Part of my daily commute is by bus. Oh I could walk it- it’s less than a mile but it doesn’t cost anything extra as I have a monthly Oyster card.

Coming back at night there’s sometimes a 5-10 minute wait and a lot of slow moving traffic past the bus stop at Leyton tube. So I play Seatbelt football and count the score. How many drivers wear a seatbelt, how many don’t. Last friday the score reached an amzing 17:17. Yup, 1 in every 2 drivers was without a seatbelt. Yesterday it was 13:5 (thats 5 without). It amazes me that 23 years after this became compulsory (1983) so many still risk it.

I’ve noticed though that the drivers who flash buses out seem to be in the ranks of the unbelted. I wonder if this is because the belt wearers tend to drive faster and so are more likely to overtake than brake and flash – that old chestnut risk compensation theory.