Aeroscreen without helmet
Discussion
Anyone who believes they can always avoid deer is living in a fools paradise.
One of my father's friends was killed driving along an A road when a deer leap over a hedge and landed on the windscreen.
There is no way you can avoid all obstacles. Of course a windscreen on a Seven will provide no protection from a deer........
Having said that my last windscreen was cracked by a stone flicked up by a passing car. I didn't see it coming at all, and the first thing I knew was a bullet hole in the screen. It would have been placed just about right to take out one of my front teeth if I hadn't had a screen.
One of my father's friends was killed driving along an A road when a deer leap over a hedge and landed on the windscreen.
There is no way you can avoid all obstacles. Of course a windscreen on a Seven will provide no protection from a deer........
Having said that my last windscreen was cracked by a stone flicked up by a passing car. I didn't see it coming at all, and the first thing I knew was a bullet hole in the screen. It would have been placed just about right to take out one of my front teeth if I hadn't had a screen.
downsman said:
One of my father's friends was killed driving along an A road when a deer leap over a hedge and landed on the windscreen.
Ah, but was it followed by dog, pheasants "galore", partridge, carrion crow, hare and rabbits? 
One instance may (or may not) be genuinely unavoidable bad luck. When you've built up a catalogue of just about every major fauna in the UK (we'll forgive him missing out on a badger so far - they're relatively uncommon in the North West), it's time to start slowing down and paying a bit more attention to your surroundings, before Natural Selection focuses its beady eye on you.
There is no doubt that coincidence could lead to anyone hitting wild life, though after living in a place where different types of deer, rabbit, hate, pheasant, partridge are daily sights on the roads and in our garden, for over 7 years we are yet to hit anything.
I certainly think the majority of these animals are fairly predictable, though many aren't.
Anyway, back to the subject. I use an aeroscreen and helmet on track but find the aeroscreen uncomfortable on the road where I much prefer a full screen and doors. Especially if the temperatures not that high.
I certainly think the majority of these animals are fairly predictable, though many aren't.
Anyway, back to the subject. I use an aeroscreen and helmet on track but find the aeroscreen uncomfortable on the road where I much prefer a full screen and doors. Especially if the temperatures not that high.
Had two deer strikes, one in a Peugeot 306 a fully grown stag walked out in front of me in the dark, a Roe deer ran out in front of the Volvo, and a pheasant ran across the A1 in front of a truck I was overtaking whilst in my Caterham. Feathers everywhere. Oh and a pigeon. And countless moths, flies, wasps and other insects.
One of many good things about Sevens is that - flies and ,moths apart- the noise they make - scatters most wildlife into the bushes long before your arrival. My road kill tally -in nearly 1m miles of driving is .one suicidal parrtidge apart is just about non existent in 80k of Sevening.
And I will confess to occasionally slightly exceeding the NSL on B roads - and I venture to suggest that some other Seven owners do so as well . Right , enough already , new tyres on the car so time to stop the sniping (pun intended ) and go for a drive....
And I will confess to occasionally slightly exceeding the NSL on B roads - and I venture to suggest that some other Seven owners do so as well . Right , enough already , new tyres on the car so time to stop the sniping (pun intended ) and go for a drive....
Cows. Nobody mentioned cows. Bloke I know was driving home in his Jag saloon in the early hours of the morning when an 'effer came through a fence, tumbled down a bank, onto the bonnet of his car and ended up halfway through the windscreen. The car and the cow were both written off, and he nearly was too. You can't predict animals and scoffing at people just because you've been lucky up to now is naive. Tomorrow might just be your unlucky day.
Sbend said:
Cows. Nobody mentioned cows. Bloke I know was driving home in his Jag saloon in the early hours of the morning when an 'effer came through a fence, tumbled down a bank, onto the bonnet of his car and ended up halfway through the windscreen. The car and the cow were both written off, and he nearly was too. You can't predict animals and scoffing at people just because you've been lucky up to now is naive. Tomorrow might just be your unlucky day.
Nonsense. Cows move slowly, even when they're tumbling down a bank. I can just about accept that there's not much you can do if a deer leaps a hedge and lands on top of you (I've had it nearly happen when I've been walking), but if you can't avoid a cow, you're driving too fast for the forward visibility and the degree of enclosure of the road, end of.
If hedges/boundaries are so tight to the road that you couldn't react to something emerging from them, you need to slow down accordingly.
It's 99% about judgement and observation, NOT luck.
When your 'luck' has failed you as many times as Coppice's, it's a pretty clear indication that your judgement is flawed, or that you simply weren't alert enough. No excuses.
"End of"? So how many roads in the UK have hedges bordering them? Are you seriously suggesting that we all drive at a speed that will allow for ANY eventuality regardless of how remote the possibility? What would you suggest, 10 mph? maybe stretch it to 15? In the case of my friend, he was returning home at 2am, lots of rain, on a very major road - Glenshane Pass in NI if you're interested - and the cow broke through a fence about fifteen feet above the road and fell onto the car. But then by your argument, cows or other things don't fall very fast and in the dark and through the rain my friend should have been watching the bank above and not the road, just in case such an event might happen. Or maybe he just shouldn't have been driving at all. Dangerous things, falling cows.
Sbend said:
Are you seriously suggesting that we all drive at a speed that will allow for ANY eventuality regardless of how remote the possibility?
Not ANY eventuality, no, but as your friend's cow and Coppice's collection of just about every example of British fauna prove, animals emerging through hedges or down banks into the road are hardly unusual. Yes, on some of the narrower hedge-lined roads around where I live, 15mph is frequently about the limit of what's safe.Similarly (and back on topic) Coppice's complaint of suffering from 'random metal chunks falling off lorries' demonstrates nobody's fault but his own. The laws of physics apply: anything heavy enough to seriously hurt you when you're driving an aeroscreened car will come to the attention of gravity fairly quickly.
If it hits you, it tells you one thing, and one thing only: you were driving too close to its source.
Nobody to blame but yourself... it's not 'bad luck', it's poor judgement.
"Driving too close to it's source"? Come off it! Ever seen a good-sized piece of rock bouncing all over the road when it comes off a truck doing around 60? Even if you're 100 yards behind it there's a good chance it'll carry as far as you, so how much space do you suggest we leave between ourselves and the guy in front - just in case something falls off his car? Would a quarter mile be reasonable? Not be doing much passing, will we? There is such a thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time and it's got damn all to do with driving ability.
Sbend said:
Ever seen a good-sized piece of rock bouncing all over the road when it comes off a truck doing around 60?.
Yes, frequently.And that's rather the point : I've seen it.
I don't tend to sit there like a moron waiting for it to hit me in the face. I will either steer across the road to avoid it (if there is space to do so and again it requires that you maintain an awareness of what's going on around you), or else duck so that it misses me.
The random bit of metal that hit my Seven screen fell off a lorry in a contraflow ; I was 25-30m m behind at 30ish mph , it bounced into the road , up in the air and hit the bonnet, slid down it and whacked the screen . Short of a sonic screwdriver or divine intervention I am not sure how I could have avoided it - but I bet we know someone who would have ....
coppice said:
Short of a sonic screwdriver or divine intervention I am not sure how I could have avoided it
We're discussing the risks associated with aeroscreens. Windscreens can't duck, but you can.You can also steer well clear of any vehicle that looks like it might shed bits of load or components. You'll no doubt complain that you lack the necessary sixth sense: I'll suggest that you lack the necessary common sense (and observation skills).
Common sense suggests that you don't sit close behind lorries at all, if you can avoid it: let someone in a nice, shiny BMW drop in in front of you, so that they catch it in the windscreen. It also gives you a better chance to see what's going on in the road ahead (to assess for Kamikaze Cows, for example) if you choose not to be the one sitting immediately behind a f
king great artic. It's called 'defensive driving'.
Sbend said:
"Driving too close to it's source"? Come off it! Ever seen a good-sized piece of rock bouncing all over the road when it comes off a truck doing around 60? Even if you're 100 yards behind it there's a good chance it'll carry as far as you, so how much space do you suggest we leave between ourselves and the guy in front - just in case something falls off his car? Would a quarter mile be reasonable? Not be doing much passing, will we? There is such a thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time and it's got damn all to do with driving ability.
What do you mean by: "Even if you're 100 yards behind it there's a good chance it'll carry as far as you"?
The rock is moving at about the same speed as you are and simply slows to a halt as it falls. Unless you're very close to the vehicle in front you should have a good chance of avoiding it.
REALIST123 said:
What do you mean by: "Even if you're 100 yards behind it there's a good chance it'll carry as far as you"?
The rock is moving at about the same speed as you are and simply slows to a halt as it falls. Unless you're very close to the vehicle in front you should have a good chance of avoiding it.
Incidentally, this conversation hasn't taken any account of approaching traffic dropping something right in front of you. Anybody got any bright ideas for defensive driving in that sort of situation?
Equus said:
We're discussing the risks associated with aeroscreens. Windscreens can't duck, but you can.
You can also steer well clear of any vehicle that looks like it might shed bits of load or components. You'll no doubt complain that you lack the necessary sixth sense: I'll suggest that you lack the necessary common sense (and observation skills).
Common sense suggests that you don't sit close behind lorries at all, if you can avoid it: let someone in a nice, shiny BMW drop in in front of you, so that they catch it in the windscreen. It also gives you a better chance to see what's going on in the road ahead (to assess for Kamikaze Cows, for example) if you choose not to be the one sitting immediately behind a fking great artic.
It's called 'defensive driving'.
You can also steer well clear of any vehicle that looks like it might shed bits of load or components. You'll no doubt complain that you lack the necessary sixth sense: I'll suggest that you lack the necessary common sense (and observation skills).
Common sense suggests that you don't sit close behind lorries at all, if you can avoid it: let someone in a nice, shiny BMW drop in in front of you, so that they catch it in the windscreen. It also gives you a better chance to see what's going on in the road ahead (to assess for Kamikaze Cows, for example) if you choose not to be the one sitting immediately behind a f
king great artic. It's called 'defensive driving'.
You are obviously possessed of infallible , god like powers - you can see into the future , through solid objects and best of all you so selflessly share your knowledge with we lesser mortals. I can only say thank you.
coppice said:
Equus said:
We're discussing the risks associated with aeroscreens. Windscreens can't duck, but you can.
You can also steer well clear of any vehicle that looks like it might shed bits of load or components. You'll no doubt complain that you lack the necessary sixth sense: I'll suggest that you lack the necessary common sense (and observation skills).
Common sense suggests that you don't sit close behind lorries at all, if you can avoid it: let someone in a nice, shiny BMW drop in in front of you, so that they catch it in the windscreen. It also gives you a better chance to see what's going on in the road ahead (to assess for Kamikaze Cows, for example) if you choose not to be the one sitting immediately behind a fking great artic.
It's called 'defensive driving'.
You can also steer well clear of any vehicle that looks like it might shed bits of load or components. You'll no doubt complain that you lack the necessary sixth sense: I'll suggest that you lack the necessary common sense (and observation skills).
Common sense suggests that you don't sit close behind lorries at all, if you can avoid it: let someone in a nice, shiny BMW drop in in front of you, so that they catch it in the windscreen. It also gives you a better chance to see what's going on in the road ahead (to assess for Kamikaze Cows, for example) if you choose not to be the one sitting immediately behind a f
king great artic. It's called 'defensive driving'.
You are obviously possessed of infallible , god like powers - you can see into the future , through solid objects and best of all you so selflessly share your knowledge with we lesser mortals. I can only say thank you.
Maybe he's just lucky and you're not?
coppice said:
You are obviously possessed of infallible , god like powers - you can see into the future , through solid objects and best of all you so selflessly share your knowledge with we lesser mortals. I can only say thank you.
Not infallible. just - on the basis of the evidence you yourself have provided - a hell of a lot better at avoiding problems than you are. As I keep saying, I don't think it's luck - I don't believe there's any such thing - but the proof of the pudding is that whilst you blaze a path of slaughter wherever you drive with debris raining down on you from every side, I do not. It's about observation, awareness of your surroundings, and common sense; nothing more.
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