Why do so few people ‘use all of the road’?
Discussion
akirk said:
Monkeylegend said:
But the PH driving god is a different breed you know.
Masterful car control, x-ray vision, has right of way everywhere, can control any loss of grip, any skid,any aquaplaning, at the same time as sending a text message, all with one hand on the steering wheel, at twice the speed limit, without ever getting caught or having an accident.
Then there are us mere mortals who in the main drive defensively, stick to the correct side of the road and assume everybody else on the road is a feral PH driving god
so, you would reduce your visibility / minimise your sight-lines / reduce your contingency / increase your risk - purely to obey some arbitrary rule which doesn't exist in quite the way most people imagine? Masterful car control, x-ray vision, has right of way everywhere, can control any loss of grip, any skid,any aquaplaning, at the same time as sending a text message, all with one hand on the steering wheel, at twice the speed limit, without ever getting caught or having an accident.
Then there are us mere mortals who in the main drive defensively, stick to the correct side of the road and assume everybody else on the road is a feral PH driving god
just drive defensively - and if that means using parts of the road to increase the distance you can see, then that might be the right decision for you at that time on that road - having fixed mantras by which you drive regardless of context is not advanced driving...
If you can't see far enough ahead by driving on the correct side of the road you are either driving too fast or your eyes need a visit to Specsavers.
I like playing the game of not cutting when making progress. Forces me to be more precise and not rely on parts of the road that may not always be available to use. A lesson I learned when keeping up with an older friend in my younger days and I couldn't keep with him unless I cut. He didn't cut once and was faster which forced me to improve. I do still cut on occasion but only when all my prerequisites are met. On left handers in particular if I see it's clear I will sometimes use all the road at corner entry to get a faster exit
Dr Jekyll said:
Monkeylegend said:
Is that what they teach you as an advanced driver?
If you can't see far enough ahead by driving on the correct side of the road you are either driving too fast or your eyes need a visit to Specsavers.
They teach you that the further ahead you can see, the better.If you can't see far enough ahead by driving on the correct side of the road you are either driving too fast or your eyes need a visit to Specsavers.
I use cutting where vision allows not so much to enable the carrying of additional speed (Though this is a benefit), but to increase smoothness.
Off siding on approach to corners is another matter; I'm very much willing to do it, however, I'll tuck back in before the limit of vision around the corner is reached (as you might hope), and I'll avoid doing it on separated carriageways for the most part if I'm in view of other vehicles, or keep it to a minimum, as for most drivers I'd say offsiding would be rather alarming.
Off siding on approach to corners is another matter; I'm very much willing to do it, however, I'll tuck back in before the limit of vision around the corner is reached (as you might hope), and I'll avoid doing it on separated carriageways for the most part if I'm in view of other vehicles, or keep it to a minimum, as for most drivers I'd say offsiding would be rather alarming.
Monkeylegend said:
Dr Jekyll said:
Monkeylegend said:
Is that what they teach you as an advanced driver?
If you can't see far enough ahead by driving on the correct side of the road you are either driving too fast or your eyes need a visit to Specsavers.
They teach you that the further ahead you can see, the better.If you can't see far enough ahead by driving on the correct side of the road you are either driving too fast or your eyes need a visit to Specsavers.
Haltamer said:
as for most drivers I'd say offsiding would be rather alarming.
And there's the issue.It's a bit like tales of the unexpected. Nobody is expecting cars to be on the wrong side of the road travelling at speed, whether it's pedestrians, other drivers, others emerging from side roads, cyclists or horse riders
It's stupid in the extreme and anyone who claims it's safe to do is an accident waiting to happen.
Can you imagine what reaction somebody would get on here if they posted to say I was driving on the wrong side of the road and I had a head on with somebody coming the other way who didn't see me, was it my fault or his for not seeing me?
Hand in your licence on your way out
Monkeylegend said:
Then there are us mere mortals who in the main drive defensively...
so, one of your goals is to increase safety and contingency? - certainly my goal...Dr Jekyll said:
Monkeylegend said:
Is that what they teach you as an advanced driver?
If you can't see far enough ahead by driving on the correct side of the road you are either driving too fast or your eyes need a visit to Specsavers.
They teach you that the further ahead you can see, the better.If you can't see far enough ahead by driving on the correct side of the road you are either driving too fast or your eyes need a visit to Specsavers.
if I can see 300 yards ahead while on the left hand side - I drive at a speed appropriate to that view - safe and I have superb eyesight thank you...
if I can safely move to the right hand side and see double the distance - then for the same speed I have substantially increased my contingency / reduced my risk...
why would you not want to do that?!
I assume your comments are simply assuming that everyone who moves to the right does so to increase speed - with any situation you have a trade off between pace and contingency - if you increase vision (distance of), then you can increase pace / increase contingency / increase both (by a bit less each).
to say that moving out to the right hand side increases risk is a massive assumption - it depends on the road / scenario - the advanced driver surely makes choices deliberately so will only do so where it brings a benefit to their journey...
Monkeylegend said:
Dr Jekyll said:
IAM and ROSPA don't officially approve of it in case they get blamed for someone offsiding
If it is so acceptable and safe why not?It makes you
Dr Jekyll actually said:
. IAM and ROSPA don't officially approve of it in case they get blamed for someone offsiding when they shouldn't.
Monkeylegend said:
Can you imagine what reaction somebody would get on here if they posted to say I was driving on the wrong side of the road and I had a head on with somebody coming the other way who didn't see me, was it my fault or his for not seeing me?
I feel you took a single line a way out of context to suit your argument; As I've said, I agree that there are factors of perception to be accounted for in off siding in the presence of other motorists, however, if you've had a head on collision, you were doing it quite wrong; for one not returning to your side for visible oncoming traffic.If you've offsided into traffic that you couldn't see, you've just made a bad mistake.
SamR380 said:
Crossing the line in the road?? You maniac driver!
What you need to do is drive everywhere at 40mph, then when you get to the motorway head straight to the middle lane and stay there whilst varying your speed randomly between 60 and 80mph. That way you're safe.
Why is this annoying style of driving so common these days?What you need to do is drive everywhere at 40mph, then when you get to the motorway head straight to the middle lane and stay there whilst varying your speed randomly between 60 and 80mph. That way you're safe.
Why do I have to constantly pass, and then be passed, by cars over and over again if I use cruise control?
How annoying!!
driverrob said:
mat205125 said:
The whole road is there, so might as well use it.
Conservation of momentum, and reduced need for avoidable braking and steering inputs is an economically environmentally friendly way to drive ...... maybe why I get over 70k miles from discs and pads, and 30k miles from sets of tyres!!
Exactly so.Conservation of momentum, and reduced need for avoidable braking and steering inputs is an economically environmentally friendly way to drive ...... maybe why I get over 70k miles from discs and pads, and 30k miles from sets of tyres!!
Monkeylegend said:
Dr Jekyll said:
Monkeylegend said:
Is that what they teach you as an advanced driver?
If you can't see far enough ahead by driving on the correct side of the road you are either driving too fast or your eyes need a visit to Specsavers.
They teach you that the further ahead you can see, the better.If you can't see far enough ahead by driving on the correct side of the road you are either driving too fast or your eyes need a visit to Specsavers.
Pica-Pica said:
If you are very narrow back lanes, then the earlier an on-coming car sees you, the better. If you stay to the left, there is still only room for one car on the lane. That does not mean ‘bombing’ it on the wrong side, just making yourself visible more earlier.
That's different.What is being said is that it is ok to drive completely on the wrong side of the road if you read the OP's post.
Madness I tell ye, where will it all end.
Monkeylegend said:
Pica-Pica said:
If you are very narrow back lanes, then the earlier an on-coming car sees you, the better. If you stay to the left, there is still only room for one car on the lane. That does not mean ‘bombing’ it on the wrong side, just making yourself visible more earlier.
That's different.What is being said is that it is ok to drive completely on the wrong side of the road if you read the OP's post.
Madness I tell ye, where will it all end.
Interesting. My IAM instructor was happy for me to use the other side of the road, where conditions allowed. I've also been out for a day with a police instructor and she also advised me to cut corners where possible.
The rationale was that a straight line is always better, traction wise, than turning. Obviously this advice needs to be taken in context.
To be honest, despite passing my IAM I have no issues with making progress and using both sides of the road. There's a few things I don't necessarily agree with that the IAM insist on so just take what I believe to be beneficial.
The rationale was that a straight line is always better, traction wise, than turning. Obviously this advice needs to be taken in context.
To be honest, despite passing my IAM I have no issues with making progress and using both sides of the road. There's a few things I don't necessarily agree with that the IAM insist on so just take what I believe to be beneficial.
SOL111 said:
Interesting. My IAM instructor was happy for me to use the other side of the road, where conditions allowed. I've also been out for a day with a police instructor and she also advised me to cut corners where possible.
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