Stuck

~ beetleypete

Today, my wife has gone out to take her daughters and grandchildren to a petting farm near the town of Downham Market. She left early, and probably won’t be home until after dark.

With my driving licence still in dispute, I am feeling stuck.

It is a lovely sunny day in Beetley, set to reach 16C later. If I was allowed to drive, I could go somewhere else though. Take Ollie to North Elmham or Neatherd Moor for a change of scene, then maybe pop into town to get fresh bread and something from the shops.

Of course, I could walk. But Ollie has arthritis now, and cannot walk as far as he used to. Even walking into town would take 90 minutes each way to Neatherd Moor and a walk to North Elmham Woods would be over an hour each way, walking on fast roads. Ollie is terrified of walking close to traffic.

So I feel stuck. Beetley is a nice enough place to be stuck in, but I know every inch of the village and its surroundings by now.

The irony is that if I was able to drive, I might not choose to go anywhere.

But having that choice is what is important.

74 thoughts on “Stuck”

  2. Yes, it’s having the choice. You wouldn’t have felt as stuck, even if you didn’t have a car that day, if you had a license. You must be ready to stand on someone’s desk at the license bureau.

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  3. I hope it all gets cleared out soon. I don’t have a car here (I wouldn’t use it much, and public transport is good), but I miss driving sometimes, although here it would be more of an inconvenience than anything. I can’t imagine being without it in the town where I was living in the UK. Fingers crossed, Pete.

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    1. I was awakened from that dream by not being allowed to drive, Robbie. For the first time in 53 years, I am reliant on others to be able to go anywhere. I don’t like that feeling.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  9. Pete, it seems that Ollie might have more legal status to drive than you. But you bring up an interesting point that we all take for granted – our freedom. Yes my car is sitting in the driveway right now. It most likely will stay there all day unused. But I have a choice. I share the frustration with you. I will not ask where your nearest pub is.

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  10. Feel for you Pete, I’m now living out of town (will send you some photos) and I’ve often thought of what I would do if I lost my licence, not even a bus service here.
    Any way could you get a bus or taxi, keep receipt and present for reimbursement as it’s their fault for the delay.

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    1. I can imagine how hard it would be to get the DVLA to consider responsibility for my out-of-pocket expenses, Bobby! I wouldn’t live long enough for that to get to court. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  13. I am trying to imagine our lives without a car but we are lucky. We have a bus every hour and a supermarket ten minutes walk away. Our new little dog doesn’t like walks! He hates the traffic and rushes to get home. As we don’t feel able to go too far that suits us, but it is most peculiar. Just enjoy being out. It doesn’t matter if it is familiar. I’m sure you wil see something different every time. Round here it is magnolia trees.Best Wishes.

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  14. Are you waiting for a medical condition to be assessed? As far as I can tell you can drive legally if your application is with the DVLA unless you have a medical issue.

    “Providing that you have applied for a new driving licence and you meet the criteria of DVLA Section 88, your car insurance will still cover you for driving in the UK. You do not need to inform your insurer of this, as you are driving legally.”

    Does your doctor agree that you are fit to drive?

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    1. My Eye doctor is happy for me to drive. But the DVLA has shown me as ‘Licence Expired’. I checked with where I worked in the Police, and ‘Licence Expired’ legally means I am uninsured, and committing at least two driving offences. That is what I come up as on the Poilce National Computer check. The DVLA are just citing ‘delays in processing’, and will not investigate my case until 10 weeks have gone by, which is April the 19th.
      I’m not willing to take the chance that something might happen before then, and my insurers will deny liability.
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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  15. You think they’d automatically extend the licenses for 3 months or so, until they fixed their own backlog, rather than leave an entire population in the lurch! Who knows how many people have no other means of transportation? It’s crazy. In the meantime, at least you have Ollie’s company.

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    1. They do say you can drive until you get the new licence. But then they go and show me as ‘Licence Expired’ on the official computer, which means that my car insurance is invalid, and I can be stopped by the Police. Catch 22!
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  16. (1) 18° C at this very moment in Las Vegas, with a predicted high this afternoon of 33° C.
    (2) I can drive somewhere today, of course, but the price of gasoline is skyrocketing. Nevertheless, I’ll be itching to go on a hike in a day or two.
    (3) Give Ollie a doggy biscuit for me, and have yourself a Belgian Bun.

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  17. I’m sorry you are suffering at the hands of the bureaucracy Pete.

    My 2 cents? It is not by accident that you don’t have your freedom at this juncture. What the hell? This is a process (renewing a driving privilege) that has been in motion for years and and years, then ‘suddenly’, they can’t get you your “Papers”? Again, What the hell?

    “Because of COVID”? Please. . . , that is the most blatant Bull-Sh*t excuse on the planet at this point and God help you that they aren’t using it here. Fact is you’ve lost your freedom, the ‘machine’ doesn’t care, and in all likelihood is actually doing this to you and countless other seniors on purpose. Time to join in on the rage against the Machine I think, before it’s too late. Are there class action law suits in Blighty??? Seems appropriate at this point.

    Chagrined,

    CT

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    1. There have been class action suits, but rarely successful against the government. I am aware by now that hundreds of people all over the UK are in the same situation. The DVLA is making the feeble excuse that they ‘didn’t expect so many 70 year-olds to want to renew their licence’.
      That’s ridiculous.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. Ever since moving to Norfolk, I have really appreciated being able to drive. It was no so important in London, but not having access to my car in a small country village is of no use to me, Carolyn.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  26. Pete I had not read your earlier posts so did not know about your driving licence issue, i truly know that feeling as you know. I am going to get hubby to look through your posts to see what has happened I am so sorry xx

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