I agree woodster but have to add one small point
I have a cvt auto and it doesnt benefit from engine braking, so even though im the last person to use brakes unecessarily ,while im driving this car i quite often have to, as i cant scrub off enough speed by taking my foot off the accelerator.
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Can be a double edged sword though, the brake light thing I mean. I try to leave a safe gap from the vehicle in front and avoid braking unless required. I know the tailgating discussion has been done to death on here but my pet hate is when you are driving smart as has been discussed above you almost inevitably get the tailgater behind you who just doesn't get what you are doing and makes several attempts to get in your boot when you lift off to slow down rather than touch the brakes.
I would really like some form of James Bond style retaliation device. Anything really, nail dispenser, oil slick spray, rear facing bazooka or something like that......
;-)
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rear wash nozzle spun round before long trip and washer bottle topped up perhaps HB? ;-)
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washer bottle topped up perhaps HB? ;-)
... with brake fluid or, if you are feeling kind, used engine oil...
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Lud you have such an evil mind ;-0
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Makes it easier for the few traffic police that we have to spot poor driving, a good standard of driving should be totaly unobtrusive.
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I think you can take this looking far ahead thing, er, too far.
I know the polis advanced drivers are big on it, but one opinion of the clown who killed the girl in Newcastle was that his forward observation was too far forward.
"I spy bunching traffic threequarters of a mile ahead."
Great, but the car/bike/pedestrian you are about to slam into is right in front of you.
Me? I'm perfect, of course.
Well, I'm pretty good when I'm concentrating, but I find it increasingly hard to stop that concentration wavering.
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I almost learned the too far ahead lesson the hard way many years ago. I was approaching a well known (to me) roundabout with a big open area to my right, I checked the road to the right which I could see was clear. I had looked too far right and missed the bright red post office van entering the roundabout, fortunatly my OH yelled STOP! If I had been in the car on my own I would probably have got the PO van in my drivers door. Im a perfect driver too now that lesson has been learned.
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>>I would really like some form of James Bond style retaliation device
How about an old carburettered car that allow you to turn off the ignition and then back on again to ignite the fuel in the exhaust with a nice loud backfire? The down side being you end up with some funny shaped silencers.
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I still remember being taught to "cover the brake" for bends, junctions, etc when I was learning to drive: you're ready to use the brake but not flashing the brake lights and passing on your hesitancy all the way down the line following you.
I agree anticipation is crucially important as is seeing what might happen, even if it doesn't!
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Not using your brakes is great for fuel consumption too!
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Yes of course you still need to look in the near distance; I never intended that you ignore that which sits between you and the far distance. But, confession time, I've almost caught myself out with looking too far and missing something close, so the point is quite right!
Humph, I generally find that the tailgaters can't manage a corner properly and so they yo-yo somewhat but get gradually further away and become clearly more ragged in their driving as they try and emulate my cornering. I suspect from some of your posts that I may be a little more, um, youthful than your good self and not averse to chucking myself around a bit..
As for the Newcastle incident, all judgment went out of the window if the driver thought 90 was ever going to be OK. Observation is one thing, being able to do something about what you observe is the next step surely? Exactly where good judgment about speed comes in.
Madux - did you check my reply to your post on the 'Hows my driving?' thread?
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What else might be considered to be a sign of very good driving?
Why has nobody yet suggested sticking to the speed limit at all times?
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very good driving?
sticking to the speed limit at all times
Oh yes. In the same way that cleaning your teeth, looking dapper and wearing slightly too much aftershave or 'masculine fragrance' is a sure sign of superior moral virtue.
The older I get the more this country starts to look like a special nursery for wimpish jobsworths.
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Lud, I am not sure I understand your banter regarding sticking to the speed limit.
Do you suggest that observing an elementary rule of the road is not a virtue?
(P.S. I can absolutely assure you that driving a small hatchback and steadfastly not being prepared to drive faster than is legal on A-roads and motorways - despite the deplorable and often animalistic crassness of drivers following a couple of inches behind me - is not the behaviour of a wimp.)
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not being prepared to drive faster than is legal on A-roads and motorways - despite the deplorable and often animalistic crassness of drivers following a couple of inches behind me - is not the behaviour of a wimp
Not necessarily, I agree JP. I wasn't really calling you a wimp. I am given to immoderate polemic on occasion.
Like others though I see good driving as being fluid and responsive to surrounding circumstances. Rigid concentration on your own speed whatever the circumstances runs counter to that.
If for example you are stuck behind a couple of cars waddling along at 47mph on a clear, flowing A road with a 60 limit, and pull out to overtake them, you are prolonging the moment of exposure to risk if you refuse rigidly to ease over 60 for a couple of seconds. Any good driver will tell you so. And please don't tell me one shouldn't overtake under circumstances like that. The traffic is slow and confused enough as it is.
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I agree with Lud (I think)
speed limits are not always the speed that it is safe to drive along the road....
the road on which I live for instance, its an A road, but residential, and on a hill.
Its a 30mph limit, coming down it, I normally stick to 30 - 35, if its wet then 30 is plenty fast enough, for one thing theres lots of houses, and side roads on the left.
going up, i often do nearer 40, theres hardly any houses on the left going up, and I can scrub speed off faster, and gravity is on my side.
you can also have a road, on which there is a school.
during term time, and when the kids are going in or out, then the speed needs to be low, but at 10pm, the speed could be raised - really speed used should be chosen taking into account the current road conditions.
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To Lud: I agree with your comments re. overtaking. Fluid, safe overtaking seems to be a dying art and, executed in the manner you describe, is an important skill and "good driving" in my book as well. I am not a puritan but absolutely demand the right to drive my car (and truck) within all speed limits at all times. I believe that achieving this is also an important skill, however many times I have to check my speedometer or risk being punted off the road by a moron.
To Swiss Tony: A 30 mph speed limit may or may not seem safe to you, but it is the maximum speed you are allowed to drive on OUR road system. The skill you have to apply is simply to comply and drive at less than 31 mph. I cannot see why this is a problem for anyone. It is merely self-discipline and respect for your environment. If you see a school ahead, just slow down even more. Remember, on that road, 30 mph is a maximum, not a minimum speed.
Respect to all.
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I may be a little more um youthful than your good self
ooh give it a twist...
Looking to the WNW direction i see a steam cloud rising some 100 miles away.
.;)
Seriously, i find good skilled driving a pleasure to see, usually poor eratic driving being completely opposite lacking fluidity and anticipation.
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I was kicking myself today, driving down at 30mph car in front suddenly stops and starts to signal. Now reflecting on it he started to move towards the right before he signaled and braked, I should have seen that has a sign and eased off the gas, instead I had to brake quite harshly.
I was basicaly slow to react when he adjusted his speed but I am hoping this sort of skill comes with practise.
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>>What else might be considered to be a sign of very good driving?
Well, I've often thought of posting a link to a video of woodbines driving his Merc in the very anticipation of this sort of question arising. This wouldn't just be a mere sign of, but the absolute demonstration of, skilled driving. But of course, my natural modesty & desire not to embarrass others - maybe less gifted - forbids.
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Both bell boy and swiss tony have used the expression 'scrub off speed' for simple use of engine braking.
I always thought the term 'scrub' implied some serious slip angles at one end of the car (or both). You get either the car or one of its axles going sideways so that there is some real resistance to its forward motion caused by 'scrub'. It's a process somewhat more dramatic than engine braking...
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scrub
v scrub [skrab]
1 to rub hard in order to clean She's scrubbing the floor.
2 to remove by scrubbing She scrubbed the mess off the carpet.
3 to cancel We planned to go but had to scrub the idea.
Well... none of the definitions I have found imply exactly either of our meanings Lud, BUT, I do agree with you scub can mean slip angle / resistance, ie badly adjusted toe in/out will 'scub' the tyres....
... but where I come from we use it to describe losing speed without braking - I call number 3 into play there! (to cancel speed?)
This reminds me that words/sayings can be very different depending where in the country/world one is....
in the areas of the West Midlands for instance a roundabout is an 'island', and a bread roll is a 'batch'
Im sure we could run a complete thread about words/meanings (motoring link withstanding!)
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I always thought the term 'scrub' implied some serious slip angles at one end of the car (or both).
Thats my understanding of it as well, certainly not engine braking...
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No GB, no steam, it's a fair cop. I recognise that I shall imminently be looking into the relative merits and demerits of powered wheelchairs, seeking discount on bulk purchases of incontinence garments and will have lost my wits and other control of my bodily functions ere long......Small wonder that I have probably almost forgotten how to drive efficiently. I am sometimes down to as little as a 1000 miles a week these days. I am after all, 50 and should almost certainly give up soon before it all becomes too much.........
Or as is sometimes said as a parting remark north of Hadrians Wall......
Awayanbileyerheid.
;-)
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Humph- maybe you've just managed to pull off the neat trick of sounding rather older than you are! Seemingly posessed of a sort of worldy wise demeanour in print, no doubt brought about by the experience of those thousand miles a week. I bow and apologise. Heck, no I don't, what's the forum for if we can't have a little fun? Should I send you some nice open backed driving gloves by way of a proper apology?
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No apology needed (my boy) ! Just meet me on the Devil's Beeftub ( A701 ) road sometime and we'll see about cornering skills......( er....laddie ) !........
;-)
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