Staying calm on the road

[Nerfbat]

I find I'm calmer since getting a Jag - wafting about in comfort with radio 4 on makes life less stressful..

[Bennet]

RichwiththeS2000 said:

I interupt that thought with a quick "Let it go!"

Let the road rage on.
Going slow never bothered me anyway.

[CrutyRammers]

Swanny87 said:

I've got some fun to look forward to then . I'm driving through Tuscany the week after next in a Fiat Panda (or similar) I'm taking the car from Pisa to Rome so hopefully Hertz have a 458 that they need in Rome and I can do them a favour

Edited by Swanny87 on Wednesday 23 July 10:25

Yes, it's a bit manic (though seemed all very civilised in the north end around the Dolomites, a different world perhaps). But strangely I've always found it quite unstressful, the barging and general idiocy is so prevelant that you just expect it and it doesn't bother you. Of course I come round a blind corner to find a car being overtaken by another car and a scooter 3 abreast. Why wouldn't there be? Of course you just pulled out without looking onto a dual carriageway where everything's doing 80, naturally, obvious thing to do. I'll just slow down then.

Being in a hire car probably helps too!

[JsyM3]

craig_m67 said:

Oh yeah, and Italy. You have to do what they are doing or everybody gets confused. They expects you to cut the other fella up, overtake wherever

Edited by craig_m67 on Wednesday 23 July 07:41

Always remember driving a hire car in Sicily, not having enough power to overtake anything so decided to sit behind the lorry I came up behind on the equivalent of a mountain B-road. Enjoyed the scenery and watched on as locals desperately overtook everything.
Most notably, a car did a triple overtake (car behind me, me and the lorry) and whilst I watched, someone overtook that car while it was making the already dangerous manouver. 3 cars, all side by side heading towards corner on a mountain road... Scared the st out of me and the Mrs

[Pixelpeep]

Actually that's a good point. A lot easier to get annoyed in an underpowered car. If you are in something tasty at least you have the choice of how you react.

I think having options taken away from you makes you more frustrated.

How many times have you mumbled 'if i had been in the xxxx, you wouldn't have done/got away/chanced that...' to yourself?

Now do you understand why white van man is so angry all the time?

[vincevega]

Agree with the auto 'box comments. Rather oddly I find I get most stressed driving around on sunny summer afternoons.

[Sump]

cheesesliceking said:

Sump said:

By driving a better car than everyone else.

Obvious troll is obvious... but tell me, is this your knackered Aston with its "ticking" engine?

Decided to stick a new engine in it.

Edited by Sump on Wednesday 23 July 14:19

[carreauchompeur]

eddy02 said:

I bought a cheap (very cheap) auto barge and the auto gear box makes me more relaxed,just press the gas and waft away.

Absolutely. My old A8 was the best for this. Double-glazed, comfy waftiness with an automatic V8... Progress when required. Possibly the ideal city car.

[Pixelpeep7r]

carreauchompeur said:

A8 automatic V8...

carreauchompeur said:

Possibly the ideal city car.

WIDTH 6 ft. 7.8 in. (79.8 in.)

LENGTH 17 ft. 0 in. (204 in.)

CURB WEIGHT 1995.35 kg

CONSUMPTION 16 mpg

I get that it might have been relaxing but i wouldn't go as far as to say it's the ideal city car!

[y2blade]

Be the better man.

[Rude-boy]

vrsmxtb said:

Don said:

My view on remaining calm on the road is to consider the act of driving as a professional activity. Something to do dispassionately and to the best of your ability.

I've been on no end of driving training courses - all of which I have enjoyed - and constantly seek to better what I do on the road.

Then, when confronted with the inevitable tttery of the British road system, one can rise above it, determined to make smooth, fast, and unobtrusive progress through the melee that others are making for themselves.

Be where the accident isn't. Be fast when it is safe. Be smooth. Find ways to make better progress - without behaving like the idiots - just by being smart.

Turns it into a challenge. Good fun. Much better for my blood pressure.


...and I still swear under my breath at the ones that seem to be trying to kill me....

This man speaks a lot of sense!

But that said I love driving so much it is all but impossible not to be passionate about it and passionate about getting better and better at it.

When time is not of the essence it is also almost amusing to sit back a few extra lengths to witness the full beauty of the ballet of inexperienced/crap overtakers, pin ballers, those that race up to the bumper of the car in front only to then lift and drop back 10 lengths and start again, those that live on their brake peddle (I do cut slack for cars which are highly likely to be autos) and the other 1001 acts of incomprehensible stupidity. Only yesterday I was doing this as in a long queue behind a load of lorries on a single lane road. The number of people who seemed to have no idea if an approaching car was doing 50mph or 90mph and their likely TED (Time Exposed to Danger) yet again surpassed even my low expectations. in 10 miles there were 3 near head ons and double that number of "I could have done that in a 1980's Fiat Panda, 5 up in 4th" moments.

[Rude-boy]

IanCress said:

Eg. a car pulls out in front and the driver doesn't immediately hit the brakes, instead opting to get right up close to the car in front. The car in front then has to do an emergency stop, and the car behind has nowhere to go.

"If you carry out a manoeuvre on the road that requires another driver to react in a manner they were not expecting to or to have to then you have made a mistake."

[Rude-boy]

Pixelpeep said:

Actually that's a good point. A lot easier to get annoyed in an underpowered car. If you are in something tasty at least you have the choice of how you react.

I think having options taken away from you makes you more frustrated.

How many times have you mumbled 'if i had been in the xxxx, you wouldn't have done/got away/chanced that...' to yourself?

Now do you understand why white van man is so angry all the time?

Point of order sir.

Many vans these days are a fair match for your average Golf and some even swifter if empty.

As for the other issue I have now solved this by making sure all cars I have to drive regularly are swift, to the point that I suspect that the TVR is actually the slowest of the lot day to day

[IanCress]

Rude-boy said:

IanCress said:

Eg. a car pulls out in front and the driver doesn't immediately hit the brakes, instead opting to get right up close to the car in front. The car in front then has to do an emergency stop, and the car behind has nowhere to go.

"If you carry out a manoeuvre on the road that requires another driver to react in a manner they were not expecting to or to have to then you have made a mistake."

Fully agree, but I think you've missed the point. Although the first manouver was poor, by deciding to react agressively the driver behind left themself nowhere to go when the car in front had to perform an emergency manouver. An accident would have been avoided by remaining calm and not reacting to the initial bad driving.

[jamieduff1981]

For me, personally a few things seem to have conspired to work collectively:

1) Grew up
2) Career with responsibility and the requirement for a sense of perspective
3) Have children (see perspective above)
4) Good seats
5) Working and effective climate control
6) Substantial power (gives you many more overtaking opportunities than you get in some wheezing box that needs a half mile run up to gain 15mph to overtake)
7) Automatic gearbox (for cities especially)
8) Don't look at the trip computer - it won't change the fact that you didn't get through that green light because the knob in front forgot to drive off
9) Convertibles can be very pleasant
10) Generally try to feel good about your commuter car.
11) Keep the car reasonably clean. I am far happier in a car when I can't see dirt. Dirty glass particularly pushes my buttons.


I've found that as I've grown up and my cars have become more valuable and generally in better condition, I'm just not interested in challenging people for positions and generally engaging in road rage as it's more important to keep my car the same shape and colour than it is to prove a point that won't seem all that important after a potential contact. A fist fight at the side over the road over who got in front is hardly the sort of image that's going to do anyone involved any favours.

Edited by jamieduff1981 on Wednesday 23 July 14:54

[0000]

Don't flash, don't use the horn, give them plenty of room and most of all become comfortable passing them on the left where space is available.

[Rude-boy]

g3org3y said:

BritishRacinGrin said:

Finally I like to play the 'don't brake' game, this is good for your heart rate as well as your fuel economy. It encourages a driver to follow at a safe distance and look well ahead in order to anticipate anything which is likely to result in a change of speed. It always makes me uncomfortable when I passenger with a driver who seems to just sit in the outside lane and watch the brake light of the car in front intently, poking at their own brakes every time it illuminates. Even better when you have a train of them following nose-to-tail, and they look like a line of racing cars with blinking rain lights on a formation lap...

Agree with this.

Really makes you concentrate on observation and anticipation.

Old E30 BMS used to have a break light out bulb that would turn off the first time you touched the brakes (unless bulb was blown!). It was amusing to see how far you could drive without it going off!

[Rude-boy]

IanCress said:

Rude-boy said:

IanCress said:

Eg. a car pulls out in front and the driver doesn't immediately hit the brakes, instead opting to get right up close to the car in front. The car in front then has to do an emergency stop, and the car behind has nowhere to go.

"If you carry out a manoeuvre on the road that requires another driver to react in a manner they were not expecting to or to have to then you have made a mistake."

Fully agree, but I think you've missed the point. Although the first manouver was poor, by deciding to react agressively the driver behind left themself nowhere to go when the car in front had to perform an emergency manouver. An accident would have been avoided by remaining calm and not reacting to the initial bad driving.

No worries, was expanding rather than missing though. Both should be due some re-education. I doubt that in all honesty any of us can hand on heart say that they have never been both the doer and the done before on that, save most of us have been lucky and avoided the biff at the end!

[Motorrad]

Many inner city drivers here seem to overcome the problem by smoking weed. Makes my bike commute more interesting as they seem to have impaired spacial awareness.

[ian_touring]

V8Ford said:

(snip)
So the question is, what do others do to stay calm behind the wheel?

Matthew

Sweet, sweet music. And sing along like no-ones watching/listening.
This personally really helps.