Getting wound up.....
Discussion
I’ve read so many threads on here about the reaction to bad driving. Some involve aggressive behaviour (on both sides), some generally whingeing about MLMs, lane discipline, road rage, Etc. Others involve over-reactions with Red Bull Cans Etc, so I’m posting this as my experiences
This is a bit long, so, please bear with me.
Like everyone I get really pissed off by the t
ts that are in a complete daze when trundling around, but especially on NSL D/Cs and M’ways....
Thinly disguised under a sort of Health and Safety initiative for regular business mileage users, my company “told” us that drivers were expected to complete an on-line self assessment about our driving habits and following this, we would then be offered training about how to deal with dangerous situations.
Like most people I think I’m cute enough to spot a trick and it occurred to me that my company’s “safety initiative” was, in fact, a pre-emptive attempt to protect themselves if there was ever (God forbid) a fatal accident where the deceased family could make a claim along the lines of “early hours, excessive miles, no training” Etc Etc
Strangely though, the only people “invited” to participate were all the company car drivers and “cash takers” and not the people running around in their own cars. Hmmmm.....
A quick look at the test told me that it was in fact not a safety assessment but a psychometric test that appeared, on the face of it, to be designed to lead the participant into some form of re-training, by guess who? Yep, the training company......
BTW, in my 40s, drive a Mondeo as a daily barge, but I also have a 350BHP monster for the weekends
Being too cute for my own good, I ignored the repeated requests to complete the assessment, until after 9 or 10 months, I was told in no uncertain terms that my car allowance would be withdrawn, if I didn’t complete the test, sorry “assessment”. As I wasn’t prepared to get into a pointless argument about what my employment contract states, unilateral changes to T&Cs Etc, I eventually took the test.
The test, sorry, assessment, like any other psychometric, asked repeated questions about things like enjoyment of speed, reactions to bad driving by others, opinion of your own ability Etc Etc, but strangely enough it didn’t ask anything about things like
• Training since passing the basic driving test
• Hazard awareness
• Performance handling experiences
• Track day experiences
• Etc.....
Guess what? The test came back that I was a high risk taker, who drove too fast and was over confident of my ability. fking quelle surprise, based on the loaded and biased questions. So, inevitably I was “invited” to take some coaching about my driving habits
And so, I spent a couple of hours with a IAM Instructor (probably cost my company £300) and then spent a couple more on the Motorway. Despite my cynicism, I have to say that apart from the overly cautious approach that he was trying to drum into me, I learnt a lot that morning. I learnt to let the tts will drive like tts. I learnt the 2 most important things on my car are the indicators and the mirrors. I learnt that I should not get wound-up by the idiots.
What’s the point of this diatribe? I dunno really, but after reading all the threads on here about PHers that get wound up, ultimately my attitude now is “let it be”
Am I a better driver for this? Probably not..
Do I care? Not really..
Has the training effected how I drive/react? Yes, I actually think so...
Do I get wound up by the dheads? Of course, but now I just smile to myself and let them get on with it.
Can my wife sue my employer, if I end up as a statistic? Of course, but guess what they will trot out....
Do I still enjoy speed? C’mon..... but only where it is safe to do so - this PH after all.....
So after all of this, I have to say that a little bit of re-training has IMO worked and helped me to deal with the st we all see out there on a daily basis
This is a bit long, so, please bear with me.
Like everyone I get really pissed off by the t
ts that are in a complete daze when trundling around, but especially on NSL D/Cs and M’ways....Thinly disguised under a sort of Health and Safety initiative for regular business mileage users, my company “told” us that drivers were expected to complete an on-line self assessment about our driving habits and following this, we would then be offered training about how to deal with dangerous situations.
Like most people I think I’m cute enough to spot a trick and it occurred to me that my company’s “safety initiative” was, in fact, a pre-emptive attempt to protect themselves if there was ever (God forbid) a fatal accident where the deceased family could make a claim along the lines of “early hours, excessive miles, no training” Etc Etc
Strangely though, the only people “invited” to participate were all the company car drivers and “cash takers” and not the people running around in their own cars. Hmmmm.....
A quick look at the test told me that it was in fact not a safety assessment but a psychometric test that appeared, on the face of it, to be designed to lead the participant into some form of re-training, by guess who? Yep, the training company......
BTW, in my 40s, drive a Mondeo as a daily barge, but I also have a 350BHP monster for the weekends
Being too cute for my own good, I ignored the repeated requests to complete the assessment, until after 9 or 10 months, I was told in no uncertain terms that my car allowance would be withdrawn, if I didn’t complete the test, sorry “assessment”. As I wasn’t prepared to get into a pointless argument about what my employment contract states, unilateral changes to T&Cs Etc, I eventually took the test.
The test, sorry, assessment, like any other psychometric, asked repeated questions about things like enjoyment of speed, reactions to bad driving by others, opinion of your own ability Etc Etc, but strangely enough it didn’t ask anything about things like
• Training since passing the basic driving test
• Hazard awareness
• Performance handling experiences
• Track day experiences
• Etc.....
Guess what? The test came back that I was a high risk taker, who drove too fast and was over confident of my ability. f
king quelle surprise, based on the loaded and biased questions. So, inevitably I was “invited” to take some coaching about my driving habitsAnd so, I spent a couple of hours with a IAM Instructor (probably cost my company £300) and then spent a couple more on the Motorway. Despite my cynicism, I have to say that apart from the overly cautious approach that he was trying to drum into me, I learnt a lot that morning. I learnt to let the t
ts will drive like tts. I learnt the 2 most important things on my car are the indicators and the mirrors. I learnt that I should not get wound-up by the idiots.What’s the point of this diatribe? I dunno really, but after reading all the threads on here about PHers that get wound up, ultimately my attitude now is “let it be”
Am I a better driver for this? Probably not..
Do I care? Not really..
Has the training effected how I drive/react? Yes, I actually think so...
Do I get wound up by the d
heads? Of course, but now I just smile to myself and let them get on with it.Can my wife sue my employer, if I end up as a statistic? Of course, but guess what they will trot out....
Do I still enjoy speed? C’mon..... but only where it is safe to do so - this PH after all.....
So after all of this, I have to say that a little bit of re-training has IMO worked and helped me to deal with the s
t we all see out there on a daily basisBowler said:
Am I a better driver for this? Probably not..
Do I care? Not really..
Do I care? Not really..
Sometimes I get real uptight about peoples driving, especially on the way home from work where people drive so slow, brake at stupid moments and blatantly get in the way. It all depends how I am when I leave work too. Phycology and driving is an interesting subject. I don't get that annoying with people when I'm walking around town, (but it makes me wonder just as much about people).
Edited by The Lukas on Wednesday 13th October 22:53
Somnophore said:
If you knew it was a psychometric test, surely you could have figures out what was the right answer to put, they usually are nt too hard to figure out.
Come on give the guy a break. These tests are rock hard to decipher 
I have one here which require an 'Agree', 'Not sure' or 'Disagree' tick in the necessary box.
Section A
1 I am a sociable, outgoing sort of person
2 I enjoy meeting new people
3 I like driving to new towns and places
4 I am normally a happy individual
5 I don't like my own company
6 I enjoy showing off in my car
Section B
7 I am nervous when driving alone
8 I hate heavy and strange traffic
9 My moods change when I am driving
10 I worry about breaking down
11 I don't enjoy driving abroad
12 I am not considered very cheerful
Section C
13 I hate driving strange or new vehicles
14 I get irritated when I have to queue
15 I get angry with dangerous over-takers
16 I can't relax on long journeys
17 I hate letting other traffic emerge
18 I occasionally crunch the gears
Section D
19 I get bored very easily
20 I get annoyed with slow drivers
21 I think about work when I am driving
22 Driving is not usually much fun
23 I hate change and new things
24 I worry about time when I am driving
Section E
25 I am thoughtful of others
26 I prefer to cooperate than compete
27 People like working with me
28 I rarely ever argue a lot at work
29 I hate it when I'm doing nothing
30 I can easily cope with more than
one thing at a time
Edited by Fatman2 on Wednesday 13th October 23:11
Bowler said:
And so, I spent a couple of hours with a IAM Instructor (probably cost my company £300) and then spent a couple more on the Motorway. Despite my cynicism, I have to say that apart from the overly cautious approach that he was trying to drum into me, I learnt a lot that morning. I learnt to let the tts will drive like tts. I learnt the 2 most important things on my car are the indicators and the mirrors. I learnt that I should not get wound-up by the idiots.
What’s the point of this diatribe? I dunno really, but after reading all the threads on here about PHers that get wound up, ultimately my attitude now is “let it be”
Am I a better driver for this? Probably not..
Do I care? Not really..
Has the training effected how I drive/react? Yes, I actually think so...
Do I get wound up by the dheads? Of course, but now I just smile to myself and let them get on with it.
Can my wife sue my employer, if I end up as a statistic? Of course, but guess what they will trot out....
Do I still enjoy speed? C’mon..... but only where it is safe to do so - this PH after all.....
So after all of this, I have to say that a little bit of re-training has IMO worked and helped me to deal with the st we all see out there on a daily basis
My company car scheme they give you a higher allowance if you complete their driver training course (persumably they save on insurance and we had pretty much the same experience chilled and careful is the way to go.ts will drive like tts. I learnt the 2 most important things on my car are the indicators and the mirrors. I learnt that I should not get wound-up by the idiots.What’s the point of this diatribe? I dunno really, but after reading all the threads on here about PHers that get wound up, ultimately my attitude now is “let it be”
Am I a better driver for this? Probably not..
Do I care? Not really..
Has the training effected how I drive/react? Yes, I actually think so...
Do I get wound up by the d
heads? Of course, but now I just smile to myself and let them get on with it.Can my wife sue my employer, if I end up as a statistic? Of course, but guess what they will trot out....
Do I still enjoy speed? C’mon..... but only where it is safe to do so - this PH after all.....
So after all of this, I have to say that a little bit of re-training has IMO worked and helped me to deal with the s
t we all see out there on a daily basisMy only objection was they had a skid pan with a megane when the pool car is a BMW.
Somnophore said:
If you knew it was a psychometric test, surely you could have figures out what was the right answer to put, they usually are nt too hard to figure out.
In the end, I thought "bks, I'll just tell it how it is" and in any case, it was one of those online tests that you can't go backwards and change what you've previously stated.Ultimately, I genuinely think it improved my awareness as a driver. We all think we are better drivers than we are, but in my case it simply made me think more about what is going on around me
Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff