise finish, but a mid-table finish is probably the best he can hope for.

Valencia test position & time: 12th @ 1m 33.325s
My prediction for 2011:  12th

35. Cal Crutchlow (GBR)
Cal is a new face in the MotoGP paddock having recently stepped up from World Superbikes. He’ll probably have found his feet by the middle of the season and finish more strongly, and I reckon he may even finish ahead of his team mate Colin.

Valencia test position & time: 13th @ 1m 33.483s
My prediction for 2011: 11th

Pramac Racing Team

Pramac have an all-new line-up for 2011, and hopefully they’ve worked some better reliability into their Ducati powered bikes.

14. Randy De Puniet (FRA)
Randy is one of my favourite riders with his flamboyant style. Often though, this costs him, like at Silverstone in 2010 where he wore his tyres out power sliding through the corners and saw his excellent position evaporate. It will be interesting to see him riding the Pramac Ducati, and assuming the reliability is there, I think he’ll have a reasonable season.

Valencia test position & time: 8th @ 1m 32.836s
My prediction for 2011: 10th

65. Loris Capirossi (ITA)
The elder statesman of MotoGP moves to Pramac from Suzuki and probably won’t see much improvement over his 2010 performance. Still able to cut it with the youngsters despite being in his forties. Respect!

Valencia test position & time: 14th @ 1m 33.740s
My prediction for 2011: 15th

Paginas Amarillas Aspar

The satellite Ducati team fared reasonably well in 2010, but stiff competition up the top will make it harder to make an impression in 2011.

40. Hector Barbera
Hector still has time to improve in MotoGP, but I can’t see him doing much better in 2011.

Valencia test position & time: 11th @ 1m 33.168s
My prediction for 2011: 13th

LCR Honda

Randy made the satellite Honda bike look better than it probably is, and I can’t see Toni Elias managing to do the same. LCR will probably need to get used to being closer to the rear in 2011.

24. Toni Elias (SPA)
Toni comes back into MotoGP after a season out in Moto2, where he took the Championship. The big bikes are in a different league though and I think Toni may struggle in 2011.

Valencia test position & time: 17th @ 1m 34.800s
My prediction for 2011: 16th

Cardion AB Motoracing

I know less than nothing about this team and their rider, so I’m predicting a last place finish. The team is moving up from Moto2 and will be fielding a Ducati. Who knows what to expect?

17. Karel Abraham (CZE)
Karel placed 10th in Moto2 last season, so I can’t image he’s going to jump up to the big league and show the rest of them how it’s done. His test times in Valencia weren’t bad though, so this could be another surprise package for 2011.

Valencia test position & time: 16th @ 1m 33.793s
My prediction for 2011: 17th

The Casualties
Mika Kallio: will be racing in Moto2 for Marc VDS Racing Team in 2011
Aleix Espargaro: will be racing in Moto2 for Pons Kalex in 2011
Marco Melandri: will be replacing Cal Crutchlow in the Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike team for 2011, ending 8 years in MotoGP, where he managed an excellent 2nd place in 2005. Will no doubt be in the running for the World Superbike title in 2011.
Interwetten Honda Team: will be focusing on Moto2 for 2011, but plan to return to MotoGP in 2012.

The Support Riders
Alex de Angelis: replaced Hiroshi Aoyama for three races in 2010. Will continue in Moto2.
Roger Lee Hayden: replaced Randy de Puniet for Laguna Seca. Rumours are that Roger will be in Moto2 next year.
Kousuke Akiyoshi: replaced Hiroshi Aoyama for two races in 2010. No confirmed ride for the Japanese test rider next year.
Carlos Checa: replaced Mika Kallio for two races in 2010 and finished 3rd in World Superbikes. Will continue in World Superbikes in 2011.
Wataru Yoshikawa: replaced Valentino Rossi for one race in 2010. No confirmed ride for the Japanese test rider next year.

The Stig – the (not so) great unveiling

Posted by David Hurst on September 2, 2010 None comments

I enjoy watching Top Gear. Not as much as I used to true, but that has more to do with the retarded pre-pubescent humour than Mr Stig being unveiled. Frankly, the news coverage of this underwhelming event has been way too excessive. I mean, come on… we all knew that there was a guy under the helmet, and many would have had a reasonable stab at guessing his identity. Clearly, it had to be someone with racing experience (and probably not a huge amount of success if he has time to show up at the Top Gear test track throughout the year), so finding out that it is former Formula 3 driver and movie stuntman Ben Collins is hardly a shock.

Nor is it a shock that the BBC should have sought an injunction to prevent the disclosure of Stig’s identity. “The Stig” is not the same as Ben Collins the man. Rather, “The Stig” is a character and the intellectual property of the BBC (and its license payers), and Mr Collins presumably agreed to play along with the secrecy element of the character. The BBC should not be prevented from protecting its assets, provided such preventative action is sensibly priced and with good cause, simply because it is license payer funded.

All that said, I don’t really think this is as much of a disaster as Top Gear’s Andy Wilman asserted in his recent blog post. As he put it himself:

“Everyone who’s ever worked on Top Gear has kept the Stig thing a secret, and the person who wears the suit has signed confidentiality agreements to do the same. So talk about what you like in your own life, but not the bit you agreed not to. Your word is supposed to mean something.”

So where exactly is the problem? Mr Collins has surely breached contract, therefore the contract is at an end. It is time for white suited Stig to be shot off the end of an aircraft carrier in a knackered old Jag, and for a new Stig to arrive in a new colour suit (red or silver maybe?). The Top Gear viewers will love it! In fact, Ben Collins has just written half an episode of the new series for you, and generated huge amounts of publicity for the show.

Really, whilst it must be hugely irritating for the TG team, everybody wins. Ben and his publishers HarperCollins may well be cashing in the BBC’s IP, but the BBC has the opportunity to re-invigorate the show with a new Stig and move on… until the new Stig decides to publish his memoirs that is.

Now, regarding the new Stig – my suggestion would have to be Valentino Rossi, if you can tempt him away from Ducati and stop him doodling on the helmet of course…

B Road – what does the ‘B’ stand for? Bumpy? Broken? Bad?

Posted by David Hurst on March 29, 2010 2 comments

Regular readers of my blog will know that I am a keen motorcyclist, and there’s nothing we motorcyclists like more than a far-reaching ribbon of ultra smooth tarmac. Britain has some amazing rural routes with lovely bends and fabulous scenery, but it doesn’t have too much of the aforementioned high quality surfaces. Indeed, our rural B roads are only resurfaced on average every 79 years. This is just about twice as long as the recommended resurfacing interval of 40 years. In fact, our road network is now in need of a whopping £8.5billion spend just to bring the road surfaces up to a minimum standard.

This is hardly just an issue affecting bikers. Poor road surfaces increase the dangers to all road users and increase the damage inflicted upon our vehicles. Sadly, the powers that be choose to spend their time and money focusing on speed limit reductions and enforcement that have no discernable impact on road safety. Even as we speak, there is a campaign afoot to reduce the speed limit on rural roads to 50mph. Given that the majority of road traffic accidents on rural roads occur at speeds below 50mph or above 60mph, this change will make no difference to accident statistics. Rural roads will likely be difficult to police anyway, unless (as I suspect) the change is just an excuse to bang up a load more speed cameras. All this limit change will do is cost money and ruin our landscape. At the moment rural roads are by default set at National Speed Limit (60mph for car or motorbike), whereas if they are set at 50mph, there will need to be vast numbers of speed limit signs installed. This represents a vast expense and an unnecessary blight on our beautiful countryside. In most cases, the roads themselves dictate the naturally safe speed limit and this is often well below 60mph. But I digress…

The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) believes there to be more than 1.5million potholes in need of repair on UK roads. This figure has been dramatically affected by the recent cold weather, and is only likely to increase as winters become more extreme, and funding for road maintenance continues to be cut. As with many things in life, prevention is far cheaper than the cure. This is certainly true in the case of road re-surfacing, where basic re-surfacing costs about £14 per square metre, whereas full reconstruction costs a whopping £70.

How much does the government net from road tax? £47billion! More than enough to maintain our road networks in exemplary condition and vastly reduce the number of road deaths and accidents as a result. The problem of course is that most of this money goes nowhere near the roads.

When will you sit up and take notice of the sad state of neglect of our rural roads? Will it be before you round that corner on your bike only to be met with a giant pothole that sends you and your bike sliding down the road or into oncoming traffic? Will it be before you hit that broken surface in your car and are unable to brake effectively causing a collision with another road user?

Why is the transport network so low on the agenda?

Roadside memorials – at what point should the line be drawn?

Posted by David Hurst on March 25, 2010 2 comments

One of the sad downsides to the wonders of the combustion engine is the number of road deaths that occur each year in the UK. Whilst the figure could be reduced if the British Government stopped propagating spin and misleading facts about the causes of road accidents (all in support of their cash machine speed camera policy), there will always be a small percentage of road users that wind up dead.

Along with the increase in road deaths, I’ve also noticed a growing trend for relatives to make little roadside memorials for their dearly departed. Many of these are fairly dignified affairs with a photo of their loved one(s) and a few flowers, and many are removed after a month or two. Others seem to linger and expand.

There’s a classic example of this on the A3088 just outside Yeovil that I pass regularly, and over the last two years I have watched it grow from a fairly modest photo + flowers setup, to a full-on multi-coloured shrine. The grass around it is mown, flowers are regularly tended, photographs are attached to a tree and a rockery seems to have appeared upon which are placed various objects and toys.

I make my comments as an outside observer, and mean no disrespect to the deceased or his family and friends. Losing a loved one is an impossible thing to bear, and I do feel for all involved.

That said, the shrine that is so lovingly tended by the relatives is surely built upon land owned by the Highways Agency (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong here anybody)? Does this mean that I can go and erect any structure of my choosing next to an A road? Perhaps a nice pergola with some vines and a bench? I doubt it.

I imagine it would take a very brave person at the local council to remove the shrine – the local press would revel in the sickly sentimentality and jump at the opportunity to have a go at the powers that be over a “sensitive issue”.

So, I wonder where it will stop. Will our nation’s roadsides become festooned with rockeries, gardens and mini photo galleries? Surely, gardens of remembrance and shrines do not need to be built on the actual site of the accident? Where should we draw the line between what constitutes an acceptable roadside memorial and what doesn’t?

Perhaps it would be better if the shrine didn’t have to be built in the first place. Road safety is not solely a speed issue as the Government would try and have us believe, and the sooner they stop their ludicrously blinkered approach, the sooner roadside shrines would become fewer.