There was a thread recently, which I now can't find ,re general driving standards and a discussion about routinely making drivers retrain and retest.
I'm not sure whether that would be practical, but I do get very depressed about what I see.On a couple of fairly long M40/M25 journeys recently I saw a whole succession of near misses ( and I think people rarely realised they had been) , people joining the motorway while on the phone- then moving directly to lane 3- people tailgating vans at 75-80 with absolutely no view of the road ahead, people travelling in heavy traffic at 90+ , a guy flicking through the pages of a document while he drives...
Is this lack of technique? I wonder if the problem is more to do with people not seeing driving as an important activity , it's just what you do between work and home or between seeing your customers .So it's not important to be good at it , and as it's dead time anyway you might as well shoehorn in some other activity at the same time.
Fact is that for many of us it's the most important thing we do all day , as we are inevitably putting at risk the lives, wellbeing and property of others .
I don't know how we do it, but it seems to me that unless we wake people up to the profound responsibilities driving involves, we won't get anywhere.
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I wonder if the problem is more to do with people not seeing driving as an important activity , it's just what you do between work and home or between seeing your customers .
That the nub of it - I know many people who spend the entire time they're in the car on the phone. I get emails from people's Blackberry's when I know they're driving.
It's not just business drivers though - I'd say my wife sees driving simply as a way of getting from A to B without getting wet.
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Many people think that if they have a crash the car turns into some kind of bouncy castle and their chances of being hurt are minimal,sadly not matched by reality.
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To be honest there are vast swathes of the country where nobody would ever say - "Oh what a lovely day I'll go and have a nice drive" Driving is rarely a pleasure, to me it is an expensive and stressful way of getting to work or the shops. No choice as we only have 2 buses a day to one nearby town and none to my work, doctor, hospital, dentist or anything else vaguely useful.
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No, is sadly the reply for the vast majority of motorists.
Thank god I no longer commute the miles which I did in previous years. Even in my part of the world, rural North Yorks, I regularly see atrocious driving and I can think of three occasions in the last 2 weeks where if I had not taken evasive action there would have been an accident...the young mum on her mobile who turned round to shout at her offspring on the back seat of her Freelander, slewing into the right filter lane where I was slowing down to make a turn, but had enough momentum to swerve and avoid the head on...and the mad motorbike rider on the A59 who decided to overtake me at 70+ as I pulled out to go round the green 'GO' lollipop at temporary roadworks last Sunday after I had indicated and slowed. Missed him/her by inches.
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I really can't understand eating Blackberries whilst driving much better at home in a pie with custard , more sensible is a banana or apple.
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rover 75, I believe it's some sort of technology device.... I am told it's like a PDA, but better. Pretty Damned Annoying?
Have you heard of this "sat-nav" malarkey?! Apparently it's something that's supposed to replace maps. It'll never catch on.
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I was recently sitting next to a German "crackberry" addict on a flight from Frankfurt to London. He had to be physically restrained from using it as we prepared to start down the runway and switched it back on as soon as our tyres hit the tarmac.
Funnily enough during the flight he slipped it into MY jacket pocket. Perhaps I shouldn't have told him as his reaction on losing it could have been fun to watch...
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I really can't understand eating Blackberries whilst driving much better at home in a pie with custard , more sensible is a banana or apple.
They're not especially good for sending email when they've been baked in a pie and covered in custard.
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The more we the motoring public demand cars that function reliably and insulate us from the world outside, the more they will get treated as journey appliances. Asking these people if they care about motoring is like asking someone if they care how they load the dishwasher, or use their iron. Motoring is no longer the preserve of the privileged, so those who care about what they do behind the wheel have to mix it with those who don't care. In earlier times, the consequences of getting it wrong were painful and difficult to manage. Nowadays one can just bounce off the airbag, reach for the mobile and a recovery truck and a courtesy car will appear so that your unskilled journey can continue. The only challenge left in motoring nowadays is to determine the probable journey time; drivers are nannied with power steering electric everything ABS ESP and possibly, next year, ABW (automatic botty wiping).
I never, ever thought I would recommend bringing back the dreadful Morris Minor, but it would sort the keen motorists from those who just wanted a slow teleport from place to place.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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I never, ever thought I would recommend bringing back the dreadful Morris Minor, >>
i used to quite like the one that had a wooden frame at the back that inevitably had fungus and grass growing out of it.........now that was real character
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I never, ever thought I would recommend bringing back the dreadful Morris Minor, but it would sort the keen motorists from those who just wanted a slow teleport from place to place.
Wash your mouth out with soap and go and stand in the corner, Hawkeye ;-). I use a Moggy van every week. Excellent fun.
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Respect to the MM pleae! Aeons ago my parents had one, two actually, and after the Sunday roast the family, uncle, auntie, grandma, me and my young bruv in the 2d seats at the very back, would go for a drive in the country. The original seven seater...ok then, 5 seats and two cushions.
I also did 'car maintenance' at night school on a moggie engine and a Marina Leyland B series engine....what did happen to those evening classes....
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>>I also did 'car maintenance' at night school on a moggie engine and a Marina Leyland B series engine
That rings a bell! At the local college, we had a number of moggy engines on stands to work on, a couple of triumph herald or spitfire chassis, and a part sectioned mkII Escort running gear in nice shiny chrome and metallic blue paint - I suspect it was an ex-motor show exhibit.
Happy days!
Number_Cruncher
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I think the new technology is wonderful I can drive along with the cruise control on , blackberry pie and custard on the cup holder , I can get a lead to stop the telly going off only problem is , how do I hold the Mobile 'phone ?
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One of the main problems is drivers lack of experience of the effect of their actions. They were probably taught to keep a safe distance during instruction but let loose on the road, they move closer and closer to the car in front. This conditions the mind into assuming it's a safe scenario as the negative result is rarely seen.
If we have driving simulators and regular training with simulated "accidents", then drivers would be a lot more careful and considerate (imho). By demonstrating to drivers through a practical exercise that they *will* hit the car in front etc will drive home the need to practise what they were originally taught. Unfortunately the more often someone drives whilst on the phone etc with no disastrous outcome, the more they will assume there is no risk associated with their actions.
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