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Other people's driving

paul rich said:
I failed my first test for doing just this. I thought I'd be clever and drive at 27mph instead of 30mph so I had no chance of breaking the limit monetarily. "Failure to make adequate progress".

In retrospect I agree with the failure decision. Our roads are crowded and the last thing we want is added congestion because someone is driving way below the speed limit. Lots of first hand experience of dual carriageways and twin lane motorways where even in dry conditions with good visibility lots of car drivers are plodding along at 50-60mph. Then Mr Truck Driver works out he can attain 0.00568mph more than Mr Magoo in his car, so so he pulls out to overtake........ 40 minutes later Mr TD then completes his manoeuvre and pulls back in having created a 16 mile tailback of cars who wanted nothing more than to drive at 70mph.
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Failure to make due progress I think was the phrase on mine. I always interpreted that to include eg hesitancy at junctions, although that may be separately listed as hesitancy. I failed on a bunch of stuff first time!
 
gintonic said:
i had that on one of my tests - i learnt everything on a mk 3 escort, and it broke down on the morning of the test.....he managed to scrounge a mk2 which id never driven (not that i should matter) - the change threw me and i failed. Probably deservedly...
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My instructor had a Mk2. My mum’s car was a convertible Triumph Herald. The blind spot created by the rather large examiner, combined with the tiny quarter-light in the hood made for complete guesswork reversing round a corner!
 
paul rich said:
Lots of first hand experience of dual carriageways and twin lane motorways where even in dry conditions with good visibility lots of car drivers are plodding along at 50-60mph. Then Mr Truck Driver works out he can attain 0.00568mph more than Mr Magoo in his car, so so he pulls out to overtake........ 40 minutes later Mr TD then completes his manoeuvre and pulls back in having created a 16 mile tailback of cars who wanted nothing more than to drive at 70mph.
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If someone trying to overtake me is struggling, I slow slightly to let them complete the manoeuvre, and then overtake them afterwards, if I need to. What's the rush?
 
Haven't seen anyone reversing round a corner in years. I have however seen plenty jump out of a line of stationary traffic onto the wrong side of the road and proceed to take the right hand junction in completely the wrong lane....
 
paul rich said:
Since it's clear that way too many people decide its acceptable to text while driving (i.e. the immediate sending of their text is more important than my life) we need to take that freedom away from them and relieve them of the hardship they suffer in trying what is right for society as opposed to themselves.

Why can't it become law that all car manufactures and phone manufactures install a protocol whereby a car containing a phone shuts down incoming notifications and outgoing calls and texts unless the phone is paired with a hands free kit that allows texting. Any attempt to text on the phone itself powers the phone down. Any second phone suffers the same fate, hard lines for the passenger, but the greater good needs to be served.
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So you crash down a steep wooded bank and your car can’t be seen, you are trapped and try to phone for help but your car won’t let you.


Pete
 
a.palfreyman said:
Haven't seen anyone reversing round a corner in years. I have however seen plenty jump out of a line of stationary traffic onto the wrong side of the road and proceed to take the right hand junction in completely the wrong lane....
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Reversing around a corner is no longer part of the test and so no longer necessary. However pulling up on the other side of the road is. So perhaps it's a reflex.
 
I had the easiest driving test ever. It was market day In Northallerton, the examiner said we’d go out of town to avoid the ‘traffic’. I had to negotiate 1 set of traffic lights and 1 roundabout, met very few other vehicles as we drove around local villages.

As I drive around London now I admire anyone who learns to drive in the Capital.

Cheers BB
 
Brown Bottle said:
I had the easiest driving test ever. It was market day In Northallerton, the examiner said we’d go out of town to avoid the ‘traffic’. I had to negotiate 1 set of traffic lights and 1 roundabout, met very few other vehicles as we drove around local villages.

As I drive around London now I admire anyone who learns to drive in the Capital.

Cheers BB
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That was me - but 1979 traffic wasn’t the same as 2023 traffic.

P.S. The key to driving in London has always been to find that level of assertiveness that doesn’t become agression. He who faffs is lost.
 
Paul R said:
Reversing around a corner is no longer part of the test and so no longer necessary.
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IIRC, it was dropped when using a satnav became part of the test. No time was added, so something had to go.
Where I live I frequently reverse round a corner on the left to turn around. I even did one on the right the other day!
Since being an instructor, I have tried to drive almost* as if I am on test. It saves a lot of energy, as I don't have to worry about speed cameras, etc.
*Yeah, well, there are times when it wouldn't be safe or sensible.
And I did learn to drive in That London, 50 years ago. I don't much like it now.
 
[QUOTE="Whaleblue, post: 5036661, member:

P.S. The key to driving in London has always been to find that level of assertiveness that doesn’t become agression. He who faffs is lost.[/QUOTE]

Yes, spot on, any sign of hesitation brings a volley of horns. Having a basic knowledge of the main roads is key in London. Everything else falls into place after that. It took me 2 years with an A-Z on the passenger seat to start to feel like I knew the place.

Cheers BB
 
Pete MB&D said:
So you crash down a steep wooded bank and your car can’t be seen, you are trapped and try to phone for help but your car won’t let you.


Pete
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I wasn't offering a fully fleshed out solution in my brief suggestion, only a concept of how to tackle a problem that to me is significant and has no resolution on the horizon. However if you want to play devil's advocate then the solution is easy. Once the car has stopped the interlock is deactivated. After all there is no safety issue in using a phone in a stopped car.
 
It is illegal to use a hand-held phone while driving, even if stopped or queueing in traffic. The only time you are permitted to use a hand-held phone is if you are safely parked or if you need to call 999 or 112 in an emergency, when it would be unsafe or impractical to stop.
 
Tony Lockhart said:
It is illegal to use a hand-held phone while driving, even if stopped or queueing in traffic. The only time you are permitted to use a hand-held phone is if you are safely parked or if you need to call 999 or 112 in an emergency, when it would be unsafe or impractical to stop.
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That makes sense to me.

My protocol could therefore give exemptions for calling 999 or 112.

As for safely parked, that is more tricky, parking sensor data? But in any case I wouldn't want to lose track of the greater good/big picture objective. Would a protocol that allowed none hands free use of the phone only when the engine is stopped and the car not moving not be a big step forward in terms of accident prevention compared to what we have now which is twits driving along at all speeds in all conditions texting each other? And if they choose to use the phone when not parked safety then they are still breaking a law. i am not saying there is a water tight solution, but one that assists people to do the right thing by reducing their options for doing bad things behind the wheel.
 
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