10PS's thread - How do you handle driving now?
Discussion
I re-read 10PS's thread in it's entireity yesterday night & like many, I have the utmost respect for him having put up the posts that he did, it left me pondering though.
One line he said really hit me, something long the lines of "think how other people would percieve your driving for the past 5 min should something happen". He's right, it's a superb point. The other night coming back from work, 32 miles, 20~ of which are gorgeous NSL single carriageway roads, ample overtaking opportunities. That night, I did a total of 8 seperate overtakes, overtaking a total of 16 cars.
I began analysing each overtake in my head a little bit more than I did the night before & I can imagine the vast amount of people would have said similar to exactly what the "witnesses" said against 10PS...Overtaking multiple cars with the straight six @ over 6k+ rpm, I can imagine there thoughts being "Drove like a lunatic as he overtook 3 of us before a blind bend with traffic coming the other way". When in reality, it would indeed be overtaking 3 cars, it would've been timed to perfection as when I passed the first cars, the chaps headlights came round the sweeping (not blind at all) corner, giving me more than enough time to overtake the final 2, thank the chaps behind for allowing a nice easy overtake, & a thankyou to the cars which eventually pass by on the opposite side for not having a hissy fit over nothing.
But then if by a twist of fate I...
For once the prospect of making progress scares me. Funny thing is, this is totally what my commute is geared towards due to the amount of numptys on NSL roads plodding along at 40.
I rarely push the limits of the car when cornering as I know my limits, & have an inkling of the cars limits but have never pushed it to the extent where I would be experiencing them along my commute. I don't however hesitate in using the power available in exploiting overtaking opportunities, it's one of the main reasons I bought the car, reducing time exposed to risk etc etc.
I will admit however, when hooning with others I have been amazed at the cars capability & would also admit that it was nudging outside my comfort zone especially when taking corners.
So what do you do? Do you keep enthusiastic driving to a track day & fall into line with the masses? Or do you dare to be different & overtake/make progress knowing that your experience/timing will see you through, but then, what if you're unlucky, would that make you think twice? Or would you still go for it?
It's made me all rather confused, the 10PS thread has made me question my driving to the extent where I'm wondering whether the way I drive will be my own downfall one day? How do you handle something like that?
Apologies for the waffling on this by the way.
One line he said really hit me, something long the lines of "think how other people would percieve your driving for the past 5 min should something happen". He's right, it's a superb point. The other night coming back from work, 32 miles, 20~ of which are gorgeous NSL single carriageway roads, ample overtaking opportunities. That night, I did a total of 8 seperate overtakes, overtaking a total of 16 cars.
I began analysing each overtake in my head a little bit more than I did the night before & I can imagine the vast amount of people would have said similar to exactly what the "witnesses" said against 10PS...Overtaking multiple cars with the straight six @ over 6k+ rpm, I can imagine there thoughts being "Drove like a lunatic as he overtook 3 of us before a blind bend with traffic coming the other way". When in reality, it would indeed be overtaking 3 cars, it would've been timed to perfection as when I passed the first cars, the chaps headlights came round the sweeping (not blind at all) corner, giving me more than enough time to overtake the final 2, thank the chaps behind for allowing a nice easy overtake, & a thankyou to the cars which eventually pass by on the opposite side for not having a hissy fit over nothing.
But then if by a twist of fate I...
- have a blowout
- hit a deer
- Find something/someone there where they shouldn't be & god forbid, hit them.
For once the prospect of making progress scares me. Funny thing is, this is totally what my commute is geared towards due to the amount of numptys on NSL roads plodding along at 40.
I rarely push the limits of the car when cornering as I know my limits, & have an inkling of the cars limits but have never pushed it to the extent where I would be experiencing them along my commute. I don't however hesitate in using the power available in exploiting overtaking opportunities, it's one of the main reasons I bought the car, reducing time exposed to risk etc etc.
I will admit however, when hooning with others I have been amazed at the cars capability & would also admit that it was nudging outside my comfort zone especially when taking corners.
So what do you do? Do you keep enthusiastic driving to a track day & fall into line with the masses? Or do you dare to be different & overtake/make progress knowing that your experience/timing will see you through, but then, what if you're unlucky, would that make you think twice? Or would you still go for it?
It's made me all rather confused, the 10PS thread has made me question my driving to the extent where I'm wondering whether the way I drive will be my own downfall one day? How do you handle something like that?
Apologies for the waffling on this by the way.
I had similar thoughts when i read it, and have been meaning to look into a police type camera set up in my car so at least a little of my perspective can be viewed.
which gives me a good oportunity to ask does anybody have camera's and are they linked to speedo, how long do they record for?
which gives me a good oportunity to ask does anybody have camera's and are they linked to speedo, how long do they record for?
fantastic post 
It is a point I often find myself thinking when out and about. My daily commute is 27 miles of mostly flowing, twisty B-road which has numerous overtaking points and is the kind of road you seek to enjoy yourself. However, it is also full of drivers doing 40 which can make it very frustrating at times. I generally overtake when I can and I'm sure I've had comments made about me even although IMO I've been perfectly safe in what I've been doing.
Ultimately if you are going over 60 you are braking the law, no matter how you try and defend yourself by saying you had 100% control/vision/confidence in what you were doing, 9/10 if y ou are overtaking multiple vehicles you will be over the limit and have to accept what comes your way if something were to go wrong.
Remember, most of the drivers on the road think they are being perfectly safe by doing 40 or 50 even though they may have no clue as to what is going on around them, it is possible o be safe going faster but if it goes wrong the consequences may be a lot higher.
It is a point I often find myself thinking when out and about. My daily commute is 27 miles of mostly flowing, twisty B-road which has numerous overtaking points and is the kind of road you seek to enjoy yourself. However, it is also full of drivers doing 40 which can make it very frustrating at times. I generally overtake when I can and I'm sure I've had comments made about me even although IMO I've been perfectly safe in what I've been doing.
Ultimately if you are going over 60 you are braking the law, no matter how you try and defend yourself by saying you had 100% control/vision/confidence in what you were doing, 9/10 if y ou are overtaking multiple vehicles you will be over the limit and have to accept what comes your way if something were to go wrong.
Remember, most of the drivers on the road think they are being perfectly safe by doing 40 or 50 even though they may have no clue as to what is going on around them, it is possible o be safe going faster but if it goes wrong the consequences may be a lot higher.
Interesting post, but I really dont think it will change the way I drive at all, and I'm another who likes to make progress. I agree that in theory, yes it could be my downfall if one day something were to happen, but if worried overly about things then chances are I would never leave the house. Its up to the individual whether they let it affect their driving or whatever, but it wont affect mine. Obviously, I hope nothing ever happens, but it may happen, and if it does then I will simply deal with the consequences as they come.
That said, as I get older, I seem to be generally getting a bit more sensible anyway, but even then, I suspect I drive a lot faster than most people.
To be honest, if I let the thought of what may (or may not) happen get to me, then I'm sure it would ruin my enjoyment of driving, and if that happened, cars as a hobby would be over for me, I'd sell up the teg, and get something as comfortable and cheap to run as possible and be done with it.
Incidentally, if someone overtook me, unless they were CLEARLY being a cock, and then I found them crashed, I certainly would not be saying that this person drove like a lunatic. Yet I suspect I'm very much in the minority there.
That said, as I get older, I seem to be generally getting a bit more sensible anyway, but even then, I suspect I drive a lot faster than most people.
To be honest, if I let the thought of what may (or may not) happen get to me, then I'm sure it would ruin my enjoyment of driving, and if that happened, cars as a hobby would be over for me, I'd sell up the teg, and get something as comfortable and cheap to run as possible and be done with it.
Incidentally, if someone overtook me, unless they were CLEARLY being a cock, and then I found them crashed, I certainly would not be saying that this person drove like a lunatic. Yet I suspect I'm very much in the minority there.
Edited by pbirkett on Saturday 20th December 14:34
I know the 10PS posts among a couple others, have changed my perceptions somewhat and I am now aiming to get onto the track one way or t'other
I love driving fast and I don't mind admitting it. I don't drive like a cock, I know my limits and the limit of the car aswell as having the ability to judge the conditions and situations, but you just never know what's going to happen.
On the unlucky side, I have had a blow out on the BMW in the past few months and it was at around 120mph...quiet motorway, no traffic etc
It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I know that situations can change at any time and as a result it's made me think!
With me planning on moving to France, I have to rethink my motorsport idea as I can't take part in Harewood hillclimb and I have no idea how one would go about entering a small, relatively accessable race series (not as bad as 2CVs
) in France, but I will be intending to build and race a car, be it circuit, sprints, hillclimbs or drag racing. I'm hoping that I can hone my craft over time and become a better driver and calmer on the roads whilst remaining focused and agressive on the track 
I love driving fast and I don't mind admitting it. I don't drive like a cock, I know my limits and the limit of the car aswell as having the ability to judge the conditions and situations, but you just never know what's going to happen.
On the unlucky side, I have had a blow out on the BMW in the past few months and it was at around 120mph...quiet motorway, no traffic etc
It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I know that situations can change at any time and as a result it's made me think!
With me planning on moving to France, I have to rethink my motorsport idea as I can't take part in Harewood hillclimb and I have no idea how one would go about entering a small, relatively accessable race series (not as bad as 2CVs
) in France, but I will be intending to build and race a car, be it circuit, sprints, hillclimbs or drag racing. I'm hoping that I can hone my craft over time and become a better driver and calmer on the roads whilst remaining focused and agressive on the track Read his post. It has made me a little more aware of the consequences of my actions and a little more wary on those roads where opportunity presents itself.
Not so sure if that's a good thing though, in that part of me thinks there's a thin line between waryness/caution and indicisiveness.
Not so sure if that's a good thing though, in that part of me thinks there's a thin line between waryness/caution and indicisiveness.
pbirkett said:
Incidentally, if someone overtook me, unless they were CLEARLY being a cock, and then I found them crashed, I certainly would not be saying that this person drove like a lunatic. Yet I suspect I'm very much in the minority there.
A couple of years back, I had overtaken a few cars on one of my favourite bits of road, on a long straight stretch. Further on ahead, there had been an accident at a junction, not serious, but the road was temporarily blocked with a line of stopped traffic. One of the folks who I had passed previously pulled up, and came over to see what the fuss was about, and was convinced that I had caused the accident and that my car would be in amongst it all. It had to be pointed out to him that other stopped vehicles were ahead of mine, and that the accident had happened several minutes before any of us had got there. It was both amusing and scary that he still wasn't convinced. People like that worry me, regardless of how I, or anyone else, may be driving.An article was published on PH on this topic a while ago.
http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=109&i=709...
http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=109&i=709...
I guess that the only way to prevent this kind of hostile witness statement is to take all the IAM, RoSPA, ridedrive etc driving courses that you can so that you can balance the bad reports with proof that you are an above-average driver. Of course, you would have to do this *before* any accident occurred.
good post
that line really made me think as well
and i have reated it to myself when out driving
the problem is, you don't have ot do anything these days to be branded a menace
even a textbook safe overtake on a deserted open country lane (when the person you overtake is going slowly well below the speed limit) can elicit waving fists and plenty of headlight flashing
I fear things will get worse and worse as well as the powers that be try to change the perception of 'speeding' to be an equal of "dd" or "smoking"
that line really made me think as well
and i have reated it to myself when out driving
the problem is, you don't have ot do anything these days to be branded a menace
even a textbook safe overtake on a deserted open country lane (when the person you overtake is going slowly well below the speed limit) can elicit waving fists and plenty of headlight flashing
I fear things will get worse and worse as well as the powers that be try to change the perception of 'speeding' to be an equal of "dd" or "smoking"
It makes me think, but I've found one incident really stuck with me, It was around 1am and i had stayed late at work to help out, finally I was heading home for bed. Driving along a nice B road I thought I knew pretty well and came up behind someone doing 45 in a 60, no worries I thought I'll soon pass him, I thought I was heading along a staight so I knock the car down a gear and give it a boot, only to find i'm heading for a blind bend, f
k, went through my mind as I saw lights heading for me, I jumped on the brakes and tucked in behind the slow driver.
It was too close. Made me change the way I think of driving.
k, went through my mind as I saw lights heading for me, I jumped on the brakes and tucked in behind the slow driver. It was too close. Made me change the way I think of driving.
That point stood in my head too and I find myself thinking about it sometimes but the key point is perception - nobody else knows how well you know the road, what your ability is, what your car's ability is or anything else - an unexperienced driver in a slow car on an unknown road is undoubtedly going to perceive the driving of an experienced driver in a fast car on a road where he knows the overtaking places, the blind corners, the sharp corners, the bumps etc etc to be unsafe simply because he was not driving like that.....it's unfair and a point I thought was quite harsh on 10PS but there's not really a lot you can do about other people's perception apart from drive like them (which means sticking to 40 in a NSL if they're doing 40...).
Any recommendations for in-car video recording? Something where the camera mounts up in front of the RV mirror and sends a signal (wires are OK, no need for wireless) to a recorder unit with an integral screen and plugged into the ciggy lighter.
It'll need some way of plonking the signal onto a PC. Either the recorder unit to be easily removeable from the car or removeable SD cards (or similar).
It'll only need a max of 10 mins of recording time.
Multiple cameras? Are the cameras cheap? Is there a need?
Recommendations at the "cheap" end of the scale work for me. Thanks.
It'll need some way of plonking the signal onto a PC. Either the recorder unit to be easily removeable from the car or removeable SD cards (or similar).
It'll only need a max of 10 mins of recording time.
Multiple cameras? Are the cameras cheap? Is there a need?
Recommendations at the "cheap" end of the scale work for me. Thanks.
gazza_3 said:
I Driving along a nice B road I thought I knew pretty well
That's where your mistake was, especially at night. When it's dark I don't pass any cars unless I can see it's perfectly clear, or I know the road like the back of my hand. Won't deny I have had the odd moment like yours but thankfully have been lucky so far.Darkslider said:
gazza_3 said:
I Driving along a nice B road I thought I knew pretty well
That's where your mistake was, especially at night. When it's dark I don't pass any cars unless I can see it's perfectly clear, or I know the road like the back of my hand. Won't deny I have had the odd moment like yours but thankfully have been lucky so far.k ups? It is however so easy to fall into the trap because you know where you're going. Right up to the point where you don't and run out of space to stop. Most accidents happen on the roads you travel on regularly as you become too familiar and you stop paying full attention. It's the same reason people have accidents in traffic. You're looking at the road, but not seeing what's there.Mars said:
Any recommendations for in-car video recording? Something where the camera mounts up in front of the RV mirror and sends a signal (wires are OK, no need for wireless) to a recorder unit with an integral screen and plugged into the ciggy lighter.
It'll need some way of plonking the signal onto a PC. Either the recorder unit to be easily removeable from the car or removeable SD cards (or similar).
It'll only need a max of 10 mins of recording time.
Multiple cameras? Are the cameras cheap? Is there a need?
Recommendations at the "cheap" end of the scale work for me. Thanks.
Such things exist.It'll need some way of plonking the signal onto a PC. Either the recorder unit to be easily removeable from the car or removeable SD cards (or similar).
It'll only need a max of 10 mins of recording time.
Multiple cameras? Are the cameras cheap? Is there a need?
Recommendations at the "cheap" end of the scale work for me. Thanks.
http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/car-camera-recor...
Some always record the last 15 minutes.
rsv gone! said:
Such things exist.
http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/car-camera-recor...
Some always record the last 15 minutes.
Hey now. That's just the ticket.http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/car-camera-recor...
Some always record the last 15 minutes.
How are we doing against the dollar these days? I like that. Nice and simple.
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