Van driver had very minor injuries.
Apart from the brain damage which was a pre-existing condition?
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One thing I've noticed an increase in is tailgating even though you are in a solid line of traffic and there is no way to overtake or go any faster, such as in heavy motorway traffic where the two/three lanes all move at the same pace.
I understand people get frustrated, but tailgating me isn't going to make the 10,20,30,40....etc cars in front of me move out of the way!
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One thing I've noticed an increase in is tailgating even though you are in a solid line of traffic and there is no way to overtake or go any faster, such as in heavy motorway traffic where the two/three lanes all move at the same pace. I understand people get frustrated, but tailgating me isn't going to make the 10,20,30,40....etc cars in front of me move out of the way!
This really annoys me too. Also when people tailgate when I leave a bit of a gap so I'm not off and on the clutch/accelerator every ten seconds. I've even been overtaken, that made me a new kind of angry.
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Nah, you do not understand - the driver of the car behind you is much more important than you. He has to get to his destination faster than you therefore you should immediately get out of his way.
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Nah, you do not understand - the driver of the car behind you is much more important than you. He has to get to his destination faster than you therefore you should immediately get out of his way.
Is Fireball XL5 back then?
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For really gross pushy ill-mannered and downright idiotic driving, try the German motorway system. Plenty of people doing what they do here - pulling into the overtaking lane and instanly losing 10mph - made up for by trains of repmobiles 20 feet apart doing 130mph in the rain. It has been suggested to me that people do this because the train is more aerodynamically efficient, enabling some cars to exceed their normal free-air maximum. Friend of mine with a 2CV used to do the same thing with coaches on motorways, getting a tow up to 70. Never dared try it myself.
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It has been suggested to me that people do this because the train is more aerodynamically >> efficient, enabling some cars to exceed their normal free-air >> maximum.
They can't be going everywhere on the redline though, that's madness...also illegal isn't it? I thought you had to 'cruise' on the autobahns?
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The aerodynamic limit is not necessarily at or even close to the red-line, although for a car with well chosen gearing in top would be close.
I don't think there's any law on the autobahn though about what revs you're doing.
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The aerodynamic limit is not necessarily at or even close to the red-line, although for a car with well chosen gearing in top would be close.
Ah yes, that makes sense! Terminal velocity in a way.
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If my Escort 1.6, a German itself actually, could reach the red line in top gear it would be doing about 150. A top speed of 140-odd is quite commonplace for the better repmobiles, isn't it? Not many of them would be at redline either with long modern gearing.
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Madness, though, I agree there, genuinely and obviously dangerous driving.
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But then the one at the front must have to be some sort of uber car, thinking about it. It will have nothing to slipstream behind.
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But then the one at the front must have to be some sort of uber car, thinking about it. It will have nothing to slipstream behind.
A fluid dynamicist may rubbish this, but I believe the thing applies to the front car as well up to a point, pushed along a bit by the pressure wave in front of the one behind... Intuitively though I agree, front car must be able to reach the terminal velocity by itself. But as I said, there's nothing especially uber about 130 mph these days.
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A fluid dynamicist may rubbish this, but I believe the thing applies to the front car as well up to a point, pushed along a bit by the pressure wave in front of the one behind...
I'll take your word for it!
But as I said, there's nothing especially uber about 130 mph >> these days.
Speak for yourself ;o)
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A fluid dynamicist may rubbish this, but I believe the thing applies to the front car as well up to a point, pushed along a bit by the pressure wave in front of the one behind...
I also agree with that (but not strongly enough to have gone out on a limb and stated it myself :D). Theoretically (and I don't have the understanding to explain it) the train theory actually helps out the lead car too.
I *think* it's something to do with the aerodynamic effects at the rear of the car. A car on it's own will be slowed down by aero effects at both ends. The need to push through the air at the front, and the vortices at the back 'sucking' at the rear of the car also creating a slowing effect. In this situation, those sucking effects would be disrupted by the following car, so helping the leader slightly.
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But how do you join a train? You'd have to be going faster than it to catch up.
Or does the train catch up with and slipstream behind a slower motorist at the front, who then speeds up because of this "pushing" effect?
It must be an odd thing to see.
------
AngryJonny (was E34kid)
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I think they're pretty ad hoc. People jump on the back of them on hills etc... don't really know because they gave me the willies.
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Watch NASCAR racing.
The train effect can gain 3-5 mph for all the cars in the train. Joining on a race track takes serious practice, on the public road - my advice is DONT TRY IT!
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I remember now. Quite right BB (he boomed authoritatively :o)): by disrupting the turbulent air behind the front car the second one moves it further back, so it is passed down the train to the back end. The train effectively functions as a single aerodynamic unit with much reduced drag being overcome by maybe ten or fifteen engines... you can see the appeal but I don't think I'd try it even in the dry. Not on a public road with unknown partners.
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There was a feature on some programme I saw ages ago with 5 cadillacs in a row, computer controlled to accelerate and brake in time with the lead car, all the driver had to do was steer. They were all of 3 inches apart from each other.
The advantages stated were fuel economy, more controlled speed, hence higher speed (no brake stabbing and concertina effect) more cars fit on the road overall, and bizarrely, safety were there to be a crash. The theory was that, were something to cause the cars to crash into one another, the fact that they started out so close together meant that there would be no chance to build up a high speed differential, so the impact between them would be very light. Probably doesn't quite work if the lead car hits a stationary object though...
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And illegal's got nothing to do with it. The whole train thing is obviously illegal under any European legislation: 'dangerous driving' or equivalent.
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I recall seeing this on TV where a pedal cyclist achieved over 100mph by doing exactly this behind a real train, the tracks had been boarded over and the gearing on the bike was phenomenal.
I've just googled and the record for slipstreaming on a pedal bike is 167mph - christ on a bike as they say.
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I remember that. A single-seat racing car with a flat screen mounted at the back, a roller behind it at bike wheel level (in case the cyclist got impatient and went too fast perhaps).
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It is what they do in NASCAR isn't it. Most boring form of motor racing I have ever seen - only reason to watch is the smashes.
Back to topic - What about all the idiots doing 75 through the 30 limit on the A38 near Bassets Pole this morning. Or was I the idiot for trying to keep to 35?
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Getting back to motoring stupidity, my nipper works for QuickFit and i popped in there with a caliper problem on Range Rover.
Getting out involved entering a mini rounabout and turning right.
Well i waited until the right was clear ,noted that the traffic on the left had seen me and pulled out, as we got to the middle and i was starting to turn right a car suddenly shot out in front of me, he was so quick i did not even have to brake vrooom and he was gone with a few choicewords following him.
As i returned my attention to turning right (this obviously happened very quickly) to my astonishment there was a car broadside to me, i slammed on the brakes and watched as this woman waved her arms around with goggling eyes.
Christ that was close ,but her reaction was very funny.
Hopefully she will not do that again.
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There is a three-legged mini roundabout in my local town, the straight-on exit leads only to an industrial estate and the council offices whilst the other left-hand exit leads to the local Tesco's.
As you might imagine there are more folks going shopping than paying their council tax so the majority of traffic turns left, conversly when they come out they turn right.
Unfortunately they assume that all other users of the roundabout are similarly visiting Tesco's and at least 75% do not look to see if any traffic is entering the rounabout never mind halting at the road markings.
I seldom use Tesco's and when I go to pay my council tax I also drive straight onto the roundabout without stopping ( in this case quite legitimately as there is no entry/exit on my right and I would have full view of any traffic which might already be on the roundabout ) and I am frequently greeted by someone hurtling across my bows ( because of an adjacent building it is not possible for me to view traffic approaching the roundabout until they are within a car length of the markings, nor can they see me )
Obviously I am aware of this danger and and would always be able to stop, fortunately it is quite a large roundabout albeit with a mini island, but worrying of all is that many of them seem to be quite unaware of their near miss, they literally don't see me approaching them broadside on.
----------------------------------------------
One mans junk is another mans treasure
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It is what they do in NASCAR isn't it. Most boring form of motor racing I have ever seen - only reason to watch is the smashes. >>
If you include all forms of American oval racing, I agree. 250mph but so what? The cars are even skewed to go round lefthanders, so the driver has to hold a bit of a right down the straight. Commentary on indycar racing is the most vacuous ever. 'Wayne Redneck is about to make his move.' What move? Turn up the boost so the thing doesn't get to the end? Steer round the limping opposition? Impossible to follow and doesn't make sense, and F1 going the same way. Growl snarl mumble.
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Today, a pick-up (Nissan Cabstar or similar) pulled out of a side road in front of me, making a right turn to travel in the opposite direction to me. I had to ease off and noticed the driver was talking on a hand-held mobile.
Van and light commercial drivers don't seem to have got the message yet.
Cheers, SS
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Van and light commercial drivers don't seem to have got the message yet.
To be fair SS it's not just van drivers, it's all drivers.
It would be interesting to see how the sales of hands free kits has risen as a percentage of phones/cars on the road.
I bet the figure is small.
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On my daily dual carriage way commute I am constantly amazed by the number of people who, when spotting a vehicle on a slip road think it is their duty to get out of the way, which they usually do by veering into the outside lane regardless of its contents or the speed of any approaching traffic.
To make matters worse I can often see that if they had done nothing but continue on their way they would have been past the end of the slip road before the joining vehicle got there. It would appear that 90% of drivers have no understanding of speed and distance.
And as for the mini roundabouts mentioned earlier ? there?s one at the end of my road and every other morning some plonker decides to ignore my indicator showing that I am turning right and assumes that because I turn left to go round the roundabout I must be turning left. Again about 90% of drivers appear to think that mini roundabouts are some early sort of round speed hump for driving over.
Do you think that like O & A levels the driving test is getting easier?
Glad I got that off my chest,
MPZ
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I agree, generally.
So few drivers have any perception that it is the speed difference that is important in such cases. They are bombarded with the mantra that 'speed kills' but have no concept of judging the difference in speed so don't know whether the car entering will get to the meeting point before them, at the same time, or shortly after them. So they either brake dangerously or pull out without looking and signalling.
On a dual carriageway, or motorway, you may want to pull across to the next lane (you are driving mainly in the left lane, aren't you?) but you must be sure that is safe and that anyone appraoching from behind has enough warning before you pull out.
I was always taught "Mirror, Signal, Mirror again, Manoeuvre if safe, cancel signal when move completed safely."
I was also taught to assume there could be someone there that I missed seeing, so ALWAYS signal. Doesn't cost much either.
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I was also taught to assume there could be someone there that I missed seeing, so ALWAYS signal. Doesn't cost much either.
AAArgh! Don't start THAT again! ;-)
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> Again about 90%of drivers appear to think that mini roundabouts are some early sort of round speed hump for driving over.
They are. Basically they just indicate priority to traffic coming from the right. But they are often so carpily placed that plonkers who think you have to go all the way round them and are driving large vehicles (as plonkers so often do) stop, get in the way and generally look like what they are. Just drive over the damn things and lobby to get them lowered to a paint spot on the road.
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They are. Basically they just indicate priority to traffic coming from the right. But they are often so carpily placed that plonkers who think you have to go all the way round them and are driving large vehicles (as plonkers so often do) stop, get in the way and generally look like what they are. Just drive over the damn things and lobby to get them lowered to a paint spot on the road.
Highway Code 164: Mini-roundabouts Approach these in the same way as normal roundabouts. All vehicles MUST pass round the central markings except large vehicles which are physically incapable of doing so. Remember, there is less space to manoeuvre and less time to signal. Beware of vehicles making U-turns.
Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD reg 10(1), 16(1)
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Where I live, several of these things are so placed that even smallish cars turning right have to go over them to avoid reversing. Treating the Highway Code as a universal catechism results in people getting in the way on these. Just drive over them.
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