I seem to have spent a lot of time driving up and down the country just recently... it’s that time of year for any parent with a child studying at a non-local university.

So anyway, here’s the thing... a couple of weeks ago a certain police force had targeted speeding drivers on a stretch of the M5. Talk about overkill, this was simply crazy... there were speed checks every few miles... I counted seven units on the southbound carriageway and noted there were units on the northbound side also.

Well overkill or not, Mr Plod was obviously doing good trade that day; there were drivers being pulled for speeding at most of the units. I have little sympathy for anyone who got tagged that day, especially given the high profile of the speed traps.

On Wednesday afternoon as I was driving south on the M1 I hit a band of torrential rain and I do mean torrential. Visibility was reduced by the downpour and made worse by the kicked up spray. The amount of water on the road surface was amazing and even with traction control etc. there’s that horrible moment you get as you realise you’re driving too damn fast and the car feels ‘light’ on the road.

Like all the other sensible drivers, I slowed down and was using my headlights. Concentrations levels, always high on the motorway anyway, were peaking... three lanes of traffic all travelling at a fairly constant speed and everyone giving his neighbour plenty of room...

That’s when Asshole appears! Some cretin in a BMW 5 series (why is it always Beemers these fools drive?) driving like a maniac and weaving in and out of the traffic lanes... no idea whether the driver was male or female, since you really couldn’t see... was there a copper anywhere to be seen? No, of course not!

They always used to say, “There’s never a bobby around when you need one” and that was certainly true on Wednesday. The driver of that BMW was risking not only her/his own life, but also the lives of everyone s/he weaved around. So okay they were in a hurry, but then so was I... only I wasn’t in a hurry to die and I doubt many of the other drivers using the motorway were either.

Different motorways, different police authorities, different driving conditions... it still begs the question though, why one piece of motorway is targeted for speeding motorists on a beautifully sunny Saturday afternoon and another appears to be devoid of law enforcement on a torrentially wet Wednesday, when there’s far more chance of an incident...

Every time these unthinking drivers get away with their crazy antics encourages them to do it again and again until some poor sod gets creamed; come on guys, let’s have some sense and consideration on Britain’s roads!

Okay... rant over.