Quote:
I've come up to Highley today, a lot of motorway drivers will think again about an old car being slow.
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| The lost pleasure of driving http://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=32738 |
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| Author: | Galileo [ Tue Jul 25, 2017 9:38 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
Quote:
I've come up to Highley today, a lot of motorway drivers will think again about an old car being slow.
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| Author: | James467 [ Mon Aug 21, 2017 3:55 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
I drive on the continent A LOT! My family is 'European', that is I have family in France, Spain, Germany, Hungary and Romania. On my recent trip to the continent I have noticed a number of things about British drivers. British drivers don't know how to drive on anything wider than a dual carriageway, even on there they still don't get lane discipline and ponce along in their fully loaded Galaxy with Halfords roof box in the outside lane at less than 110 kmh on a 130 kmh autoroute! It's worse in Germany. The British just don't seem to think that the law on adjusting your headlights and displaying a country sticker (if your number plate doesn't have one) applies to them. I lost count of how many British cars had no GB sticker on. Driving around Rambouillet and I kept getting dazzled by drivers of British cars who hadn't adjusted or taped up their headlights. Speaking to family and friends apparently this is a common complaint amongst the locals! All British drivers use the same couple of lanes together at toll booths, I always find this comical. I have a telepass so just drive straight through. I got pulled to one side one year at a service station by some brit who told me that I wasn't allowed to use 'that' lane. When I explained that I had a telepass he insisted that because I was in a British car that it was illegal and that I would get a fine through the post when I got home! I have also been told that I am not allowed to do 130kmh on autoroutes as that only applies to the French, that was by an 'older' gentleman. I just laughed and said that it was ok because my wife is Romanian! I could go on all day! |
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| Author: | dollyman [ Mon Aug 21, 2017 5:29 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
i have got to agree with you  the standards of driving by brits abroad is appalling  i find the germans have a good standard and are very polite.unlike british drivers driving german cars  only the majority not all, as i drive a vw as well as my dolly 
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| Author: | Galileo [ Mon Aug 21, 2017 7:35 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
Jame's post pretty much mirrors my own experience of driving through much of Europe, they are all very good at lane discipline. I'll make an exception for Spanish drivers in cities, there is a reason their cars have that many dents, they do like to make a lane that does not exist and the evening TV news is always full of some mangled wreck on a road nearby. I say all that whilst comfortable in my own Spanish heritage and have most of my family living there. There was a taxi I caught in France who was making full use of the track width and stank of booze but that's a whole different point! There are no two ways of saying this, lane discipline by the majority of UK drivers is non-existent. There was a theory about it all being based on the class system, backed up by referring to the lanes as the slow or fast lanes, not overtaking lanes as they should be. The theory is that the poorer the person the slower the car, so that leaves the working class in lane 1, middle classes (in their Volvo's) in lane 2 and the rich in lane 3. This was all years ago, doesn't explain the stupidity today, or does it? Is the person in the 2003 Silver Astra 1.6 that is more than capable of exceeding the speed limit refusing to pull over for the Audi A6 because they've a chip on their shoulder?! No tongue in cheek emoji so-> 
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| Author: | Karlos [ Mon Aug 21, 2017 10:27 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
I just got back from a 2 week holiday in the south of Umbria, Italy, drove there and back. Didn't have any issues at all with other drivers, never got flashed , beeped at or gesticulated at either. We always do a long journey at least twice a year for winter and summer breaks, sometimes 3 or 4 times. The attitude I take is: I am a visitor in your country, so act respectfully and drop the 'know-all Brit' attitude. This time we passed through France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland, but not in that order and not all as part of the same journey! Driving in Europe is much more pleasurable than an equivalent long journey in the UK. Obviously all nationalities have their own styles and habits. To be honest though and no disrespect intended the worst 'foreign' motorists are the Swiss. In their own country they are fine but as soon as they cross their border they seem to forget all about basic driving competencies. They drive at 30kmh below any speed limit, they loose the ability to use indicators, they become spatially unaware of other vehicles and they seem unable to follow the natural path of the road. It is as if they are driving their cars remotely by wire viewed on a TV screen. Belgians and Dutch occasionally hog a lane, but that's not a spiteful act, they just don't seem to use rear view mirrors much, then when they notice someone behind they vacate the lane - and that is without tailgating or flashing them either. One thing I do find annoying though is leaving a comfortable gap between yourself and the vehicle in front on the French toll roads. A French driver will soon occupy that space, making it a VERY UN-COMFORTABLE non-existant gap, even if it means he has to move out of it 10 seconds later. |
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| Author: | Karlos [ Tue Aug 22, 2017 8:23 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
What I struggle to understand with lane discipline is that on dual carriageway roads people will tend to use the offside lane for overtaking and then return to the nearside,but on 3 and 4 lane roads they can't do that. They can only trundle along at 65 mph or 105kph in lane 2 or 3. |
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| Author: | Galileo [ Tue Aug 22, 2017 10:33 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
Agreed, which makes it even more annoying as you dutifully pull back into lane 1 after overtaking a lorry and the car in lane 2 decides to speed match you and box you in as you prepare to overtake again. We should retitle this thread the get it off your chest thread! |
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| Author: | cleverusername [ Wed Sep 13, 2017 9:21 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
The problem with all these criticisms of British drivers, is the stats don't back it up. Britain has the second safest roads in Europe. The 2016 figures show only Sweden has less road deaths. So if other countries drivers are so much better, why are they more likely to kill each other? I started this thread, because I think our safety culture has gone too far. One day I can see blanket 20 limits in every built up area and rural roads covered in 30 and 40 limits. With cameras everywhere, it makes driving unpleasant. Since we have some of the safest roads in Europe, it isn't needed anyway. |
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| Author: | Galileo [ Wed Sep 13, 2017 1:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
That's deaths, which suggests to me that no one in Britain can actually go fast enough to manage to kill themselves anymore!
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| Author: | Karlos [ Wed Sep 13, 2017 6:42 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
Quote:
Britain has the second safest roads in Europe....... So if other countries drivers are so much better, why are they more likely to kill each other?
Mmm interesting comment TBH had not looked comparing stats.Isn't that comparing apples with pears though? So are Britains roads statistically safer due to the restrictions imposed or is it due to driver competency? If you checkout this thread it suggests there is a bit of driver incompetency involved knocking us off the top spot. viewtopic.php?f=34&t=33078#p306908 Maybe things will change with the recent proposals and updates for the driving test? I have wondered why motorway driving was never part of the needed instruction or tested to get a license. |
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| Author: | Galileo [ Wed Sep 13, 2017 9:38 pm ] | |||
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving | |||
It was said tongue in cheek, but I wondered what truth there may be in what I had said, so went looking for the data. The data seems to suggest that whilst the UK has an admirably low record for deaths on the road, the number of accidents overall is high: https://data.oecd.org/transport/road-accidents.htm
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| Author: | Carledo [ Sun Sep 17, 2017 3:58 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
Even the figures above are not a real record or even a good comparison as they take no account of population, traffic, number of vehicles, population density, etc, etc, etc. Or, as Mark Twain famously said, "there are liars, damned liars - and statisticians!" Steve But I agree with the principal, our roads are no longer a place of joy and we are all the worse for it! |
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| Author: | Karlos [ Sun Sep 17, 2017 5:50 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
76.3% of statistics are made up on the spot. |
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| Author: | Galileo [ Sun Sep 17, 2017 10:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
Quote:
Even the figures above are not a real record or even a good comparison as they take no account of population, traffic, number of vehicles, population density, etc, etc, etc.
We all know that 6 out of 7 dwarves are not Happy, but at some point, the data outweighs the opinion, and I like data! I included the link so that anyone can go play with the data, you want statistics per 1,000,000 vehicles to take into account the volume differences then feel free but it does not change my point, yes we have fewer deaths than average, yes we have more accidents than average compared to our neighbours.Or, as Mark Twain famously said, "there are liars, damned liars - and statisticians!" Steve But I agree with the principal, our roads are no longer a place of joy and we are all the worse for it! If you really want to play, then you can download all of the data from https://www.gov.uk/government/statistic ... itain-2016 and spend Sunday night creating a pivot table! 
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| Author: | NickMorgan [ Wed Sep 20, 2017 12:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: The lost pleasure of driving |
I think those figures show recorded accidents. In France they probably don't bother reporting much of what would be reported here. I remember sitting outside a bar when a Citroen 2CV reversed into another. The drivers got out, had a chat and then proceeded to swap driver's doors! Problem sorted. I also remember a friend visiting in a Saab 99. He inadvertently blocked in a Renault 5. The Renault driver proceeded to ram the Saab's big rubber bumper at speed several times until there was enough room to get his car out. Not a scratch on the Saab, but the back of the Renault was wrecked!! |
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