Family nearly killed today

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Eat MY Dust said:
Not that I think that this is a goo idea, but........I've been in cars with my brother in the past and when someone is tailgating or generally driving aggressively, and he will "box"them in. He lets them start to overtake and then matches their speed. Once they come up behind the next car, they've nowhere to go. On one occassion the guy in the car was foaming at the mouth, shouting out of the window, it was clear that he was going to miss his turn off (which he did!!). Like I mentioned, I don't think is the best way to handle as_hole drivers but it's amusing seeing them almost having a stroke from rage.

edit: I must mention that this is only on motorways, not when people are overtaking into oncoming traffic.
 

CopperBrompton

Bicycle: a means of transport between cake-stops
Location
London
domd1979 said:
Ideally all vehicles should be fitted with limiters, and then cameras could be done away with.
I would wager a very large sum of money that accident rates would then increase. We already have enough brain-dead drivers paying too little attention to their driving; with speed-limiters, they would then think they need pay no attention to their speed as the box will do it for them, so they'd just drive foot to the floor all the time.

The safe speed at any given moment depends on a great many factors, among them pedestrians, cyclists, traffic density, junctions, vision into same, weather conditions, road surface quality, light, braking performance of the vehicle, etc. A number painted on a bit of round metal (or programmed into a GPS) is an extremely poor substitute for intelligent modification of speed to conditions.

What we need is not further dumbing-down of driving, but the exact opposite: a higher standard.

Ben
 

domd1979

Veteran
Location
Staffordshire
Like I said - there's no one answer.

Speed limiters take away the choice of maximum speed not minimum. Many cars already have variable limiters anyway in the form of cruise control. I'm not sure that has contributed to increased accidents? Do limiters on HGVs / PCVs cause increased accidents?

As things are, car design has evolved continually in a way which has arguably meant that modern cars have become far more forgiving of bad/sloppy driving so the engineering of cars lets people "get away with it". Yes, there are some safety benefits - ABS, crash worthiness etc, but on the other hand do these same features give people a false sense of confidence? For instance, I hear a lot of people saying they pay no attention to braking distances in the Highway Code because they know modern cars "have better brakes", in other words encouraging braking at the last minute. At the moment I drive two vehicles - a 1976 VW bus and a 2005 Fiesta. The Fiesta (a 1.6 turbo diesel) can be chucked round the place, sticks to the road extremely well, you can get away with being in the wrong gear quite easily and so on (it'll pull away in 2nd, do roundabouts in 4th). The van on the other hand takes a lot more thinking about - no power steering, not a huge amount of power, handling is much less forgiving (i.e. corners the car will comfortably go round without slowing down much, if at all, the van won't), gear changes aren't quick, and there's sod all power if you're in the wrong gear. I'd guess that some drivers with no experience of a vehicle that age would struggle to drive it properly. Point I'm making is that the skill needed to drive is already being engineered out of cars. Adding limiters in, therefore, could well be a benefit.

If standards are to improve, attitudes also need to change. The nations attitudes to cars are so embedded, changing them is something that will take some time. Attitudes won't change unless there's some pretty big changes in town planning and transport planning. Until car is not king - driver's attitudes will not change.

Ben Lovejoy said:
I would wager a very large sum of money that accident rates would then increase. We already have enough brain-dead drivers paying too little attention to their driving; with speed-limiters, they would then think they need pay no attention to their speed as the box will do it for them, so they'd just drive foot to the floor all the time.

The safe speed at any given moment depends on a great many factors, among them pedestrians, cyclists, traffic density, junctions, vision into same, weather conditions, road surface quality, light, braking performance of the vehicle, etc. A number painted on a bit of round metal (or programmed into a GPS) is an extremely poor substitute for intelligent modification of speed to conditions.

What we need is not further dumbing-down of driving, but the exact opposite: a higher standard.

Ben
 

Mr Pig

New Member
I don't agree with limiters. However they could be fitted as a punishment. Get to six points and you get limiter fitted! The Corsa boys would love that, slap a sticker on the roof too.
 

gambatte

Middle of the pack...
Location
S Yorks
What we actually need is the removal of driver seatbelts and the introduction of a 10" spike to the centre of the steering wheel....:biggrin:
 

Trillian

New Member
User482 said:
Yes, the closer someone drives behind me, the more I slow down.

I was stuck in heavy traffic going north on the M6 on Friday - I stayed on the inside lane for the duration and managed to finish up ahead of the tosser in the BMW who was cutting everyone up, flashing his lights etc. No doubt he'll not learn from his experience.

my friend's car has reversing lights that are switched on by a switch in the dashboard (built before reversing lights) he likes turning those on when people are right behind him.
 

Trillian

New Member
i have to admit that I've had a 70mph bumper tap

someone came right up behind me in a red car, hung on the back bumper of the mini bus I was driving, overtook and cut me up before slowing to 60

I pulled out instead of breaking more, went round him, left a decent amount of room (my normal amount) and tucked back in to let traffic through on my right

he did it again, closer than before resulting in a very mild shunt @70mph while i was stood on the brakes to avoid a proper colision

the only damage i'm aware of was his rear number plate dropping off.

and yes, it does sound a little far fetched, i don't know if he knew that our bumpers touched

i stopped in the right hand lane past a truck and didn't see him again.
 

Trillian

New Member
domd1979 said:
In some ways I agree - but doesn't there come a point?

The alternative is that any kind of bad driving must be seen as socially unacceptable - which would most probably involve an element of state intervention.

Even with speed limiters on vehicles, bad driving isn't prevented, but its certainly a start. Limiters could have a positive influence on behaviour, because the "get out of my way" attitude on the motorway would be entirely futile since everyone has the same maximum speed.

There isn't any one answer to the problem of generally worsening standards of driving.

one of the mini busses i drive has a limiter to 60mph which in my oppinion is dangerous since its done on power and a truck can out pace me up a motorway hill. the speed limit for me on the motorway is 70mph, i need that to overtake slow moving traffic quickly so as not to slow flow of traffic in the right hand lane.

i've found that it only works when in 5th gear and so take the 68mph i can get in 4th gear.

speed restricting on power is why trucks are so slow up hills, they're bouncing it off the rev limiter, if you limit cars in the same way people will just drive with their foot to the floor and get caught out occasionally by the change in speed limit.
 

Trillian

New Member
Mr Pig said:
I don't agree with limiters. However they could be fitted as a punishment. Get to six points and you get limiter fitted! The Corsa boys would love that, slap a sticker on the roof too.

nah

punishment for driving like a div

you must drive a reliant robin for a year after re-taking your test.
 

gambatte

Middle of the pack...
Location
S Yorks
My method of dealing with tailgaters:

Everyone who has gone for a driving test should have at least glanced at a highway code. A part of this that is usually stressed is braking distances. So everyone should have an idea about these.

Now I have no real influence on how close you drive behind me. However I can influence the speed you’re doing. So if you’re that close that the gap is suitable for a speed 20mph less than what I’m doing. I’ll drive 20mph slower. If you decide to close the gap even further at least I’ve limited the potential impact speed.

Should you run into the back of me be aware of 3 points:

  • I don’t know if I’m injured….. I will be calling the police and reporting it, hopefully getting them to attend.
  • I’ve got an old car with a very sturdy towbar – who’s gonna come off worse?
  • Standard insurance procedure, you ran into the back of me, you lose.
 

domd1979

Veteran
Location
Staffordshire
Trillian said:
one of the mini busses i drive has a limiter to 60mph which in my oppinion is dangerous since its done on power and a truck can out pace me up a motorway hill. the speed limit for me on the motorway is 70mph, i need that to overtake slow moving traffic quickly so as not to slow flow of traffic in the right hand lane.

My understanding of how limiters work is that an electronic gizmo takes a feed from the speedo. At the point the speed limit is hit it restricts the flow of fuel to the engine. Therefore, its not power limited, since the speed is the deciding factor not the amount of power being delivered. If it wasn't a fully laden vehicle would never be able to hit the limit.

The 60mph limiter on your bus isn't "dangerous" - there isn't any need to overtake, nor to maintain 70mph. If the bus has a limiter then using the right hand lane is illegal in any case.


speed restricting on power is why trucks are so slow up hills, they're bouncing it off the rev limiter, if you limit cars in the same way people will just drive with their foot to the floor and get caught out occasionally by the change in speed limit.

Being fully laden is likely to be the slowing factor on gradients?
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
domd1979 said:
The 60mph limiter on your bus isn't "dangerous" - there isn't any need to overtake, nor to maintain 70mph. If the bus has a limiter then using the right hand lane is illegal in any case.


+1

Bloody Safespeeder!
 

Trillian

New Member
i had not been informed that using the right hand lane in a vehicle with a limiter on it was illegal and will change my driving accordingly.

i hope "bloody safespeeder" was not aimed at me Mikey as i have nothing to do with them and have a mutual dislike of them similar to most other people on this forum.

people should be able to judge if their speed is safe, for example a 30mph limit through my parents village at midnight, there is no one arround, so you can go upto the limit.

during the day its very busy, lots of people about so should slow down to about 20 or less just in case.
 

Mr Pig

New Member
Trillian said:
I had not been informed that using the right hand lane in a vehicle with a limiter on it was illegal...

You word that to suggest that it's not your fault you didn't know, which it is ;0)

Although they are few, there are times when blasting past the speed limit for a short time is sensible, to reposition yourself relative to an imposing cloud of motorway traffic for instance.
 
Top Bottom