Surprised I'm not dead.

[surveyor]

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?

[poing]

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?

Yup, far more often than I would like as well.

[sc0tt]

I don't really know what you are talking about.

[Northernchimp]

Sort of related. I've been watching some of my dash cam footage. I spend a lot of it thinking "WOAH WHAT ARE YOU DOING KNOBHEAD"

[kiethton]

poing said:

Yup, far more often than I would like as well.

Indeed...perfectly fine in a 60bhp 206, 4 years later and in a 306bhp 335i they didn't seem quite as opportune

[Juber]

sc0tt said:

I don't really know what you are talking about.

Same

[don'tbesilly]

Juber said:

sc0tt said:

I don't really know what you are talking about.

Same

OP drove dangerously as a teenager and it's just dawned on him that he still drives dangerously as an adult.

[Mr GrimNasty]

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?

Yep, you live and learn, although I swear they shrunk all the straights since I was a youth.

[TimS2000]

Absolutely - when I was 17 in one particular spot local to me I once overtook a car that was doing 40ish while 4 up in my '89 1.0 polo breadvan down a straight that I thought was fine - when I go down that stretch now I wouldn't even consider it solo in the much faster cars I've had since (tuned 200sx, s2000, 330d). Lucky I didn't kill myself and my 3 friends. Madness.

[MarkRSi]

Few years ago I had a Civic Type-R, now despite having something with nearly double the torque and 60bhp advantage it feels like it was much easier to overtake in the former. That was just 5 years ago as well

Perhaps everyone is driving faster now?

[Mound Dawg]

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.

[interloper]

poing said:

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?

Yup, far more often than I would like as well.

Ditto. Its funny how things that seemed safe and reasonable when you are in your late teens, early twenties don't so much twenty years on!

[exgtt]

don'tbesilly said:

Juber said:

sc0tt said:

I don't really know what you are talking about.

Same

OP drove dangerously as a teenager and it's just dawned on him that he still drives dangerously as an adult.

Fnar fnar

No, the OP recognised he used to drive like a dick, and now he recognises the difference.

You lot never been there? Probably not. Yawn

[roboxm3]

A little stretch of road near my parents house; these days I highly doubt I'd bother overtaking a single car unless it was really crawling... My record was four cars in my little 205 XS and I always used to be on the lookout for an opportunity!

[eesbad]

It's the mentality we had as youths - immortal and oblivious of consequences.

I regularly ran a 'time trial' down the lanes between our village and the next in my teens, in my Minis and then my 'warm' Mk2 Cortina and 'hot' Mk2 Escort. It even has a chicane I used to straightline at <<lots>> of mph.

25 years later and a nostalgic run after visiting my folks and I struggled to get above 45 at any point! With age and experience comes the knowledge that accidents hurt, Grandpa Joe in his Micra might be around the next bend in the middle of the road (or an artic/tractor/deer) and the fact that I love my wife and little girl and don't want to miss a minute with them - either in prison or worse...

I love spirited driving as much as any other PHer, but you pick your moments - as a lad, it was anytime and anywhere. That's the difference, I guess.

[petrolsniffer]

Yep I definitely cringe as I drive past places I used to overtake in my faster than anything 1.1 205 In cars twice as powerful.

[glasgowrob]

I'm with you OP

Some truly eyeopening flashbacks

[poing]

eesbad said:

It's the mentality we had as youths - immortal and oblivious of consequences.

I regularly ran a 'time trial' down the lanes between our village and the next in my teens, in my Minis and then my 'warm' Mk2 Cortina and 'hot' Mk2 Escort. It even has a chicane I used to straightline at <<lots>> of mph.

25 years later and a nostalgic run after visiting my folks and I struggled to get above 45 at any point! With age and experience comes the knowledge that accidents hurt, Grandpa Joe in his Micra might be around the next bend in the middle of the road (or an artic/tractor/deer) and the fact that I love my wife and little girl and don't want to miss a minute with them - either in prison or worse...

I love spirited driving as much as any other PHer, but you pick your moments - as a lad, it was anytime and anywhere. That's the difference, I guess.

Yup, I used to cover a particular stretch of road in exactly the time it took to play a particular song. I recently added that song again to my collection, I've no idea how I used to manage it because I couldn't even get close now despite a far better car in every way.

[goneape]

While I can't recall any specific like for like examples, I'm a lot more circumspect in my overtakes now than 16 years ago, despite being 200 bhp better off. I think the difference is a better appreciation of what it means to have an oncomer appear at the moment of commitment, even though now I've got another evasion option (I.e floor it snd complete becomes a more realistic option). Also more traffic now.

[SoupAnxiety]

One that springs to mind is overtaking five cars in a Toyota Aygo on an icy road with no grit and feeling smug that I had done it. Six years on I'm in a 330i and spend most of my time face palming ashamed of past mistakes! It's only luck that I've got through the stupid years and grown up without being in a smash. The benefit of hindsight!