Dangerous drivers

[threebikesmcginty]

He's like a nobber magnet, wherever he goes...

 

[glenn forger]

And here you are!

 

[Night Train]

Why would you have to brake hard if you'd already taken your foot off the accelerator and were slowing? Surely that would mean you were driving too fast for the prevailing conditions, given you were aware of a possible issue...

Because Matt is still a learner driver and doing the best he can given his lack of experience and possibly breaking harder then necessary due to the uncertainty of the situation, in his eyes.

How many 'experienced' drivers, with many years of driving, would have even noticed the hazard, let alone react appropriately?

 

[Matthew_T]

Why would you have to brake hard if you'd already taken your foot off the accelerator and were slowing? Surely that would mean you were driving too fast for the prevailing conditions, given you were aware of a possible issue...

Because he gave me that little time between him reversing out and me seeing him. If I had kept a constant speed, I would have hit him. If I had taken my foot right off the gas when I first noticed him, I would have hit him.
I did the right thing by braking and my instructor said that I did the right thing considering the circumstances.

Just think of it like this: I was traveling along at 50mph before I had to brake. Any more experienced driver would probably be doing 60/70 along this stretch of road (very straight and at the end of an overtaking place). Just be glad that I was driving well under the speed limit and gave myself plenty of time to react to what happened. If someone (like the people on here) had been on the same stretch of road, they would have most likely been going faster than me which could have resulted in them not having the time or room to brake due to the increased stopping and thinking distances.

 

[Night Train]

Read the OP and subsequent posts again. There as an inconsistency with what is claimed.


[Rant]

And, frankly, it's too bloody easy to get a driving license. Too many instructors insist on their pupils going up to the speed limit, using the excuse of 'making progress' - it's also absurd that learners are expected to make and maintain maximum speeds during tests. The clue's in the name: they're fecking maximums - not fecking targets....

All driving lessons and driving test these days ensure is that we have a cadre of drivers who know feck all about driving at appropriate speeds for the road type and conditions.

[/Rant]

I can't see any inconsistency that matters.
Instructors will ask the learner to 'make good progress' if the road conditions are suitable. That means driving up to the speed limit where appropriate. If a learner never drives up to the speed limit then they will never experience driving up to the speed limit. It is the nearest many can get to driving at any speed above the 30 mph limit.
I bet you once cycled faster then my pootle speed. Does that make it wrong? Does that give me the right to have a go at you for cycling faster then me, and not considering the cafe I would have spotted that you would cycle past without noticing?

I don't know what the speed limit on the road in question was. Matthew says he was driving at 50mph. That may be the limit, maybe not. He says other drivers may well be doing 60-70mph. That suggests that either it is a national speed limit single carriageway, 60mph, or a 50mph limit single carriageway. I don''t know.
I reckon Mathew may well have been driving at or below the speed limit just prior to seeing the hazard and then slowing down.

As for no learning about appropriate speeds, for as long as I have been involved in driving and driver instruction it has always been a case of reading the road and driving at a speed that is appropriate for the conditions. The phrase 'The small the the gap, the lower the speed.' is used often, as is 'The more paint on the road, the greater the hazard.'.

The problem with many qualified drivers is that they 'forget' their lessons and the correct way to drive, not the standard of driving tuition itself, which, if carried out to the approved standard, is actually quite good.

However, it would seem that you believe that you know more about the actual circumstances of Matthew's driving incident and his tuition then he, or his instructor, does.

 

[hopless500]

Why is what always Audi drivers?
In my experience it isn't always Audi drivers. I had to brake hard to avoid a learner in a Fiesta today. And then there was a VW polo yesterday. In fact, come to think of it....it is rarely Audi drivers.

BM's are pretty good at this too....

 

[Brandane]

It's not driving instructors who insist on pupils driving up to the maximum speed limit, it is the DSA (Driving Standards Agency). If a pupil goes on their test and doesn't drive up to the maximum speed limit WHERE ROAD CONDITIONS ALLOW IT, then they will, quite rightly IMHO, fail their test for failing to make reasonable progress.
Selfish pratts who dawdle along day-dreaming at 35/40 mph for no good reason where the limit is 60mph are more of a hazard than those going a few mph over the posted limit (again, IMHO; I don't have a link to a source or any of those all important statistics to back this up ).

It is also the policy of the DSA to have driving instructors refer to the accelerator pedal as "gas". If instructors prefer to do their own thing then they will be downgraded during their check tests.

 

[Night Train]

I wouldn't agree that slow drivers are more of a danger. It is the inappropriate reaction of drivers to slow moving vehicles that cause the danger.

However, there is no reason why a learner should not be taught to drive up to the speed limit, there conditions allow. No point in having a range of speed limits if people are not taught to drive safely at, or near, those speeds properly.
Otherwise you will have a whole bunch of drivers who have never driven at more then 20 mph in an urban environment venturing out onto 40, 50, 60, and 70mph roads with no idea how to respond or react at/to those speeds.

 

[skudupnorth]

I'm afraid you will see this kind of driving more and more nowadays and it's just like when you are out on two wheels...it either bothers you or you just let it go and get on with it. I hate driving as it has become less of a pleasure and more of a chore with idiots like you have described being let out on the open road and draw oxygen !

 

[Matthew_T]

In relation to the speed, the limit on this road was 60. It is a bumpy road with people often speeding due to the bends being long and straight (the house was hidden behind a line of trees but I knew it was there so thats why I automatically slowed).

Just to put this out there: It is very difficult (for me at least) to stay at the posted speed limit. You have to concentrate very hard and have excellent use of your right foot. In 30 zones, I usually do about 27/28. In 40 zones, 37/38. A55 (70 zone), depending on the traffic is usually do about 65. My speed is always consistent with the conditions of the road and the fact that if I go over the limit by 1mph, I could fail the test.

I dont really want to be dwelling on what happened though as I passed the mock test with only 8 minors (which I picked up on myself because I hadnt driven for a month). Test is tomorrow and I feel that I am in good shape to pass it. I will concentrate hard and focus on my weaknesses (mainly hesitancy).

 

[vernon]

Test is tomorrow and I feel that I am in good shape to pass it. I will concentrate hard and focus on my weaknesses (mainly hesitancy).

You have weaknesses?

I am a mere padawan when my strengths measured against yours.

Good luck with the test.

 

[pauldavid]

Because he gave me that little time between him reversing out and me seeing him. If I had kept a constant speed, I would have hit him. If I had taken my foot right off the gas when I first noticed him, I would have hit him.
I did the right thing by braking and my instructor said that I did the right thing considering the circumstances.

Just think of it like this: I was traveling along at 50mph before I had to brake. Any more experienced driver would probably be doing 60/70 along this stretch of road (very straight and at the end of an overtaking place). Just be glad that I was driving well under the speed limit and gave myself plenty of time to react to what happened. If someone (like the people on here) had been on the same stretch of road, they would have most likely been going faster than me which could have resulted in them not having the time or room to brake due to the increased stopping and thinking distances.

Being a more experienced driver I would almost certainly have been driving faster than 50 although never more than about 85 in a 50 limit. This is purely for safety reasons.

If you had been travelling at 85 rather than 50 you would have passed the driveway before the nobber got in his Audi, never mind started reversing out.

And remember a professional driver always wears his sunglasses regardless of weather, has his seat back at an angle that resembles a pool side sunbed and alays has the radio on too loud for personal use ( this is just common courtesy, there may be someone within a 1/4 mile radius without a radio)

And watch out for cyclists hey're a bloody menace, and they don't even pay road tax you know!

 

[Brandane]

Absolute boll0cks. There is no evidence to suggest that slower drivers cause accidents... lots of anecdata - but no proper evidence, as the TRL has shown.

They might not cause accidents, but they cause congestion and frustration, when it could be so easily avoided if they would only learn to concentrate on the task in hand and bl00dy well drive properly. When they are presented with a nice straight stretch of road with no hazards and they can't sit somewhere near 60mph then there can be no excuses other than incompetence. Please don't come back with the freedom of choice argument either; having a driving licence is a privilege with conditions attached, not a right.

However, as always, I will bow to your superior knowledge of all things, oh great one. I am not worthy .

Good luck with your test today, @Matthew_T .

 

[glasgowcyclist]

When they are presented with a nice straight stretch of road with no hazards and they can't sit somewhere near 60mph then there can be no excuses other than incompetence.

If I'm on a nice straight stretch of road with no hazards, travelling behind someone who can't sit somewhere near 60mph and I can't achieve an overtake, it would be my competence that is questionable.


GC

 

[Brandane]

If I'm on a nice straight stretch of road with no hazards, travelling behind someone who can't sit somewhere near 60mph and I can't achieve an overtake, it would be my competence that is questionable.


GC

Agreed. But when you are stuck in a queue of incompetent drivers who don't know how to carry out an overtaking manouevre, you don't have much choice other than to sit there patiently (as I of course do ). Unless it is an extremely long straight with no oncoming traffic of course, but what's the chances of that. That is where a motorbike comes in handy .