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Post by peterob on Apr 22, 2024 7:41:25 GMT
Indeed, I try to do the same on dual carriage ways/ motorways if the traffic permits and I'll straighten 'S' bends on ordinary roads when it is safe so to do. As a special case I quite like the challenge of driving as straight a line as possible up a long, steep hill near us on the A55. The carriageway is three lanes wide going up, starts with a left hand bend, has a right hand bend in the middle then left-hand before turning right and straightening. The direct route saves several hundred yards. The road does need to be clear of traffic though. I'm quite pleased that there's another 'nutter' like me!!
Mick
Don't think of it as being strange. You should make full use of the width of the road (or carriageway if segregated) where it is safe so to do. |
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Post by mick on Apr 22, 2024 9:51:21 GMT
Should you choose to take advanced driving lessons you will be taught to take the widest line around a bend which maximises your view of what is coming. Generally you can more safely tighten your line than widen it. I expect the in-built warning would hate that. BTW it takes a lot of practice to go "wide" and left hand bends can be a bit hairy if a boy racer is cutting the corner - but you do see him sooner and hopefully that goes for him too. I was going to give a driving lesson about his poor cornering but decided against it, lol. I reckon that 'going wide' would be a recipe for absolute disaster in the lanes where I live. Much safer, very much safer, to drive more slowly to give time to react. The extra time from an earlier view would be trivial compared with the extra time through slower driving.
Mick
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Post by spinno on Apr 22, 2024 10:14:27 GMT
I was going to give a driving lesson about his poor cornering but decided against it, lol. I reckon that 'going wide' would be a recipe for absolute disaster in the lanes where I live. Much safer, very much safer, to drive more slowly to give time to react. The extra time from an earlier view would be trivial compared with the extra time through slower driving.
Mick
What about wear and tear on the car...the idea is make the drive as smooth as possible...also helpful to fuel economy and probably CO2 emissions... |
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Post by mick on Apr 22, 2024 10:22:10 GMT
I reckon that 'going wide' would be a recipe for absolute disaster in the lanes where I live. Much safer, very much safer, to drive more slowly to give time to react. The extra time from an earlier view would be trivial compared with the extra time through slower driving.
Mick
What about wear and tear on the car...the idea is make the drive as smooth as possible...also helpful to fuel economy and probably CO2 emissions... Non sequitur?
Mick
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Post by spinno on Apr 22, 2024 10:36:03 GMT
What about wear and tear on the car...the idea is make the drive as smooth as possible...also helpful to fuel economy and probably CO2 emissions... Non sequitur?
Mick
Why? How you drive the car affects those things. When I learned to drive in the 1990s I was taught to drive the longest way around a curve, avoid unnecessary braking/acceleration. I admit times have changed. |
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Post by mick on Apr 22, 2024 10:47:28 GMT
Because I said drive more slowly - not necessarily at a snail's pace! Because the lanes near me are used as a rat run and there are frequent accidents on bends (which are often single track) with folk driving too quickly. If I drive a little more slowly and at a steady pace there is no acceleration or braking. In fact, ignoring oncoming idiots, driving more quickly would necessitate acceleration and braking. Add in the oncoming idiots and slower progress has to be right.
Horses for courses? Taking the wide route may be the thing to do in some circumstances but not in 'my' lanes. In fact I avoid the lanes most of the time but there are so many road works at the moment that it's very hard.
Mick
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Post by spinno on Apr 22, 2024 10:53:14 GMT
Because I said drive more slowly - not necessarily at a snail's pace! Because the lanes near me are used as a rat run and there are frequent accidents on bends (which are often single track) with folk driving too quickly. If I drive a little more slowly and at a steady pace there is no acceleration or braking. In fact, ignoring oncoming idiots, driving more quickly would necessitate acceleration and braking. Add in the oncoming idiots and slower progress has to be right. Horses for courses? Taking the wide route may be the thing to do in some circumstances but not in 'my' lanes. In fact I avoid the lanes most of the time but there are so many road works at the moment that it's very hard. Mick if everyone drove as they should there would likely be fewer accidents. |
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Post by mick on Apr 22, 2024 10:54:43 GMT
Because I said drive more slowly - not necessarily at a snail's pace! Because the lanes near me are used as a rat run and there are frequent accidents on bends (which are often single track) with folk driving too quickly. If I drive a little more slowly and at a steady pace there is no acceleration or braking. In fact, ignoring oncoming idiots, driving more quickly would necessitate acceleration and braking. Add in the oncoming idiots and slower progress has to be right. Horses for courses? Taking the wide route may be the thing to do in some circumstances but not in 'my' lanes. In fact I avoid the lanes most of the time but there are so many road works at the moment that it's very hard. Mick if everyone drove as they should there would likely be fewer accidents. Can't possibly disagree with that. Mick
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Post by geoffr on Apr 22, 2024 11:29:18 GMT
Resurrection Sunday! Yesterday I used a new (to me) feature of the car - the magic that keeps you in lane. It's really, really annoying. I came to realise that subconsciously I take the inside track, the short route, on a bend. Only slight and not out of the lane. The system doesn't like that. It seems to want me in centre lane, to the millimetre. Really annoying. Mick I have to admit that my experience of lane departure systems isn't entirely positive either. It is bad enough when the car just makes a noise but when it actively resists a manoeuvre it can be dangerous. I think it is all down to how the system detects lane departure using a camera, or cameras, to sense the lane markings and detect whether the distance between line and car is changing. Great on a well marked road but I know a roundabout where there are sufficient contradictory lines to confuse it completely. I also know of roads where the road markings are all but invisible.
Most of the "auto driving" systems are derived form aircraft autopilot technology where adjacent traffic is a serious hazard. Lane departure detection is great when the infrastructure it depends upon is in good condition and there isn't another vehicle doing something unexpected. If a car pulls across in front one's only option might be to change lanes rapidly, having the car oppose that wouldn't fill me with confidence. Likewise adaptive cruise control, great if everybody else observes the rules but but in the above scenario it will just jam the brakes on. In my experience, autopilots don't anticipate, because they don't really need to do so. Cars need different technology and different sensors.
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Post by geoffr on Apr 22, 2024 11:46:19 GMT
Because I said drive more slowly - not necessarily at a snail's pace! Because the lanes near me are used as a rat run and there are frequent accidents on bends (which are often single track) with folk driving too quickly. If I drive a little more slowly and at a steady pace there is no acceleration or braking. In fact, ignoring oncoming idiots, driving more quickly would necessitate acceleration and braking. Add in the oncoming idiots and slower progress has to be right. Horses for courses? Taking the wide route may be the thing to do in some circumstances but not in 'my' lanes. In fact I avoid the lanes most of the time but there are so many road works at the moment that it's very hard. Mick if everyone drove as they should there would likely be fewer accidents. That's a very big IF. My experience is that many people cut right hand bends either because they are going too fast or they don't have the confidence to maintain speed and the proper line. Thus, safety suggests that one should anticipate the possibility of an oncoming vehicle being in the middle of the road.
The opposite is the driver who has been taught to drive with extreme caution, always well below the speed limit, almost stopping to turn left and slowing significantly for even the gentlest of bends. Safe but very frustrating to follow.
Most of us have no idea of the capabilities of our vehicles and, fortunately, never reach the limits of handling or performance. I would like every newly qualified driver to spend some time on a track learning the safe limits of their car to gain confidence in what it can do if necessary. Not that teaching a testosterone fuelled 18 year old how to race around country roads is entirely desirable either. The confidence to exploit the capabilities of one's vehicle, when appropriate, is a necessity, as is knowing when it is appropriate.
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Post by spinno on Apr 22, 2024 11:55:50 GMT
if everyone drove as they should there would likely be fewer accidents. That's a very big IF. My experience is that many people cut right hand bends either because they are going too fast or they don't have the confidence to maintain speed and the proper line. Thus, safety suggests that one should anticipate the possibility of an oncoming vehicle being in the middle of the road.
The opposite is the driver who has been taught to drive with extreme caution, always well below the speed limit, almost stopping to turn left and slowing significantly for even the gentlest of bends. Safe but very frustrating to follow.
Most of us have no idea of the capabilities of our vehicles and, fortunately, never reach the limits of handling or performance. I would like every newly qualified driver to spend some time on a track learning the safe limits of their car to gain confidence in what it can do if necessary. Not that teaching a testosterone fuelled 18 year old how to race around country roads is entirely desirable either. The confidence to exploit the capabilities of one's vehicle, when appropriate, is a necessity, as is knowing when it is appropriate.
nail on the head!! |
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Post by mick on Apr 23, 2024 6:53:47 GMT
The confidence to exploit the capabilities of one's vehicle, when appropriate, is a necessity, as is knowing when it is appropriate. nail on the head!! It's also necessary to know one's own limitations. My previous car was capable of more than twice the maximum legal limit. It could corner at speeds that scared me. In short the car was capable of much more than I was, especially at my advanced age! I guess you cover that by saying "knowing when it is appropriate"
Another story (sorry if it's a repeat). I attended a hill climb as a photographer. At the end of practice day, I was invited to, "have a go" (in my friend's car). I did so and was given a time which was half a day slower than the slowest real competitor. I should add that I scared myself witless on the way up. Part of the difference, but only part, was that it was my first time. I didn't know the course, and I'd never driven the car before. I was also quite scared about 'bending it'. Despite all that, I reckon that I would never have got near the top times. It taught me a lesson. I wasn't as good a driver as I believed myself to be.
Mick
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Post by andy on Apr 23, 2024 7:28:20 GMT
It's also necessary to know one's own limitations. My previous car was capable of more than twice the maximum legal limit. It could corner at speeds that scared me. In short the car was capable of much more than I was, especially at my advanced age! I guess you cover that by saying "knowing when it is appropriate"
Another story (sorry if it's a repeat). I attended a hill climb as a photographer. At the end of practice day, I was invited to, "have a go" (in my friend's car). I did so and was given a time which was half a day slower than the slowest real competitor. I should add that I scared myself witless on the way up. Part of the difference, but only part, was that it was my first time. I didn't know the course, and I'd never driven the car before. I was also quite scared about 'bending it'. Despite all that, I reckon that I would never have got near the top times. It taught me a lesson. I wasn't as good a driver as I believed myself to be.
Mick
Last time I went go karting I only got beat by guys that have had way more track time than me and drive sports cars like their hair is on fire. I still don't feel confident pushing the limits of grip on the road though and that was one of the reasons I liked the Saab 95s as they were deliberately designed to be unrewarding to thrash with light steering and very little feedback...all it was ever going to do was understeer and then there was even less weight and feedback in the steering. The Subaru I borrowed a couple of times was way more fun in the corners. Anyway, not knowing the limits of the car isn't much of a problem on the roads but lack of driver discipline is. |
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Post by geoffr on Apr 23, 2024 8:02:48 GMT
It's also necessary to know one's own limitations. My previous car was capable of more than twice the maximum legal limit. It could corner at speeds that scared me. In short the car was capable of much more than I was, especially at my advanced age! I guess you cover that by saying "knowing when it is appropriate"
Another story (sorry if it's a repeat). I attended a hill climb as a photographer. At the end of practice day, I was invited to, "have a go" (in my friend's car). I did so and was given a time which was half a day slower than the slowest real competitor. I should add that I scared myself witless on the way up. Part of the difference, but only part, was that it was my first time. I didn't know the course, and I'd never driven the car before. I was also quite scared about 'bending it'. Despite all that, I reckon that I would never have got near the top times. It taught me a lesson. I wasn't as good a driver as I believed myself to be.
Mick
Last time I went go karting I only got beat by guys that have had way more track time than me and drive sports cars like their hair is on fire. I still don't feel confident pushing the limits of grip on the road though and that was one of the reasons I liked the Saab 95s as they were deliberately designed to be unrewarding to thrash with light steering and very little feedback...all it was ever going to do was understeer and then there was even less weight and feedback in the steering. The Subaru I borrowed a couple of times was way more fun in the corners. Anyway, not knowing the limits of the car isn't much of a problem on the roads but lack of driver discipline is. The vast majority of cars are far more capable than their drivers. Unfortunately some drivers don’t realise that and thus are not confident in driving them others lack confidence in their own abilities. Spending some time driving on a track, with a competent instructor, should instil confidence and improve safety. It might also prove instructive to the overconfident who would be able to “lose it” in safety. |
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Post by daves on Apr 23, 2024 8:19:42 GMT
I know my car is far more capable than me. When I bought it I did think about "track days" as Thruxton is not too far away, but then the pandemic hit and things got away from me.
Maybe I could arrange something, but don't know.
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