Driving standards

[Coldgunner]

7 minutes ago, hayfield said:

Secondly the spaces reserved for parents with small children, why do so many use these spaces when they have older children

There can be some factors here, like blue badge holders but I do understand your point. Also it would help if people didn't keep buying massive cars that barely fit standard spaces.

 

Mum is a blue badge holder, she's legally deaf. The blue badge is associated with the person and not the vehicle, so I can drive my mum somewhere and use a disabled spot. She is perfectly mobile, but car parks can be dangerous as she can't hear vehicles. This has gotten worse with electric coming along now.

 

You get some proper dirty looks when you get out the car and appear 'able bodied' to those who suffer from hard-of-thinking. We ignore those people, but you feel those daggers watching you.

[big jim]

I’d love to know what speed this was doing to end up where it has on the way into silloth, it’s a 90 degree bend in a 30mph limit, seems to have clipped the edge of a wall on the right hand side of the road, demolished the chevron sign as well as the sign for the holiday day park and ended up quite a way into the field 

 

m I suspect it wasn’t doing 30mph!

 

when we went out earlier in another 90 degree bend near abbeytown there was a wankpanker, sorry 4x4 pick up truck, on its side in the hedge too, looking like it had got about 3/4 round the bend before sliding off the road into the hedge! 
 

similarly on the road between Penrith and wigton there was another car on its side in a hedge when I drove up on Sunday! 
 

Edited August 14, 2023 by big jim

[Enterprisingwestern]

2 hours ago, hayfield said:

If someone has to buy a large car (and I accept for many its essential) why do so many of them park their cars so badly (I am not saying every driver ) ? I understand parking spaces have not grown in size as cars have, but with this in mind its even more important those with larger vechial's leave room for others.

 

Secondly the spaces reserved for parents with small children, why do so many use these spaces when they have older children

 

I live in an area where larger cars are very common some just abandon their cars (you cannot call it parking) plus other driving skills seem to escape them like overtaking a bus which has stopped for passengers. Driving ability seems to be getting worse 

 

I think it's the sense of entitlement that is getting worse, there seem to be more and more motorists, (and people in the normal walks of life), who don't give a sh!t about anybody else.

I still reckon public birchings and flogging should be brought back and the highlights shown after the lottery draw.

 

Mike.

[johnofwessex]

36 minutes ago, big jim said:

I’d love to know what speed this was doing to end up where it has on the way into silloth, it’s a 90 degree bend in a 30mph limit, seems to have clipped the edge of a wall on the right hand side of the road, demolished the chevron sign as well as the sign for the holiday day park and ended up quite a way into the field 

 

m I suspect it wasn’t doing 30mph!

 

when we went out earlier in another 90 degree bend near abbeytown there was a wankpanker, sorry 4x4 pick up truck, on its side in the hedge too, looking like it had got about 3/4 round the bend before sliding off the road into the hedge! 
 

similarly on the road between Penrith and wigton there was another car on its side in a hedge when I drove up on Sunday! 
 

 

Interesting report here

 

https://www.pacts.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/PACTS-What-kills-most-on-the-roads-Report-15.0.pdf

 

P22 has a breakdown of deaths

 

Across the board 21% of Road Traffic Deaths dont involve another vehicle.

 

I can understand why pedal and motor cyclists might come a cropper but 32% of car driver/passengers dying in single vehicle accidents is concerning to say the least and IMHO demands action

[Enterprisingwestern]

10 hours ago, johnofwessex said:

IMHO demands action

 

From who though?

 

Mike.

[kevinlms]

As regarding buying larger and larger cars, the perception is that they are 'safer', they aren't in fact, because many such drivers think such vehicles make them indestructible and so drive them faster, run red lights, tailgate more often and you can fill in other 'reasons' yourself.

[Pete the Elaner]

23 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

As regarding buying larger and larger cars, the perception is that they are 'safer', they aren't in fact, because many such drivers think such vehicles make them indestructible and so drive them faster, run red lights, tailgate more often and you can fill in other 'reasons' yourself.

 

You do indeed get a sense of security from more protection, but this can indeed be mis-placed.
SUVs may look big & safe, but don't ever try to steer around anything while braking because it will topple over. A lower car will skid or spin.

[Pete the Elaner]

13 hours ago, big jim said:

I’d love to know what speed this was doing to end up where it has on the way into silloth, it’s a 90 degree bend in a 30mph limit, seems to have clipped the edge of a wall on the right hand side of the road, demolished the chevron sign as well as the sign for the holiday day park and ended up quite a way into the field 

 

m I suspect it wasn’t doing 30mph!

 

when we went out earlier in another 90 degree bend near abbeytown there was a wankpanker, sorry 4x4 pick up truck, on its side in the hedge too, looking like it had got about 3/4 round the bend before sliding off the road into the hedge! 
 

similarly on the road between Penrith and wigton there was another car on its side in a hedge when I drove up on Sunday! 
 

 

How has the fence not collapsed? If the car was thrown clear over the top, that also indicates speed.

[Reorte]

33 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

As regarding buying larger and larger cars, the perception is that they are 'safer', they aren't in fact, because many such drivers think such vehicles make them indestructible and so drive them faster, run red lights, tailgate more often and you can fill in other 'reasons' yourself.

Whilst some people do seem to like the perception of safety I'm not persuaded that it actually affects their driving, that they'd be any different in any other car.

 

It's sometimes said that the most effective safety device would be a big spike sticking out of the steering wheel, but I honestly believe that once people got used to it being there they'd carry on as they had done; if you're not put off by the idea of a crash at all I'm not convinced that the potential severity of it is much of a factor.

[big jim]

27 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

 

How has the fence not collapsed? If the car was thrown clear over the top, that also indicates speed.

my thoughts exactly

 

there was a metal sign in front of the fence so I suspect the car hit that at speed and cleared the fence, it certainly wasn’t doing 30mph! 
 

Google street view with an older wooden sign

 

 

[Coldgunner]

13 hours ago, big jim said:

snipped

 

[Flying Pig]

13 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

I think it's the sense of entitlement that is getting worse, there seem to be more and more motorists, (and people in the normal walks of life), who don't give a sh!t about anybody else.

I still reckon public birchings and flogging should be brought back and the highlights shown after the lottery draw.

 

Mike.

 

 

[Reorte]

I encountered a car in the field on the left here once, without any sign of damage to the wall. I can only assume that it came over the brow of the hill behind it at an utterly ridiculous speed.

[big jim]

You can also see in my pic where the skid marks stop in the grass, wonder if it dug in an flipped over the fence, of course they may have rebuilt the fence after the crash 

[Tankerman]

22 hours ago, Nick C said:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/14/frightening-rise-in-vehicles-driving-wrong-way-on-englands-motorways

 

Nearly 900 reports of vehicles going the wrong way on motorways in one year... Largely blamed, it seems, on an over-reliance on satnavs. 

 

Speaking of satnavs, I picked up my wife from Gatwick late at night a couple of weeks ago. Knowing that the M25 was shut for roadworks, I decided to use the google satnav in my phone to find the quickest way back, given that there's three or four possible routes and I wasn't sure which'd be best at that time of night. It promptly tried to direct me to take the M25...

 

Needless to say I switched it off and picked a route myself!

 

I switched to Waze a while ago and I have found it to be excellent. It is interactive, if you come across a problem not reported you can send it, if it is safe to do so, to update the information available.

[Pete the Elaner]

3 hours ago, Tankerman said:

 

I switched to Waze a while ago and I have found it to be excellent. It is interactive, if you come across a problem not reported you can send it, if it is safe to do so, to update the information available.

 

I tried Waze a few years ago after Google Maps literally sent me round in circles a couple of times & have found it gives a couple of advantages:

The way routes are presented on the screen are a lot clearer.

Audio when connected to my car audio is improved. With Google, is has a habit of missing out the first part of the sentence " _hundred metres, turn left", where it should say "in 2 hundred metres, turn left". Waze does not suffer from this, which makes it much easier to follow.

I switched it to metric because in imperial it uses miles, then yards then feet, which I found irritating. Who uses feet when driving?

[Reorte]

6 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

Who uses feet when driving?

Me, for the accelerator, brake and clutch.

 

I'll get my coat.

[Enterprisingwestern]

14 hours ago, Reorte said:

Me, for the accelerator, brake and clutch.

 

I'll get my coat.

 

You have 3 pedals?, so last century!!

 

Mike.

[NBL]

I parked at my local station on Saturday only to find a ford ranger parked lengthways along 3 bays.  I parked in the bay 2 in front.  

 

I was out all day, didn't get the train back until after 11pm and found the ranger had been blocked in by a car at each end.

 

I've just been past the station and all 3 are still there, and the ranger has 4 burst tyres!!!

 

Serves the idiot right

[TheQ]

2 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

You have 3 pedals?, so last century!!

 

Mike.

You drive one of these?

[Reorte]

2 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

You have 3 pedals?, so last century!!

Suits me, not impressed with this century stuff at all!

 

Seriously though for a moment whilst I don't have a problem with two pedals in an electric car, and I suppose I'll end up with one of those at some point, I've no interest at all in driving an automatic, I simply can't see the point of it. I've always had a thing about automating stuff that I find little or no hassle to do myself (or that replaces people), and gear changing and clutch operation is about as conscious an action as where to put my feet when walking.

[Jol Wilkinson]

Automatic transmissions are a major benefit to some people. When we had six speed manual transmission diesels, my dearly beloved was invariably in the wrong gear. Slogging up hill or over revving on the level bits. With our current petrol eight speed auto, she can't get it wrong.

[Coldgunner]

For me, Manual > Automatic

 

Just for someone who enjoys driving, I like the engagement of manual control. Drove Mum's auto Mondeo for a week and as comfortable as it was, it was just dull.

[fulton]

On 14/08/2023 at 18:48, hayfield said:

 I understand parking spaces have not grown in size as cars have,

Not just parking spaces, but other items designed for when cars were generally smaller, travelled on my regular trip on Le Shuttle, through the channel tunnel yesterday, followed a 4x4 Merc on, it only just fitted, the tyres only just fitted between the kerbs, once followed a Bently on, driver refused to take the upper deck, as he did not think he could get round the corner and up the ramp, I drive a long wheelbase Ford Connect van, classed as small/medium, does fit but not alot to spare, have to fold the mirrors in to pass the toilets, more people will be paying extra to use the single deck, which also have wider doors.

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, NBL said:

I parked at my local station on Saturday only to find a ford ranger parked lengthways along 3 bays.  I parked in the bay 2 in front.  

 

I was out all day, didn't get the train back until after 11pm and found the ranger had been blocked in by a car at each end.

 

I've just been past the station and all 3 are still there, and the ranger has 4 burst tyres!!!

 

Serves the idiot right

While I approve of blocking him in puncturing his tyres is just wonton vandalism.