The way people are taught to drive today.

[sted]

Just get an Auto its far simpler

 

yuck id rather walk than drive another auto the 2 ive driven have always been in the wrong gear at the wrong time you cant force them to downshift while slowing down so they are in the right gear to accelerate when needed (approach to a roundabout with good visibility for instance)

 

someone mentioned iam test further up i did it about 11 years ago now wasnt a bad thing to do but i dont think it made that much difference depends on your driving style anyway

[powdarrmonkey]

@AngryTechnician: if it helps, five years ago I was taught to be in as "high a gear as sensible" to reduce wear and tear but still maintain control at low speeds.

[AyatollahPies]

I keep hearing this word "handbrake". I've heard of it, and use one frequently, but I'm pretty sure the majority of drivers I have the misfortune of pulling up behind don't know what one is.

[tmcd35]

I keep hearing this word "handbrake". I've heard of it, and use one frequently, but I'm pretty sure the majority of drivers I have the misfortune of pulling up behind don't know what one is.

 

Guilty as charged Clutch down, car in gear, foot on brake waiting for lights to change. Bad habit - not what I was taught. I'm pretty sure I was taught natutal and handbrake at the lights.

 

I'm with Tony, and I'm sure we've both said as much in previous threads, that we should be forced to retake the driving test every 5 years. I also think there should be a maximum number of time your are a) aloud to retake in a given year, and b) alowed to retake full stop. If you can't pass after 5 or 6 attempts (arbatory figures) should you really be on the road? Driving is a qualification and not a right!

 

There are worse things that some drivers do that are far more dangerous and tend to p*** me off on a dailey basis than sit at the lights without the handbrake on. My pet hate is lack of indicating - expecially on roundabouts. Then there are undertakers (not the morbid type).

 

I also agree with FN-GM. I've got a manual license but Auto is soooo much better

Edited March 20, 2010 by witch

[broc]

When I did a defensive driving course in the early 1990s one of the things we were taught was to 'anticipate', so being in gear ready to move off at lights was encouraged. We were told to watch the traffic at the junction for signs of other traffic slowing down, keep an eye on the lights facing the moving traffic as they will go to amber before your lights change and when you see evidence that the traffic lights are about to change engage gear ready to move off.

 

There was a lot of discussion about maintaining vehicle 'balance' too, so that you were neither accelerating hard nor braking hard when cornering. Reading the road ahead was important too, especially looking beyond the number plate of the car in front of you!

 

The instructor (ex Police driving instructor) also advised about being in the 'optimum' gear for power delivery & control, expecially in what was then new fangled multivalve engines (we were driving a Renault 19 16v) which deliver power & torque much higher up the rev range than the older 8 valve engines....

 

He made us drive along a road which went over the moors, first keeping to the highest gear possible & then again paying attention to keeping the revs higher where the power was, it was amazing how much more responsive & sure-footed the car was and how much better it handled on the second run

Edited February 16, 2010 by broc

[powdarrmonkey]

I keep hearing this word "handbrake". I've heard of it, and use one frequently, but I'm pretty sure the majority of drivers I have the misfortune of pulling up behind don't know what one is.

 

Dazzling brake lights are really annoying, but I have one exception: when I'm sat in a refuge waiting to turn right from a busy road, and the last (or only) in the queue in the dark. Then it's reassuring to have brake lights still lit so it's blatantly obvious I'm there and stationary. They go off as soon as someone pulls up behind though.

 

Guilty as charged Clutch down, car in gear, foot on brake waiting for lights to change. Bad habit - not what I was taught. I'm pretty sure I was taught natutal and handbrake at the lights.

 

My instructor had a good saying: "when pause turns to wait, on with the brake" (likewise, when following traffic, "only a fool breaks the two-second rule". He was a legend).

 

Only this morning I nearly got killed by someone overtaking on the away from a roundabout, around a blind curve, approaching zig-zag lines and wholly on the opposite side of the road.. Bar steward.

 

Didn't know there was such a thing as a manual license though. I thought it didn't make any difference?

[sted]

Then there are undertakers (not the morbid type).

 

 

if i can undertake i do its silly having to go from lane 1 to lane 3 and back cos some other tool cant obey correct lane discipline

 

most annoying think atm is tools who near a junction on the motorway pull into the gap between me and the car infront forcing me to slow down / move lanes when there was a huge gap behind me

[gwendes]

When I was learning to drive about 5-6 years ago, I was taught to put it into neutral and apply the handbrake if you're going to be sat still for more than a few seconds.

 

Driving for just under a year and I was taught to do this.

[tmcd35]

Didn't know there was such a thing as a manual license though. I thought it didn't make any difference?

 

Depends what type of car you pass in. If you pass in an Auto you can only drive Autos. If you pass in a manual you can drive both. I have a manual license and prefer to drive autos.

 

 

if i can undertake i do its silly having to go from lane 1 to lane 3 and back cos some other tool cant obey correct lane discipline

 

Unless you are in slow moving traffic/approaching a junction this is extremely dangerous! There have been a number of occations where I've very nearly hit the side of someone because they were stupid enough to undertake. As a driver I expect to be moving faster than anyone in any lanes to the left of me. When it's time to pull in - lane discipline - I don't expect there to be a BMW doing 105mph on my left hand side as I'm about to manouver. Thankfully (for them) I do double check before pulling in!

[powdarrmonkey]

if i can undertake i do its silly having to go from lane 1 to lane 3 and back cos some other tool cant obey correct lane discipline

 

most annoying think atm is tools who near a junction on the motorway pull into the gap between me and the car infront forcing me to slow down / move lanes when there was a huge gap behind me

 

This is astonishingly dangerous, and it's also an offence. You may only pass traffic on your right when it is stationary, even on a lane that will soon diverge. Sounds like you need a lesson on lane discipline too.

 

+1 on your second point though, and not just on motorways.

Edited February 16, 2010 by powdarrmonkey

[powdarrmonkey]

Depends what type of car you pass in. If you pass in an Auto you can only drive Autos. If you pass in a manual you can drive both. I have a manual license and prefer to drive autos.

 

I did not realise this. Thanks.

[SYNACK]

This is astonishingly dangerous, and it's also an offence. You may only pass traffic on your right when it is stationary, even on a lane that will soon diverge.

 

I agree it is much safer to sit behind the person doing 70-80km/h in the fast (edit depends on country as to which side) lane of the motorway with your highbeams flashing and your horn on untill they safely move out of the way

 

Seriously though there are some times where going around is the only option other than adding another 10 minutes to your journy. In a perfect world people would follow the rules but it is patently not perfect and there are people who drive unsafely slow too.

Edited February 16, 2010 by SYNACK

[tmcd35]

Seriously though there are some times where going around is the only option other than adding another 10 minutes to your journy. In a perfect world people would follow the rules but it is patently not perfect and there are people who drive unsafely slow too.

 

I'm sorry but I rearly can't agree with this. What is better adding 10 minutes to your journey because they guy/girl in front can't drive properly, or causing a versy serious accident because you are being too impatient to drive safely?

 

I'd rather get somewhere 10 minutes late and in one piece than not get there at all because I'm in a hospital bed instead!

[jcollings]

I'm sorry but I rearly can't agree with this. What is better adding 10 minutes to your journey because they guy/girl in front can't drive properly, or causing a versy serious accident because you are being too impatient to drive safely?

 

I'd rather get somewhere 10 minutes late and in one piece than not get there at all because I'm in a hospital bed instead!

 

Totally agree - as someone once said "better to arrive 5 minutes late in this world than 5 minutes early in the next"

[SYNACK]

I'm sorry but I rearly can't agree with this. What is better adding 10 minutes to your journey because they guy/girl in front can't drive properly, or causing a versy serious accident because you are being too impatient to drive safely?

 

I'd rather get somewhere 10 minutes late and in one piece than not get there at all because I'm in a hospital bed instead!

 

The idea is to do it as safely as possible, they are unlikely to pull out because they are in general stuck to the fast lane anyway. This is a case of the rules working until they don't, by rights these people should be and sometimes are pulled over by police but that is not always the case. At that speed you are just as likely to get into an accident by staying there (at least in NZ) as cars, also not driving safely can misjudge your speed or come over a blind hill crest and slam into you.

 

I'm not recommending a wholesale breakdown of the rules but in certain situations its safer to get out of the way rather than wait patiently to be rear ended or die of boredom. Besides its not like those rules give them a free pass to not look at their side mirror.

 

My views may be tainted by living in Auckland where driving is a form of usually non-lethal combat practiced poorly by most. From what I have heard from people that have traveled here from the UK driving is practically utopian there in comparison.

[tmcd35]

My views may be tainted by living in Auckland where driving is a form of usually non-lethal combat practiced poorly by most. From what I have heard from people that have traveled here from the UK driving is practically utopian there in comparison.

 

If you want to experience some of the best agressive driving - barely non-lethal combat - in the world then I can whole heartedly recommend a taxi ride in Cairo. If you do make sure it's a black and white lada with a carpet on the dashboard and not one of those ultra safe modern yellow things with airbags, abs, etc.

[SteveBentley]

if i can undertake i do its silly having to go from lane 1 to lane 3 and back cos some other tool cant obey correct lane discipline

 

So you're in Lane 2, following some muppet doing 50mph. Are you suggesting that you'd use lane 1 to get round them rather than lane 3 or have I missed the point?

 

I guess there is a point where you can argue whether moving into lane 1 and back into 2 is completing a previous overtake and starting a new one!

[sted]

So you're in Lane 2, following some muppet doing 50mph. Are you suggesting that you'd use lane 1 to get round them rather than lane 3 or have I missed the point?

 

I guess there is a point where you can argue whether moving into lane 1 and back into 2 is completing a previous overtake and starting a new one!

 

no im saying im cruising along happily in lane 1 @ day 70 and someone is sitting in lane 2 doing say 60-65when there is nothing for them to overtake visible but they wont move over. Lane 3 is either empty or has other faster cars in it do i just stay where i am till the hazard is passed or make a trip to lane 3 then back because of some idiot

[tmcd35]

Changing the overtaking subject ever so slightly, and pointing out other things some drivers do that is worse than not using the handbrake at the lights -

 

My second passion after swearing at anybody who can't indicate on a round-a-bout (around 90% of drivers I've seens in these parts) is tailgaters. Sitting 2 foot off my back bumper when I'm cruising along at 70mph is just not funny!

 

I'm certainly not going to suddenly drive any faster. In deed depending on how safe it is I may slow down a little. If I'm in an overtaking lane, and clearly overtaking, I'm not going to suddenly pull in and let you pass just because you want to do 90+mph.

[powdarrmonkey]

no im saying im cruising along happily in lane 1 @ day 70 and someone is sitting in lane 2 doing say 60-65when there is nothing for them to overtake visible but they wont move over. Lane 3 is either empty or has other faster cars in it do i just stay where i am till the hazard is passed or make a trip to lane 3 then back because of some idiot

 

You increase your speed to match lane three and do a classic overtake, or you move into lane two to make room for the car in front to move over where you were. If they do not, you put up with it or use lane three. You do not increase your speed in lane one and pass the slow traffic on the left.

 

The law is perfectly clear.

[powdarrmonkey]

I'm certainly not going to suddenly drive any faster. In deed depending on how safe it is I may slow down a little. If I'm in an overtaking lane, and clearly overtaking, I'm not going to suddenly pull in and let you pass just because you want to do 90+mph.

 

A brief flash of the brake lights is amusing, too (especially with coaches).

Edited February 16, 2010 by powdarrmonkey

[sted]

You increase your speed to match lane three and do a classic overtake, or you move into lane two to make room for the car in front to move over where you were. If they do not, you put up with it or use lane three. You do not increase your speed in lane one and pass the slow traffic on the left.

 

The law is perfectly clear.

 

i wont increase speed to pass but im not getting stuck in lane 1 when its empty but someone is in lane 2. Ive tried many times moving to lane 2 to give a hint dosent work I know you arnt supposed to do it but by the same token you are supposed to be in the leftmost lane always unless passing something so while its not a perfect solution it works

[PiqueABoo]

What motorways are you folk with undertaking issues driving on when, then?

 

I often do significant stretches of M1-M6 and large chunks of that route are often congested: Lanes 2 & 3 are bumper-to-bumper doing 40-50 slamming brakes on every 10 seconds coz they're too close, whereas lane 1 is relatively empty and doing 60-70.

 

What are you supposed to do in lane 1 then? Keep watching the idiots in the outside lanes and brake (sometimes stop) every time they do? The trucks certainly don't.

 

[in light traffic with some half-wit toddling along in lane 2 not overtaking something a mile ahead I do the irritated 1->3->1 thing]

[SteveBentley]

Interesting stuff.

 

So if I'm in Lane 1, on a relatively clear motorway. There's nothing ahead of me and I'm doing 70. I notice that ahead there's a lorry which is going to be doing less than my speed. There is a vehicle hogging lane 2 doing 50.

 

Are you saying that I should do 1 > 2 > 3 > 2 > 1 to overtake the numpty in lane 2 rather than remaining in the lane where I'm established?

 

I would always stay in 1 until I was well past said numpty and overtake the lorry by moving straight into 2. I hadn't thought of that as undertaking before now!

[tmcd35]

So if I'm in Lane 1, on a relatively clear motorway. There's nothing ahead of me and I'm doing 70. I notice that ahead there's a lorry which is going to be doing less than my speed. There is a vehicle hogging lane 2 doing 50.

 

Are you saying that I should do 1 > 2 > 3 > 2 > 1 to overtake the numpty in lane 2 rather than remaining in the lane where I'm established?

 

That's what the highway code says.

 

Let's put it this way. If numpty in lane 2 suddenly decides he want to be in lane 1 without checking his mirrors (really big numpty) then the accident would actually be considered your fault. Your car should never have been there for numpty to hit.