DRIVING STANDARDS.

[SNAKEBITE]

I was thinking about driving standards today on the way to work.

I had to take the car today as I have buisness after work which meant I could not ride the bike in.

 

On the way to work I was going along the long straight which is a 30mph zone going into a 60mph zone. I am doing 30 when I noticed a taxi approaching from behind, he must have been doing 40ish. He comes up behind me, slows down then after a few moments overtakes at about 35. Then when we get into the 60 limit he accelerates to just under 50 when it is safe to do the full 60. Round the bends he slows to 40 and then slowly gains speed until we re enter a 30mph where he does about 40. A white van pulls out from a side road and accelerates to 30, leaving the taxi to slam his achors on.

At a 't' junction the van and taxi pull out whilst a blue focus hammers up from the right and slams his brakes on. I guess he had been doing 50 in a 30. Then as the van settles down to 30 the taxi is tailgating the van and the focus is trying to overtake both of them!

I am watching this palavor from a way back and just thinking "why bother?" At the roundabout we all join up and they go straight over whilst I go left.

 

After all that mucking around, the taxi breaking the speed limits, the focus driving like a **** and me just pootling along no-one had gained any distance or achieved anything.

 

A bit long winded but basically I was asking "Does speeding actually achieve anything?, do you save time or get there quicker?"

[Axe]

It depends largley on your journey and the time that you take it. If your in rush hour then speeding only causes your blood pressure to rise. If your on a 300 mile drive on the motorway out of rush hour, you will reduce the time taken considerably.

[Pedro]

Half the time I don't think it does make a difference what speed you go at.

When we go on our bike tours on the Continent, we generally sit at about 90mph and pass everything. However, we have to fill up every 120 miles or so, which lets all the things we've passed catch up

When we go on holiday in France and take the car, that's a different kettle of fish. I still do 85-90, but can keep this speed up for at least 3 hours, (or until the "I want a wee" brigade pipe up).

Over this distance we probably only gain 30 mins or so.

I do feel safer at that speed though, everything just seems smoother. I drive over here at various speeds and find that 70 is a real pain in the butt. Your not going fast enough to get out of the way and you're too slow for Mr average.

65mph is easier than 70 :blink: Most thing fly by you, you overtake the odd truck and your mpg is miles better

Still, I've always got the Fireblade to hoon round on.

 

P.

[al4x]

Taxis are widely acknowledged to be the worst drivers on the road. We employ all sorts of drivers and I never employ ex taxi drivers as soon as they say they drive a taxi I start looking for reasons not to take them on.

[Dr W]

The only place it's safe(ish) to speed is the motorway if you keep an eye out.

 

It's exactly as you said there's no point on normal roads all you end up doing is raising your blood pressure and increasing your chances of crashing or getting caught for what?

 

I'm really glad I ride my bike to work as I reckon I would have many accidents if I had to drive in rush hour traffic as everyone seems to think they're Nigel Mansell and all to grab a couple of extra places in the queue, is it really worth all that lane changing and cutting people up to make it 30 meters in front?

[Wookie]

If anyone needs any proof of al4x's statement, I would recommend that you take a cab ride in Milton Keynes. Actually, don't... Get a friend to and then watch as they get out either looking green or so pumped that they want to go again. All cabbies on MK want to be rally drivers.

 

Carrying on the topic though, my Frontera like 65mph. So do I. It's comfortable and you only lose seconds on the same journey at 70.

[Axe]

I have driven countless miles up and down this country and abroad. The real cause to the problem are all those drivers that cant keep left. They hold up others without any thought or concideration. If the damn roads were used properly like they are in Frane then we wouldnt have so many people trying to drive like Lewis Hamilton. On top of that you would be more able to drive at an increased but not dangerous pace.

 

People just don't know the highway code, th amount of people who think the black diagonal bar on white (National Speed Limit) sign actually means 60 on a dual carriage way is simply alarming. My other pet hate are those people that dont know how to use a roundabout, you know the ones i mean. The one that will wait until the roundabout is completely empty....grrrrr!

 

I used to drive everywhere at 84, its a comfortable speed and allows you to make time without taking undue risks. In fear of my license I now drive 76 but would much p

refer 84 again. I'll wait till my current points are off. :blink:

 

I think mungler explained it well in the other topic, its when people take ndue risk and do not read the road properly. That to me is when driving becomes unsafe, at any speed.

[dunganick]

most of my driving is done in not very built up area's i drive the m20 alot (arguably a heavily populated area at rush hour) and most of the time i sit at 80ish, my car will return 60mpg at this speed, and will do about 80 if i was doing 65. The difference is, at 80 im in the outside lane of traffic not getting in the way, at 65 im getting overtaken by lorries and even pensioners are overtaking me. The MPG difference is really not worth it for the extra hassle and risk of being the pain in the **** in the inside lane.

 

70 also puts you in the midle lane, which is not a nice place, you have potential crashes waiting on both sides, if people need to overtake or get out the way of a faster car, they come to hte inside lane. Attack from both sides :blink:

 

Everyone does 80+ on the motorway its just some of them dont realise it.

 

My advice for london, from my very small amount of driving experiance, either walk or be ill, your cars body work will love you for it.

[al4x]

It may be safe to speed on motorways but the times its safest to do it are the times you're most likely to get caught. Most of my drivers who get done are at silly o'clock in the morning when the police have nothing better to do and can actually see you as theres no traffic in the way

[dunganick]

It may be safe to speed on motorways but the times its safest to do it are the times you're most likely to get caught. Most of my drivers who get done are at silly o'clock in the morning when the police have nothing better to do and can actually see you as theres no traffic in the way

 

 

As is most of my driving, however in my experiance the dark is your best friend, you can see a marked plod car a mile off, even if its behind you.

 

But if your doing 80 (the most i will drive at at night, your pretty much safe from getting anything other than 3 points and a fine. Not to mention with inaccuracys etc... i believe that 78 is the point they will prosecute you? Did look it up when i had a camera van scare. I know i was doing 76 when i went through but got nothing.

[pin]

3 complaints :-

1. People can't, won't or simply don't know they should keep left
   
2. People drive too close to the person in front
   
3. Drivers in this country are inadequately skilled
   

Try learning to drive in Germany, no piddling about for 2 weeks and then out on the roads, oh no sireee! They teach people to drive, we teach people to pass a test.

 

Motorway competence should be offered to new drivers as an additional module. Until passed no motorway for new drivers.

 

This is the unpopular one, a driving practical and theory re-test for every driving offence, or at least once every 5 years for under 50's, every 2 for under 60's and every single year after that.

[Axe]

Nick if people are able to over take on the inside then the traffic is not keeping left! Kinda proves my point anyway.

 

As a rule of thumb on the speeding issues, i work on the basis of 10% +2 so if its a 30 its 35 if its 70 its 79 etc. Pin popped up a link in Munglers topic to the recommndations the police work too. I think you'll find its the same.

[dunganick]

Nick if people are able to over take on the inside then the traffic is not keeping left! Kinda proves my point anyway.

 

As a rule of thumb on the speeding issues, i work on the basis of 10% +2 so if its a 30 its 35 if its 70 its 79 etc. Pin popped up a link in Munglers topic to the recommndations the police work too. I think you'll find its the same.

 

i mean people in the inside lane use the middle one to overtake

 

so by being in the middle lane on a busy road you have potentially two lanes to worry about

 

on the outside lane at least you just have the one, albeit with people constantly using your braking distance from the car infront to slip into.

[Axe]

Nick its probably best just to shut your eyes and hope for the best. :blink:

[MC]

Nick,

 

What is wrong with people in the inside lane using the middle one to overtake? That is after all what it is there for. I agree with you that the standard of driving is dreadful in this country but it is a bloody sight better than a lot of places.

 

We should bring in the P plate like Australia, and also further training on motorways etc being compulsory

[Axe]

the problem with motorway driving is it not just young people who dont seem to know how to use it. Its also the old who pootle along at 60 in the middle lane. I agree thought, P Plates and additional training/testing for motorways would be good. I'd like to see more done to make sure people keep left. Pin your right about people driving too close as well. The one other bug bare of mine is all those damn rubber neckers who slow to an almost stop just to have a look at a broken down lorry or accident on the otherside of the road!

[Devon Fox]

Sorry, but the speed limit is the law, i dont like the theory of 35 in a 30 etc, fine untill one of your kids are crippled or worse, god forbid.

 

Motorway congestion is actually caused by speeders, it is widely believed by ROSPA and various other road safety orginisations that if all traffic entering onto motorways adhered to the limits, congestion would be widely reduced.

 

With my current job, i am often treated as if i am a criminal by other motorist for sticking to speed limits, even though i have done many advanced driving tests, taken part and witnessed some horrific videos during speed awareness courses, and above all STICKING TO THE LAW!

 

People need to ask themselves, if you do 35 - 40 in a 30 zone, does that mean you will take a blind shot with a rifle at a set of eyes?, or risk shooting over the brow of a hill?, because its the same, you are playing percentages.

 

Any way i am skulking off to read the highway code, and get my name changed to Malcom!

[pin]

Highway code? You said you were an advanced driver though, you wouldn't be reading that **** if you were :blink:

[Axe]

So if your driving exactly to the speed limit how can you see the road? I mean you must be looking at the speedo all the time to make a statement like that surely. I have a simple rule of thumb that I drive within the speed limits in town and in built up areas, outside of that I drive within the Laws allowable tollerances. Dont forget, these tolerances are to cater for inaccuracy in speedometer readings too. Have you had yours specifically checked and calibrated. I know my Volvo under reads.

 

And Malcolm is spelt with 2 'L's, I know, i've been signing it for years. :blink:

[pin]

All speedo's read under iirc, the law says otherwise :-

 

The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, as amended, allows the use of speedometers that meet the requirements of EC Community Directive 75/443(97/39) or ECE Regulation 39. Both the EC Directive and the ECE Regulation lay down accuracy requirements to be applied at the time of vehicle approval for speedometers. These requirements are that the indicated speed must not be more than 10 per cent of the true speed plus 4 km/h. In production, however, a slightly different tolerance of 5 per cent plus 10 km/h is applied. The requirements are also that the indicated speed must never be less than the true speed.

[LEFTY478]

Try learning to drive in Germany, no piddling about for 2 weeks and then out on the roads, oh no sireee! They teach people to drive, we teach people to pass a test.

 

I did an awful lot of driving in Germany and IMO I don't remember their driving to any much better than the UK's. The only thing that was noticably better was lane discipline on the AutoBahn - a lot of which are only two lanes wide - as most people would be aware of faster moving vehicles approaching from behind and would then move over, to let them pass. There was also a wide spread use of 'No HGV Over-taking' zones in busy areas' and uphill stretches etc.

German law only allows passing on the left and driving students are taught at least 12 hours of classroom theory (usually while at school), before being tested.

 

But IMO, the single biggest affect on the driving in German, is the German pysche. They like to follow the rules. In fact they positively thrive on them. Typical German town on a Friday night, small group of young Germans', on their way home from a night in the Bier Keller, walking along the pavement, laughing and singing until they reach a empty road junction. At this point German mind set makes one member push the button to operate the crossing's lights, while all the rest stand quietly and wait for the 'Green Man' before crossing. Once they reach the other side, they 'll start singing and laughing again. Sweeping generalisation? No, not really, it's why they were such bloody efficient soliders - No joke - they used to kick the rest of NATOs' ***** in the big War Game Exercises.

[Mungler]

I have 3 children and road safety is an issue. However, I understand that my needs as a parent do not necessarily have to reflect or be forced on the rest of society, for example I think it would be wrong for me to campaign that every man woman or dog should go no faster than 20 mph in the UK because of potential road safety fears. It is not reflective, fair or practical to the majority, and yes it is majority rule. What would make sense is better road safety education and awareness - if drivers don't drive on the pavements then pedestrians should stay out of the roads.

 

Another good example is the national health service and cancer drugs. Say it costs £100,000 to put a 75 year old through a cancer treatment routine. Funding is a finite resource, and for those that get there will be those that don't get. The statistics say that he won't live past 85 at best and with the cancer (treatment or otherwise) he is looking at somewhere between 75 and 80. Now then, wouldn't that £100,000 be better spent on priority and intensive treatment for everyone under say 60 years of age?

 

The needs of a minority vs. the needs of the majority, discuss.

 

And as for going at 30 mph *everywhere* well, I consider not keeping up with the traffic flow as being dangerous. I know that 30 mph is the law, however being sensible and practical I also know that if I drive at 29 mph everyone then everyone will be overtaking me left right and centre making my driving indirectly dangerous.

 

Be truthful, how many times have you been overtaken in what you would consider to be dangerous or reckless circumstances - in between traffic bollards, over chevrons, on the inside of a slip road, round a roundabout or at a crossing? Hands up, I have overtaken people at all of these places - not out of rage or with a baseball cap on back to front but because purely I did not want to get stuck behind that Montego driver doing 29 mph even in the 40 mph break out.

[Axe]

Be truthful, how many times have you been overtaken in what you would consider to be dangerous or reckless circumstances - in between traffic bollards, over chevrons, on the inside of a slip road, round a roundabout or at a crossing? Hands up, I have overtaken people at all of these places - not out of rage or with a baseball cap on back to front but because purely I did not want to get stuck behind that Montego driver doing 29 mph even in the 40 mph break out.

 

Your on your own with this one, I have never done any of these. :blink: Worse case scenario, overtaking on solid white lines following a slow moving tractor.

[pin]

From the comments on here people would probably be apalled at my driving, but I drive a different way to most people. I make efficient progress with minimal use of the brakes and where appropriate I vary my speed according to the prevailing road conditions, weather, traffic and an accurate assessment of risk to me and other road users.

 

Which is a posh way of saying I drive fast, probably faster than a lot of people on here would agree with. Never had a blameworthy accident in my life, never been caught speeding and I don't have any points on my license.

[LEFTY478]

From the comments on here people would probably be apalled at my driving, but I drive a different way to most people. I make efficient progress with minimal use of the brakes and where appropriate I vary my speed according to the prevailing road conditions, weather, traffic and an accurate assessment of risk to me and other road users.

 

Which is a posh way of saying I drive fast, probably faster than a lot of people on here would agree with. Never had a blameworthy accident in my life, never been caught speeding and I don't have any points on my license.

 

100% with you on this. But I do think you're being brave, tempting fate like that.