The way people are taught to drive today.

[AIT]

i was tough 3 years ago and that certainly wasn't the way i was told. had-break on neural.

 

Talking of driving... women pulled out in front of me i avoided my car = write off.. :-(.... about 5 days ago...

[mac_shinobi]

When you are in the position of having to make that decision yourself, you may be critical of other people who choose differently. Until then, please stop being so snide and inflammatory.

 

British cars, tax and insurance are unfortunately not comparable to the US equivalents for all sorts of reasons, and sometimes it's necessary to make compromises and trust the driver to drive carefully. After all, that's a much more safe approach than any gadgets will get you.

 

Just as clarifiction I was purely stating that it helps and it is not the be all and end all with ref to safety or anything else for that matter but as above has helped me out in a few situations with ref to braking etc as far as the ABS goes

[RingOfFlame]

New cars cost a fortune in this country. Count yourself lucky you live over the pond.

 

I do every day.

 

When you are in the position of having to make that decision yourself, you may be critical of other people who choose differently. Until then, please stop being so snide and inflammatory.

 

British cars, tax and insurance are unfortunately not comparable to the US equivalents for all sorts of reasons, and sometimes it's necessary to make compromises and trust the driver to drive carefully. After all, that's a much more safe approach than any gadgets will get you.

 

The driver may drive carefully but that does not carry over to other drivers on the road. Even if you remove the safety "gadgets" from the equation modern vehicles are far safer with safety cells and crumple zones. The 37 year old VW wont have anything like that and would no doubt come of far worse in a collision with another vehicle.

[mac_shinobi]

and thats without fuel i doubt any american would pay approx $6.31 for a us gallon of gas

 

maths assuming 1l of petrol costs £1.10 * 3.78 (no of litres in a us gallon) so £4.15ish for a us gallon run via google for currency exvhange

 

so when comparing US fuel prices to UK fuel prices are we paying about the same amount but getting a bit more because obviously a gallon from what I am aware of here is 4.55 litres aprox ( give or take a bit )

[sted]

so when comparing US fuel prices to UK fuel prices are we paying about the same amount but getting a bit more because obviously a gallon from what I am aware of here is 4.55 litres aprox ( give or take a bit )

 

looks like they are paying approx $2.60 for a us gallon (ive avoided using an imperial gallon altogether and gonr from l to us gallons.

 

its also worth bearing jn mind european cars are smaller anyway so tend to have less energy to impart on impact but granted less structure to absorb it adn i believe American roads are more dangerous than British ones anyway

[RinSewand]

The driver may drive carefully but that does not carry over to other drivers on the road. Even if you remove the safety "gadgets" from the equation modern vehicles are far safer with safety cells and crumple zones. The 37 year old VW wont have anything like that and would no doubt come of far worse in a collision with another vehicle.

 

A valid point - but the prohibitive costs of 'safer' (ie, more features and newer) means that most young drivers end up in something that's a bit lacking in terms of crumple zones. My first car only just came with a steering wheel!

 

One point I would make is - if you buy a cheap car, put some decent tyres on it. My old Punto, minus ABS, would corner, grip, and stop far better than any of my friends 'safer' cars, simply because it had expensive rubber, and they had cheap stuff. One of the few things you can do to a car without having to tell your insurers too!

[ahuxham]

Love how the Americans are moaning when there are so many 16/17-25 year olds running around in 40's-70's Chevy's and the like.

 

Huge V8 cars, huge amounts of power and no real safety features apart from being automatic which I assume free's a hand to control the car more.

[Domino]

Not to mention the shocking handling/suspension and dodgy as hell old-skool power steering in those fat beasts.

[truslack]

Do not take it so personally hunny. I just made a comment and last time I looked that was still allowed. If someone else had made it I would have replied just the same.

 

So what do you think about parents who let their children get motorbikes/scooters?

[mac_shinobi]

So what do you think about parents who let their children get motorbikes/scooters?

 

or for that matter the people in ( who star in ) the movie(s)

 

Jack A$$ 1 and 2

[capncrunch]

Interesting. So you are happy to have your newly qualified children in cars that have no safety features such as ABS, air bags etc for the sake of saving some money?

 

My parents were quite happy to let me, and my brother have a first car with no ABS, airbags, powersteering etc. Yes it is cheaper but they were far happier us driving around a mini (real/classic) as it taught us proper car control, no electronics to bail you out, no fly-by-wire controls. Good old fashioned seat of your pants driving.

 

On a personal note I joined RoSPA, but that only lasted the 1 session, as i just don't agree with their prescribed way of "how to drive a car". They said I HAD to block shift... errr I don't think so, I always work my way up and down through the gears and never block change. That and they had other daft notions on car control.

[StewartKnight]

My parents were quite happy to let me, and my brother have a first car with no ABS, airbags, powersteering etc. Yes it is cheaper but they were far happier us driving around a mini (real/classic) as it taught us proper car control, no electronics to bail you out, no fly-by-wire controls. Good old fashioned seat of your pants driving.

 

On a personal note I joined RoSPA, but that only lasted the 1 session, as i just don't agree with their prescribed way of "how to drive a car". They said I HAD to block shift... errr I don't think so, I always work my way up and down through the gears and never block change. That and they had other daft notions on car control.

 

Let me get this straight....

 

You went to an expert to learn how to improve your driving, but ignored their EXPERT advice?

Is that why there is the CRUNCH in capncrunch ;-)

[sonic1485]

I was taught to keep it in first gear when I was learning about 8 years ago. I do everything properly now these days though!

[fafster]

Let me get this straight....

 

You went to an expert to learn how to improve your driving, but ignored their EXPERT advice?

Is that why there is the CRUNCH in capncrunch ;-)

 

Exactly. Block shifting saves a hell of a lot of time if you need to slow down rapidly, and then start off again. If you have plenty of distance, then sequential changing is fine. I use engine braking to slow the car if I'm coming up to a stop.

[Dos_Box]

On a personal note I joined RoSPA, but that only lasted the 1 session, as i just don't agree with their prescribed way of "how to drive a car". They said I HAD to block shift... errr I don't think so, I always work my way up and down through the gears and never block change. That and they had other daft notions on car control.

 

Time for my tuppenceworth. When you do the advanced courses, especially the instructor ones, what your 'basic' driver training teaches you goes out of the window. You should listen to them.

As to 'what would I know about this then?', I'm a qualified skid intructor, cross country driving instructor, driving instructor (military) and have taken over 7 differant driving tests to cover all but coach and road roller. My driving licence looks like an alphabet chart.

Advanced driving is not the same as being taught to drive for a test, and unless you listen to what you are being taught then your driving standards will never be as good as the 'professional' drivers.

[ahuxham]

Time for my tuppenceworth. When you do the advanced courses, especially the instructor ones, what your 'basic' driver training teaches you goes out of the window. You should listen to them.

As to 'what would I know about this then?', I'm a qualified skid intructor, cross country driving instructor, driving instructor (military) and have taken over 7 differant driving tests to cover all but coach and road roller. My driving licence looks like an alphabet chart.

Advanced driving is not the same as being taught to drive for a test, and unless you listen to what you are being taught then your driving standards will never be as good as the 'professional' drivers.

 

Where would one find information for these "advanced" driving courses? And what's covered in them.

[Dos_Box]

TBH, unless you are police, forces or security services it is very hard to get on them as they have to drive on public roads. There will doubtless be courses available abroad i countries who have slightly more lax road laws than here, but die to the fact you have to drive like a mainiac for several hours a day for a few weeks on public roads they don't let Joe Civilian on to them. Besides, to actually qualify to get on them in the forst place you have to have several years of professional driving behind you in the first place.

[sidewinder]

I learnt 8/9 years ago (makes me feel old saying that) and I was taught to keep it in gear unless at a red light. However I dont do that now, unless Im literally going to be moving within a second, the car goes into neutral, no point wearing the clutch out if you dont have to!

[fafster]

I leave the car in neutral when stopped at lights. Mainly though because I'm too lazy to hold the clutch in.

[capncrunch]

Let me get this straight....

 

You went to an expert to learn how to improve your driving, but ignored their EXPERT advice?

Is that why there is the CRUNCH in capncrunch ;-)

 

 

thats why i have to double-Declutch / Heel n' Toe down in to second gear as the baulk rings in my gearbox are shot, tis a typical mini problem

[Batman]

Re: Undertaking, you need to watch out for stuff like this:

 

My grandad ran into the back of someone at a roundabout. There was no need for the person in front to stop, and they did so very suddenly without any warning. He got out of the car, and someone got out of the car in front - but not the driver, he drove off and appeared a few moments later on foot. It was a minor collision

 

So, grandad never got to see the extent of the damage on the other car and next thing he knew they were trying to make a claim for severe whiplash injuries as well as the apparent cost of repairs. Judging by the damage to his car there couldn't have been much damage to theirs.

 

It was clear to us that the accident was organised to set up a situation where they could make a claim.

 

 

With this in mind I managed to avoid what I suspect was an attempt to do the same to me. Travelling on the dual carriageway, the car in front of me was travelling at a similar speed and we were both in the slow lane. For no apparent reason the car I was following pulled into the fast lane and started slowing down. I slowed down (in order to avoid undertaking) and he slowed down even more.

 

At this point I realised what he was doing; I think the plan was to make me undertake and then pull into me. The accident would then be "my fault"... but I didn't take the bait and he eventually sped off into the distance leaving me to drive as I wanted to.

 

So watch out for stuff like that, you never know who's out there hoping to screw you over!

[ICT_GUY]

This is very common. If it happens to you and they drive away, I would drive away too. Or call the police and report them for failing to stop. Also faking a heart attack could be fun.

[SYNACK]

You can get some advanced driver training from various places, not to the same extent as some of the govenment ones though which I think is criminal. There should be opertunity to learn how to really handle a car as it would make the roads safer over all.

 

Most commertial advanced training must be done on a track, you could try places like this:

http://www.ridedrive.co.uk/shop-high-performance.htm

Advanced Driving Course

 

Here in NZ and in Australia BMW do advanced driver training also but I was unable to fine any information about a simmilar program in the UK.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/18580/bmw-driver-training-dates-for-2009/