Close Call

[thewoodgnome]

So this happened this morning...

https://youtu.be/J0XVSYzrxqA

and the two young guys in the car just laughed it off.

Is there anything else I could have done to avoid this? Apart from either not using this road (which isn't an option) or buying an old barge or 4x4 that would have enjoyed meeting their front bumper.

(BEWARE - SWEARING IN THE VIDEO)

Edited by thewoodgnome on Thursday 22 September 10:31

[Chester draws]

Not really.

Your speed was cautious and reasonable for the visibility / conditions, positioning and reactions good, pulled the front to the nearside.

Only thing that might have helped them see you sooner might be headlights on. (Actually, I think you might already have??).

[thewoodgnome]

Not sure if the headlights were on as they are auto but the DRL's would have been on.

It felt like an age just sitting there waiting for the bang.

I know some people on here are against dashcams but if he had actually hit me it would have been put through insurance as 50/50 without this video to prove otherwise.

[Jonno02]

Not your fault at all. That idiot came flying round the corner.

[Reg Local]

Just remember the safe stoppng rule for single-track roads. You should always be able to stop in half the distance you can see to be clear.

It's sometimes worth giving a horn warning on the approach to badly-sighted corners too.

Not much more you could have done in this case though.

[jamei303]

Driving with the windows down can help you hear oncoming vehicles before you can see them, especially for the tighter bends.

[DaveH23]

2 people driving round a blind narrow bend too fast.

[66mpg]

Given that both cars stopped without a collision it could be argued that the speeds were not excessive. The margin for error was very low but not zero.

The expression often quoted is that you should be able to stop on your own side of the road, without drama, in the distance you can see to be clear and in half that distance on a single track road. The only debate really is whether there was any drama in the encounter.

[thewoodgnome]

DaveH23 said:

2 people driving round a blind narrow bend too fast.

All opinions welcome but I don't feel I was going too fast.

I do that road most days and almost all other cars do the same speed into the blind bend and there is no problem. There is usually plenty of time to slow down and pull over to pass.

[lost in espace]

DaveH23 said:

2 people driving round a blind narrow bend too fast.

Eh? The op was going very cautiously. Golf driver was very tight on the hedge reducing sight lines and going a bit quick, lack of driving experience coupled with youthful invulnerability.

[popeyewhite]

Reg Local said:

It's sometimes worth giving a horn warning on the approach to badly-sighted corners too.

Please, please please don't do this. Think of others. People go to the countryside for peace and quiet, not to listen to the beeping of car horns. Lots of sheep on and around the roads here as well - you want to frighten them into the path of another vehicle? Really, just drive according to the conditions.

[TurboHatchback]

The other driver was certainly going a bit too quick but good defensive driving is about expecting and preempting the incompetence of other drivers so I would say that yes you were going slightly too fast. Being able to stop in half the distance you can see to clear is a great theory but it relies on the person coming the other way also being able to do so which is often not the case.

Of course this is easy to say from behind my computer screen, I doubt I'd have done much better.

[Reg Local]

popeyewhite said:

Reg Local said:

It's sometimes worth giving a horn warning on the approach to badly-sighted corners too.

Please, please please don't do this. Think of others. People go to the countryside for peace and quiet, not to listen to the beeping of car horns. Lots of sheep on and around the roads here as well - you want to frighten them into the path of another vehicle? Really, just drive according to the conditions.

Nonsense.

This is another example of how horn use has completely lost it's legitimate meaning in this country. The horn is a signal & it's entirely appropriate to use it as a warning to other road users, whether that's in the city, in the countryside or driving across the Kalahari desert.

See my previous post on horn use here: I've been feeling horny lately

[davepoth]

thewoodgnome said:

All opinions welcome but I don't feel I was going too fast.

I do that road most days and almost all other cars do the same speed into the blind bend and there is no problem. There is usually plenty of time to slow down and pull over to pass.

I emphasised a couple of words. What you're saying (if you think about it) is that sometimes when you drive that road some cars do come flying round that corner, and when they do there is not really enough time to slow down and pull over.

[thewoodgnome]

Fair point.

However, is there a balance of defensive driving vs increased risk? I.e if I was doing 5mph I would have been able to stop far quicker but I am also increasing the time taken to navigate the bend and so increasing the risk of encountering another car.

[popeyewhite]

Reg Local said:

popeyewhite said:

Reg Local said:

It's sometimes worth giving a horn warning on the approach to badly-sighted corners too.

Please, please please don't do this. Think of others. People go to the countryside for peace and quiet, not to listen to the beeping of car horns. Lots of sheep on and around the roads here as well - you want to frighten them into the path of another vehicle? Really, just drive according to the conditions.

Nonsense.

This is another example of how horn use has completely lost it's legitimate meaning in this country. The horn is a signal & it's entirely appropriate to use it as a warning to other road users, whether that's in the city, in the countryside or driving across the Kalahari desert.

Rule 92 states you can use the horn when moving to alert other road users to you presence. If you can't see anyone round the bend does this mean you'd use the horn on every bend on every country lane? Of course not. Give me strength. Have some respect for the countryside and the animals and people that live there and enjoy the peace. Oh, and:

[Reg Local]

The countryside (however you want to define "countryside") is not a designated "quiet place". It's just a place, like all other places in the UK, With roads running through it and road users who are obliged to move from place to place under a standard set of rules and customs.

There is no obligation whatsoever to avoid horn use in rural areas just because it might startle a sheep, scare a fox or slightly alarm a foraging badger.

If you think another road user may benefit by use of the horn, then you may use your horn perfectly legitimately, whether you're driving across the moors, through the New Forest, over the Yorkshire Dales or along Deansgate in Manchester. In this case, a short horn warning on the approach to a corner with a very limited view due to high hedges may have alerted the oncoming car to the presence of the OP and avoided the near miss.

In case you weren't aware, the sound of a crash, followed by the sound of emergency sirens can be far more of a disturbance than a short toot of the horn.

[popeyewhite]

Reg Local said:

The countryside (however you want to define "countryside") is not a designated "quiet place". It's just a place, like all other places in the UK, With roads running through it and road users who are obliged to move from place to place under a standard set of rules and customs.

Oh Good Grief! So you don't advise any change in driving technique on rural roads where you're likely to meet walkers, horses, cyclists, sheep etc? Funny that - the Highway Code does.

Reg Local said:

There is no obligation whatsoever to avoid horn use in rural areas just because it might startle a sheep, scare a fox or slightly alarm a foraging badger.

It's simply a matter of safety (yours as well) and selfishness. Do you also think startling horse riders is good practice? Of course you don't.

Reg Local said:

If you think another road user may benefit by use of the horn, then you may use your horn perfectly legitimately, whether you're driving across the moors, through the New Forest, over the Yorkshire Dales or along Deansgate in Manchester. In this case, a short horn warning on the approach to a corner with a very limited view due to high hedges may have alerted the oncoming car to the presence of the OP and avoided the near miss.

He didn't know the car was 'oncoming'. I've already made that point - did you miss it?

Reg Local said:

In case you weren't aware, the sound of a crash, followed by the sound of emergency sirens can be far more of a disturbance than a short toot of the horn.

I'm not arguing about comparative noise levels, but if we're being melodramatic have you heard a horse rider screaming when her horse rears and falls on her legs because it was startled by a car?

[Reg Local]

This has suddenly become a very old school internet argument.

Exaggeration? Check.

Introducing scenarios which were never included in the original discussion to further an argument? Check.

Completely dismissing other people's points because they fail to conform with a fixed and dogmatic opinion? Check.

2002 called - it wants it's internets back.

I'm off - I've got an evening of scaring horse riders, alpacas and giraffes with my musical airhorns planned. Damn those country bumpkins with their bloody peace and quiet.

[WaferThinHam]

In b4 Godwined.