Get on with it!
Discussion
R_U_LOCAL said:
Whilst we're on the subject of lines of traffic, there are an awful lot of drivers who seem to struggle with stopping in traffic. They stop short, you stop behind them, they then start to creep forward a few feet, stop again, creep forward again, stop, creep. And if you don't follow suit you end up looking like you're the one who's stopped three or four car lengths short. The ones who do it on uphill stretches are the worst. They sit balancing their clutches sometimes for minutes at a time, creeping slowly forwards...
I think it's because people can't judge where the front of the car is. So they stop a metre in front of the line, realise the mistake then creep forward. Also they don't think that's a problem because they are happy to sit in first gear clutch down for all of eternity.
goneape said:
That said the levels of inability and inattention are mind boggling. And its always phones.
Yes. Stand at any junction and observe just how many drivers are talking on a hand-held phone or furtively(or not...) reading from or touching the screen of a phone. It is a very large minority.
R_U_LOCAL said:
Decisiveness V Hesitancy
For example, I was following a Landrover Freelander the other day, through a fairly busy built-up area, towards some roadworks. The local authority were refreshing the road surface and a little further ahead, the top 3 or 4 inches of tarmac had been removed, leaving a few slightly exposed manhole covers and a small drop from the old surface onto the shaved surface.
At the drop was the usual battered "RAMP" sign and having driven over the same works the previous day, I knew there was no need to slow from the 25mph or so we were travelling at.
The Freelander driver, however, had different ideas.
He stopped.
And then - ever so slowly - crept forward in first gear at around 5mph through the whole length of the roadworks before stopping again at the "up" ramp (3 or 4 inches high) which he then crept up before driving off again as normal.
.
I agree, but you don't know what he was carrying !For example, I was following a Landrover Freelander the other day, through a fairly busy built-up area, towards some roadworks. The local authority were refreshing the road surface and a little further ahead, the top 3 or 4 inches of tarmac had been removed, leaving a few slightly exposed manhole covers and a small drop from the old surface onto the shaved surface.
At the drop was the usual battered "RAMP" sign and having driven over the same works the previous day, I knew there was no need to slow from the 25mph or so we were travelling at.
The Freelander driver, however, had different ideas.
He stopped.
And then - ever so slowly - crept forward in first gear at around 5mph through the whole length of the roadworks before stopping again at the "up" ramp (3 or 4 inches high) which he then crept up before driving off again as normal.
.
I must admit to the same crime when carrying our wedding cake to the hotel, I crawled so slowly as the wrath of the wife would be far worse than a few pissed off drivers. I did apologise though
Gary C said:
I agree, but you don't know what he was carrying !
I must admit to the same crime when carrying our wedding cake to the hotel, I crawled so slowly as the wrath of the wife would be far worse than a few pissed off drivers. I did apologise though
Yes, I should have taken into account the fact that he was driving with a champagne tower on the passenger seat:I must admit to the same crime when carrying our wedding cake to the hotel, I crawled so slowly as the wrath of the wife would be far worse than a few pissed off drivers. I did apologise though
Letting people out of a side street when traffic is heavy. I'm all for a christian attitude when travelling in slow-moving or stop-start driving and some give-and-take is essential to allow traffic to keep flowing, but...
How often does the car in front let one out, then two, then three, then every man and his dog.
Get on with it!
Let one out - two at the most, but remember that the more you let out, the more you're inconveniencing the vehicles behind, and the less likely those vehicles behind you are going to be willing to extend a courtesy to other vehicles in the blocked junction once the traffic starts moving.
R_U_LOCAL said:
Yes, I should have taken into account the fact that he was driving with a champagne tower on the passenger seat:
Letting people out of a side street when traffic is heavy. I'm all for a christian attitude when travelling in slow-moving or stop-start driving and some give-and-take is essential to allow traffic to keep flowing, but...
How often does the car in front let one out, then two, then three, then every man and his dog.
Get on with it!
Let one out - two at the most, but remember that the more you let out, the more you're inconveniencing the vehicles behind, and the less likely those vehicles behind you are going to be willing to extend a courtesy to other vehicles in the blocked junction once the traffic starts moving.
Ooh yes, the letting out. It's ONE people !, grrr. It just means the following five drives then refuse to let anyone out and wind up others.Letting people out of a side street when traffic is heavy. I'm all for a christian attitude when travelling in slow-moving or stop-start driving and some give-and-take is essential to allow traffic to keep flowing, but...
How often does the car in front let one out, then two, then three, then every man and his dog.
Get on with it!
Let one out - two at the most, but remember that the more you let out, the more you're inconveniencing the vehicles behind, and the less likely those vehicles behind you are going to be willing to extend a courtesy to other vehicles in the blocked junction once the traffic starts moving.
Also, when you let some one out in heavy traffic,, then they refuse to let anyone out themselves, selfish buggers.
Jonsv8 said:
Cars with automatic handbrakes and automatic gearboxes leave the lights on when stopped in traffic.
Get on with it could just as easily be applied to looking at visual clues for traffic starting to move ahead and bring prepared to go, you seem to advocate the car in front doing so but want to deny the car behind one of the clues when stopped pretty close behind you and limiting their view down the road?
If there's value in showing brake lights while I'm stopped in traffic then I will, e.g. waiting at the back of a right filter while other lanes are moving, and traffic is approaching from behind, but if there's no value in it I won't. This is really aimed at the situation where another car has stopped much too close to the back of me. I've seen it happen a few times and I'd rather take the risk of upsetting an attentive driver behind by denying him a clue about what's about to happen, than have an inattentive driver shunt me because he's seen my brake lights go out and is too eager to get on with it himself. Van drivers and airport taxis/limos are cases in point in my area.Get on with it could just as easily be applied to looking at visual clues for traffic starting to move ahead and bring prepared to go, you seem to advocate the car in front doing so but want to deny the car behind one of the clues when stopped pretty close behind you and limiting their view down the road?
Edited by Jonsv8 on Monday 18th May 06:23
As for wilfully denying a clue, and thereby preventing others from being able to get on with it (which I take it was your point above), I look at it this way: an attentive driver will be able to pick up on other clues long before I start to get going - he might see the lights change ahead, he might see trafic moving off a few cars ahead, he might see the other lane start to move, he might be able to see into my car and see me take a gear, etc. My brake lights don't add much to the picture for that driver.
R_U_LOCAL said:
...but I don't look right and decide to go until I can see that the vehicle in front is well on its way.
I learned that the hard way several decades ago. Guy pulls out onto the inside lane of a d/c. I look right and decide to follow him, only to find he has stopped dead because he has clocked a car some considerable distance away in lane 2 of the d/c! Minimal damage to the front of my car (broken number plate and scuffed trim insert) but the rear of his Metro folded up like a concertina. Instant write off.gdaybruce said:
And to add another one to a potentially very lengthy list ... people who pull out from a side turning in front of you, leaving a marginal but just about acceptable gap but who then fail completely to accelerate, leaving you no option but to brake. Then, eventually, they find the right pedal and slowly get up to speed. Get on with it!
Probably my biggest bugbear. If they are in such a hurry that they can't wait until I have passed the turning why do they then have this sudden urge to dawdle? Utterly mystifying. I see a lot of people who are indecisive about overtaking but then go for it when the ideal moment has passed. They'll be, "Shall I, shan't I?" until they're three quarters of the way down the straight, then close to the next bend they'll choose to go and end up on the wrong side of double white lines with only luck preventing a head on collision with something going the opposite way.
A proper plan to overtake the vehicle in front would allow them to look for an overtaking opportunity and take it as it arises rather than spontaneously thinking they might just have a go at it when they see a bit of straight road. It would also allow those behind who are observant enough to read their behaviour to identify they're definitely looking for an overtake, and so know they shouldn't try to overtake them, and to overtake after them on longer straights.
A proper plan to overtake the vehicle in front would allow them to look for an overtaking opportunity and take it as it arises rather than spontaneously thinking they might just have a go at it when they see a bit of straight road. It would also allow those behind who are observant enough to read their behaviour to identify they're definitely looking for an overtake, and so know they shouldn't try to overtake them, and to overtake after them on longer straights.
Blakewater said:
I see a lot of people who are indecisive about overtaking but then go for it when the ideal moment has passed. They'll be, "Shall I, shan't I?" until they're three quarters of the way down the straight, then close to the next bend they'll choose to go and end up on the wrong side of double white lines with only luck preventing a head on collision with something going the opposite way.
Or decide to start their overtake just after you've assessed them and decided they've had long enough to go and they're definitely not going to overtake.And you're now halfway into a two-vehicle overtake...
Blakewater said:
I see a lot of people who are indecisive about overtaking but then go for it when the ideal moment has passed. They'll be, "Shall I, shan't I?" until they're three quarters of the way down the straight, then close to the next bend they'll choose to go and end up on the wrong side of double white lines with only luck preventing a head on collision with something going the opposite way.
A proper plan to overtake the vehicle in front would allow them to look for an overtaking opportunity and take it as it arises rather than spontaneously thinking they might just have a go at it when they see a bit of straight road. It would also allow those behind who are observant enough to read their behaviour to identify they're definitely looking for an overtake, and so know they shouldn't try to overtake them, and to overtake after them on longer straights.
The problem is they regard overtaking on single lane roads as something unusual and stressful rather than a routine part of driving. When they catch up with another vehicle they don't think 'he must be going slower than me, I shall look for an overtaking opportunity'. They think 'Oh look Doris, we are stuck in traffic. No doubt we will be staring at this gentleman's rear bumper all the way to Worthing'. Of course when they do overtake at the last moment and in the wrong gear it feels very dramatic, reinforcing their view that overtaking is generally to be avoided. A proper plan to overtake the vehicle in front would allow them to look for an overtaking opportunity and take it as it arises rather than spontaneously thinking they might just have a go at it when they see a bit of straight road. It would also allow those behind who are observant enough to read their behaviour to identify they're definitely looking for an overtake, and so know they shouldn't try to overtake them, and to overtake after them on longer straights.
If you read the BRAKE advice on country road driving, the general principle is sound but they finish by saying overtaking should be avoided at all costs.
http://www.brake.org.uk/news/15-facts-a-resources/...
It may not get you anywhere faster on a short journey if you're only going 5mph faster than the slower car, Heaven forbid you look for joy in an open road ahead of you, but what about horse riders and tractors and cyclists? Do we sit behind these even if getting out and walking would be quicker? Do we not count passing them as overtaking and just squeeze by wherever we catch up with them? In practice, whenever we pass anything it's an overtake as we're potentially coming into conflict with the slower road user and those coming in the opposite direction. Horses present the additional danger of being spooked, cyclists could wobble or veer round hazards, tractors are especially big and wide and may turn without signals. Even the slowest and most dithery of drivers will want to get past them but too much advice tells people to slow down, stay in line and generally be passive in the process of driving rather than engage with it in a thoughtful, calculated and safe way.
http://www.brake.org.uk/news/15-facts-a-resources/...
It may not get you anywhere faster on a short journey if you're only going 5mph faster than the slower car, Heaven forbid you look for joy in an open road ahead of you, but what about horse riders and tractors and cyclists? Do we sit behind these even if getting out and walking would be quicker? Do we not count passing them as overtaking and just squeeze by wherever we catch up with them? In practice, whenever we pass anything it's an overtake as we're potentially coming into conflict with the slower road user and those coming in the opposite direction. Horses present the additional danger of being spooked, cyclists could wobble or veer round hazards, tractors are especially big and wide and may turn without signals. Even the slowest and most dithery of drivers will want to get past them but too much advice tells people to slow down, stay in line and generally be passive in the process of driving rather than engage with it in a thoughtful, calculated and safe way.
Edited by Blakewater on Thursday 2nd July 20:04
Blakewater said:
If you read the BRAKE advice on country road driving, the general principle is sound but they finish by saying overtaking should be avoided at all costs.
http://www.brake.org.uk/news/15-facts-a-resources/...
Wow!http://www.brake.org.uk/news/15-facts-a-resources/...
So much utter tripe dressed up as sound road safety advice.
I might send them a free book...
R_U_LOCAL said:
Blakewater said:
If you read the BRAKE advice on country road driving, the general principle is sound but they finish by saying overtaking should be avoided at all costs.
http://www.brake.org.uk/news/15-facts-a-resources/...
Wow!http://www.brake.org.uk/news/15-facts-a-resources/...
So much utter tripe dressed up as sound road safety advice.
I might send them a free book...
Blakewater said:
If you read the BRAKE advice on country road driving, the general principle is sound but they finish by saying overtaking should be avoided at all costs.
http://www.brake.org.uk/news/15-facts-a-resources/...
What a bunch of knobheads!http://www.brake.org.uk/news/15-facts-a-resources/...
Let's all go back to the dark ages and walk everywhere!
It's not all nonsense; there are roads - I was on some in the Chilterns last Saturday - where imagining dragons around every corner is the only way to stay safe. But to suggest all rural roads are like that and must be driven in fear and trembling is just silly - risks brings the idea of driving safely and in accordance with the conditions into disrepute.
I live in South Oxfordshire, where the County Council has an apparent fixation with imposing 30 limits on perfectly good rural roads. No, I wouldn't drive the one nearest me at 60, but 45 would be fine apart from a couple of tight corners and one junction with poor sight lines. Trouble is, limiting that road to 30 when it's not necessary makes (some) drivers question whether they should adhere to a 30 limit where it is justified; crying wolf, if you like. Brake - whose campaigns I respect, up to a point - should be wary of doing the same.
I live in South Oxfordshire, where the County Council has an apparent fixation with imposing 30 limits on perfectly good rural roads. No, I wouldn't drive the one nearest me at 60, but 45 would be fine apart from a couple of tight corners and one junction with poor sight lines. Trouble is, limiting that road to 30 when it's not necessary makes (some) drivers question whether they should adhere to a 30 limit where it is justified; crying wolf, if you like. Brake - whose campaigns I respect, up to a point - should be wary of doing the same.
I think what the main cause of this hesitation is the fitment of driving standards monitors and " witness cameras" in order to reduce insurance costs.
You would be surprised at the number of cars fitted with these devices or use a mobile phone app to record and transmit such information to their insurers.
The thread does seem to be a bit of a winging session, the only thing is, your audience you should be talking to are hardly likely to be on PH don't you think?
Rule of thumb, always stop behind the vehicle in front of you so you can the tyres make contact with the road.
TTFN
Another thought, have you noticed just how many vehicles that pull out in front of you turn off again with in aminute or two?
You would be surprised at the number of cars fitted with these devices or use a mobile phone app to record and transmit such information to their insurers.
The thread does seem to be a bit of a winging session, the only thing is, your audience you should be talking to are hardly likely to be on PH don't you think?
Rule of thumb, always stop behind the vehicle in front of you so you can the tyres make contact with the road.
TTFN
Another thought, have you noticed just how many vehicles that pull out in front of you turn off again with in aminute or two?
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