New Book by John Lyon
Discussion
jagnet said:
I'm about half way through my copy and am finding it to be very very good so far. There's an awful lot of information in it, but it's well presented and well written with good use of diagrams supporting the text. Good use of relevant anecdotes as well that bring home the reasoning behind the theory.
There is talk of heel and toeing, not just double declutch as someone asked earlier, and frequent mention of ABS, ESC which makes the book more up to date than my cars
Well worth getting a copy.
Cheers.There is talk of heel and toeing, not just double declutch as someone asked earlier, and frequent mention of ABS, ESC which makes the book more up to date than my cars
Well worth getting a copy.
Heel-toe is a worthy method. Does he still advocate double-de-clutching at all times, though?
Having read quite a few books on driving & riding in the past couple of years (including the Porsche book), I doubt I'll buy this one in the near future, although I probably will at some point. Practising, consolidating and having some more observed drives are possibly the best course of action for me.
Received my copy a couple of days ago.
The book is written as if John is teaching you, this is fine but a little long-winded to find detailed information. No real structure. Don't get me wrong a very well informed book but not a reference guide. There are also allot of "Voice of Experience" sections, which are... interesting?
On page 51 the diagram has a silly mistake.
It is worth £10 and I will read it thoroughly.
PS I didn't get my soup!!
Edited for spelling, again.
The book is written as if John is teaching you, this is fine but a little long-winded to find detailed information. No real structure. Don't get me wrong a very well informed book but not a reference guide. There are also allot of "Voice of Experience" sections, which are... interesting?
On page 51 the diagram has a silly mistake.
It is worth £10 and I will read it thoroughly.
PS I didn't get my soup!!
Edited for spelling, again.
I found it quite useful, and it's not badly written at all which was my main concern.
The section on overtaking I found particularly good, as I haven't been driving long and my instructor and I never had the opportunity to do much overtaking aside from a few dual-carriageways. He is quite insistent on applying the power after altering position which I found unnatural at first; particularly as I drive a slow car.
What do you make of this bit:
"All of us should be aware that in the UK there is on overtaking on the left (undertaking) on motorways [...] So what is meant by 'Do not overtake on the left?'? Well, when the speed of traffic is very slow and queueing up, and the nearside lanes are free of traffic, you may, if it is safe, move up and fill the space. But you must take notice of the first vehicle you pass on their left and you must wait until the driver has re-passed you again before you move out into the overtaking lanes - otherwise you are overtaking on the left and that is an offence. In other words, you must not make any progress by passing on the left".
The section on overtaking I found particularly good, as I haven't been driving long and my instructor and I never had the opportunity to do much overtaking aside from a few dual-carriageways. He is quite insistent on applying the power after altering position which I found unnatural at first; particularly as I drive a slow car.
What do you make of this bit:
"All of us should be aware that in the UK there is on overtaking on the left (undertaking) on motorways [...] So what is meant by 'Do not overtake on the left?'? Well, when the speed of traffic is very slow and queueing up, and the nearside lanes are free of traffic, you may, if it is safe, move up and fill the space. But you must take notice of the first vehicle you pass on their left and you must wait until the driver has re-passed you again before you move out into the overtaking lanes - otherwise you are overtaking on the left and that is an offence. In other words, you must not make any progress by passing on the left".
FWIW, when overtaking in a relatively slow car, I'm inclined to build up a little speed before moving out, if I've determined that is safe to do so. Yes, I know the reasons why this is supposed to be avoided. On a motorbike that has a good viewpoint, narrow width and a surplus of acceleration then moving out before accelerating is often fine.
I would regard deliberately moving to the left to pass before moving again to the right as "undertaking" (and to be avoided in most situations) but -to me- the quote above appears to be taking this concept just a little bit too far....
drab said:
What do you make of this bit:
"...Well, when the speed of traffic is very slow and queueing up, and the nearside lanes are free of traffic, you may, if it is safe, move up and fill the space. But you must take notice of the first vehicle you pass on their left and you must wait until the driver has re-passed you again before you move out into the overtaking lanes - otherwise you are overtaking on the left and that is an offence. In other words, you must not make any progress by passing on the left".
Is that his suggestion/rule or his interpretation of the law?"...Well, when the speed of traffic is very slow and queueing up, and the nearside lanes are free of traffic, you may, if it is safe, move up and fill the space. But you must take notice of the first vehicle you pass on their left and you must wait until the driver has re-passed you again before you move out into the overtaking lanes - otherwise you are overtaking on the left and that is an offence. In other words, you must not make any progress by passing on the left".
I would regard deliberately moving to the left to pass before moving again to the right as "undertaking" (and to be avoided in most situations) but -to me- the quote above appears to be taking this concept just a little bit too far....
Edited by MC Bodge on Tuesday 8th May 22:23
waremark said:
I do not think there is an offence of overtaking on the left.
My understanding (ignoring motorways) is the same as:wikipedia on 10 May 2012 said:
On other roads, the Code advises drivers "should only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right" (rule 163). Rule 163 uses advisory wording and "will not, in itself, cause a person to be prosecuted", but may be used in evidence to establishing liability in any court proceedings.
The motorway case seems clearly stated in Rule 268, basically saying that you shouldn't pass on the left to gain advantage, but again the current words are advisory rather than mandatory.Perhaps older revisions of the Highway Code used different words?
Edited by AnotherGareth on Thursday 10th May 08:51
I'm not convinced that this will require a mammoth thread to discuss it...
Use a bit of common sense.
I really do not think that a co-driver/observer is required to make careful notes of when cars you have passed on the left have re-passed you before allowing you to change lanes.
Use a bit of common sense.
I really do not think that a co-driver/observer is required to make careful notes of when cars you have passed on the left have re-passed you before allowing you to change lanes.
Edited by MC Bodge on Thursday 10th May 17:07
A mammoth thread? It's 3 pages long and there's been about 3 posts about passing on the left. Or was that a warning about what happens to threads about this
I use common sense, although my idea of common sense is probably very different from others, i'm sure most here could say the same. When arguably the most notable/famous 'advanced driver' writes something which appears to me to be nonsense I thought I might ask for opinions.
I use common sense, although my idea of common sense is probably very different from others, i'm sure most here could say the same. When arguably the most notable/famous 'advanced driver' writes something which appears to me to be nonsense I thought I might ask for opinions.
Edited by drab on Thursday 10th May 17:01
drab said:
A mammoth thread? It's 3 pages long and there's been about 3 posts about passing on the left. Or was that a warning about what happens to threads about this
I use common sense, although my idea of common sense is probably very different from others, i'm sure most here could say the same. When arguably the most notable/famous 'advanced driver' writes something which appears to me to be nonsense I thought I might ask for opinions.
Fair point matey.I use common sense, although my idea of common sense is probably very different from others, i'm sure most here could say the same. When arguably the most notable/famous 'advanced driver' writes something which appears to me to be nonsense I thought I might ask for opinions.
Edited by drab on Thursday 10th May 17:01
I was just looking at the Amazon reviews, one of them mentions an error with checking tyre treads? What's that about?
Regarding common sense, I was thinking of getting this book as a gift for another and I'm not sure if they'd apply any common sense or objectivity and just follow it all as gospel.
Would I get much more from this new book than the Porsche driving book?
Regarding common sense, I was thinking of getting this book as a gift for another and I'm not sure if they'd apply any common sense or objectivity and just follow it all as gospel.
Would I get much more from this new book than the Porsche driving book?
carinaman said:
I was just looking at the Amazon reviews, one of them mentions an error with checking tyre treads? What's that about?
The book says, about tyre tread depth:"That means at least 1.6mm, three-quarters around and across any part of the tread."
Whereas, from the Highway Code it says, "...1.6mm across the central three-quarters of the breadth of the tread and in a continuous band around the entire circumference."
carinaman said:
Would I get much more from this new book than the Porsche driving book?
I asked the same question in February. Nobody has really given an answer.There may be some useful nuggets of info in it, but I've not bothered to buy it.
There's probably only a certain amount of info that I can gain from reading more books on the subject of road driving and it will almost certainly be a case of diminishing returns.
Is this John Lyon's book which is published by Haynes? I've read a fair bit of it and it contains a wealth of good information and advice, as well as having interesting anecdotes from throughout John Lyon's career. I hope to purchase a copy in the near future as I'm currently nearing my Advanced Driving test.
Well, I finally succumbed and bought the book.
First impressions are that it is well laid out and clearly written (even if some of the expressions used seem straight out of the 1950s, not necessarily a bad thing, just amusing)
I still find his enthusiasm for double-de-clutching a bit puzzling.
First impressions are that it is well laid out and clearly written (even if some of the expressions used seem straight out of the 1950s, not necessarily a bad thing, just amusing)
I still find his enthusiasm for double-de-clutching a bit puzzling.
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