Driving standards

[kevinlms]

26 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

Yes, thanks for the replies. My conundrum comes from the fact that in a situation where a very quick decision has to be made by me, the instinct I have is to get out of their way and let them drive as straight a course as possible. 

Nope, they're trained and have lots of experience of making their way through congestion. Let them do so.

 

Edit to add.

 

The conundrum does become a little complicated, if there is a bus in the bus lane! In that case you might have to stop short of the bus, leaving a gap for the emergency vehicle to go around. But again bus drivers ought to be trained, on what actions to take to expedite emergency vehicles. 

Edited October 4, 2019 by kevinlms

[duncan]

They are also much bigger & more visible to the wombles.

 

ps Kevin, the law may be different in Australia.

Edited October 4, 2019 by duncan

[kevinlms]

3 minutes ago, duncan said:

They are also much bigger & more visible to the wombles.

 

ps Kevin, the law may be different in Australia.

Not from what I've just read the last few posts!

[kevinlms]

I assume that many vehicles sold in the UK, have the same dodgy airbag recalls as here in Australia.

 

What is the success rate in the UK, of actually getting them recalled and fixed?

 

In Australia it appears that 425,000 out of total are yet to be rectified (some have been replaced twice!). Threats of deregistering and banning of such unrepaired vehicles, is becoming a possibility.

 

The recommendation now on some notorious examples, is that they should not be driven at all, but towed to a dealer, with the owner given a loan car, until it's fixed! Our vehicles are not on the list.

 

https://www.theage.com.au/national/should-not-be-driven-takata-airbag-danger-on-20-000-cars-critical-20191004-p52xou.html

[PhilJ W]

Thankfully my car is not on the list.

[PatB]

4 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

I assume that many vehicles sold in the UK, have the same dodgy airbag recalls as here in Australia.

 

What is the success rate in the UK, of actually getting them recalled and fixed?

 

In Australia it appears that 425,000 out of total are yet to be rectified (some have been replaced twice!). Threats of deregistering and banning of such unrepaired vehicles, is becoming a possibility.

 

The recommendation now on some notorious examples, is that they should not be driven at all, but towed to a dealer, with the owner given a loan car, until it's fixed! Our vehicles are not on the list.

 

https://www.theage.com.au/national/should-not-be-driven-takata-airbag-danger-on-20-000-cars-critical-20191004-p52xou.html

The whole airbag scandal broke while I was working for the Department of Transport in Canberra. By one of those exquisite little ironies of fate we heard about it on the same day I'd been asked to go easy on scheduling compliance audits on Japanese manufacturers "because it's a mature industry and they can be expected to do the right thing". Oddly enough, I was told much the same thing with regard to European manufacturers, shortly before the VW emissions scam came to light :D. 

[kevinlms]

14 minutes ago, PatB said:

The whole airbag scandal broke while I was working for the Department of Transport in Canberra. By one of those exquisite little ironies of fate we heard about it on the same day I'd been asked to go easy on scheduling compliance audits on Japanese manufacturers "because it's a mature industry and they can be expected to do the right thing". Oddly enough, I was told much the same thing with regard to European manufacturers, shortly before the VW emissions scam came to light :D. 

With the ultimate example of "because it's a mature industry and they can be expected to do the right thing", being the Boeing 737 MAX, as the latest of a 50 year old design!

 

Two words describe the problem. 'Self' and 'Regulation'.

[Reorte]

3 hours ago, Nick C said:

I'd stay put (in fact, pull as far right as I could) and let them use the bus lane. They're allowed to, you're not. The same with traffic lights - you're not allowed to pass a red even to let an ambulance pass, and people have been prosecuted for doing so.

 

Happened to me on my driving test - sat at red lights, ambulance came along behind me - really could've done without that on my test! I shuffled as much to the side as I could without going over the line, I think (but it's a long time ago now) that I nudged the kerb in doing so but didn't get marked down for it.

[newbryford]

5 hours ago, jonny777 said:

A conundrum occurred to me while driving towards Bristol on the Portway (A4) the other day. The road is a dual carriageway but the left hand lane going away from Sea Mills is a 24 hour bus lane. If emergency vehicles were travelling as fast as the conditions would allow with lights and sirens on and approached my car from behind, would they automatically switch to the bus lane to undertake me - or do I switch to the bus lane to let them pass, and risk a fine if I am photo'd by any bus lane cameras?

 

 

 

Time for this again.

 

I once asked a driving examiner about crossing the line at a red traffic light to let them through - during a driving test.

Their response was "it depends on the situation...…"

 i.e. a small creep through was allowed if the situation was safe to do so.

 

Crossing the stop line with blues and twos behind is a legal v moral debate.

Save a life or get a ticket?

 

 

 

[Baby Deltic]

1 hour ago, newbryford said:

 

Time for this again.

 

I once asked a driving examiner about crossing the line at a red traffic light to let them through - during a driving test.

Their response was "it depends on the situation...…"

 i.e. a small creep through was allowed if the situation was safe to do so.

 

Crossing the stop line with blues and twos behind is a legal v moral debate.

Save a life or get a ticket?

 

 

 

My understanding is that emergency service vehicles should have their lights and sirens turned off if stuck behind traffic at a red light to avoid pressuring other drivers to break the law even in good faith. I’ve certainly seen ambulances stuck at level crossings do this and then fire up the roof and carry on once the barriers have lifted. I think you’re only supposed to cross a red light if it’s at the instruction of and under the supervision of a uniformed Police traffic officer.

[Jonboy]

The difference is if it’s a steady red light a police officer can instruct you through, if it’s a flashing one (level crossings, fire stations, swing bridges etc.) no one can legally instruct you through.

[rockershovel]

2 hours ago, Jonboy said:

The difference is if it’s a steady red light a police officer can instruct you through, if it’s a flashing one (level crossings, fire stations, swing bridges etc.) no one can legally instruct you through.

 

I have seen ambulances cross flashing lights at those ungated crossings you sometimes see out in the Fens, 

[laurenceb]

There is a streach of road just outside Burton that is no overtaking for good reason yet ambulance crews regularly overtake forcing other drivers to take evasive mesasures to avoid being hit. There aint much point driving like a fool to try to get there quickly if you end up needing a fleet of ambulences to collect the casualties caused by bad driving by anbulance crews

[Catkins]

On 08/09/2019 at 11:15, caradoc said:

Where will the hubs, at which the platoons form up, be located ? Presumably they will have to be immediately adjacent to motorway slip roads, otherwise platoons will be operating on non-motorway roads. And there will have to be separate hubs for forming and dividing platoons at motorway junctions.

 

It will also be interesting to see how a platoon will merge from a slip road onto the main carriageway.

 

I'm sorry if this has been answered already, but as I said earlier up thread, each truck in the platoon will communicate by bluetooth links, and the theory is that the platoons will form as the trucks are moving.

it is intended that truck 1 will be driving along a known route, truck 2 has a route that shares some of the roads as truck one, and truck 3 has a route that shares some of the roads as the other two.

As truck 2 catches up to truck 1, driver 2 matches speeds and sends a message to truck 1 asking to join the platoon, truck 1 responds with "yes", and then you have a two truck platoon, when truck 3 catches up with the platoon, driver 3 sends a message asking to join the platoon, and again truck 1 responds.
The messages that get sent by the driver are already programmed into the trial trucks software, and are sent by pushing a single button.
When it comes time for a truck to leave the platoon, the driver will send a message to the platoon to tell them that a truck is leaving the platoon.

[Catkins]

On 18/09/2019 at 06:49, TheQ said:

Sutton Bridge is about to be closed and or reduced to single lane working. the council as an experiment tried it... The traffic jam went back to Kings Lynn.. The alternative route  is over 20 miles extra and there is no choice, there is a river in the way.. I've got to head north in a fortnight when I come back the works will have started.....

The works started last weekend, the tailbacks were lengthy on Monday, but had lessened by Thursday.
The workers ran out of something vital for the job on Thursday night - so they packed up and went home, taking the lights BUT leaving the lane barriers in place on the Lincolnshire side of the A17.

[tractionman]

Pretty much matches my experiences on the road...

 

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/uk-world-news/audi-drivers-most-inept-survey-17038206

 

cheers,

 

Keith

 

 

[Hobby]

From my experience of 5 days in the New Forest this week I'd disagree and say that it was any driver in a Chelsea Tractor (of whatever make)...

[royaloak]

On 04/10/2019 at 16:40, Jonboy said:

The difference is if it’s a steady red light a police officer can instruct you through, if it’s a flashing one (level crossings, fire stations, swing bridges etc.) no one can legally instruct you through.

Not according to an Officer at Gwinear Road LC a few months ago who was quite happy to allow a pedestrian to walk across in front of my train to inform a motorist on the other side of the crossing that it had failed with the barriers down, I had been informed about the failure so was approaching accordingly.

 

We did exchange words but she was adamant she had the authority as it was a road, I did report it to the relevant Box so they could arrange for 'words of advice' to be had with her by her Sergeant.

[PatB]

Something that seems to be common here in WA, is that, when work is being undertaken on a crossing, the wig-wags and bells will operate continuously, even with the barriers up. It is considered normal for one of the guys in hi-viz to wave road traffic over the crossing. Frankly it feels dodgy as all hell to me, and I really wish it wasn't done this way, because, AFAIK, the meaning of flashing reds is the same here as in the UK. 

 

Edit: Finally got round to looking it up. At level crossings, a "railway employee" can signal road traffic through the wig-wags. So that's OK then, although it still feels a little iffy to me. 

 

NB. This specifically applies to Western Australia, so I'm not implying any legitimacy to vehicles being signalled through flashing reds anywhere else in the world. 

Edited October 6, 2019 by PatB

[kevinlms]

6 hours ago, PatB said:

Something that seems to be common here in WA, is that, when work is being undertaken on a crossing, the wig-wags and bells will operate continuously, even with the barriers up. It is considered normal for one of the guys in hi-viz to wave road traffic over the crossing. Frankly it feels dodgy as all hell to me, and I really wish it wasn't done this way, because, AFAIK, the meaning of flashing reds is the same here as in the UK. 

 

Edit: Finally got round to looking it up. At level crossings, a "railway employee" can signal road traffic through the wig-wags. So that's OK then, although it still feels a little iffy to me. 

 

NB. This specifically applies to Western Australia, so I'm not implying any legitimacy to vehicles being signalled through flashing reds anywhere else in the world. 

Same applies in Victoria, so presumably nation wide. 

I would think that properly trained railway staff, ought to know more than the police regards whether a train is coming or not.

[PatB]

31 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

Same applies in Victoria, so presumably nation wide. 

I would think that properly trained railway staff, ought to know more than the police regards whether a train is coming or not.

True, but my UK upbringing, which taught me that flashing reds are absolute, still results in my cringing whenever I encounter it. 

[jcm@gwr]

2 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Same applies in Victoria, so presumably nation wide. 

I would think that properly trained railway staff, ought to know more than the police regards whether a train is coming or not.

 

Yes they should, but getting a police officer to accept that someone knows

more than they do would be nearly impossible!

[kevinlms]

3 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Same applies in Victoria, so presumably nation wide. 

I would think that properly trained railway staff, ought to know more than the police regards whether a train is coming or not.

I've had a look at the Vic Roads website, but unable to find anything to back up the above.

[bimble]

10 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Same applies in Victoria, so presumably nation wide. 

I would think that properly trained railway staff, ought to know more than the police regards whether a train is coming or not.

 

I suspect if they're working on the crossing, trains will be warned before hand so will be approaching under caution, and the worker would be in contact with the signaller so would be informed if/when a train was approaching the crossing.

[Gwiwer]

Meanwhile it takes real skill to send a tram flying into someone's front garden.  Several passengers from both vehicles have sustained minor injuries.  The tram is expected to be out of service for six months.

 

https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/news/car-and-tram-collide-in-melbourne-tram-derails/news-story/a8ab801d74d6b1ad18ee665264c6d6e2