B road hooning, technically illegal?

[zarjaz1991]

V8RX7 said:

Do not expect leniency, nor common sense to be used by a Police Officer nor a Court.

Nor, indeed, honesty.

Bottom line is, if they've decided you're going to be 'done', then that's exactly what's going to happen, and in the unlikely event you manage to back them into corner and force them to either acquit you or not run with in the first place, they'll simply come back for another go, only they'll do a better job of stitching you up this time.

[vonhosen]

Graveworm said:

The Police are perfectly fine with being on the offside of the road where appropriate.

Depending where in the country you are, what is considered appropriate varies.

[V8RX7]

zarjaz1991 said:

V8RX7 said:

Do not expect leniency, nor common sense to be used by a Police Officer nor a Court.

Nor, indeed, honesty.

Agreed, I demonstrated that a Traffic Officer's statement could not be correct using basic measurements.

Instead of it being dropped I was simply told to "tell it to the Court"

And they wonder why the public don't trust the Police

[heebeegeetee]

vonhosen said:

Yeah but that's not hooning in my book
That's not spirited driving either.

Nor mine. It’s just driving.

[Truffs]

In my book “Spirited driving” involves the car. Most people seem to be of the opinion it’s breaking speed limits.

Remember James Hunt and his van, the Austin A35 van that the World Champion famously drove around Wandsworth in South London (he said he loved to overtake Ferraris through the Wandsworth roundabout at night, in the wet). My best drive ever on a B road was in a Renault Twizzy. Crazy feeling of man and golf cart as one. Doubt I broke any speedlimits but it was fun!

I love the feeling and sound of my x308 4.0 on the A30 hills passing artics and tractors. The A39 single track sections passing the above and caravans. Doubt I go over 60-70 but that initial Jaguar howl when you give it some milk...soul stirring stuff.

For a spirited drive surely there must be some spirit or spiritual connection to the car. My friend has a 2CV he hoons about in on B roads. Doubt he is breaking a limit either but he does drive across a bit of grass/field taking a short cut to his house. He loves that little deathtrap.

All this talk of limits and anti-social behaviour when really once upon a time it was enjoying the experience of the car.

[av185]

Ron99 said:

Perhaps, but in my experience, taking bends at a speed which requires using the whole width of the road will put terrific strain on the outer front wheel, to the point of squashing the tyre all the way to the rim and a greatly increased risk of loss of control on a typical uneven B road surface, with absolutely no margin for error.

Your tyre pressures must be way out.

[Boosted LS1]

Thesprucegoose said:

the sun brings the dheads out.

It certainly does. Iexpect the idiots to dawdle in the snow, the dark, the showers etc but the fkwits are doing it in the sun as well. In built up areas. What's wrong with them?

[BertBert]

Ron99 said:

will put terrific strain on the outer front wheel, to the point of squashing the tyre all the way to the rim

I'm just wondering where you get this idea from. Have you ever actually seen any car tyre squashed all the way to the rim when normally inflated?
Bert

[Crippo]

Good thread.

I think the discussion about what constitutes a hoon or spirited driving is the key.
I definitely drive slower on my own than I do if out with some mates. So feel pretty sure that I’m not hooping. Although I’m opening up sight lines, straight lining humps and whoops, opening up corners, heel and toeing and every now and then give it a squirt on the loud pedal. I’m not really fussed about hitting high speeds, I’m much more bothered about doing extra gear changes and feeling the weight of the car move around.
I feel that these are all fairly advanced methods of driving and as such don’t really see how they could fall ”below" the standards of driving assumed to be normal.

I think if you throw the "can you stop in the distance you can see" question into the mix then it becomes much harder to drive for fun. This is the question that kills it as you simply can’t feel any weight transfer in most corners, you can’t carry speed and you’ll be braking for most corners.

[Black_S3]

Crippo said:

Good thread.

I definitely drive slower on my own than I do if out with some mates.

I'm the opposite. Doing it in a group just makes the chances of an accident and/or the penalties higher.

[outnumbered]

Crippo said:

Good thread.

I think if you throw the "can you stop in the distance you can see" question into the mix then it becomes much harder to drive for fun. This is the question that kills it as you simply can’t feel any weight transfer in most corners, you can’t carry speed and you’ll be braking for most corners.

If you're not able to "stop in the distance you can see" then you're taking a risk with someone else's life. What gives you the right to do that ?

[Black_S3]

outnumbered said:

If you're not able to "stop in the distance you can see" then you're taking a risk with someone else's life. What gives you the right to do that ?

Specifically talking about the NSL single carriageway roads the topic is about I don't think anyone consistently follows that as it would mean a line of sight of 70odd meters to allow for 60mph, or a 25 meter line of sight only allowing for 30mph (going by the book)...... It changes to 'stop in the distance you can reasonably expect to be clear' - being realistic about the majority of driving.

[BertBert]

We don't have an ISO standard for 'hooning' (perhaps just a BS one) which makes it very hard to discuss. Certainly in the south east it feels incredibly hard to do any sporty driving even in the most moderate of sports cars that doesn't take you quickly beyond the point of being able to stop in time and within the speed limit. I passengered in a 720S the other day, what a phenomenal car. But at the speeds it was 'fun', the risks felt too high (certainly as a pax).

That's why I like really low powered caterhams with skinny tyres! My Gt3 feels a bit useless really. Although with nice buckets and pointy steering it's quite fun at low speeds and relatively low G-levels. Good for a bit of a squirt here and there. But it's hard to hoon in I reckon.

So overall, I think it's a challenge to do legal B road hooning.
Bert

[V8RX7]

outnumbered said:

If you're not able to "stop in the distance you can see" then you're taking a risk with someone else's life. What gives you the right to do that ?

On narrow lanes of course that should be halved - which means 20mph in many places - very few do that.

[V8RX7]

BertBert said:

Certainly in the south east it feels incredibly hard to do any sporty driving even in the most moderate of sports cars that doesn't take you quickly beyond the point of being able to stop in time and within the speed limit.

So overall, I think it's a challenge to do legal B road hooning.
Bert

I think it's impossible in most cars made in the last 50 years.

I recently bought a Swift Sport with a mighty 123bhp - still very easy to hit 80+ on the lanes.

[vonhosen]

Black_S3 said:

outnumbered said:

If you're not able to "stop in the distance you can see" then you're taking a risk with someone else's life. What gives you the right to do that ?

Specifically talking about the NSL single carriageway roads the topic is about I don't think anyone consistently follows that as it would mean a line of sight of 70odd meters to allow for 60mph, or a 25 meter line of sight only allowing for 30mph (going by the book)...... It changes to 'stop in the distance you can reasonably expect to be clear' - being realistic about the majority of driving.

It really doesn't.

The wording is 'stop within the distance you can see to be clear (& reasonably expect to remain so) on your side of the road. When it changes is on single track/narrow roads where it becomes less than half that distance to allow for oncoming vehicles.

[Black_S3]

vonhosen said:

Black_S3 said:

outnumbered said:

If you're not able to "stop in the distance you can see" then you're taking a risk with someone else's life. What gives you the right to do that ?

Specifically talking about the NSL single carriageway roads the topic is about I don't think anyone consistently follows that as it would mean a line of sight of 70odd meters to allow for 60mph, or a 25 meter line of sight only allowing for 30mph (going by the book)...... It changes to 'stop in the distance you can reasonably expect to be clear' - being realistic about the majority of driving.

It really doesn't.

The wording is 'stop within the distance you can see to be clear (& reasonably expect to remain so) on your side of the road. When it changes is on single track/narrow roads where it becomes less than half that distance to allow for oncoming vehicles.

It does change to that in reality, I never see a single car including police that drive at a speed they can actually stop within line of sight. Not saying it's correct but it's what happens at least in areas like mine where people are regularly doing 20-30 mile journeys on NSL single carriageways.

[vonhosen]

Black_S3 said:

vonhosen said:

Black_S3 said:

outnumbered said:

If you're not able to "stop in the distance you can see" then you're taking a risk with someone else's life. What gives you the right to do that ?

Specifically talking about the NSL single carriageway roads the topic is about I don't think anyone consistently follows that as it would mean a line of sight of 70odd meters to allow for 60mph, or a 25 meter line of sight only allowing for 30mph (going by the book)...... It changes to 'stop in the distance you can reasonably expect to be clear' - being realistic about the majority of driving.

It really doesn't.

The wording is 'stop within the distance you can see to be clear (& reasonably expect to remain so) on your side of the road. When it changes is on single track/narrow roads where it becomes less than half that distance to allow for oncoming vehicles.

It does change to that in reality, I never see a single car including police that drive at a speed they can actually stop within line of sight. Not saying it's correct but it's what happens at least in areas like mine where people are regularly doing 20-30 mile journeys on NSL single carriageways.

So you think every single driver on NSL roads is routinely displaying careless/dangerous driving by driving too fast for the conditions?

I don't see what you are describing by every driver.

[Black_S3]

vonhosen said:

So you think every single driver on NSL roads is routinely displaying careless/dangerous driving by driving too fast for the conditions?

No, I think that the highway code differs in many ways from legal the definition of dangerous/careless driving which are the offences someone would actually be charged with if found to be driving like a bellend .

[V8RX7]

vonhosen said:

So you think every single driver on NSL roads is routinely displaying careless/dangerous driving by driving too fast for the conditions?

If I parked an HGV on every tight bend in your patch - you wouldn't have a problem with that because every driver will be able to stop ?

If I did the same on the motorway ?

There would be carnage as well you know

It isn't every driver but it is a good percentage.