Talking of inconsiderate drivers, one of the things that bugs me, especially at night, are those drivers who when stopped at traffic lights etc, put their foot on the brake pedal and leave it there.
With 3 bright brake lights shining in your face, Im inclined (but don't) to slap the main beam and front fogs on.
And people whinge about others driving in daylight with front fogs on. Honestly.
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My dad's company has just made him do a driving assesment thingy(to do with health and safety or something) and they have told him that when at traffic lights (red, just incase you were confused) you must keep your foot on the brakes even if the handbrake is on so that other drivers can tell you are stationary so you don't get shunted up the backside.
But then again if someone has already stopped behind you there isn't much chance they will run into you - unless they have been blinded by the brake lights...................!!
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Your dad has been given incorrect advice. If you are stationary and are worried that a driver behind has not realised this, it is good practice to dab the pedal a couple of times to alert him but as Watcher says keeping your foot on the brake only serves to dazzle and annoy following drivers.
Keeping the brake on when stationary will also lead to the discs distorting, as the part in contact with the pads will remain hot while the rest of the disc cools down.
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Your dad has been given incorrect advice.
Not sure I agree. Showing some brake light can only make you more visible while you're the last ca i the queue.
After that I suppose hand brake will do fine. I do tend to knock mine out of gear but I wouldn't say it was 'correct'.
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These are my own opinions, and not necessarily those of all Toads.
www.private-eye.co.uk/innews
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IIRC, modern driving instruction says only put the handbrake on if your stop is going to be of appreciable time.
In my day it was stop, handbrake on, out of gear. Every time.
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I always advise if stopping for more than a brief pause the handbrake should be used. Examiners would fail anyone who held the car on the footbrake for more than five or six seconds.
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Reading this thread for some reason made me recall one piece of motoring advice that has stuck in my mind above all others:
When you are stationary on a stretch of road, waiting for a gap to appear in the oncoming traffic so that you can turn right in to a side road, never EVER, sit obliquely to the traffic, or with your front wheels turned right, until the gap you are waiting for appears, and you actually start to move off. Instead, leave your car parallel with the traffic, and your front wheels pointing straight ahead.
Why?
If sittingly obliquely, and/or with the wheels already on right lock, and you get rear ended, to coin a phrase, guess where you are going to go? Bang. Head on.
Sounds obvious, but not a single one of my friends, family, or colleagues even thought about this, until suggested.
/Steve
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Hi SjB,
you are so right. It is a technique I use all the time. And, in the US, it is illegal not to do so. In other words, a traffic cop can book you if he sees your wheels already turned and not parallel/ straight ahead.
CMark
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I also get annoyed with this, but I know that sometimes it can't be helped:
My wife is physically disabled and can only drive a car with hand controls. Her left hand does the steering, and the right the brakes and throttle. At junctions she cannot spare a hand to change from "Drive" to "Park" and then back to "Drive" again when the lights change. Therefore she has to sit there with the car in "Drive" and her hand pushing the brakes on.
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I also find this habit very annoying, but I can see the point of warning following drivers. I would also have thought it more dangerous if you are shunted from behind, as the impact may make your foot skip off the brake, while a handbrake will hold.
I tend to apply the handbrake if I'm going to be stationary for some time, but leave my foot on the brake (solely to keep the brake lights on) until the following vehicle has stopped behind me.
I can appreciate that in some cases it can't be helped, but it doesn't excuse the seemingly 80% of drivers who are probably just too lazy to consider those behind them.
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This is just another of those discourtesies that have creeped into modern life.
I can remember (just !) when it was considered bad manners not to douse (old-fashioned word) your headlights when waiting behind someone, or on a wet road to complete an overtaking manoeuvre too soon and send spray over the other car's windscreen.
Or to give a slowing down signal, as opposed to a turning left signal, when pulling in to the side.
There was even a sign (I have it in an old Highway Code) to tell other drivers you were ready to be overtaken.
So I don't think I am too bothered now - just turn your lights on full and wait until he gets the message.
Sad, but this is 2002, not 1952.
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What about automatics? Most of us leave the car in Drive, so keep our foot on the brake pedal. I do though slip the selector into Neutral if its going to be a long wait, but simply because the car idles quieter.
Simon
_____________________________________
SVPworld (incorporating PSRworld)
www.svpworld.com
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It is an offence to dazzle other road users with your lights, and this includes brake lights in traffic jams. Advanced driving teaches you this - at stops, handbrake on, then out of gear, foot off brake, unless you want to give a warning to other road users that you are stopped. Fog lights should obviously be turned off in the same circumstances! You should also stop far enough behind the car in front so that you can see the tarmac behind its tyres, thus allowing you to drive past it should it break down.
There are many many small points that advanced tutiton points out that make driving a much more pleasureable and stress free occupation, and it cannot be recommended highly enough!
Richard
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driving teaches you this - at stops, handbrake on, then out of gear, foot off brake, unless you want to give a warning to other road users that you are stopped.
Under what circumstances would you not want to warn other road users you are stopped? Perhaps if you've got an old car and you want to be rear ended for the insurance?
What if you drive a vehicle with no handbrake?
I think hard and fast rules are often over simplistic and silly.
I tend to shift out of gear for a long wait in both car and bike. (I have a habit of going on amber - being in neutral stops this) I may hold a brake to show some brake light if it seems apporpriate; I may not.
I wouldn't deign to tell someone else to do one or the other in every case.
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These are my own opinions, and not necessarily those of all Toads.
www.private-eye.co.uk/innews
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Didn't mean to seem to be telling everyone what they always should do without fail....
>Under what circumstances would you not want to warn other road >users you are stopped? Perhaps if you've got an old car and you >want to be rear ended for the insurance?
It's about paying attention - if you can see the road is clear then you don' need to show the lights - and showing the lights as a car approaches is much more eye catching than just keeping them on.
>What if you drive a vehicle with no handbrake?
You've got feet for your bike - all cars must have an operational handbrake.
>I think hard and fast rules are often over simplistic and silly.
Too true, advanced tuition also teaches flexibility in developing driving 'plans', and allows for changing the plan as soon as something changes to the situation - many drivers cannot (or will not?) take this into account and stick dogedly to what they always do.
I did find some things the IAM did a bit odd - like taking off the handbrake, then putting it back on at start off to make sure 'it was working' - what by the 50p switch on the floor of the car that is far from reliable?? I never actually took the test, 'cos I went to work in France for a while, and then drove a right old banger which I didn't think was appropriate - I may revisit it now I have got back into a better car, but probably with ROSPA.
Richard
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Automatics.
Is best practrice into N and handbrake on. I think this is best on car as well - in D or P there must be some wear on the gearbox?
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Automatics. Is best practrice into N and handbrake on. I think this is best on car as well - in D or P there must be some wear on the gearbox?
My auto Vectra, and Dads Auto Astra - if you leave it in drive with the brake lights on, the gearbox drops itself into neutral (electronically - not mechanically) after a couple of seconds.
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If you're last in the queue, leave you brake lights on if it would help the next person coming to see you are stopped. If you are not last in the queue, handbrake on and foot of the brake.
It's not any more complicated that that is it?
GJD
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I agree with GJD especially for motorway driving. Judicious use of hazards is a good idea if you have to stop in a bit of a hurry.
As for parked in a queue. I was taught to sit on the brakes if it's a short stop. I drive an auto and usually I drop it in neutral as I stop and then put the handbrake on. If I've been driving for a while the front disks get hot, sitting on the brakes can warp them.
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Anyone who leaves their foot on the brake and clutch pedal dipped while stationary at traffic lights is also running the risk of wearing out the clutch bearing.
If there is a car behind you, you don't need your foot on the brake. Its just bad driving.
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If you are aware enough of what's behind you and whether showing your brake lights would help, could you apply the same idea to your foglights? In fog I only use my rear foglight (yes, only 1) if I reckon that without it there is a risk of a following vehicle otherwise not seeing me. Once they're in the queue behind me it gets switched off.
On a foggy morning you see how many traffic jams you can spot where almost every car has rear fogs blazing when the next car is close enough to read the dealer name on the number plate...
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I agree Dave. Also, the amount of times that fog is genuinely so bad that normal lights can't be seen is very rare.
If there is light fog of drizzle - the glare just makes matters worse.
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Absolutely Dave. Plenty of people forget to switch off rear fog lights when you come up behind them. Most of the time, a few flashes of the headlights (not meant aggresivly but who knows how it's interpreted) reminds them to stop dazzling me. But what never fails to amaze me are the ones who don't switch on the rear fog light UNTIL you come up behind them. Can't fathom that one at all.
GJD
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