A few weeks ago, during the truckers' blockade of the roads around Bordeaux -- when everyone -- EVERY one was patiently sitting waiting for the lines of cars to inch along hour after hour, kilometre after kilometre, knowing that impatience and anger
and frustration was not going to make one iota of difference, this young woman -- probably from Rouen in the Seine-Maritime region of Haute-Normandie (according to her number plate), behaved like a real hooligan -- weaving in and out, pushing her way in front of cars, forcing them to slam on breaks to avoid collision, screaming down the emergency lane, and, as a result of flicking my lights at her when she nearly forced me into the side of a truck, she screamed abuse at me, using language straight out of the gutter, gesturing obscenely and doing things with her middle finger in the air that must surely be quite uncomfortable. 
Not a pretty picture, Mademoiselle 191 AAJ 76 de Rouen, not a pretty picture at all!More information about the Truckers' Blockade: Article published on the 2008-06-16 RFI update 2008-06-16 13:38
Go slow, walk-out, blockade: oil price protests around the world.
French truckdrivers are blockading fuel depots and causing traffic headaches around major cities with a drive-slow protest. In South Korea, more than 23,000 construction equipment drivers walked off the job, joining a trucking strike that has left shipping containers to stack up. Some British petrol stations were closed for lack of fuel after a four-day tanker protest started to affect certain regions.
Self-employed people and small businesses in fuel-dependent sectors have seen their bottom line suffer due to rising oil prices, while employees have been hit by inflation. They've joined a variety of protests around the world:
* France: Fishermen have been blocking ports since May. Onshore three of France’s largest truck owners' unions called a nationwide one-day strike. Trucks on the ring road in Bordeaux launched a go-slow protest causing giant traffic jams, but refrained from completely blocking roads.
They were joined by truckers in the eastern Alsace region and near the northern city of Lille, as well as those blocking access to the Nice airport in the south.
In Paris, private ambulance drivers clogged the street outside the Health Ministry demanding a meeting to discuss their financial problems, while construction equipment operators parked their heavy equipment in front of the gates to a fuel depot in Lorient, on the Atlantic coast, demanding tax breaks on fuel.
* Britain: A four-day strike called by Shell tanker-drivers has halted much fuel delivery. Shortages have been reported at more than 600 petrol stations and some have been forced to close. Talks between the union and companies contracted to Shell broke down on Monday. With the strike scheduled to end at 6 am Tuesday, the union is threatening to strike again on Friday and action may spread to other companies.
* Asian and European finance ministers expressed their concern over rising fuel prices after the Asia-Europe Meeting in South Korea. They released a joint statement expressing fears that rising prices threaten stable world economic growth and have serious implications for the most vulnerable populations. While expressing confidence that their countries could ride out the current crisis, they called for a speedy resolution to global trade liberalisation talks.* Opec: Oil prices were down Monday after Saudi Arabia's announcement that it will boost production. The move arose from a visit to Jeddah by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.
"The Saudis have always had this card that they can play in that they can actually put more barrels on the market if they feel that it’s overheating," Kate Dourian of Platts Energy Information Providers told RFI. "And I think we’ve reached that point."
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