Driving standards

[kevinlms]

Here's a good one from Australia! I don't think it will polish out.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-22/rio-tinto-launches-investigation-over-crushed-ute/11728944

[Reorte]

12 hours ago, chris p bacon said:

On a serious point, if people find brake lights 'dazzling' then they need an eyesight check. Brakelights don't have the intensity to dazzle, but if you find they are, then you may have an issue with your eyesight.

 

"Dazzling" doesn't necessarily mean bright enough to affect your ability to see. They can still be bright enough to be a bit unpleasant, having them glare in your face. Just because it shouldn't make any practical difference to the car behind you it's still polite and considerate to not shine them there when you don't need to.

[Reorte]

8 hours ago, ejstubbs said:

To get under way again I have to put my foot back on the brake and release the lock button on the auto selector in order to move it out of park, and then continue to move it all the way through reverse and neutral in to drive before releasing the brake to restart the engine, and then apply pressure on the accelerator to start moving. 

 

Thought automatics were supposed to be simpler than manuals!

[Hobby]

51 minutes ago, Reorte said:

Thought automatics were supposed to be simpler than manuals!

 

They are, it's when people try to do things when they don't need to that they become complicated, just like anything else. I also have a VW DSG gear box (my third car with it so far) and I wouldn't go back to a manual even if I was paid to do so, it's a doddle to use and as economical as a manual.

 

I have read that post several times and can't figure why he's doing what he is. I have stop/start and autohold on my last two DSG Golfs and in traffic when i stop it holds the brakes on and will switch the engine off. There is no need to move it to neutral. I know on older autos without the electronic wizardry it was recommended that you put it in neutral if you were going to be stopped for any length of time but that doesn't apply to the newer cars. I can only assume that he is still driving it like an old style auto and not using the a/h function.

 

http://www.vwgolf.org/auto_hold_function-261.html

 

As it's the parking brake that is applied the rear brake lights go off as soon as you take your foot off the brakes when autohold is engaged. Simples.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Hobby

[Tim Hall]

12 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Never understood why stopping/parking on the RHS is so common in the UK. It is absolutely a no, no in Australia. The offence, I believe is ticketed as the left wheels too far from the road edge - by the road width obviously!

 

The exception is one way roads, which is not a problem as no oncoming traffic to confuse.

Pulling in on the right and reversing approx 2 car lengths before continuing driving is now a manoeuvre that can be tested on UK driving tests since Dec 2017 (along with forward bay parking) replacing the turn in the road (3 point turn) and reversing round the corner on the left, which are no longer tested. As an instructor, I'm very wary of where we practice this....

[bimble]

12 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Never understood why stopping/parking on the RHS is so common in the UK. It is absolutely a no, no in Australia. The offence, I believe is ticketed as the left wheels too far from the road edge - by the road width obviously!

 

The exception is one way roads, which is not a problem as no oncoming traffic to confuse.

 

Because it's only advisory not to do so, not an actual offence (a 'do not' as opposed to a 'Must Not' in the Highway Code)

 

1 hour ago, Reorte said:

"Dazzling" doesn't necessarily mean bright enough to affect your ability to see. They can still be bright enough to be a bit unpleasant, having them glare in your face. Just because it shouldn't make any practical difference to the car behind you it's still polite and considerate to not shine them there when you don't need to.

 

I find it's when you can tell the queue of traffic is moving off because the brake lights are bright enough that you can tell they're on with your eyes shut!

[kevinlms]

On 21/11/2019 at 04:44, Paul13 said:

 People sitting stationary at lights with their foot on the brake is much more dazzling i feel and is one of my personal hates. 

An insignificant 'problem' IMO.

 

You mentioned the misalignment of headlights, which is much worse.

Along with, in no particular order.

1 or more headlights not working, including on some occasions, the matching parking light out as well - something unplugged?

People driving at night without headlights on.

People driving at night with no lights on.

People driving in poor weather without lights on.

People with one or more faulty tail lights

People with one or more faulty brake lights.

People who don't know what that little lever, on the side of the steering wheel is supposed to do!

People tailgating.

Vehicles with poorly designed tail/brake lights, that in bright sunshine you can't tell when they come on - perhaps not an issue in the UK?  :-)

 

I'm sure others can add more, yet you're worried about bright brake lights left on? I would rather them on, then I know they are stopped!

 

[kevinlms]

1 hour ago, Tim Hall said:

Pulling in on the right and reversing approx 2 car lengths before continuing driving is now a manoeuvre that can be tested on UK driving tests since Dec 2017 (along with forward bay parking) replacing the turn in the road (3 point turn) and reversing round the corner on the left, which are no longer tested. As an instructor, I'm very wary of where we practice this....

Yes, that is my understanding, that the practice of stopping on the RHS, is actually officially encouraged!

 

Don't come here and try it!

 

PS I should make it clear that I'm not having a go at you or any other driving instructor. I would hope you see your job as teaching people to drive properly AND pass their test. Part of that involves showing them how to deal with anything the tester, might ask them to do.

Edited November 22, 2019 by kevinlms
Clarification

[raymw]

Depending on the traffic conditions, stopping on rhs can cause less disruption to your, and other road users' day, since you are not opening the driver's door into the traffic stream. On some roads, there is parking on one side only.

[TheQ]

36 minutes ago, Tim Hall said:

Pulling in on the right and reversing approx 2 car lengths before continuing driving is now a manoeuvre that can be tested on UK driving tests since Dec 2017 (along with forward bay parking) replacing the turn in the road (3 point turn) and reversing round the corner on the left, which are no longer tested. As an instructor, I'm very wary of where we practice this....

and you should not park on the RHS with your head lamps on only your side lights..

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Hobby said:

 

That would indicate that you are trying to roll down a hill with the engine off which would mean that you are not in control of your car.

 

Not done as a habit - just realised it did this as a fluke chance.  Presumably to ensure the brakes have vacuum and the power steering does it's thing...

[ejstubbs]

1 hour ago, Hobby said:

I have read that post several times and can't figure why he's doing what he is. I have stop/start and autohold on my last two DSG Golfs and in traffic when i stop it holds the brakes on and will switch the engine off.

 

Who is "he", the cat's mother?

 

My car has a DSG gearbox and stop/start but no autohold.  It behaves exactly as I described.  Lucky you that your car operates differently, but please don't make the mistake of presuming that I don't know how to drive my own car.

 

I would like to be able to take my foot off the brake so as not dazzle the driver behind me* without the stop-start system restarting the engine.  On my car, if I just come to a stop and then take my foot off the brake, the engine will restart and the car will start creeping forward.  If I leave it in drive and engage the handbrake the engine will restart as soon as I take my foot off the brake, and the car will try to creep against the handbrake which is not a good thing (the logic that disengages the DSG clutch when the car is being held on the foot brake does not operate if it's just the handbrake that's on).  If I put it in neutral and apply the handbrake the engine will restart (though obviously it won't creep against the handbrake with the selector in neutral).  That is how it works.  The only way to keep the car stationary with the engine off under the control of the stop/start system without keeping a foot on the brake is to put the auto selector in park - which is then a bit awkward when it comes to getting under way again.

 

1 hour ago, Hobby said:

I know on older autos without the electronic wizardry it was recommended that you put it in neutral if you were going to be stopped for any length of time but that doesn't apply to the newer cars.

 

As a matter of interest, the owner's manual for my car says: "The selector lever position N does not have to be selected when stopping for a short time (e.g. at a crossroads)."  Which implies that it's actually an OK idea to select neutral if you are going to be stopped for longer than a short time - though where the boundary might lie between a short time and longer than that is by no means clear (and lack of clarity in the manual is a frequent gripe amongst the members of the owner's forums for this car!)  However, as stated above, what I would like to be able to do - but the car makes more difficult than it needs to be IMO - is to avoid having to have my brake lights on simply in order to keep the engine stopped.  I don't particularly want to be in neutral per se, and in fact the car doesn't behave in the way I'd prefer it to if I do select neutral, so it's red herring in this instance.  Not having autohold, going in to park is the only way to achieve what I would like with this car.

 

Having given it some more thought, I suspect it's quite likely that they simply removed or bypassed the bit of the stop/start logic in the electronics that deals with autohold, and never gave any thought to replacing it with more sensible logic for non-autohold-equipped cars.  I find it difficult to believe that anyone would have designed it to work like this starting from scratch.

 

* I've also seen it suggested that it's bad for the brakes to be held on like that - something to do with heat transference from hot discs in to the calipers, I believe, though I've no idea how valid that is.  Very possibly another hangover from earlier days when the technologies employed weren't as smart as they are - or are at least supposed to be - these days.

Edited November 22, 2019 by ejstubbs

[Tim Hall]

33 minutes ago, TheQ said:

and you should not park on the RHS with your head lamps on only your side lights..

Of course. I never said that I did!

[TheQ]

3 minutes ago, Tim Hall said:

Of course. I never said that I did!

I wasn't saying that you did, it was a reminder to others, I've seen it done many times particulary newspaper delivering cars.. the lights blind me most mornings..

Edited November 22, 2019 by TheQ

[polybear]

23 minutes ago, ejstubbs said:

* I've also seen it suggested that it's bad for the brakes to be held on like that - something to do with heat transference from hot discs in to the calipers, I believe, though I've no idea how valid that is.  Very possibly another hangover from earlier days when the technologies employed weren't as smart as they are - or are at least supposed to be - these days.

 

I've heard that too - something to do with risking warpage of the brake discs.  No idea if it's valid or just internet rumour though.....

[Hobby]

34 minutes ago, ejstubbs said:

Who is "he", the cat's mother?

 

My car has a DSG gearbox and stop/start but no autohold.  It behaves exactly as I described.  Lucky you that your car operates differently, but please don't make the mistake of presuming that I don't know how to drive my own car.

 

Your post was on the other page and i couldn't be bothered going back whilst replying to the post i quoted. I hadn't realised that you would take such offence over something like that, it wasn't as if I was calling you names or anything!

 

That would explain it, I had a 2011 DSG without stop/start on my first Golf but with no autohold and didn't have any issues but my last two cars (2014 and 2017) both had Auto Hold as standard, it does make things much more simple on newer models especially when Stop/start gets involved! I've taken this from an Audi forum and would agree with the contributor that VAG are constantly evolving their systems, an earlier post actually describes exactly what you described!

 

"While my DSG Alltrack was recently in for service I was loaned a new 63 reg Golf DSG. The stop-start on that was configured differently so that it stopped the engine when coming to a halt on the footbrake, the auto-hold engaged and you could release the footbrake and the engine stayed off. It would re-start when touching the accelerator, allowing you take your foot off the footbrake without engine restarting. It seems VW are evolving how the systems interact incrementally and model by model."

Edited November 22, 2019 by Hobby

[Sprintex]

8 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

I've heard that too - something to do with risking warpage of the brake discs.  No idea if it's valid or just internet rumour though.....

 

Depends what you've been doing immediately beforehand . . .

 

If you've been tootling around town, or just come off the motorway/dual carriageway braking gently to slow down, then no problem.

 

If however you've been driving "enthusiastically" down some twisty A or B roads then leaving the foot brake on too long will cause excessive localised heat-soak into the discs and warp them, or possibly cook the pad surface to the disc, which when you move away again will degrade the pad surface.

 

It's why when you see rally or race cars left to cool down in the paddock the wheels are usually chocked - handbrake on with hot brakes will cause problems 

 

 

Paul

[Nick C]

2 hours ago, raymw said:

Depending on the traffic conditions, stopping on rhs can cause less disruption to your, and other road users' day, since you are not opening the driver's door into the traffic stream. On some roads, there is parking on one side only.

If there are specific parking spaces then it's fine.

 

The reason for not parking against the direction of traffic (which is the actual rule) is that on an unlit road, your car will be less visible to oncoming traffic - wheras if you're parked facing the same way, then the red reflectors on the back of your car will show up in headlights. You're also supposed to leave sidelights on when parked on an unlit road other than in a recognised parking space, but very few do...

[Paul13]

5 hours ago, kevinlms said:

An insignificant 'problem' IMO.

 

You mentioned the misalignment of headlights, which is much worse.

Along with, in no particular order.

1 or more headlights not working, including on some occasions, the matching parking light out as well - something unplugged?

People driving at night without headlights on.

People driving at night with no lights on.

People driving in poor weather without lights on.

People with one or more faulty tail lights

People with one or more faulty brake lights.

People who don't know what that little lever, on the side of the steering wheel is supposed to do!

People tailgating.

Vehicles with poorly designed tail/brake lights, that in bright sunshine you can't tell when they come on - perhaps not an issue in the UK?  :-)

 

I'm sure others can add more, yet you're worried about bright brake lights left on? I would rather them on, then I know they are stopped!

 

I do agree with your points however sitting stationary in a traffic light queue on a dark wet night staring at the back of a car with very bright led brake lights can be very dazzling especially large mercs and bmw 4x4s. It's not hard to engage the handbrake and is just inconsiderate.  Yes keep your foot on the brake of you are at the back of a queue so it's clear you are stopped but when others are behind there's no need for it. 

 

And don't get me started about DRL's and people who think you can drive around at night with just these. 

[raymw]

Quote

You're also supposed to leave sidelights on when parked on an unlit road other than in a recognised parking space, but very few do...

Halfords, many years ago, and I expect others, not sure if so today, used to sell little 'parking lights' a low wattage lamp in a plastic case with  a red lens one end, and a white 'tother, to clip on your car window when parked.

[peanuts]

11 hours ago, raymw said:

Halfords, many years ago, and I expect others, not sure if so today, used to sell little 'parking lights' a low wattage lamp in a plastic case with  a red lens one end, and a white 'tother, to clip on your car window when parked.

only where the speed limit is above 30 mph theres a stretch of road between Newmills & Hayfield like this where all the residents have the afore mentioned clip on lamps as it is a 40mph section of unlit road .

[raymw]

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/22/us/florida-dog-drives-circles-trnd/index.html

[30801]

On 22/11/2019 at 16:51, raymw said:

Halfords, many years ago, and I expect others, not sure if so today, used to sell little 'parking lights' a low wattage lamp in a plastic case with  a red lens one end, and a white 'tother, to clip on your car window when parked.

 

Some/most? cars will let you put on the sidelights on one side only by using the indicator stalk with the ignition off.

[Enterprisingwestern]

6 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

Some/most? cars will let you put on the sidelights on one side only by using the indicator stalk with the ignition off.

 

I don't know about all cars nowadays, but mine, and a few others I'm aware of, shut down the electrics into economy mode after a short while, so I wouldn't think that this is a common feature any more, although a few years ago it was?

 

Mike.

[PhilJ W]

On mine the headlights go off with the ignition and all lights when the key is removed.