Surprised I'm not dead.
Discussion
eldar said:
mybrainhurts said:
Something about a newly passed teenager. Think he's saying he ate one then went to the toilet.
The speed limit was 4 mph when you were a teenager, and there were only 11 cars on the road. And you overtook 8 of them...
surveyor said:
Anyone else have similar flashbacks?
Last weekend I went through a twisty little gravel road I used to play rally driver on as a teenager...
Can't believe how tight and blind it seems now! I only got above half throttle and 60km/h about 3 times in 10 minutes, some of the tighter corners I was crawling around at 20-30km/h - zero visibility until you're onto a single lane bridge mid corner, that sort of thing. Must have been mental.
My perspective on this changed dramatically when I was doing a 120 mile round trip to work. The difference between the gritted teeth white knuckle ride in lane x behind all the other sheep and just chilling in lane 1 and behaving like a decent human being amounted to a whole 3-4 minutes Off a 75 minute journey.
So getting caught at one set of traffic lights could easily wipe out any gains made by an extra 10mph average on the dcs.
So getting caught at one set of traffic lights could easily wipe out any gains made by an extra 10mph average on the dcs.
Edited by Nuclear Biscuit on Saturday 28th February 02:12
surveyor said:
Driving home tonight I was making progress on a road that I used to use as a newly passed teenager..
Caught up with a car and thought I know - passing opportunity around the bend. Used to use it lot's.
My god - even though current car is considerably faster no way was that a safe spot to overtake.... Can't believe I used to see it as safe.
Anyone else have similar flashbacks?
Yes frequently. I shudder when I see some of the spots I used to think we're safe to overtake.Caught up with a car and thought I know - passing opportunity around the bend. Used to use it lot's.
My god - even though current car is considerably faster no way was that a safe spot to overtake.... Can't believe I used to see it as safe.
Anyone else have similar flashbacks?
O
Risk taking when your young is second nature, makes you feel alive. It's how you learn about a cars limits. Totally crazy but that's what being young is about. I look at some of the overtaking places I used to use and just wonder how? I know they felt safe at the time, can't even imagine doing them now.
eesbad said:
It's the mentality we had as youths - immortal and oblivious of consequences.
This.Risk taking when your young is second nature, makes you feel alive. It's how you learn about a cars limits. Totally crazy but that's what being young is about. I look at some of the overtaking places I used to use and just wonder how? I know they felt safe at the time, can't even imagine doing them now.
The teens and 20 somethings are very different today than when I was one in the 80's. I rarely see any of them doing the type of white knuckle maneuvers I and my mates probably did back then (thinking they were fine at the time) its usually mr red faced, middle aged angry balding man in a suit and tie driving his company Audi pulling those kind of stunts
I seem to actually have to overtake them instead now in my run of the mill diesel estate as they trundle along the inside lane on the bypass cruising at under 60 mph in their overstretched tyred, arse end scraping on the ground euro box. Its all about the look now rather than the speed.
I seem to actually have to overtake them instead now in my run of the mill diesel estate as they trundle along the inside lane on the bypass cruising at under 60 mph in their overstretched tyred, arse end scraping on the ground euro box. Its all about the look now rather than the speed.
Edited by PAUL500 on Saturday 28th February 13:03
as someone who started driving in the 80's, you forget just how slow, virtually all cars were on the road.
ie typical 17 yr old driver cars were minis, beetles, metros, polos, maybe the odd escort, fiesta, 2CV, pandas, eventually stuff like 205's.
yes we all crashed, but generally at lower speeds. of course the cars were usually so rotten, they were thrown away, or repairs were easy as everything bolted on/off. proper bumpers you could bump with !!!
in reality, these days, everything is actually pretty quick.
ie typical 17 yr old driver cars were minis, beetles, metros, polos, maybe the odd escort, fiesta, 2CV, pandas, eventually stuff like 205's.
yes we all crashed, but generally at lower speeds. of course the cars were usually so rotten, they were thrown away, or repairs were easy as everything bolted on/off. proper bumpers you could bump with !!!
in reality, these days, everything is actually pretty quick.
I overtake far far less these days... Mainly as others have said because of oncoming, but also because I don't think the style I learned works so well.
On days past it was a case of pin the throttle to the floor, and overtake. Ease off once past.
In more modern cars, and especially my toy, that works.... but I'll be going far far too fast for whatever comes next. Moderation is clearly needed, but mentally I struggle to do that whilst simultaneously putting myself in danger (the overtake).
These days it's engage adaptive cruise and just follow.
On days past it was a case of pin the throttle to the floor, and overtake. Ease off once past.
In more modern cars, and especially my toy, that works.... but I'll be going far far too fast for whatever comes next. Moderation is clearly needed, but mentally I struggle to do that whilst simultaneously putting myself in danger (the overtake).
These days it's engage adaptive cruise and just follow.
Can I mention bicycles and how they don't they pay road tax?
The last bit was a joke. However there are more of them on the road nowadays rather than me who tries to get fit by sitting on the sofa eating crisps and lager. Fair enough. So I do worry about skittling them over around every next corner, or them overtaking a combine harvester coming the other way and doing same thing.
We are just getting old and sensible I guess.
The last bit was a joke. However there are more of them on the road nowadays rather than me who tries to get fit by sitting on the sofa eating crisps and lager. Fair enough. So I do worry about skittling them over around every next corner, or them overtaking a combine harvester coming the other way and doing same thing.
We are just getting old and sensible I guess.
Mound Dawg said:
I started driving in 1980 in my mum's Mk2 1.3L Escort (0-60 in 16 seconds for all you Escort fanboys).
Yes, I used to drive like that.
I was 19 so a bit more stupid.
The other cars on the road at the time weren't any faster. So the Escort was capable of overtaking other things. If you were committed. Or stupid (see above). These days, any car that takes over 10 seconds to get to 60 seems to be considered as underpowered. That was "quick car" territory in the 80s.
Cars were smaller then, particularly, narrower, my Alfa 75, despite being a full 5 seater is tiny compared to a new Insignia or other cars with similar interior room. So the roads are effectively narrower by the same factor.
But the biggest thing is that the roads were empty by comparison in those days. Now there's ALWAYS something coming the other way so you just can't overtake unless you have a 400 bhp engine.
I think the comment about the size of the cars hit the nail on the head - where you could sail past previously on B roads where I grew up with room to spare, you are now conscious of all the potholes at the other edge of the road.Yes, I used to drive like that.
I was 19 so a bit more stupid.
The other cars on the road at the time weren't any faster. So the Escort was capable of overtaking other things. If you were committed. Or stupid (see above). These days, any car that takes over 10 seconds to get to 60 seems to be considered as underpowered. That was "quick car" territory in the 80s.
Cars were smaller then, particularly, narrower, my Alfa 75, despite being a full 5 seater is tiny compared to a new Insignia or other cars with similar interior room. So the roads are effectively narrower by the same factor.
But the biggest thing is that the roads were empty by comparison in those days. Now there's ALWAYS something coming the other way so you just can't overtake unless you have a 400 bhp engine.
One road in particular had a sharp crested hill, where it was almost a rite of passage to have a car off all four wheels - drove it recently in a hire car and it felt a damn sight narrower than I remembered..
I've been thinking about this.
I genuinely can't think of any overtaking spots that I used back in the day that I wouldn't or don't use now. That's not because I was super-sensible when I was younger; I wasn't - I was a nutter back in the day, but I was never one for taking risks with overtaking.
I genuinely can't think of any overtaking spots that I used back in the day that I wouldn't or don't use now. That's not because I was super-sensible when I was younger; I wasn't - I was a nutter back in the day, but I was never one for taking risks with overtaking.
I am almost always impressed with the young adults I meet. They seem much more mature than I was at the same age.
Whenever I see someone acting like a bell on the road it is not usually a teenager but someone old enough to know better.
Sure there will always be the kid in the lowered thing with the loud exhaust but they usually aren't doing anything wrong.
I think they get a raw deal from insurers, who will claim statistical evidence to the contrary. There's no doubt my generation were idiots when young but I'm not so sure about the current crop.
Whenever I see someone acting like a bell on the road it is not usually a teenager but someone old enough to know better.
Sure there will always be the kid in the lowered thing with the loud exhaust but they usually aren't doing anything wrong.
I think they get a raw deal from insurers, who will claim statistical evidence to the contrary. There's no doubt my generation were idiots when young but I'm not so sure about the current crop.
TameRacingDriver said:
This is all pretty concerning - I was young once but no I didn't overtake on blind bends. That is just f
king stupid, end of. The concerning bit is, the yoof of today are probably doing the same. I just pray I don't meet them coming the other way.
I don't think people mean blind bends, I think they mean places like Here:king stupid, end of. The concerning bit is, the yoof of today are probably doing the same. I just pray I don't meet them coming the other way.https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=51.91933,-0.2605...
There is easily space to get past before the crest, but that's not really good enough, you need to be past in less than half that for it to be safe - I think that's what a lot of young drivers fail realise.
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