Yesterday (Saturday morning), I turned right on a roundabout following a car which was following a learner in an obviously signed driving school car. The road our three vehicles entered is urban, vehicles parked on both sides and has full width ramps as well as those three humps with gaps things.
The guy ahead of me, he looked in his forties, so I'm assuming he had a bit of experience, was right up the backside of the learner, a learner driver - I remeber being told to beware of learners because - they're learning - I couldn't believe it!
I mean - what is the point? What is the point?
The learner was driving fime anyway.
But it just makes me despair, where is the common courtesy, the decency, the manners?
I'm sure it must be a damn good chuckle for somebody - but I don't want people doing that to my kids when they're learning to drive.
I just don't get it - why - why - why?
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You think thats bad i put trade plates on a car new to me and take it for an appraisal, now a few weeks ago i did this in a siecento and hit the brake pedal instead of the clutch the driver who was too near thought i was messing around (i wasnt) so same thing.
Car drivers behind leave a gap for nervous learners or strange men in strange cars,you have been warned you only have your no claims to lose (most times that is).
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If he wants to live dangerously I hope he sticks his todger in a wasps nest.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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When my sister was learning with my dad sitting with her he commented on this. Apparently the rear L-plate fell off one journey and all the tailgating stopped. After that they didn't bother with the rear plate (they had one on the front - "It must've fallen off, officer...") and my sister passed her test 4 months ago.
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I have never understood this myself either, and I think it's terrible! If I'm stuck behind a slow learner I usually leave them a slightly bigger gap in the hope that it will give them some more confidence. Tailgating it the last thing I would do though, and really annoys me.
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Where do people learn to do this though? How do you get into the habit of tailgating?
I had a great driving instructor and there is no way in the world he would have tolerated me driving like that.
His philosophy on driving was "Imagine the Queen is your passenger. You're driving her around. Now you don't want her being thrown around all over the place so drive smoothly and anticipate what the traffic ahead will do so that you can continue to drive smoothly."
I have no feelings either way on how the Queen should be driven but the point was made and well made.
Maybe there just aren't enough instructors like him around
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The Queen cut me up in Piccadilly Circus once. I followed her up Shaftesbury Ave which was full of traffic, cut left up Wardour st and along Old Compton St as rapidly as possible in the hope of coming out ahead of her in Charing Cross Road. Damn near made it too, but the outriders were already bearing down as I reached the junction so I waited politely. The whole motorcade, one other car and four leapfrogging plod, was very small and rapid.
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I hope you indicated your displeasure
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youve got to feel sorry for driving instructor, going over all those humps all day with learners who have little sympathy for car. then instructor gets feed up with humps and takes learners on to busy roads,before there readyfor it.
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Mini 30 owner,
We agree on something!
Tailgaters seem to have little imagination as it is, but to tailgate someone who could do something unexpected is a bit like playing Russion roulette with 5 of the 6 chambers loaded.
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Tailgating learners must be almost universal these days.
If I'm following a learner, at a considerate distance, I often get a thank you wave from the instructor - who wouldn't do that if it weren't unusual.
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Even if for no other reason, tailgating a learner is likely to be counterproductive. If you make a learner nervous he is likely to stall the car. So the tailgater has to wait impatiently while the learner stops, applies handbrake, checks mirrors, starts, stalls again. etc etc. It makes much more sense to hang well back.
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I worked with a guy once who boasted that he had specified ABS with his new car (it was quite new then) because "he liked to drive close to the vehicle in front"
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"The guy looked in his forties so must have had some experience"
I'm not so sure-all this talk about 18 year old drivers who pass their test and have no experience-I think anyone of any age should have restrictions placed on them after passing their test (unless they can prove via Pass Plus or such like)-they have reached a minimum standard and you continue to learn for some months after passing.
My wife is currently learning to drive and the manner some other road user treat her-they should ashamed of their antics-tailgating, pulling out in front of her on a 40mph limit road presuming she is doing 10mph, tooting, trying to overtake when she is doing the limit. I'm sure the L-plates are a red rag to some drivers!
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talking of people making learners nervous, has anyone seen this:
www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/copcar.swf
apparantly he was running late for his parking appeals tribunal ;)
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Wow - you cannot tell me after seeing that, that Toyota's are not well built - the coppers could not get into the window let alone the door with their truncheons. They couldn't seem to have any impact on the car at all.
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Wow - you cannot tell me after seeing that, that Toyota's are not well built - the coppers could not get into the window let alone the door with their truncheons. They couldn't seem to have any impact on the car at all.
It might well have had some tinted film on the inside of the window - makes them much harder to break I'm told.
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Wow again - how many extra lessons do you think that learner needed to regain confidence?
My instructor said to drive as if you have a full bucket of milk in the car - have to be even smoother than for H.M. - can you imagine the lingering smell!!
As for treatment of learners generally, I am against the "new driver plates" people use too - if the type of driver who mistreats a learner sees you are a new driver (without the calming influence of an instructor), then he/she will be even worse. He/she might have ignored a stall at a junction if they thought it was an experienced driver, but not if they know you have just passed your test.
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