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But really if these "Ernies" are driving as bad as this they should have their licences terminated, there is no room for people on the road that drive as stupid as this. This is, I believe, is one way of improving driving standards on our roads and also of relieving them of these congestion creators
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a few points of note
i) on motorways such as the m4 the inside lane has indents where many tyres have passed over it, and you can be tramlined by driving down it
ii) driving in the inside lane for long distances will expose you to many challanges from idiots pulling onto the motorway with no consideration
iii) you will also suffer from hgv up the bum syndrome
try driving at 70 in the inside lane for a few hours, its very hard work
real-world driving requires some flexibility regarding the "middle lane drivers" are all hogs rule
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Firstly, please dont take this as a sweeping stereotype. I agree that there are some very good older drivers, and some very very bad younger drivers? Do drivers reach a peak of perfection between 25 and 50?
We must however look at the facts, in general older peoples reactions slow down, eyesight deteriorates, and physical strength lowers. All these are important for good drivers.
My solution would be for mandatory eye tests for everybody, free mind you, every year. There is no excuse for bad eye sight.
Every few years, there would be a free road skills test, where your driving is monitored. If you fail this, you have to pay to take it again [and again, etc] until you pass it.
More priority should be given to dangerous driving, not just fast driving.
Using the central reservation warning signs, a variable speed limit should be introduced. At night, when it is not raining, a maximum safe speed should be set. In rush hour, fog, snow, rain, very cold [icey] times a lower limit should be posted. These ajustable limits should be patrolled, and speeding tickets given at the police officers disgression.
These are just off the top of my head ways to, I believe, make motorways safer. Please disagree if you do, and I will try to explain better.
Kev
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If older folks really are more dangerous than younger folks, I wonder why insurance companies charge older drivers lower premiums?
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There is no such thing as a free eye test, Kev, unless you can persuade opticians to work for nothing. Same with a free road skills test, examiners would expect to be paid too. So unless you pay at point of purchase, a rise in tax or fuel duty would be needed.
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Great ideas, but you've missed an important point. Who's going to pay for this facility if it's free to the motorist.
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Me thinks I have spotted a middle lane owners club member!
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Firstly, I do not believe younger drivers are better than older drivers. Thats pure tat, theres far more important variables than age which make a good/bad driver.
Round here, there are some shocking young drivers, there are some shocking middle aged drivers [side by side going up a road, single laned, neither was going to move] and some shocking older drivers.
What I meant is that we should try to reduce the number of bad drivers. My grandads 82 [shows my age] and he is an excellent driver. If they are compitent and pass the stated test then they have every right to be on the road. But if a 17, 18, 20, whatever young aged is, had shocking reactions or eyesight, untill they improved they should not be allowed to drive.
Im sorry if you are determined to slander me whatever I say. We do not allow 12 year olds to drive because we do not believe they are compitent to, why should it be open ended? There has got to be more tests to make sure people on the road are compitent.
Answering 'me2' in a way I wish I was a MLOCM, as you put it, as I cannot drive this would be impossible. Seaching back you will noticed I have always pointed this out. I think this gives me an advantage, as I can give an unbias view [ I thought] on what I see on the road. This I what I base my opinion on, so I, in theory, have no bad habits.
Sorry for writing long threads.
Kev
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actually not
you'd be surprized
i was technically a better driver at 21, eyesight was better, coordination was better, and i could put the car where i wanted with more accuracy...
at my current grand old age of 36, i am technically not such a good driver as i was at 21, but i am much more experienced having driven many miles all around the world, and i am more aware of my own limitation and mortality and tend to stay well within them
i agree v old drivers can be a problem, and i actually saw an old bloke driving the wrong way around a ring road stopped by the cops and let off "cos he looks like my grandad" - which i thought was terrible considering the rest of us get 3 points for doing 35 mph
females have much less spacial awareness then men, (sorry but its scientifically true), and this can cause many problems
but young men are wired to take risks and act cocky
human biology you can do little about, we all have strngths and weaknesses according to our age/sex/etc, its how aware of your own strngths and weaknesses that makes the difference
and er none of this is an excuse for the terrible state of the road maintenance of the inside lane comapred with the average middle lane - once again sorry but its true...
cheers
(not a middle lane hog!)
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Just to play Devil's Advocate, why is it OK to break the law by overtaking a lane-2 driver going at the legal limit, but not OK to disobey the highway code by occupying lane 2 ? [No - I always use the slow lane when I can ! ]
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Ahhh - a prime example of the thinking which leads to perceived middle lane ownership by those who drive fast / expensive cars.
There is no such thing as a 'slow lane' in as much as there isn't a 'fast lane' either on the motorway. The different lanes are there with the idea that you use them for overtaking and then get back into the leftmost lane available. I know for a fact that my girfriends father (who drives a new S-Class merc) will NOT use the left hand lane for the plain fact that he thinks that his car is too expensive / fast to share a lane with metros / maestros & HGV's. This applies even when there is no traffic at all in the inside lane.
Fortunately I have managed to educate my GF in the etiquette of motorway driving and lane discipline, and she now takes every opportunity to loudly remind him that he should be taking every possible opportunity to keep left.
Terribly snobbish attitude I know, but how many other middle lane hogs adopt this philosophy ?
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M25 Four lane stretch in Surrey, mostly they are orf down the shops or taking the kiddies to prep school.
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Ever since the M25 first opened I have felt that it is the most difficult motorway in the country to drive on: traffic regularly more congested and slow moving in the outside lanes than in the inside lanes.
And nothing has happened to change my opinion in the intervening years!
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Funny how a jokey choice of names can hit back, isn't it? My late parents' names were.............Ernie and Ethel. And I'm sure they didn't have that kind of conversation.
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