AS ALWAYS, PLEASE DON'T COMMENT ON THE CULPABILITY OF THE DRIVER
Today is the court day for the man who ran into my pony and killed him. So much for local justice - for me and for him - when the court is 60 miles away, attendance required at 9.30 but no allotted time for the hearing of this particular case which could be any time before 4.30 or 5 p.m.. Given the heavy traffic along this route at this time on a Monday morning, if I had wanted to attend, I would have had to stay overnight in a hotel to guarantee to get there before 10.00 when the court starts. As it is, the defendant may not turn up, may not have responded, might ask for an adjournment, plead not guilty, or plead guilty by post, and since I have just had major spinal surgery I'm not meant to travel that far. If it had been locally, I am sure I would have done.
It is eight months since the collision - not very timely justice either but the police and the courts have a massive backlog of cases. Road traffic offences are all bundled up together on one court day at one corner of the county. Conveyor-belt justice before magistrates who don't know the area.
There have been some positive changes on the Forest but all with their own issues:
The police have begun to have regular speed checks - particularly on Roger Penny Way - but despite catching 50 speeders an hour, they only issue tickets to those doing above 50 mph. That is a 25% leeway. The remainder are given a roadside education. The fact that these figures stay so constant makes you wonder if it is any deterrent at all. Still, I hope they carry on and thank them for doing so, because this is all we have in the way of enforcement.
The grass verges have been cut back a long way allowing drivers better vision as they travel along Roger Penny Way - this could also encourage them to speed.
The provision of salt licks during the winter months at intervals along Roger Penny Way - we have had so little ice on the roads this winter that it would be hard to judge their efficacy as an alternative to the ponies going onto the road for the gritters' salt; the gritters have had a quiet winter. If the figures are lower (especially for multiple deaths in the same incident) then it does show what an impact salting the road has on drawing the ponies to the road and Hampshire County Council should add something nasty tasting to their grit. (Grit is salt)
I have been promised (twice) information on the progress towards the Feasibility Study. The authorities were due to get together again last week and I was told they were close to commissioning the report.
It would be very easy to forget Juma in all of this. Here he is with his nanny, Nanny, outside one of the commoners' holdings.