Is driving difficult?
Poll: Is driving difficult?
Total Members Polled: 262
Discussion
I voted for yes - sometimes, because while I found it easy to learn and I don't find controlling a car to be particularly challenging, I'm not above making an occasional error of judgement, or occasionally making a three course meal out of a parking attempt. On the basis of anecdotes in this thread, this could lead witnesses at the time to wonder if I found it difficult to drive.
I dont find it hard, the only time I do is in really crap weather conditions, then again most of us do.
Personally if people really do find driving so difficult then dont drive. If I may rant, yesterday I took my normal shortcut to the M25 (cuts approx 15 mins of traffic off my journey), this partiulcar person in front of me had been going slower (25 in a 40) but I put up with it. Then we get to the shortcut (a country lane), she proceeded to get at 17 mph down this road (40 zone again) braking harshly for the slight corner, and also becuase there were cars on the other side of the road. There was also no indication. it was rediculas, if you really are scared or find driving so diffocult to the extent that you go stupidly slow causing a traffic jam.
Rant over. Phew
Personally if people really do find driving so difficult then dont drive. If I may rant, yesterday I took my normal shortcut to the M25 (cuts approx 15 mins of traffic off my journey), this partiulcar person in front of me had been going slower (25 in a 40) but I put up with it. Then we get to the shortcut (a country lane), she proceeded to get at 17 mph down this road (40 zone again) braking harshly for the slight corner, and also becuase there were cars on the other side of the road. There was also no indication. it was rediculas, if you really are scared or find driving so diffocult to the extent that you go stupidly slow causing a traffic jam.
Rant over. Phew
Benbay001 said:
For those who have answered "no" as opposed to "yes sometimes" Then that would mean you have never made a mistake, surely? Yeh right..
Not really. Just because something is easy doesn't mean you don't make mistakes.I reckon walking is pretty easy but I trip over things every so often. Talking isn't too hard either but every so often it just doesn't work.
Okay what group of imbeciles voted yed and yes sometimes? This has got to be a joke, a full quarter of everyone who voted? Seriously? Come on!! 
I don't buy it, not from this site, PH, I expect that kind of percentage maybe from a home and garden site 
I'm going to pretend I didn't see that, okay, deal.?
OP, I share your question, as well as your observation. For example, I will be stuck behind a long line of cars on a 3 lane freeway, slowly trudging along at a whopping 40mph, having to constantly pump the brakes because everyone in front of me is doing the same, and when I finally carve my way through and get to the front of the line eager with anticipation to see what could possibly be causing this congestion, it comes as no surprise when I find that in the front are 3 cars each driving side by side at similar speed, and inside them are people with the expression upon their faces, 1 with a clueless, non expressive face, utterly clueless as to the long line of ttraffic he is contributing to, 2 the other you can count on is a woman, her seat pushed to the very front of the steering wheel and upright as much as it goes, her eyes squinting and her whole face scrunched up as if the sun is blinding her or she is struggling to see what's in front of you, and 3 the wandering and bitter right lane dip s
t who althoigh is driving in the correct lane, doesn't have the good sense to realize he is contributing to the problem by not going faster, instead he clearly has a chip on his shoulder, no doubt his contempt is from a bad child hood experience, and so he figures he's in the right, he'll do what he wants, he doesn't have to help out. All of them, you can count on one thing; they are all clueless, none of them have even peeked a bit into their rear view, not once, and they all clearly have a hard time piloting their vehicle. Imo, all 3 of them should be shot in the back of the head and their bodies should be thrown in an incinerator and used for fuel..... Or have their license revoked at the very least
I don't buy it, not from this site, PH, I expect that kind of percentage maybe from a home and garden site I'm going to pretend I didn't see that, okay, deal.?
OP, I share your question, as well as your observation. For example, I will be stuck behind a long line of cars on a 3 lane freeway, slowly trudging along at a whopping 40mph, having to constantly pump the brakes because everyone in front of me is doing the same, and when I finally carve my way through and get to the front of the line eager with anticipation to see what could possibly be causing this congestion, it comes as no surprise when I find that in the front are 3 cars each driving side by side at similar speed, and inside them are people with the expression upon their faces, 1 with a clueless, non expressive face, utterly clueless as to the long line of ttraffic he is contributing to, 2 the other you can count on is a woman, her seat pushed to the very front of the steering wheel and upright as much as it goes, her eyes squinting and her whole face scrunched up as if the sun is blinding her or she is struggling to see what's in front of you, and 3 the wandering and bitter right lane dip s
t who althoigh is driving in the correct lane, doesn't have the good sense to realize he is contributing to the problem by not going faster, instead he clearly has a chip on his shoulder, no doubt his contempt is from a bad child hood experience, and so he figures he's in the right, he'll do what he wants, he doesn't have to help out. All of them, you can count on one thing; they are all clueless, none of them have even peeked a bit into their rear view, not once, and they all clearly have a hard time piloting their vehicle. Imo, all 3 of them should be shot in the back of the head and their bodies should be thrown in an incinerator and used for fuel..... Or have their license revoked at the very least Really?
Imagine this.
You are piloting a 1-3 tonne object which is operated by multiple controls which requires co-ordination of both arms and legs at the same time, often at quite high speeds within a confined space, whilst taking into account variable conditions in terms of visibility, weather and grip (to name the basics).
At the same time, you will be trying to monitor and gauge similar or larger objects travelling at similar speeds (or even worse, at a high speed differentials), operated by people who often give little or no indication of their intentions, coming at you from multiple directions.
Added to this will be multiple objects which are far smaller, difficult to see and which will often not look to see you coming (called bikes and pedestrians). Lastly, add in some stationiary objects which are often in close proximity to your diection of travel.
Your aim is to navigate your large object from one point to the next, through all the obstacles described above, at high speed. If you collide with anything en route, the result will be anything from cost and inconvenience through to imprisonment, serious injury or possible death.
If your kids said they'd invented a new game with the basic rules above, you'd go berserk, and yet we do it every day.
Familiarity breeds contempt, however don't for a minute think driving is easy or that it requires anything less than 100% concentration. Any other attitude is frankly irresponsible at best.
Imagine this.
You are piloting a 1-3 tonne object which is operated by multiple controls which requires co-ordination of both arms and legs at the same time, often at quite high speeds within a confined space, whilst taking into account variable conditions in terms of visibility, weather and grip (to name the basics).
At the same time, you will be trying to monitor and gauge similar or larger objects travelling at similar speeds (or even worse, at a high speed differentials), operated by people who often give little or no indication of their intentions, coming at you from multiple directions.
Added to this will be multiple objects which are far smaller, difficult to see and which will often not look to see you coming (called bikes and pedestrians). Lastly, add in some stationiary objects which are often in close proximity to your diection of travel.
Your aim is to navigate your large object from one point to the next, through all the obstacles described above, at high speed. If you collide with anything en route, the result will be anything from cost and inconvenience through to imprisonment, serious injury or possible death.
If your kids said they'd invented a new game with the basic rules above, you'd go berserk, and yet we do it every day.
Familiarity breeds contempt, however don't for a minute think driving is easy or that it requires anything less than 100% concentration. Any other attitude is frankly irresponsible at best.
Dr G said:
kambites said:
Driving is easy.
Driving well is hard.
I've never been in a car with anyone who drives perfectly.
Have another Driving well is hard.
I've never been in a car with anyone who drives perfectly.
Simply 'operating a motor car' is not driving.
I'm impressed.
(I did initially vote, 'no' but that was with regard to 'operating a motor car' - a motorbike is a bit more challenging though)
I answered "yes sometimes". Most of the time it's a breeze and the physical act of driving is second nature, heel & toe / rev matching, as is maneuvering and reverse parking etc, I am sure this is the same for most people.
However there are odd occasions where it's much less fun, for example negotiating a large city you've never driven around, after dark, when you cant read the road markings because it's bucketing it down and you've no chance of seeing the signs either because the HGV in front is blocking the view, then there are the fking cameras in bus lanes and lights that change like christmas trees decorations all the while you are being buzzed by regular commuters who know what lane they need to be in or bumping up curbs for emergency vehicles to squeeze past, I wouldn't say that is a walk in the park, I'd gladly hand over the driving to someone else and have them take a wrong turn umpteen times or worse run the risk of entering the congestion zone. In fact try doing any of that that in a mk1 mx5 at night - where are the map lights? oh yes, there they are, virtually in the fking footwell, genius! So now you virtually lean on the gearstick to read a map on the passenger seat while trying to find somewhere. Now try it in an HGV with weight, height and width restrictions, deadlines looming and arse holes driving in your blind spot while you indicate. Like I say most of the time a doddle but not all the time IME.
I know someone who says they find it very easy, contrary to their opinion I observe that they find it easy to drive badly; they always seem to be in the wrong gear and as a passenger I'm always looking for the brake with my right foot as they negotiate cities and blind corners recklessly. They enter junctions diagonally while people are rolling up to them, nearly swiping bumpers off and they never park in reverse as they cant manage it without a visit to the accident repair shop.
However there are odd occasions where it's much less fun, for example negotiating a large city you've never driven around, after dark, when you cant read the road markings because it's bucketing it down and you've no chance of seeing the signs either because the HGV in front is blocking the view, then there are the f
king cameras in bus lanes and lights that change like christmas trees decorations all the while you are being buzzed by regular commuters who know what lane they need to be in or bumping up curbs for emergency vehicles to squeeze past, I wouldn't say that is a walk in the park, I'd gladly hand over the driving to someone else and have them take a wrong turn umpteen times or worse run the risk of entering the congestion zone. In fact try doing any of that that in a mk1 mx5 at night - where are the map lights? oh yes, there they are, virtually in the fking footwell, genius! So now you virtually lean on the gearstick to read a map on the passenger seat while trying to find somewhere. Now try it in an HGV with weight, height and width restrictions, deadlines looming and arse holes driving in your blind spot while you indicate. Like I say most of the time a doddle but not all the time IME.I know someone who says they find it very easy, contrary to their opinion I observe that they find it easy to drive badly; they always seem to be in the wrong gear and as a passenger I'm always looking for the brake with my right foot as they negotiate cities and blind corners recklessly. They enter junctions diagonally while people are rolling up to them, nearly swiping bumpers off and they never park in reverse as they cant manage it without a visit to the accident repair shop.
Yes but "sometime" walking is hard, for example when your walking up a steep hill, or when you are bare footed. Which is why i said why not click the "sometimes yes" box? There are times when we will all wish we knew which exit was ours on a roundabout, or times when your feeling under the weather but you have to drive, in which cases driving would be considered hard. I know if i had to venture through the center of London i would find it hard, as im used to rural driving.
To claim that there is never a time when you find driving hard is wrong, which is why there was the option "sometimes yes"
To claim that there is never a time when you find driving hard is wrong, which is why there was the option "sometimes yes"
B'stard Child said:
kambites said:
Driving is easy.
Driving well is hard.
As a summary while I don't 100% agree but I'm at 99.5% agreement because I couldn't think of a better 2 line summary. Driving well is hard.
woman are s
thowever on a serious note and i hate to take something that was said on top gear but if you don't have an interest in something chances are you won't be very good at it.
It seems as though most people do struggle with the basics. I've found speed, lack of indicating, lane discipline and hesitation to be the main causes all round. The amount of people who drive at 40mph everywhere is unbelievable. I have no idea why they feel that speed is appropriate for all conditions and environments!
Lane discipline people really struggle with in this country purely through lack of education and laziness. I followed my mate 5 junctions down the motorway on Sunday and he was a mild MLM, as in he did pull over eventually but only when L1 was completely empty for miles. I pulled in every time it was clear and when we arrived he asked me if I thought he was a MLM. If you even need to ask me that you know the answer!
Hesitation is downright annoying especially when it's busy. Very quickly cars back up at junctions because some halfwit at the front won't budge.
If we got rid of all these problems, congestion would improve, pollution would improve and more kittens would live. It would also make driving a nicer experience!
Lane discipline people really struggle with in this country purely through lack of education and laziness. I followed my mate 5 junctions down the motorway on Sunday and he was a mild MLM, as in he did pull over eventually but only when L1 was completely empty for miles. I pulled in every time it was clear and when we arrived he asked me if I thought he was a MLM. If you even need to ask me that you know the answer!
Hesitation is downright annoying especially when it's busy. Very quickly cars back up at junctions because some halfwit at the front won't budge.
If we got rid of all these problems, congestion would improve, pollution would improve and more kittens would live. It would also make driving a nicer experience!
Its all down to basic aptitude, some people dont have the motor skills to do it well or are dispraxic, add in age, experience and effort used its a complex equation.
Some people dont care about anything other than getting where they are going and take no pride in driving well, courtesy or anything like that, or Audi Drivers as we call them only joking.
Also, the scenario matters, anyone can point a car down a dry, empty motorway and manage but not a rain lashed country road you arent familiar with, perhaps in an older car that takes more skill.
Its not just the piloting of a car, its things like makign sure its roadworthy, can be the best driver tound, if you never check your tyres, brakes or change the oil you are heading for a problem.
I rate myself average at best, im 41 and still learning, I still make mistakes, I think some people confuse enjoying driving and going fast with being any good at it, it isnt just getting a car round the quickest possible way, there is so much more to it, drifting round a roundabout is great as a show off skill but only one small aspect of driving, car control, fundamental but not everything.
Some people dont care about anything other than getting where they are going and take no pride in driving well, courtesy or anything like that, or Audi Drivers as we call them
only joking.Also, the scenario matters, anyone can point a car down a dry, empty motorway and manage but not a rain lashed country road you arent familiar with, perhaps in an older car that takes more skill.
Its not just the piloting of a car, its things like makign sure its roadworthy, can be the best driver tound, if you never check your tyres, brakes or change the oil you are heading for a problem.
I rate myself average at best, im 41 and still learning, I still make mistakes, I think some people confuse enjoying driving and going fast with being any good at it, it isnt just getting a car round the quickest possible way, there is so much more to it, drifting round a roundabout is great as a show off skill but only one small aspect of driving, car control, fundamental but not everything.
gtdc said:
RemainAllHoof said:
JonnyFive said:
I've also been in the car with people some times when they brake all of the time, they brake for empty roundabouts, they brake for every single corner, they brake when they see another car.. Again, driving seems difficult for these people.
Women?And I agree.. Driving standards are pretty bad in the recent years.
I had to vote 'yes sometimes'-
Firstly because the woman I mentioned in my first post is capable and intelligent at everything else, but driving just hasnt clicked with her and I doubt it ever will. So for some it is difficult.
I have used a vx220 as my only available winter transport through 2 terrible winters of snow/ice living in deep hilly countryside that doesnt get roads cleared. That was fooken hard no matter who you are!
Firstly because the woman I mentioned in my first post is capable and intelligent at everything else, but driving just hasnt clicked with her and I doubt it ever will. So for some it is difficult.
I have used a vx220 as my only available winter transport through 2 terrible winters of snow/ice living in deep hilly countryside that doesnt get roads cleared. That was fooken hard no matter who you are!
marcosgt said:
Where's the "Driving is easy for me as I'm a director of 5 companies and powerfully built, but I've never met anyone who drives as perfectly as me" option? 
Of course it's difficult, it's just most of us do it enough that we get quite good at it - Some people just don't it seems...
M
It goes without saying, unless you drive an MX5 Of course it's difficult, it's just most of us do it enough that we get quite good at it - Some people just don't it seems...
M
I have to say I have always found driving to be straightforward, I'm not sure that I would use the word 'easy'.
On occasions it can be more challenging. Often brought upon by boredom are in my case frustration (the time I decided the car in front was not turning right, so I was damn well going past, only to find out that they were turning... Avoided a collision, just).
I do think there are people who are more natural drivers than others. The mother in law slows down (hammers the brake) when a car comes towards her....
The only condition where I find driving difficult is snow. Not helped by not much practice.
ETA I also like towing as it's a bit different and maneuvering more of a challenge.
On occasions it can be more challenging. Often brought upon by boredom are in my case frustration (the time I decided the car in front was not turning right, so I was damn well going past, only to find out that they were turning... Avoided a collision, just).
I do think there are people who are more natural drivers than others. The mother in law slows down (hammers the brake) when a car comes towards her....
The only condition where I find driving difficult is snow. Not helped by not much practice.
ETA I also like towing as it's a bit different and maneuvering more of a challenge.
Benbay001 said:
Yes but "sometime" walking is hard, for example when your walking up a steep hill, or when you are bare footed. Which is why i said why not click the "sometimes yes" box? There are times when ... your feeling under the weather but you have to drive, in which cases driving would be considered hard.
If you happen to come off your bike and hurt your right knee, it can make both walking and driving difficult 
RV8 said:
Most of the time it's a breeze and the physical act of driving is second nature ... as is maneuvering and reverse parking etc, I am sure this is the same for most people.
Every supermarket car park I've ever visited has illustrated that for most people, reverse parking is not second nature, but a challenge (assuming they even try).Edited by RenesisEvo on Thursday 1st December 16:05
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