Driving standards

[Tim Hall]

Reversing onto a drive is very similar to reversing around a corner.

 

Hang on I've read that this is  being dropped in favour of reversing out of a parking bay!

 

I thought they were supposed to be improving the driving test, not dumbing it down.

 

Ditto using a satnav rather than being able to follow roadsigns. (Especially if the road junction is all dug up with slight traffic diversions in place)

Sat Navs, don't get me started. Also they're planning to get candidates to park next to the kerb on the right, reverse a couple of car lengths, then rejoin traffic. The justification being that some people will need to do it as delivery drivers......and an awful lot of people won't......

 

Reversing out of bays will have to be done on private property....I can see instructors having fun with security guards and the public practicising that in supermarket or DIY stores car parks......(sure, we can practice it at Driving Test Centre in evenings or at weekends like we do with the reversing into a bay, but it won't be the same without grannies with their trollies and Chelsea tractors whizzing past us). Some instructors locally have already received fines for using such carparks via automatic numberplate recognition cameras whilst practising reversing into a bay on lessons).

[Coryton]

This reminds me...

 

Ask any new bus driver how many times they:

- stopped (or went to stop) at a bus stop, on their way home from work in the car, and

- stopped at a bus stop to discover they were stopping for the picture of a person on the advert on the shelter

 

 

(and yes, it was always funny to see a trainee look round at me when they realised they were doing the latter, to see if I'd noticed, and the look of "oh damn, he's seen it" on their face :-D )

 

I like it.

 

I once caught a bus that wasn't in service because the driver forgot he wasn't supposed to stop.

 

Worked out very nicely - got a non-stop service and was dropped off where I wanted.

 

Reminds me of another bus journey - in the US, just before Christmas on my way back from grocery shopping. Had the bus to myself and the driver asked where I lived. It was about 10 minutes walk from the nearest bus stop, but not on that journey - was dropped off at the end of my drive!

[Jol Wilkinson]

 Also they're planning to get candidates to park next to the kerb on the right, reverse a couple of car lengths, then rejoin traffic. The justification being that some people will need to do it as delivery drivers......and an awful lot of people won't......

 

 

 

The UK should adopt what they do in NZ, i.e. you can only park on the side of the road in the direction of the traffic. No crossing the path of oncoming traffic to park or depart, the driver is on the side nearest the traffic so better visibility, etc. Very sensible when you think about it.

 

Amazon's drones may put the van delivery driver out of business, will the CAA be require driving tests for the pilots?

[Coryton]

The UK should adopt what they do in NZ, i.e. you can only park on the side of the road in the direction of the traffic. No crossing the path of oncoming traffic to park or depart, the driver is on the side nearest the traffic so better visibility, etc. Very sensible when you think about it.

 

 

I remember an American visitor being somewhat surprised to see cars parked facing 'the wrong way'.

[Reorte]

The UK should adopt what they do in NZ, i.e. you can only park on the side of the road in the direction of the traffic. No crossing the path of oncoming traffic to park or depart, the driver is on the side nearest the traffic so better visibility, etc. Very sensible when you think about it.

 

Amazon's drones may put the van delivery driver out of business, will the CAA be require driving tests for the pilots?

That's what they say you should do here, even if there's no specific law against it. Or was it just at night? I really ought to remember that. Anyway it was a question I was asked on my test, and apparently all my instructor's pupils were asked that one because his wife always parks on the other side.

[PhilJ W]

You should allways reverse onto a drive, unless you can drive off or have a means of turning the car. You should avoid reversing on to the road wherever possible. Most however seem to drive on/reverse off, even people driving vans where it would be impossible to view approaching traffic because of the van sides.

[rembrow]

You should allways reverse onto a drive, unless you can drive off or have a means of turning the car. You should avoid reversing on to the road wherever possible. Most however seem to drive on/reverse off, even people driving vans where it would be impossible to view approaching traffic because of the van sides.

 

Not just to ensure a view of road traffic. I walk around our village each morning with the dog, at 7.30 to 8.30 am and have to keep an ear and eye out for cars coming from drives across the path, in front of me, without checking, as they speed off to work. I regularly have one who reverses and turns 90 degrees along the path, so the driver can avoid reversing on to the road. On one occasion when my voice wasn't sufficient, I had to hit the rear window hard to stop the car reversing over me and the four legger. In our village there were planning restrictions on the main expansion in the 70s, to provide a 'garden' environment, with no fences or walls allowed to the front elevation. Trouble is this doesn't prevent owners growing 2 metre high hedges either side of their drive, to give them 'seclusion', trouble is they can't see what's on the path. I also have to check for traffic when walking across the entrance to our shopping precinct, the entrance is part of the pathway, with a dropped kerb at the road edge, it doesn't have a road grading, but many drivers think it has car priority. For those who stop, I always give an appreciative gesture.

Edited January 29, 2017 by rembrow

[MJI]

Sat Navs, don't get me started. Also they're planning to get candidates to park next to the kerb on the right, reverse a couple of car lengths, then rejoin traffic. The justification being that some people will need to do it as delivery drivers......and an awful lot of people won't......

 

Reversing out of bays will have to be done on private property....I can see instructors having fun with security guards and the public practicising that in supermarket or DIY stores car parks......(sure, we can practice it at Driving Test Centre in evenings or at weekends like we do with the reversing into a bay, but it won't be the same without grannies with their trollies and Chelsea tractors whizzing past us). Some instructors locally have already received fines for using such carparks via automatic numberplate recognition cameras whilst practising reversing into a bay on lessons).

 

But what about people who never reverse out of parking bays, like me?

 

After I have parked I will not be able to reverse out, only drive out

[SM42]

The UK should adopt what they do in NZ, i.e. you can only park on the side of the road in the direction of the traffic. No crossing the path of oncoming traffic to park or depart, the driver is on the side nearest the traffic so better visibility, etc. Very sensible when you think about it.

 

Amazon's drones may put the van delivery driver out of business, will the CAA be require driving tests for the pilots?

 

I thought parkiing on the wrong side of the road is an offence under the Construction and Use regulations, but of course that  may have been changed since I last read it.

 

Reversing into a space makes more sense than reversing out. it's easier for a start andl when you arrive to reverse in, you have seen and assessed the prevailing conditions with traffic and pedestrians through the windscreen  and when you leave you are looking out of the front of the car, not trying to see round 10 - 15ft of steel, plastic and upholstery.

 

After all the manufacturers go to the trouble to make it easier to see out of the front as that is the way a car tends to travel the most and the way the driver is supposed to be facing (unless you are Captain Scarlet) .

 

Andy

Edited January 29, 2017 by SM42

[cheesysmith]

some more bus driver stories.

 

one driver got reported because a member of the public called asking why busses couldn't serve his street all the time. it turned out said driver had borrowed a bus to take his shopping home.

 

or stalling your car on the way home forgetting it's a manual.

 

or changing the radio station when passing a fares stage.

 

how about leaving black tire marks the full length of the car park because you forget your car is more powerful than the busses you have been driving.

 

the police pulling you over and telling you to slow down after overtaking their patrol car when running empty to depot.

 

there are many more, lets just say that on the busses is more a documentary than a comedy.

[Coryton]

some more bus driver stories.

 

one driver got reported because a member of the public called asking why busses couldn't serve his street all the time. it turned out said driver had borrowed a bus to take his shopping home.

 

or stalling your car on the way home forgetting it's a manual.

 

or changing the radio station when passing a fares stage.

 

how about leaving black tire marks the full length of the car park because you forget your car is more powerful than the busses you have been driving.

 

the police pulling you over and telling you to slow down after overtaking their patrol car when running empty to depot.

 

there are many more, lets just say that on the busses is more a documentary than a comedy.

 

I was on a bus once that left the first stop in town then diverted from the normal route. The driver called out "coffee time", jumped out, got himself a coffee, got back in and away we went back onto the route. I was a bit surprised.

[Jol Wilkinson]

I thought parkiing on the wrong side of the road is an offence under the Construction and Use regulations, but of course that  may have been changed since I last read it.

 

Reversing into a space makes more sense than reversing out. it's easier for a start andl when you arrive to reverse in, you have seen and assessed the prevailing conditions with traffic and pedestrians through the windscreen  and when you leave you are looking out of the front of the car, not trying to see round 10 - 15ft of steel, plastic and upholstery.

 

After all the manufacturers go to the trouble to make it easier to see out of the front as that is the way a car tends to travel the most and the way the driver is supposed to be facing (unless you are Captain Scarlet) .

 

Andy

Andy,

 

thanks, you are spot on, Rule 239 of the Highway Code states that. I admit I wasn't aware and I wonder if most drivers are. I also wonder if is ever enforced, something the do in NZ.

 

Jol

[Happy Hippo]

But what about people who never reverse out of parking bays, like me?

 

After I have parked I will not be able to reverse out, only drive out

You probably drove in over the grass verge

 

When I was an ADI, I always made the point of reversing into a bay, especially in a driving school vehicle, and of course eventually came unstuck

 

I was so used to reversing in that I reversed in all tidy like, centre of the bay etc, close to the  back wall and then went to get the timber from the DIY store.

 

You feel a right prat when you can't get the stuff in through the hatchback and have to leave it on the floor whilst you move forward.

[rembrow]

some more bus driver stories.

 

one driver got reported because a member of the public called asking why busses couldn't serve his street all the time. it turned out said driver had borrowed a bus to take his shopping home.

 

or stalling your car on the way home forgetting it's a manual.

 

or changing the radio station when passing a fares stage.

 

how about leaving black tire marks the full length of the car park because you forget your car is more powerful than the busses you have been driving.

 

the police pulling you over and telling you to slow down after overtaking their patrol car when running empty to depot.

 

there are many more, lets just say that on the busses is more a documentary than a comedy.

 

About 10 years ago, I used to regularly travel to or via London on National Express from Ipswich. The route franchise was operated by a local company, however it was taken over by a Durham based company, who bought their drivers down from the North East. I was on a London bound coach in the first week of the new operator, all went well down the A12 until we got close to Stratford East London, when the driver started to look at a large road map while driving. We went down unusual roads and soon found ourselves in residential roads in Walthamstow, East London. At that point the map book went flying backwards and a cry went up in 'Geordie' from the driver 'Can anyone show me the way to Stratford Broadway'. One passenger Knew the area, but only as a car driver, so used more residential roads, to shock and amusement from local residents.We eventually got to Stratford after some interesting passing manoeuvres.

 

When I was in my late teens in 1970/71, we moved from St Albans to Kingston upon Thames. I stayed with a friend in St Albans as I was due to take 'A' Levels, and travelled home on Friday and back on Sunday on a Green Line 727 coach. These were modernised RF coaches with supercharged engines, as the 727 was an Express route linking Luton, Heathrow and Gatwick airports. One Sunday night, near to Watford Junction station, I started to see smoke coming through the floor, at which point a car came alongside and the driver shouted to the coach driver 'Mate your coach is on fire'. Did we stop and bail out, none of it. The coach driver carried on for 3 miles till he got to Garston LT Garage and made an unscheduled stop where we bailed out.

Edited January 30, 2017 by rembrow

[Horsetan]

...Garston LT Garage ...

I think that's the depot for Arriva buses now.

[royaloak]

the police pulling you over and telling you to slow down after overtaking their patrol car when running empty to depot.

How about getting pulled over by a speed trap for doing 68mph in a 40 limit uphill in a fully loaded single deck Leyland Lynx! 

 

Got to love West Ridings 378 (J371AWT) which has since been preserved.

Edited January 30, 2017 by royaloak

[Torn-on-the-platform]

A guilty pleasure of mine is the youtube channel 'Exposed: UK Dash Cams'. They release a 10 minute video each Friday with a compilation of submitted material, rather than just one vigilante going around calling out people's honest mistakes. I don't know why it is entertaining, but it is! The quality of submissions is sadly in decline, and they include more and more material where the dash cam driver is perhaps technically in the right, but by standards of reasonable common sense, they are in the wrong - a common theme is roundabouts with people pulling out in front of the dash cam car. A lot of the time the camera driver hasn't even slowed for the roundabout, and sometimes they seem to accelerate if they see someone pulling out that they have right of way over, just so they can get something recorded to submit to the youtube channel. Its either a case of self-entitlement coming from owning a dash cam or a genuine lack in hazard perception skills.

 

I was toying with the idea of getting a dash cam but they seem to attract trouble. Some contributors seem to spot 3 or 4 acts of horrendous driving each week, whereas generally, all I can moan about is people not knowing the national speed limit or not understanding motorway lane discipline. (Touch wood... I've got a long drive tomorrow).

[PhilJ W]

Eastern National used to fit speed limiters to their front engined double deckers (Bristol LD, FLF). Brentwood depot had a prototype, a Bristol FL which was a rear entrance FLF. This had a different gearbox and rear axle to the other buses but on one occaision the rear axle was replaced by a standard one with a higher ratio. Not one driver mentioned it to the management.

[cheesysmith]

We had a volvo b7l, the single deck, 1 piece smilley windscreen busses with the toilet block at the rear corner where the engine lives. This thing went like stink. Rapid take up and easily did 75. Our area had this one from new. It finally blew up after 14 years, upon which the management found out that it had left the factory with the teat ECU fitted. This ECU had no limiters fitted on it, for power or for speed. They did wonder hy it was more thirsty than every other bus they had.

 

Then there was the old volvo b10m we had. Single deck with two entrance steps and Alexander bodies. We had one with no speed limiter, and I can confirm it would do 88mph. Then there was some others that would go up a 12% hill at 50, even with a full load on.

 

My favourite trick was with the old Denis dominators we had when I first got into this job. Sat at the traffic lights, with a boy racer in a golf GTI next to me. He was revving his engine and obviously going to race me from the lights. I was sat just on the foot rake. So I applied the handbrake which caused a loud hiss of air, and the bus lurched about 2". Said Chav next to me immediately floored it because he thought I was setting off. Pity the lights hadn't changed yet, flash flash, jump light camera.

[Enterprisingwestern]

I thought parkiing on the wrong side of the road is an offence under the Construction and Use regulations, but of course that  may have been changed since I last read it.

 

Reversing into a space makes more sense than reversing out. it's easier for a start andl when you arrive to reverse in, you have seen and assessed the prevailing conditions with traffic and pedestrians through the windscreen  and when you leave you are looking out of the front of the car, not trying to see round 10 - 15ft of steel, plastic and upholstery.

 

After all the manufacturers go to the trouble to make it easier to see out of the front as that is the way a car tends to travel the most and the way the driver is supposed to be facing (unless you are Captain Scarlet) .

 

Andy

 

How can people not be able to reverse?, even stupid little cars like Fiestas and Micras have reversing sensors, jeez, how difficult can it be. If you haven't got spatial awareness and don't know where the four corners of your vehicle are you shouldn't be driving it.

 

Mike.

[TheQ]

You can still buy many cars with out reversing sensor, they tend to be fitted as an option in the smaller cars. Our car does not have them and it wasn't an option.

[rembrow]

Adding to my earlier post about my adventures on coaches, particularly the Green Line RF that was on fire for 3 miles. When I lived as a teenager, outside St Albans, I used to catch the London Transport country service Route 321 into St Albans, or occasionally the fast limited stop Route 803. LT country buses were at that time, operating with buses that were 20 or more years old, RTs and RFs primarily and were well past their prime. The poor old RTs struggled to get up Holywell Hill to St Albans town centre, and the drivers would try and get a run up to the hill where it started at the lovely St Albans Abbey railway station. You saw them selecting down through the box on the pre selector and they hoped to beat the traffic lights with the London Road junction, near the top of the hill. We kids also hoped they'd get through the lights, as if not, the conductor ordered us off to shed weight, and we'd outpace the bus as we trudged up the hill, while the bus struggled to get going. On a couple of occasions an over enthusiastic conductor instructed us to push the bus from the rear, no thought did he or we have about it rolling back. Life was so simple then!!!

[PhilJ W]

Back in the 70's I was courting a girl who lived at Pilgrims Hatch north of Brentwood. The Greenline 721 route used to terminate not far from where she lived (The Robin Hood, Brentwood) the last bus then ran empty to the garage in Romford. I often came up behind the last bus on this run back to the garage but if it was an RCL Routemaster it would leave me standing going down Brook Street Hill (then part of the A12), often reaching 90 mph.

[Unicorn1]

Andy,

 

thanks, you are spot on, Rule 239 of the Highway Code states that. I admit I wasn't aware and I wonder if most drivers are. I also wonder if is ever enforced, something the do in NZ.

 

Jol

Not only do people often park on the wrong side of the road -  they also leave their headlights on! A particular niggle of mine.

[kevinlms]

How can people not be able to reverse?, even stupid little cars like Fiestas and Micras have reversing sensors, jeez, how difficult can it be. If you haven't got spatial awareness and don't know where the four corners of your vehicle are you shouldn't be driving it.

 

Mike.

Today I was in the CBD of Melbourne and watched a woman (probably late 20s) parking her car. The spot had at least 2 metres clear of vehicles beyond the line to the next bay, at each end. Of course she tried to drive in forwards & she shuttled back and forth trying to get closer to the curbing. Ended up leaving it about 1/2 a metre out. Her mother was waiting patiently by the meter, waiting to put coins in.

The task should of been really simple, because it was a one way street with parking on both sides and she was parking on the RHS, so overlooking the space.

Some make it look difficult.