Funny or strange or never thought about it ?

[TCJBOLDIE]

I am curious as to why so many drivers? who only learned the basics about to operate a motor vehicle to gain a license undertake no further instruction/training and then teach??their offspring to drive?

In so many cases I observe daily people seen to have developed habits that were not taught when they were undergoing instruction prior to their test whereas if they take up a sport IMHO most will try to follow a coaches instructions to the letter.

For example take say golf one would never see a player disregarding the correct way to stand,grip the club.and swing so why do people decide to drive one handed sit too far back/too close with locked straight arms or arms in a position other than 9/3 or 10/2 that will cause serious injuries in the event of the SRS air bag being deployed at 200 kph +in the event of a crash.

FWIW I get the impression that most drivers are clueless as to the injuries that an exploding steering wheel air bag can inflict if your arms/hands are in the way plus the passengers I often see with feet up on on top of the dashboard mounted SRS airbag

So say you decide take up skydiving and are taught to pack your chute so it will open every time you pull the cord IMO nobody will deviate from the correct method shown by their instructor.

Driving is the most dangerous pastime that most will ever undertake and it has resulted in more deaths than all of the world wars put together BUT sadly so many seem to regard it as a chore and not a skill that needs to be practiced daily. One only has to view the U tube dash cam videos to see how poorly many drive .

Gets down off hobby horse again

 

[Yugguy]

If I ever bought a properly quick car, especially something rwd, C63 for example, I would do a course on how to handle it.

Most see the driving test as an annoying hurdle, not a standard to live up to.

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

Over here the driving test is way too easy and IMO does not prepare one for any emergency situation that will occur at some time in all drivers lifetime .

Ideally I would like to see a full emergency stop as well as a lane change/moose test included all on a purpose built facility (ideally with a skid pan where learner drivers can experience loss of control and hopefully get a feel for what the car is doing as a result of their actions) where the dangers of tailgateing could also be demonstrated as well as what doubling the speed does to ones braking distance.

Sadly can't see any of this happening in my lifetime here

FYI

 

[T9 man]

I believe Finland have a very difficult driving course that takes a long time before they can be given a full driving license. As a consequence of this, they have a very low traffic accident rate and a very high level of high performance drivers in many different disciplines.

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

Hope you all will forgive me for banging on a bit about driving etc It's just that during my days as a defensive driving trainer I came across many in all age groups that IMO were a danger to themselves and others.

For instance we had a group of 12 or so government department employees aged 30+ and was told by 1 participant that they would never go with one particular participant in her car and always insisted she travel with them whenever they had to go to various establishments and after sitting beside her attempting a lane change and emergency braking it was obvious as to why.

Os no politician over here has the intestinal fortitude to rock the boat and legislate a more demanding license test procedure as they do not want to risk their position .

 

[obi_waynne]

I think there should be licences given in stages according to experience and type of vehicle driven. Retests every 10 years with proper training, like skid control will make the roads safer. Perhaps just limiting fast car drivers to a special type of licence will be easier to swallow than a blanket retest every few years.

 

[gladrags]

I don’t think it’s necessary for younger drivers to learn how the oldies did it what with cross ply tyres, drum brakes, rear wheel drive and cart horse springs. Modern cars are completely different in every way. There’s no need to teach young drivers how to do cadence braking for example, modern ABS will do the job much faster and more accurately while allowing the driver to concentrate on steering to safety.

Same with Electronic Stability Programmes which are built in with most modern cars, continuously monitoring the cars behaviour through yaw sensors and steering angle sensors to finely adjust and control stability eg when braking in curves by reducing brake pressure on the inner wheels. They also give traction control, hill start assist and even trailer stability programmes on some models.

re that video, I road tested the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the one with air suspension, and found it a very stable and predictable vehicle for an SUV. In auto mode the suspension drops by about 1.5cm at cruise speed, reducing drag and improving stability but they don’t make any mention of that. Let’s face it, SUV’s all have a high centre of gravity and require a different driving technique from cars – if you’re sensible that is.

 

[Yugguy]

Currently I am learning (when there's no other cars about of course) all about wet roundabouts and rwd. Even with my fairly low 170bhp I can still unstick the back if I turn off ESP

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

Just a thought but if you crash after turning the ESP off and your insurer can discover that you have via the computer will you still be covered ?

Can our resident insurance guru share his thoughts on this please ?

BTW if your antics were seen by the plod over here you can have your car impounded for 30 days under our hoon laws which covers burnouts,donuts loss of traction etc. as well as loss of points and fines plus possible suspension /loss of license .

 

[Lunchmoney]

Just a thought but if you crash after turning the ESP off and your insurer can discover that you have via the computer will you still be covered ?

Can our resident insurance guru share his thoughts on this please ?

I don't know who your resident insurance guru is but I work in the industry and I've read countless engineer's reports and not one of them have ever mentioned reading the ECU for fault codes or anything else. Don't take it as gospel, but I don't think this is something that will be discovered.
Hah, after my first Scooby was crashed into the inspecting engineer didn't even notice the de-cat exhaust and they certainly didn't look at the ECU.

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

I used to drive my car to and from from dirt sprint/autocross events on soft lower "H" speed rated tyres than the factory "V" and was told that in the event of a collision on public roads that I would not be covered due solely to the tyres not complying with the tyre placard even if the car was legally parked or stationary in traffic and was rear ended.

I changed to another more understanding insurer who was a motorsport sponsor.

I used to change wheels before and after each event

BTW I only fit V,W or Z rated tyres now

http://toyotires.com.au/tyre-tips/load-speed

 

[Yugguy]

I'm not hooning it, I'm trying to get an idea of how the car feels if it is in oversteer and then how to fix it.

 

[SLEEPER]

I dont think people have changed just circumstances
Years ago (here we go again ) roads were empty cars were slow so oppurtunities for accidents were far less. And as most cars were slow accidents were not serious so people just almost ignored them.

Now you have 18 year olds who can afford cars whose performance would be classed as really quick ten years ago (let alone twenty) so coupled with congested roads accidents are bound to increase. Equally with faster cars the accidents will be worse

As for attitudes almost everyone thinks they are the prefect driver so dont believe they need tuition . (same with lovers). And since a lot consider there kids perfect wholesale training is never going to happen despite the test being more involved.

I honestly think that the teenagers attitude to driving if anything is better if averages out. There are still the same number of "racers" but the kids that wouldnt have owned a car years ago can afford it have increased and that section was always going to be "sensible".

 

[Yugguy]

Aye, "shopping" cars with 300hp. Mad really.

 

[gladrags]

Nothing wrong with 300hp in the right hands. Male hands of course.

Donald Trump could solve a lot of America's labour problems and strike a blow for male drivers if he started a brand new road system all over America purely for women drivers. He could make the speed limit 25mph which is about their safe limit but they would ignore it anyway. Imagine the commercial improvement with most truck journey times being approx halved and male insurance premiums would dwindle to a fraction.

 

[SLEEPER]

oh dear ................

 

[Yugguy]

My missus is to be honest the best driver I know. She's not over hesitant like most women, she has good spatial awareness and she doesn't have the aggression of a lot of male drivers.

 

[gladrags]

You must have one of the few in captivity then…..

No, I’m just bent out of shape because of the amount of women I seem to get attached to my rear bumper like limpets. It used to be Nissan Micras but now it’s their beloved Jukes with dazzling DRL’s in my rear view mirror. I had one earlier in the week, tailgated me down a straight 50mph dual carriageway, came to a roundabout, I left her behind and onto a 40mph section but she caught up with me at the 30mph bit. Next roundabout I judged it so she’s be left behind with other traffic coming round then accelerated up to about 40 (in a 30 limit) before easing back to the legal limit but it made no difference, she came up behind me about 60mph, hunched over the wheel they way they do with the anxious little face peering through the screen. I’ve had enough, Ticks me off they do this stuff, any kind of situation where driving skill is required and they’re sliding all over the place… I’m telling you, separate roads for them is the only answer.

 

[TCJBOLDIE]

Sometimes I fear my cars rear bumper must be magnetized as it seems to attract vehicles of all sizes driving way way too close for comfort and safety despite my speedo needle hovering on the posted limit.

FWIW I drive mainly in the left lane on a dual carriageway .

Am thinking Santa might have a dash cam that I can mount facing the rear.

I already have a forward facing DC.

I have no qualms taking DC footage to Plod in particularly dangerous circumstances like @ 80 kph recently had a semi trailer's bull bar literally 10 feet off my rear in an 80 zone

Unfortunately there were no company signs otherwise I would have reported the driver to management.