Driving standards

[jcredfer]

6 hours ago, Ian Smeeton said:

I thought that the whole point of the RAF was that you were safer as an 'other ranks' staying at home while the officers and some NCOs went out to fight.

 

As opposed to the Army where the officers led from the front with others behind in case anyone tried to run away, and the Navy, where officers, enlisted men and NCOs were all in the same boat, so to speak.

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

That's certainly pretty much the idea and it's true.  Pick the finest recruits you can, select  the intelligent and physically able, then stick them in aeroplanes and send them out to fight, in the most dangerous part of air warfare.  The others make mighty fine support workers, keeping the remainder of "the finest" in the air, {A truly remarkable job they do, too!} back at base.

 

Referring back to Retorte's comment about the speed bump and a Senior officer hitting it, who should know what to do once in the air.  Of those remaining on the ground, there are numerous other, very capable, officers organising the support - 'though lacking the ability to know what to do, once the car takes to the air.

 

 

 

[kevinlms]

Just as well things have changed since the 1970s, what would the road toll be now, if things had stayed the same?

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-22/australia-history-random-breath-testing-road-toll-police/102849242

[kevinlms]

Something else to consider if driving in Australia.

 

I believe Victoria (my state) is correct in that the same rules and penalties should apply all year round.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-21/when-do-double-demerit-points-start-these-holidays/103254692

[TheQ]

Followed a Citroen Ami yesterday, top speed 30mph on a good day. It was on Norwich's old ring road, 40mph two lanes each way.

It sat in the right hand lane the whole time.

I got past by going into the left hand lane at the lights and out accelerating the idiot when they turned green.

[kevinlms]

18 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Followed a Citroen Ami yesterday, top speed 30mph on a good day. It was on Norwich's old ring road, 40mph two lanes each way.

It sat in the right hand lane the whole time.

I got past by going into the left hand lane at the lights and out accelerating the idiot when they turned green.

Usually, that sort of driver will floor it when the lights go green... For what purpose, who knows!

[Hroth]

34 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Followed a Citroen Ami yesterday, top speed 30mph on a good day. It was on Norwich's old ring road, 40mph two lanes each way.

It sat in the right hand lane the whole time.

I got past by going into the left hand lane at the lights and out accelerating the idiot when they turned green.

 

A proper Ami, or one of the electric bug boxes?

 

The bug boxes can barely do 40!

 

[MrWolf]

Can't remember the last time I saw a proper Ami 6 in the UK.

[TheQ]

2 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Usually, that sort of driver will floor it when the lights go green... For what purpose, who knows!

Flooring a Citroen Ami means it might out accelerate a snail.

It has an 8hp motor, and a top legal speed of 28mph.

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

Can't remember the last time I saw a proper Ami 6 in the UK.

 

Its an odd thing that, cars (and other things) you remember seeing about, suddenly vanish into thin air!  Apparently the original Ami is rarer than hens teeth, and may even be extinct in the UK.

 

[Welchester]

7 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Its an odd thing that, cars (and other things) you remember seeing about, suddenly vanish into thin air!  Apparently the original Ami is rarer than hens teeth, and may even be extinct in the UK.

 

 

Even rarer was the Slough-built Citroën Bijou.

 

https://www.citroenet.org.uk/foreign/slough/bijou/bijou.html

[geoffers]

Many of the senior officers I encountered had their wings, Wing Commanders and Group Captains often flew their jets from their base. A lot of them progressed into higher ranks but this may have ended up with them flying a desk but at least one Air Commodore I came across was still flying. Army Air Corps was different. Never came across anyone more senior than a Major flying. Plenty of Captains and 1st Lieutenants plus Sergeants, Staff Sergeants, and Warrant Officers. With the Air Corps drawing its "members" from various regiments it allegedly led to some "feisty" times in the Messes especially the Sergeant's .

Edited December 22, 2023 by geoffers

[Deeps]

11 hours ago, TheQ said:

I got past by going into the left hand lane at the lights and out accelerating the idiot when they turned green.

I was once second in a line of traffic stuck behind a cyclist on a bendy road. The car in front of me, leading the queue, was a Volvo driven by an elderly gentleman. When we reached a straight bit of road, and it was safe to overtake the cyclist, the Volvo dropped a cog and smartly shot past it. As the road ahead was clear I did the same but the Volvo driver, having safely passed the cyclist, then braked immediately in front of it leaving me stranded in the opposite lane with oncoming traffic now visible. Somehow I managed to safely avoid a collision and we continued the journey with the Volvo driver religiously, and annoyingly, keeping to at least 10mph below the prevailing speed limit.

Eventually I had an opportunity to overtake him but as soon as I pulled out he accelerated! I was in my old Series 3 Land Rover at the time and the poor beast had never experienced such a demand for power to get past him. Afterwards I could see, in my rear view mirror, that he was playing the same trick with every other frustrated driver stuck behind him.

[Compound2632]

3 minutes ago, Deeps said:

we continued the journey with the Volvo driver religiously, and annoyingly, keeping to at least 10mph below the prevailing speed limit.

[...]

Afterwards I could see, in my rear view mirror, that he was playing the same trick with every other frustrated driver stuck behind him.

 

Ah, so they do it deliberately?

[PhilJ W]

41 minutes ago, Deeps said:

I was once second in a line of traffic stuck behind a cyclist on a bendy road. The car in front of me, leading the queue, was a Volvo driven by an elderly gentleman. When we reached a straight bit of road, and it was safe to overtake the cyclist, the Volvo dropped a cog and smartly shot past it. As the road ahead was clear I did the same but the Volvo driver, having safely passed the cyclist, then braked immediately in front of it leaving me stranded in the opposite lane with oncoming traffic now visible. Somehow I managed to safely avoid a collision and we continued the journey with the Volvo driver religiously, and annoyingly, keeping to at least 10mph below the prevailing speed limit.

Eventually I had an opportunity to overtake him but as soon as I pulled out he accelerated! I was in my old Series 3 Land Rover at the time and the poor beast had never experienced such a demand for power to get past him. Afterwards I could see, in my rear view mirror, that he was playing the same trick with every other frustrated driver stuck behind him.

 

37 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Ah, so they do it deliberately?

I've seen that happen a few times and I once saw someone do that to an unmarked police car, they pulled him over and were having a few words with him as I passed. I wonder how many road rage incidents happen due such behaviour?

[Hroth]

21 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

 

I've seen that happen a few times and I once saw someone do that to an unmarked police car, they pulled him over and were having a few words with him as I passed. I wonder how many road rage incidents happen due such behaviour?

 

Their defence would be that they were driving at a speed appropriate to the prevailing conditions, and that the speed limit is a maximum and not a target to be achieved.

 

Personally, I think that such drivers should go on a re-education course, reinforced by a muscular bloke with a large whip.

 

Faster!  FASTER!!!

 

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Their defence would be that they were driving at a speed appropriate to the prevailing conditions, and that the speed limit is a maximum and not a target to be achieved.

But that is no defence against accelerating while being overtaken.

[Deeps]

6 minutes ago, 30801 said:

But that is no defence against accelerating while being overtaken.

Precisely. I can tolerate people driving cautiously, and I am of an age where I drive slower than I used to, but this was a case of placing me in harms way. Not once but twice. Clearly he was trying to make some political point, rather than deliberately luring me into danger. I should add that at no time was I acting in anything approaching an aggressive way whilst following him. Perhaps he just didn’t like old landrovers?

[zarniwhoop]

I've heard a story, which may or may not be true, about somebody playing silly beggars in front of a landrover. In the end, the landrover driver shunted the car off the road. Later, the police turned up at the landrover driver's house on suspicion of failing to stop after an accident, but there was not a mark on the landrover, so nothing to prove the allegation.

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, 30801 said:

But that is no defence against accelerating while being overtaken.

 

I've lost count of the number of times I've had cars deliberately accelerate when I or one of my friends overtake them on a motorcycle.

Often they only back off when they have to brake for a bend, as they have virtually run the bike out of road. 

Of course they're then busy yelling at the idiot on the bike overtaking them on a bend.

 

[kevinlms]

5 hours ago, Deeps said:

I was once second in a line of traffic stuck behind a cyclist on a bendy road. The car in front of me, leading the queue, was a Volvo driven by an elderly gentleman. When we reached a straight bit of road, and it was safe to overtake the cyclist, the Volvo dropped a cog and smartly shot past it. As the road ahead was clear I did the same but the Volvo driver, having safely passed the cyclist, then braked immediately in front of it leaving me stranded in the opposite lane with oncoming traffic now visible. Somehow I managed to safely avoid a collision and we continued the journey with the Volvo driver religiously, and annoyingly, keeping to at least 10mph below the prevailing speed limit.

Eventually I had an opportunity to overtake him but as soon as I pulled out he accelerated! I was in my old Series 3 Land Rover at the time and the poor beast had never experienced such a demand for power to get past him. Afterwards I could see, in my rear view mirror, that he was playing the same trick with every other frustrated driver stuck behind him.

The perfect driver, never had an accident, but caused plenty!

[Enterprisingwestern]

4 hours ago, kevinlms said:

The perfect driver, never had an accident, but caused plenty!

 

I've never had an accident, but I've seen dozens in my rear view mirror!

 

Mike.

[big jim]

On the M6 yesterday just before Penrith the inside lane was shut so traffic was moving over to the middle and outside lanes, a BMW X5 cut from the outside right across to the inside lane at the 400m left mark and undertook everything cutting back in and straight into the outside lane before undertaking everything again when the roadworks ended 

 

cue 20 miles later and it was pulled in on the hard shoulder just before Carlisle with an unmarked police car sat behind 

 

karma! 

[Nick C]

11 hours ago, Hroth said:

Their defence would be that they were driving at a speed appropriate to the prevailing conditions, and that the speed limit is a maximum and not a target to be achieved.

 

10 hours ago, 30801 said:

But that is no defence against accelerating while being overtaken.

 

10 hours ago, Deeps said:

Clearly he was trying to make some political point, rather than deliberately luring me into danger.

 

It's very clear in the highway code:

Rule 168

Being overtaken. If a driver is trying to overtake you, maintain a steady course and speed, slowing down if necessary to let the vehicle pass. Never obstruct drivers who wish to pass. Speeding up or driving unpredictably while someone is overtaking you is dangerous. Drop back to maintain a two-second gap if someone overtakes and pulls into the gap in front of you.

[kevinlms]

49 minutes ago, Nick C said:

 

 

 

It's very clear in the highway code:

Rule 168

Being overtaken. If a driver is trying to overtake you, maintain a steady course and speed, slowing down if necessary to let the vehicle pass. Never obstruct drivers who wish to pass. Speeding up or driving unpredictably while someone is overtaking you is dangerous. Drop back to maintain a two-second gap if someone overtakes and pulls into the gap in front of you.

So how often do people receive a ticket for that? Almost impossible to prove!

[Deeps]

6 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

So how often do people receive a ticket for that? Almost impossible to prove!

Probably after the accident, when witness statements and onboard camera devices show who was responsible.

 

Reflecting my initial anecdote, the incident occurred during my daily commute, so I knew the road well and normally found that other vehicles overtook me. The fact that I was in an old landrover, which struggled to maintain 60mph on the open road, makes the event even more remarkable. I had to hold back from the rear of the offending vehicle to give me a chance of accelerating before attempting my manoeuvre. Therefore he could not have accused me of tailgating.