A Police Car And A Screaming Siren

You knew something had happened. The traffic does not go that quiet mid-afternoon on a Saturday. Then the sirens, the competing modulations of police and ambulance wail.

A couple and their baby had been knocked down on the road towards Can Picafort. Apparently they had looked to cross the road, and ... . Not dead, but serious.

These roads. The one between Can Picafort and Alcúdia Pins has no pavement, it passes forest to the beach side and Albufera to the land side. Get a combination of pedestrians, bikes and cars at high speed, and there is likely to be trouble. Not that this was the cause yesterday, but as with many roads here, accidents are waiting to happen.

This particular stretch of road is also used by pedestrians at night, returning from Can Picafort to Alcúdia Pins. There are other stretches here that are similarly dangerous for those on foot, such as that from Puerto Pollensa towards Club Sol, or that between the Cala San Vicente turning and Puerto Pollensa. And there is an absence of street lighting.

Though yesterday’s accident occurred during daytime, at night the conditions for accidents are increased significantly. There is one aspect that I can’t quite get my head around. If drivers (and passengers), when cars break down, are obliged to wear luminous jackets, why aren’t others? It doesn’t add up. Many’s the time I have been startled at night by a pedestrian suddenly caught in the headlights or by a bike with no lights or Sam Browne. Were there pavements along these roads, it wouldn’t be an issue, but as there are not, then it is.


Just to say that the rain from the storm a couple of nights ago may have largely avoided Playa de Muro but it didn’t avoid Puerto Pollensa, which - if anywhere is going to get in the neck - is the place.


QUIZ
Yesterday - “Silver Star” was the first Four Seasons’s hit that did not feature Frankie Valli on lead. The missing words were - “back at school”, meaning Rod Stewart and “Maggie May”. Today’s title - is the first line from what song?

And an up-to-date music recommendation, not had one for a while. The Besnard Lakes from Montreal. No myspace as far as I know. Their album “Are The Dark Horse” is on Jagjaguwar Records. Very good.

(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)