More Stuff on Cars & Driving

[Andre27]

I am glad you both got off without getting hurt. They give driver licences out these days, even though here in Australia they are harder to get compared to say the 70's. I think a driving course should be mandatory like it is for getting your motorbike licence.

Hold on.. you mean there is no mandatory driving course for automobiles?

There is in the Netherlands and the first 5 years you get a beginners license with penalty point system.
Gather 5 points (depending on severity of infraction) and bye bye drivers license.

Even with that we have plenty of horrible drivers to warrant a show like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXjTDZwU8b0

 

[Majestic]

No we do have a similar system here, it just seems like they give it to anyone by the amount of bad drives to good drivers ratio we have here. Pretty much if everyone in the country had to go for the licence test again I bet a good 85% would fail and loose their licence.

 

[Andre27]

No we do have a similar system here, it just seems like they give it to anyone by the amount of bad drives to good drivers ratio we have here. Pretty much if everyone in the country had to go for the licence test again I bet a good 85% would fail and loose their licence.

I'd like to say that we don't have a similar situation in the Netherlands, but in the past 5 years i've seen too many idiots/daredevils/drunk drivers etc.

For myself i know myself to be at least a competent driver. I watch the road and behavior of other drivers, anticipate and from my time in the military i have control over my vehicle (sometimes you notice people who hardly use the clutch/gearbox).

Just how hard is it to use a clutch or use your mirrors..

 

[EAS_Intrepid]

I moved the posts above to a new thread, titled "More Stuff on Cars & Driving" (a Carlin qoute).


Myself I am a keen motorist and I do have a basic understanding of how my car works. I can fix most things on my own and I do not need an assistance service to change a wheel.... I think I am a calm, reasonable, cooperative driver.
Much like Andre27 I have my driver's license for 5 years now.

The problem with driving is, that most people say about themselves "I am at least a good driver" but they are not. "Well, I haven't had an accident ever!" Yeah, because other people prevented those.
If I think about the last few hundred kilometers that I went by car, I remember three situations where I completly screwed up. It happens, but one should be able to reflect what one does to not make the same mistake again or to be more careful next time. Most drivers do not care. It either happened, then the other guy was the driver screwing up, or they do not even notice it.

Of course there are situations where I just think "WHY? Why are trying to turn on a busy main road with two lanes each direction plus tramway tracks and blocking the whole traffic?"
"Why did you have to buy an oversize SUV, but you cannot even grasp the proportions of your car so now you are trying to fit into a way to small parking space - and blocking all the traffic in that street."

But, from personal experience, I can tell you: it can be worse. Just add someone who needs to get somewhere right now - like an ambulance.

It also seems, that people tend to get used to technology way too much. Anti-lock braking systems are basically standard, which is good. ESP however, seems to make drivers think they can switch off physics and bring they cars to the limit. Then, the hundreds of little helpers that are there to make the life of a motorist easier:
GPS Navigation System, buildt-in computer with instant internet access, parking assistant (What the frak?), a camera for driving backwards (so you don't have to turn your head anymore ), rain sensor for switching on the wipers, "comfort indicators".... but at the same time the interior design of the cars is getting more and more impractical. Ever tried to get something larger than a suitcase into a newer BMW?

Of course, there are safety features which are not mandatory, if you ask me. Anti-lock braking system (ABS), Airbags, fog lights, full spare wheel (not the ones you can only use to get to the next mechanic), first aid kit, stuff to secure accident sites have to absolutely be there.
The rest is just luxury distracting from the first and foremost task of a car: getting from point A to point B.

 

[thunderfoot]

As an eighteen year professional long haul CMV driver with nearly one million road miles, I can say with some expertise nearly everyone out there does not drive as well as they think they do.

I have formulated for my students what I call, "Rich's Basic Rules for Driving the Big Truck". These are a bunch of ideas expressed in a somewhat silly format. This was done on purpose to make them easy to remember. They apply equally well to driving things smaller than an eighteen wheeler so I though posting them here is a good idea.

1) Thou shalt not be impatient. Ever.

2) Is what you are about to do going to pass the Common Sense Check? If the answer is, 'No', don't do it.

3) No matter what the other driver is going to do next, it will be stupid.

4) Hang up and drive! Please!

5) As a matter of fact, the police do require you to obey the posted speed limit.

6) If your brain is not fully engaged when you engage the clutch, you're not doing it right.

Something else I am a vociferously zealous fanatical advocate of is called the Smith System. It has five keys to safe driving.

Aim high in steering

Get the big picture

Keep your eyes moving

Leave yourself an out

Make sure they see you.

 

[Rawks]

As someone who has just restarted their quest to obtain a drivers license (long boring story), I can say that now that I am actually paying attention to the road and other drivers (even when I'm not driving, trying to absorb as much as I can), I can say without a doubt, a good percentage of people really have no idea what they are doing.

A month or so ago I witnessed a major accident that almost took out the car I was a passenger in. The cause? Impatience and lack of common sense. Watched it all unfold, we were driving along a road with a 80kmph speed limit, a side street was coming up, a guy has basically pulled halfway out the side street, forcing us to stop, he gives us basically the finger, continues to pull out and gets T-boned at full force by the car in the next lane. If he'd have waited a max of 30 seconds, the flow would have stopped (traffic light) and his pull out would have been clear (keep clear area for the side street)

Its just getting to epidemic level, the amount of people who pull out into traffic, don't look at roundabouts and other intersections, don't indicate, tailgate, don't leave enough room... the list goes on.

I consider myself to be fairly alright for a new driver, and people wonder why I don't have my license yet, its not that I'm not confident in my ability, its I just have no confidence in any other drivers ability.

 

[EAS_Intrepid]

@thunderfoot:

We are the two people aboard MSFC - that I know of - that drive larger vehicles professionally. I know there is a difference between a 40plus ton long haul truck and a 4.5 ton MB Sprinter Ambulance, but still, we are on the road alot and I have to totally agree with your 6 commendments of traffic. There is just one I would add: Thou shall keep a safe distance to the vehicle in front of you!

If I had to pick the two most important, it would not be an easy choice, because all of them make absolute sense. However, I'd pick number 1) and number 6) (thus, including number 4).

Quite a while ago, there was an article in the TIME Magazine about a study about people using cell phones while driving. With and without a hands-free set.
The outcome was, that even people that use cell phone headsets and hands-free devices are overly distracted from traffic by simply talking to someone who is not aware of the current situation you are in. There was a nice sentence that went along these lines, that if you could talk and drive safely and fully aware at the same time, you are one of the few people fit to fly fighter jets. So Hellkite is the only one here who is cleared to do that
I remember, that in December 2011 a BMW crashed into one of our ambulances, because he was on the phone and my colleague had to step on the brakes hard to not hit someone who came running across the street.
He had to be cut out of the car, our bus was damaged beyond repair.

Since I began working for the EMS I tend to drive more carefully. Of course I like it when the small 60 horsepower motor of my euqally small Fiat Punto is roaring and speeding the vehicle to astounding 120 km/h (everything above that feels like flying in an old Tupolev Tu-134A - everything is shaking) but if you have ever been sitting in a car that was basically wrapped around a tree with the driver bleeding uncontrollably while the Fire Department guys start cutting off the roof you think twice about speeding in an alley.
As for point 5). These speed limits are there for a reason. The reason is: this is the maximum velocity that you can drive safely at on this road.