Once, many years ago, it was quite easy to get a driver’s permit. Back in the day, the local constable advised me to go and get a money order for $40 and send it out. I complied and wondered when the driving school would start, who the instructor would be and all that other stuff. Weeks went by and so did my fantasies of taking driver’s education classes. Having a driver’s permit was fast becoming another dream that wouldn’t come true.
Two months passed, and then some official-looking envelope appeared in the mailbox. Inside was a green piece of paper that had my name on it and it allowed me to drive anywhere in the territory. Bring on the Chevy Camero please because I’m going for a ride. However, soon that dream was dispersed by the fact that I didn’t have anything to drive.
The dream of owning a vehicle and driving around like the Dukes of Hazzard didn’t really matter, because we didn’t have any roads and couldn’t really leave town because we were on an island. The only way out was during the winter on the ice bridge and that often meant driving for quite a ways before reaching anything that resembled a road or highway.
So, we had to resort to digging our way out of every little sandpit in just about everyone’s driveway, and then, anything off road was a real serious venture, because that was real off-roading. It was like off-roading to the nth degree, where the basic rules were to try not get stuck and if you do, you can only use a shovel to get out.
Ah, the glory days of simplicity and the personal vehicle. Some vehicles just got passed around until they died of natural causes. They made them tough in those days, not like today, where a blinking light will set you back days and thousands of dollars in inspections and evaluations, to find out that it was the light that was faulty and then, the bank would take it back stating negligence and abuse of the warranty and broken lease conditions because someone decided to scratch your paint just out of spite.
Back in the day, dents were harder to make and anyone with a pipe wrench could repair anything with a few bangs and ear-wrenching squeaks when wrung around a muffler. In those days, if you didn’t have a muffler, it was okay and the flames shooting out the exhaust made it even more fun at night.
Today, it’s a little harder to get a vehicle and send it north, where there are no road network connections and you cannot get insurance for a personal vehicle. Only businesses and commercial enterprises can get insurance for their business vehicles and if you are someone who comes from the north, it is yet another blow to what can be accessible for the average individual, who already has the burden of carrying the high costs of living and too boot, cannot be insured for any vehicle. Looks like big business wins again.
No one will be able to drive their own vehicle and have the safety net of insurance to cover them. But how do others do it? Good question, they don’t come from the north and have addresses in the south. So, in the future, don’t expect much out of exploring our own backyard safely, because there is no coverage for Northerners.
However, the couple on a Mexican vacation, the guy on patrol in Afghanistan, the passengers on the aircraft, the sightseers in Turkey and the sunbather in Phukat are all insured. But, in the quiet North, it is yet another strange story where in our own nation, the people of the North are just too much of a risk to insure. The only way to get by is to live a life without strife or worry and maybe you won’t get hit by someone in an uninsured vehicle.
