Is your driving s*** because of cycling?

[KnackeredBike]

Thanks to cycling rather than driving every day I normally only drive once or twice a month.

And to be honest... my driving has got shockingly bad.

I find I now I totally misjudge the road. I had to do a fifteen minute journey on winding country roads tonight and to be honest it was dangerous with me totally misjudging corners and speeds. I almost crashed the car because I was trying to find the switch to wind up the window.

Last fortnight I managed to spin the car 180' and probably get a speeding ticket because I forgot I was in a 50mph average speed camera zone and drove at 70mph instead.

I used to think of myself as a safe, skilled driver. Now I am a safe, skilled cyclist and a sh*t driver. I would give up entirely if I didn't occasionally have to ferry family long distances.

Anyone else in the same boat?

 

[KnackeredBike]

Sounds like you need to turn in your licence

For some bizarre reason despite not touching drugs since a student the DVLA has requested a drug test and honestly I probably would if it didn't mean admitting to Mrs KB she is a better driver.

 

[welsh dragon]

To be honest, if i was that bad, i wouldn't be driving ever. Not only are you a danger to yourself by the sounds of it, but you are also a danger to potential passengers, and other road users, and pedestrians alike.

 

[KnackeredBike]

I should add I have never had an at fault accident. I just feel really, really rusty. But I am loathed to drive more often because whenever I drive I see a cyclist and I really, really want to swap places.

 

[swee'pea99]

No. On the contrary, I think a lifetime's cycling has made me a better driver. In particular, it's instilled in me two habits which serve me well: anticipate, all the time, and leave an uncommonly big gap between me and the vehicle in front.

 

[vickster]

I should add I have never had an at fault accident. I just feel really, really rusty..

Yet...

 

[winjim]

To be fair, 180' is only 3° so it's really not that bad.

 

[KnackeredBike]

[QUOTE 4972991, member: 9609"]I'm struggling with the logic here[/QUOTE]
I'm struggling to work out whether it is just unfamiliar and that is why I feel really bad at it. Or whether my driving is actually bad. In some ways I am much "better" on paper, I never exceed the speed limits, am much more aware of hazards, almost never have to brake hard.

I used to sail and it was always an adjustment getting back to "road speed". I wonder if that is just the problem, I am so used to tootling along at 15mph that suddenly doing 50mph everything seems more sudden.

(I should say the 180' spin was on diesel which I called through to the police and waited till the fire brigade came with sand. But I still feel I should have spotted it.)

 

[Tin Pot]

There is absolutely no causation here. You've become a shoot driver because you always were a shoot driver, you're old or you're young.

 

[wreck rider]

I find my driving improved hugely due to two things, having my children in the car, and cycling.
My experiences as a cyclist have hammered home the vulnerability of other road users and the damage my ton of metal could inflict. These were lessons I needed to learn because, shamefully, I drove like a wreckless idiot in my younger days.

 

[Tin Pot]

Maybe I'm completely losing my shoot here, but FFS.

You span a car doing 70 in a 50 zone?

You should be shot. Right now. Before you kill someone.

Get off the road.

Now.

 

[KnackeredBike]

Maybe I'm completely losing my shoot here, but FFS.

You span a car doing 70 in a 50 zone?

You should be shot. Right now. Before you kill someone.

Get off the road.

Now.

No, I spun the car at about 10mph at a junction where you have to turn 180' anyway and their was diesel all over the road. I would have probably spotted it but there was a car coming really fast from the opposite direction, which I had priority over but I was concentrating on to make sure they stopped.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.6...4!1sqpfYNDWT9dRd1vd5ngEnZw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I did 70mph in a 50mph zone because they were putting out cones and had put a lane closure sign in front of the 50mph sign. Obviously I went slowly past the road workers but then sped up to 70mph after. Probably averaged about 60mph. I was still annoyed because I knew it was a 50mph zone, just forgot what with paying attention to the roadworks.

 

[slowmotion]

I think that if you don't drive for long periods because you are cycling more, you get out of practice. Whether or not that makes you more cautious or a worse driver very much depends on the individual. I think it's made me more cautious, but I never aspired to being Juan Manuel Fangio in the first place. The more I cycle, the less I like driving.

 

[classic33]

Don't drive, never have done, if the DVLA have requested a drugs test how do plan on getting round it?

Just check the warnings on many over the counter medications.

 

[KnackeredBike]

Don't drive, never have done, if the DVLA have requested a drugs test how do plan on getting round it?

Just check the warnings on many over the counter medications.

They are welcome to have a drugs test and I have agreed to it even if it is slightly inconvenient. I assume it is not very serious seeing as they have given me six weeks notice. They are already aware of the (long list of) medications I am on.

@slowmotion That is basically it. I hate driving in urban areas even well out of peak because everything seems like a hassle compared to parking your bike immediately outside. I can't imagine having to "hunt for a space", I would probably just drive home again.

I think I am just really out of practice travelling anything above 30mph and it seems very alien when you are spending 99% of your time on the road well below it.