Reg's Youtube thread
Discussion
Reg Local said:
Nail on the head there, Reg. I hear this almost every single time I coach/observe/pick my nose at RoADAR. While I'm happy to say we have one of the more progressive and open minded groups, we do still have the odd more dogmatic tutor, especially the older and/or DVSA ADI types (those who seem to think AD needs to be just driving like a learner, for longer...). Suffice to say I think it's harmful. The number of Associates who come to start a drive with me dejected, a bit bored with the whole thing and feeling like failures is depressing. The stories I sometimes hear about things other tutors have said or pulled them up on even more so. Especially when it only takes an hour out to cheer them up and get them excited again. It's not rocket science (at RoSPA level - you're a rocket scientist, sorry Reg). Less is more.
I've had tutors get very bolshy with me in the past, including this week. There was some steam leaving ears at the end of my last session, from the tutor who my Associate had been allotted the week before (and complained to me about).
Why is my now beaming Associate talking about driving quickly (compared to before), using all the road, having fun and... gasp... squealing tyres? (Ditchfinders on a newly purchased AWD car, as it happens - very safe, smooth, progressive cornering that the tyre didn't keep up with the one time he hesitated at an apex and went throttle-brake-throttle. He promised premium rubber for next session and we simply took it as more Information to use for subsequent drama free cornering).
Luckily for me the lead tutor is more of the right sort. He's an ex ADI but he's also a racing driver, rally driver and a very good road driver and tutor. He just sits behind the complainers with a grin, nodding away at me, and he puts in place any moaning that gets out of hand. This week isn't the first I've reminded a fellow tutor (usually an ADI type) that our drivers have pink licences, and the A stands for Advanced. Our group puts out >95% Gold passes first time around so it can't be all bad.
For context, btw, this post isn't intended to make it sound like the sun shines out of my arse. On the contrary, I was a reluctant tutor and still don't really feel like I'm suited to it. My group was short handed at the time I agreed to step in 'for a bit', and I was lucky in that Reg has been my primary driving coach (pre RoSPA days through a Gold pass and beyond) for some years now. Anything half decent that accidentally falls out of my mouth is thanks to Reg. Everything else is me picking my navel and chatting s
t. I'm not trying to come across like a good coach, on the contrary I'm saying if they think I'm a breath of fresh air then it worries me what the others must be like! Standards need raising, but regrettably the organisation's pro is also its con - volunteers, with varying backgrounds and abilities.
And another - 38 Progress Vs Restraint:
https://youtu.be/BsJU3bRXM-A
Can you tell I'm on my holidays with time to spare?...
https://youtu.be/BsJU3bRXM-A
Can you tell I'm on my holidays with time to spare?...
- Still in 
Apologies for the slightly out-of-sync audio towards the end of this one. I thought I’d cured it in the edit, but apparently not quite...
I’ll leave this one up, because it’ll be too much of a faff to remove it & fix the error which - hopefully - doesn’t spoil the video too much.
I have a fix in mind for subsequent videos...
I’ll leave this one up, because it’ll be too much of a faff to remove it & fix the error which - hopefully - doesn’t spoil the video too much.
I have a fix in mind for subsequent videos...
Just watching it, particularly like the pragmatic view towards left foot braking.
Agree that the difficulty with what you describe as linear braking. Cringe when sitting next to daughter and she is braking right up to the hazard, sometimes right into a corner.
The bit I find difficult in her car is modulating the braking when coming to a stop, in that you've judged the braking, now tapering off to bring it to a smooth stop and the box changes down and winds in a dollop of compression braking. She has the same issue, only worse than I do, and I haven't had the chance to drive it enough to figure out how to drive around it reliably.
Agree that the difficulty with what you describe as linear braking. Cringe when sitting next to daughter and she is braking right up to the hazard, sometimes right into a corner.
The bit I find difficult in her car is modulating the braking when coming to a stop, in that you've judged the braking, now tapering off to bring it to a smooth stop and the box changes down and winds in a dollop of compression braking. She has the same issue, only worse than I do, and I haven't had the chance to drive it enough to figure out how to drive around it reliably.
FiF said:
Just watching it, particularly like the pragmatic view towards left foot braking.
Agree that the difficulty with what you describe as linear braking. Cringe when sitting next to daughter and she is braking right up to the hazard, sometimes right into a corner.
The bit I find difficult in her car is modulating the braking when coming to a stop, in that you've judged the braking, now tapering off to bring it to a smooth stop and the box changes down and winds in a dollop of compression braking. She has the same issue, only worse than I do, and I haven't had the chance to drive it enough to figure out how to drive around it reliably.
My 2016 Superb 2.0 TSI 220ps DSG was like that, though it's gone now. Reg drove it last year. It had the auto hold braking (applying the foot brakes automatically and leaving them held, with the brake lights), but the system would kick in at anything up to 2mph. Stopping that became (1) Take up the slack in the system and start to shift the car's weight forwards, (2) Firm progressive braking, (3) Easing off towards a standstill, (4) the gearbox changes down and tries to lurch, so reapply the brake more firmly, (5) The car slams on the footbrake automatically and jolts you to a stop from 1-2mph. I never did get it perfect but it was a beggar to bypass smoothly and couldn't be switched off. Agree that the difficulty with what you describe as linear braking. Cringe when sitting next to daughter and she is braking right up to the hazard, sometimes right into a corner.
The bit I find difficult in her car is modulating the braking when coming to a stop, in that you've judged the braking, now tapering off to bring it to a smooth stop and the box changes down and winds in a dollop of compression braking. She has the same issue, only worse than I do, and I haven't had the chance to drive it enough to figure out how to drive around it reliably.
meatballs said:
You can stall an automatic.
But I found it involved a 180.
Every credit!But I found it involved a 180.
I'm sure it is possible to stall an automatic, but it would necessitate a sudden stop of the driven wheels whilst the gearbox is locked-up, something which would only happen in extreme circumstances.
I should have said that you can't stall an auto in normal driving. I have tried very hard and never succeeded!
There's nothing more annoying than someone in a right turn lane flashing to let you out when you are also turning right. I can't go because there's traffic flowing past you...
Joked about it before approaching a junction when doing my b+e training, had it happen twice during the training and also happened on the test. Just have to sit there looking glum for 30seconds till they get the message you're not moving and get all the social anxiety bearing down on you.
Joked about it before approaching a junction when doing my b+e training, had it happen twice during the training and also happened on the test. Just have to sit there looking glum for 30seconds till they get the message you're not moving and get all the social anxiety bearing down on you.
Some good points on the courtesy video, particularly appreciate the advice about not flashing main beam to say thank you at night, that's one that grates with me too, avert vision and close one eye works for me, and I too do the momentarily drop to sidelights. Likewise increadingly use tge quick double hazard flash if appropriate.
On the issue of not waving people across, be they turning vehicles or pedestrians when you have left a gap. Agree, though some are exceptionally slow on the uptake, it's certainly confusing if the driver thinking they are giving priority keeps the vehicle rolling, imo it helps if vehicle 'body language' makes the intention clear.
Further point on that, having left a gap for someone to turn or cross, and not waving them across because you may have missed something so letting them make their mind up, then when they decide to go, they also may miss something. So it's a good idea to keep observation up at a good rate in case of, say, that biker filtering, in which case you do need a clear signal to warn of danger. For me it's a good blast of the horn and a clear hand up in the screen, fingers up, palm out in the classic signal for STOP!
On the issue of not waving people across, be they turning vehicles or pedestrians when you have left a gap. Agree, though some are exceptionally slow on the uptake, it's certainly confusing if the driver thinking they are giving priority keeps the vehicle rolling, imo it helps if vehicle 'body language' makes the intention clear.
Further point on that, having left a gap for someone to turn or cross, and not waving them across because you may have missed something so letting them make their mind up, then when they decide to go, they also may miss something. So it's a good idea to keep observation up at a good rate in case of, say, that biker filtering, in which case you do need a clear signal to warn of danger. For me it's a good blast of the horn and a clear hand up in the screen, fingers up, palm out in the classic signal for STOP!
I watched in horror once at some misplaced courtesy. I was on a bridleway, cycling, and it came to having to cross the A31 dual carriageway.
This is entirely legal, and even signed, but is pretty difficult, and dangerous (to the point where I'll be trying to avoid it in future by taking a different route).
I stood at the roadside, bicycle in hand, looking to my right along the two lanes of the westbound carriageway.
Every now and then I'd see a promising gap to cross, only to have a fast-moving car appear in L2, or someone in L1 pop out to overtake a heavy. Not an issue, I was in no rush so settled in to wait.
Then a BMW (or all the car drivers to be courteous to a cyclist!) began to slow heavily in L1 and was flashing it's headlights at me. But I was looking at L2, and it already had faster traffic in it, and was now getting busier with L1 traffic popping out to pass the BMW. At the point where the BMW was nearly stopped in a live lane, still maniacally flashing it's headlights, the car behind him realised what was going on, saw a gap in L2, took it, and left a heavy bearing down on the BMW but unable to move into an occupied L2. How the truck braked in time I'll never know, but somehow it did. The sharp blast of a truck's horn woke the BMW driver up to their stupidity, and they moved off once more, glaring at me and "shaking their beans" at me as they passed. Somehow it was my fault that I didn't fancy getting mown down by some poor sod in L2 who was rightly not expecting me to run out into a 70 mph section of DC pushing a bicycle?
Anyway, there was a roundabout less than a mile away, and at some point there was a sufficient break in traffic for me to make it across to the opening in the central reservation barrier, and I found that the eastbound carriageway was a lot less busy so I managed to cross that more easily. But the misplaced courtesy point RegLocal makes is important. If I'd reacted without thinking to the flashed lights of that BMW I'd probably have needed an ambulance ride to an A&E unit at best. When traffic is flowing nicely, don't try a clever courtesy because it causes more issues than it solves.
The other time I was on the raw end of a misplaced courtesy was when a van driver "flashed out" the cute girl driving a Corsa who was turning right out of the side turn he wanted to turn right into. The van driver had seen me coming the opposite way at, or just under 30 mph, but the silly girl in the Corsa didn't even look my way, and just drove right into the 'B' pillar of my Mondeo. He'd meant to convey the message, "you go first, love, after these cars pass", but she'd read the message as "all clear, love, on you go". And even then her father (a man of the cloth, no less) turned up after she phoned him, and tried to put the blame on me! Apparently I "should have seen that the van driver flashed his daughter out, and stopped to let her go". Despite the fact that there was no way anyone with human reactions could have processed the info in time to stop before the junction. There were a couple of cars behind me too, but because she'd made no effort to look our way she hadn't seen any of us, just relied on that "misplaced courtesy" and caused over £3000 of damage to what was my nearly new car...
This is entirely legal, and even signed, but is pretty difficult, and dangerous (to the point where I'll be trying to avoid it in future by taking a different route).
I stood at the roadside, bicycle in hand, looking to my right along the two lanes of the westbound carriageway.
Every now and then I'd see a promising gap to cross, only to have a fast-moving car appear in L2, or someone in L1 pop out to overtake a heavy. Not an issue, I was in no rush so settled in to wait.
Then a BMW (or all the car drivers to be courteous to a cyclist!) began to slow heavily in L1 and was flashing it's headlights at me. But I was looking at L2, and it already had faster traffic in it, and was now getting busier with L1 traffic popping out to pass the BMW. At the point where the BMW was nearly stopped in a live lane, still maniacally flashing it's headlights, the car behind him realised what was going on, saw a gap in L2, took it, and left a heavy bearing down on the BMW but unable to move into an occupied L2. How the truck braked in time I'll never know, but somehow it did. The sharp blast of a truck's horn woke the BMW driver up to their stupidity, and they moved off once more, glaring at me and "shaking their beans" at me as they passed. Somehow it was my fault that I didn't fancy getting mown down by some poor sod in L2 who was rightly not expecting me to run out into a 70 mph section of DC pushing a bicycle?
Anyway, there was a roundabout less than a mile away, and at some point there was a sufficient break in traffic for me to make it across to the opening in the central reservation barrier, and I found that the eastbound carriageway was a lot less busy so I managed to cross that more easily. But the misplaced courtesy point RegLocal makes is important. If I'd reacted without thinking to the flashed lights of that BMW I'd probably have needed an ambulance ride to an A&E unit at best. When traffic is flowing nicely, don't try a clever courtesy because it causes more issues than it solves.
The other time I was on the raw end of a misplaced courtesy was when a van driver "flashed out" the cute girl driving a Corsa who was turning right out of the side turn he wanted to turn right into. The van driver had seen me coming the opposite way at, or just under 30 mph, but the silly girl in the Corsa didn't even look my way, and just drove right into the 'B' pillar of my Mondeo. He'd meant to convey the message, "you go first, love, after these cars pass", but she'd read the message as "all clear, love, on you go". And even then her father (a man of the cloth, no less) turned up after she phoned him, and tried to put the blame on me! Apparently I "should have seen that the van driver flashed his daughter out, and stopped to let her go". Despite the fact that there was no way anyone with human reactions could have processed the info in time to stop before the junction. There were a couple of cars behind me too, but because she'd made no effort to look our way she hadn't seen any of us, just relied on that "misplaced courtesy" and caused over £3000 of damage to what was my nearly new car...
Red Devil said:
Lucky for you that you were in a car and not riding your bicycle. 
This was six years ago, and I still wonder if there was something I should/could have done to avoid the collision. After all, the Corsa and the van were both stopped, signalling to turn right and were therefore identifiable hazards. But neither was moving as I approached, and both were required (by statutory signs and road markings) to give way/cede priority to me. I suppose unless you could replay the incident in a simulator repeatedly, there's no way of knowing if there was anything I could have done better, or if it was just "one of those things". I'd had my reaction times scientifically tested a couple of years earlier and I was in the top 15% of the population according to the team doing the testing, so I'd like to think that I'd done all that I could reasonably be expected to do to avoid the crash.Previous accidents I'd been involved in were entirely my fault and avoidable with a little preparation (driving tired beyond a sensible stopping point to rest, I panicked when an HGV changed lanes while I was alongside, and I drove into central res. of the M4) or consideration for road conditions (sliding across a road beyond my own lane, into the path of an oncoming car, while braking to turn right - I'd not factored in the right turn filter being less trafficked and in the shade, so it was still icy). Both those accidents were early in my driving 'career' and came in quick succession, one in the car I hired while I was without the car from the first crash. I was young, too, but quickly learned from those incidents that I wasn't invincible, and I needed to work on improving my driving and my attitude to risk pretty quickly.
Even now, after 30 years on the road and very nearly a "full house" of license categories, these RegLocal tutorial videos show up flaws in my driving, and point me to ways I could do things better. But thankfully, also a lot of confirmation of things (I think) I do well. but no-one should ever consider themselves beyond the point where they can learn to improve, even if it's by doing little things better...
41 Off Road Driving in the Himalayas
https://youtu.be/su3agZnRMDk
The first of a few videos I’ll be uploading over the next few weeks following our little trip to Northern India.
https://youtu.be/su3agZnRMDk
The first of a few videos I’ll be uploading over the next few weeks following our little trip to Northern India.
Not really advanced driving I know, but really good fun, nonetheless.
43 Rickshaw Race Across Delhi
https://youtu.be/ytno388jRTY
43 Rickshaw Race Across Delhi
https://youtu.be/ytno388jRTY
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