More and more news is emerging of the horrific crash at the weekend – and in fact, so many new details are emerging that Sky News has paused some of its reporting in a very responsible fashion so as not to prejudice any trials that may be forthcoming. But one or two details that are in the public domain have emerged. One of these is that four of the five young men killed in the crash had previous convictions and some for assaulting police officers as well as motoring offences such as stealing a car for later joy riding. It is also extremely likely (and there is an audit trail to this effect) that the teenagers who lost their lives were engaged in an activity that was going to be filmed and posted onto TicToc which has hosted such footage in the past. I learn that a highly dangerous social media trend has sparked international outrage after multiple teenage joyriders were killed while filming reckless driving videos to gain popularity online. The phenomenon, heavily present on TikTok, involves groups of young men stealing high-performance cars, taunting police officers, and driving at extreme speeds. The crisis peaked following a series of fatal head-on collisions caused by teenagers driving the wrong way down major motorways. The deadly ‘wrong-way’ driving craze linked to social media has caused 12 deaths across the UK and Ireland. This terrifying subculture, fuelled by groups like the ‘Lucky Dip’ gang, involves masked teenagers hot-wiring high-performance vehicles, provoking police chases, and filming the reckless stunts to secure online kudos and likes. The escalating crisis has triggered severe international outrage following two catastrophic head-on collisions. Five teenage boys were killed instantly near County Kildare while driving a stolen BMW at extreme speeds on the wrong side of the motorway. The crash also critically injured a family of four travelling in the opposite direction. Less than a week later, five young joyriders speeding the wrong way down a dual carriageway near Middlesbrough slammed head-on into a police armed response vehicle, killing all five occupants and two police officers. Once again, we have an activity to which TicToc has given free exposure but the damage has been done before the offending material is taken down. The evening before last, I started packing for my Yorkshire trip which I will now be undertaking alone. My packing nearly always consists of a three stage process i which the first part has already been done. This is is to pack enough for the six days of my absence, The next task is to assemble together a range of household goods of little things that make my stay so much comfortable. For example, I must remember to pack a little alarm clock to have by my bedside and I always ensure that I have packed an extension cable so that I that can take my laptop with me and carry on blogging whilst I am away and one is never sure until you occupy a hotel bedroom what the distribution and accessibility of available wall-mounted plug sockets is likely to be. Finally we have extra toiletries and foodstuffs but the latter is largely a last minute affair. I will also be reliant upon the discounted sandwiches which I can pick up when I pay a visit to a supermarket store in town late in the afternoon. There are some photos that I have put by on one side to take with me and to show to other family members during my visit.
Today has been one of those days with a fair degree of frustration but I attended Pilates in the middle of the day. There I was sorry to learn that one of my class members was coping with a horrific set of domestic circumstances in which her own son had experienced appendicitis but she was having to cope with her ageing parents who were starting to exhibit signs of dementia and some of the sequelae which goes with all of that. I really did empathise with the problems that are assailing her and so far she is keeping her head above the water, as they say. In the last month or so, my own son had attended a reunion of the Psychology class of which he was a apart in the 1980’s When this little group met, they went around the table giving each other a quick résumé of their lives over the past 40 years and, if my memory serves me correct, practically every one of the group meeting up with each other for the first time in decades had had the experience of dementia afflicting their own family members. I am still thankful that Meg had a fairly peaceful and tranquil end, dying with her family and friends surrounding her but only about 12% of dementia patients actually die in their own homes. I suppose given the level of care needed, most patients end up in a hospital ward or a hospice so part of me is eternally grateful that Meg could have an end of life in she which she gradually drifted away (and she was asleep for most of the time towards the end)
A lot of the day has been spent not on the packing which I promised myself but trying (unsuccessfully) to negotiate a refund for the room which my American friend cannot now occupy as she is too poorly to travel. All I will say at this point is that hard lessons have been learnt which I shall apply in the future. On the advice of one of the Waitrose staff that I know well, I made a journey down at the appointed time to pick up sandwiches for tomorrow only to be told that the reduced (‘stickered’ items) were at the manager’s discretion and nobody could tell me when this was likely to be. So most of the evening will be spent completing the packing which is now more than half done and ensuring that I have the necessary cables and chargers for everything that I will pack in the main suitcase. The trick is to ensure that you have everything that might be needed but without overloading the case and making it burdensome to trundle around. My plans for the trip are in a certain amount of disarray at the moment but I shall probably make a journey to see my sister on Thursday morning in the small market town of Knaresborough and I have a nice dinner to which to look forward with my nephew and family. Whilst I am about it, I might pack one or two books to read because I have the feeling that I may have some time on my hands rather than making the trips out which I had anticipated.