Driving standards

[newbryford]

Parking Aussie style. At times its not even clear which spot the driver is going in to.

 

 

And the kids in the back screaming "Are we there yet.......?"

[TheQ]

A clip from the local radio as I came in to work today,

 

There are an estimated 1 million drivers on the roads today without insurance,

They are 10 percent more likely to be arrested as drunk drivers.

They are approximately 17 percent more likely to be invoved in a road accident, causing death..

[chriswright03]

9 out of 10 statistics are made up!

[Enterprisingwestern]

50% of people believe in statistics, 40% dom't, and the other 20% aren't bothered one way or the other.

 

Mike.

[bimble]

I will admit, after being up at 5.30 yesterday to go to Bristol to photograph the university archery champs, not getting home till 22.30, then having to get up again at 5.30 this morning to get to Pimlico for work... it would have been nice to have a car that I could just have told "home" and then woken up a couple of hours later at my destination... but I did have a nice nap this afternoon...

[Sheffield]

The accident involving the two lorries was caused by one of them stopping on the carriageway. What happens on the new "smart" motorways where the cheapskates at Daft have converted the hardshoulder into a running lane? A broken vehicle has to stop on the carriageway, and be at risk from drivers not concentrating on their driving..

[peanuts]

The accident involving the two lorries was caused by one of them stopping on the carriageway. What happens on the new "smart" motorways where the cheapskates at Daft have converted the hardshoulder into a running lane? A broken vehicle has to stop on the carriageway, and be at risk from drivers not concentrating on their driving..

think the scenario is that in that case the stranded vehicle would make them selves highly conspicuous whilst dialing 999 for help not park in lane one with no lights and curl up and goto sleep for 12 mins as they are pissed . tho i do agree it does seem rather foolhardy to take away the safe zone of the hard shoulder tho it isnt always that safe tbh  

[Coryton]

think the scenario is that in that case the stranded vehicle would make them selves highly conspicuous whilst dialing 999 for help not park in lane one with no lights and curl up and goto sleep for 12 mins as they are pissed . tho i do agree it does seem rather foolhardy to take away the safe zone of the hard shoulder tho it isnt always that safe tbh  

 

I think that cars are generally a lot more reliable now than they were when the motorways were first built so perhaps hard shoulders are more of a luxury now.

 

Taking them away (so to speak) still doesn't sound like a great idea though.

[Coryton]

I will admit, after being up at 5.30 yesterday to go to Bristol to photograph the university archery champs, not getting home till 22.30, then having to get up again at 5.30 this morning to get to Pimlico for work... it would have been nice to have a car that I could just have told "home" and then woken up a couple of hours later at my destination... but I did have a nice nap this afternoon...

 

Even better, perhaps one day you'll be able to summon a sleeper car to your house in the evening and settle down for a good night's sleep as it takes you to where you need to be in the morning.

 

You might need to plan ahead though if you need the loo in the night to tell it to call in at a suitable service station.

[chriswright03]

I think that cars are generally a lot more reliable now than they were when the motorways were first built so perhaps hard shoulders are more of a luxury now.

 

Taking them away (so to speak) still doesn't sound like a great idea though.

No hard shoulder means the Emergency services will often be unable to get to a scene as quick or even at all.

[peanuts]

No hard shoulder means the Emergency services will often be unable to get to a scene as quick or even at all.

sadly this happens with a hard shoulder especially early morning early evening as foreign HGV drivers bunk down for the night especially in the south of the country due to the woeful lack of safe and affordable places to stop for the night but that is whole nuther debate 

[chriswright03]

Sadly because there are few if any actual Police Officers on the motorway and they are replaced by Highway Agency units instead little is done about illegal parking on the hard shoulder.

 

Having driven on the motorways a couple of times recently I have only seen one patrol car in hundreds of miles.  The Traffic Department or Roads Policing Unit as it is now called has been decimated in recent years.  Replaced by cameras and smart motorways which which are incapable of detecting much other than the odd speeder.

[Coryton]

Sadly because there are few if any actual Police Officers on the motorway and they are replaced by Highway Agency units instead little is done about illegal parking on the hard shoulder.

 

Having driven on the motorways a couple of times recently I have only seen one patrol car in hundreds of miles.  The Traffic Department or Roads Policing Unit as it is now called has been decimated in recent years.  Replaced by cameras and smart motorways which which are incapable of detecting much other than the odd speeder.

 

I believe that the railway industry is responsible for funding the BTP.

 

Maybe a "road policing fee" should be added to vehicle tax? (And perhaps foreign vehicles should have to pay on arrival in the UK).

[Horsetan]

 

9 out of 10 statistics are made up!

 

50% of people believe in statistics, 40% dom't, and the other 20% aren't bothered one way or the other.

 

8 out of 10 people are caused by accidents.

[jcm@gwr]

I think that cars are generally a lot more reliable now than they were when the motorways were first built so perhaps hard shoulders are more of a luxury now.

 

Taking them away (so to speak) still doesn't sound like a great idea though.

 

But punctures still happen, and very few, if any, have spare wheels!

All down to 'targets' for emissions (weight saving).

[Baby Deltic]

But punctures still happen,....

Refer to Horsetan's post above.

[Jenny Emily]

But punctures still happen, and very few, if any, have spare wheels!

All down to 'targets' for emissions (weight saving).

On looking at new cars I made enquiries with the salesman about where the spare was. He enthusiastically pointed to a can of silly-foam stuff and claimed that spare wheels were no longer needed because this can's contents would reflate the tyre with foam to get you home. 

 

I asked as to how the little can went about picking up all the little bits of rubber from down the road after a blowout and stuck them back together. There was no answer.

Edited March 13, 2018 by Jenny Emily

[Guest]

I asked as to how the little can went about picking up all the little bits of rubber from down the road after a blowout and stuck them back together. There was no answer.

Once you've filled them with goo the tyres can't be repaired either...

[royaloak]

Once you've filled them with goo the tyres can't be repaired either...

A feature not mentioned by the makers of said goo!

[stewartingram]

On looking at new cars I made enquiries with the salesman about where the spare was. He enthusiastically pointed to a can of silly-foam stuff and claimed that spare wheels were no longer needed because this can's contents would reflate the tyre with foam to get you home. 

 

I asked as to how the little can went about picking up all the little bits of rubber from down the road after a blowout and stuck them back together. There was no answer.

I had that happen to me a few years back with my Rover Sterling. I converted it to lpg, with a donut tank in the spare wheel well in the boot, with the actual wheel taking up space on top of it. When my son got married in Conisbrough, I took our caravan up there for the weekend, along with a load of other stuff. I decided to be clever and left the spare at home, with a can of repair foam in the boot instead. On the way back, after joining the A1M at Doncaster, I had a puncture. The tyre would not inflate. Son-in-law was phoned (he had gone home to St.Ives the day before) & he collected my spare and brought it to me, 100 miles away.

Never again, I've carried a spare again ever since.

 

Stewart

[kevinlms]

I saw a car yesterday with a registration label (tax disc) it was stuck onto the passenger window, in such a manner that it blocked the side mirror. So all that she would see would be the label. How stupid is that? Worse it that the labels have been discontinued for about 3 years now.

 

Sorry no photo, as I was driving.

[Jonboy]

Going back to the debate on convoys and slip roads, why not move the conveys into the Audi/BMW Lane and allow undertaking in the middle lane? With careful use of indicators it should work safely.

[TheQ]

I had a puncture in a company rover (the honda based one), a section of exhaust that I managed to miss with the front wheels, punched a hole in one of the rear tyres.

I guess jamming the can in the hole might have done something.

[Titan]

I have had maybe a dozen instances over my driving career where I needed to change a wheel. In all but perhaps one or two a can would have been useless, as either the tyre had a big hole in it - or on a couple of occasions the valve had sheared off, or for safety reasons when the tyre had not deflated, like wheel damage or a bulging tyre.

[Reorte]

I saw a car yesterday with a registration label (tax disc) it was stuck onto the passenger window, in such a manner that it blocked the side mirror. So all that she would see would be the label. How stupid is that? Worse it that the labels have been discontinued for about 3 years now.

 

Sorry no photo, as I was driving.

Obviously blocking the mirror is stupid (although I once had a car that didn't even have a mirror on that side - wasn't compulsory then, probably is now), but I've still got a tax disc holder, in the more usual position. I kept it for a tax disc sized parking permit.