In the early hours last night our son got a call from a friend (18)
who had gone into a ditch near us. He said he was not going that fast (???) and the brakes didn't seem to work. It was on a left turn - he went straight on. Fortunately the ditches had recently been dug out and mud piled on the verges or it would have been very serious - just inches from a road sign. There were no brake/skid marks on the road, it was dry and about 4c. so not icy. The problem, as far as I could see was that he had five passengers in a small car and what looked like low tyre pressure. He had not realised that the car would drive like a pig with that load. Fortunately no one injured but a close call. I got it on the road as his dad turned up then acted as taxi.
Does anyone mention this sort of handling during tuition, even pass plus, or is it left up to parents? We know kids are going to pile into cars when a taxi costs so much.
Apparently quite a subdued lad at school today - realising he could have killed his friends - and I got a box of choccies.
|
Driving dynamics aren't taught to learners & they need to grasp them theirselves, sometimes it's a hard lesson. I learnt on the airfields where I worked & later on skidpan days with car clubs.
I only wish I could have taught my wife on the skidpan as she wrote off my Suzuki Wagon R on a greasy left hander simply by going too fast. Even now she has no grasp of road surface changes or conditions.
Time on 2 wheels both push & motorcycle tends tend to focus you, sliding up the road on your bum soon teaches you.
|
|
|
First of all thank goodness they were all ok.
>Does anyone mention this sort of handling during tuition, even >pass plus? - Very much doubt it.
In my opinion this incident will have taught him a valuable lesson and will be a lot more careful in future.
--
Was Charles {P} but someone c o p i e d my name with spaces.
|
i was never taught how a car handles any differently except in the wet. Still didnt help car control when car was full, will prob have sheken the kid up which is a good thing in some ways as he has the oppurtunity to learn from the mistake without anyone having been hurt.
--
Temporarily not a student, where did the time go???
|
i agree it will have learnt him a valuable lesson for life,glad they were all ok,i used to see this all the time when i lived down in lincolnshire and the roads used to do a 90 degree in front of you. Can i just add that you really need to get this car up on a ramp and have a good checkover as a fuel line/brake pipe etc may be dangerous as when the vehicle goes over the kerb?if it had one and bottoms out these fuel lines get hit first plus suspension joints steering arms springs etc.
--
\"a little man in a big world/\"
|
|
Thanks Oldman - the reason I did the taxi duties was the boys dad was suggesting they all piled in the car to get the their homes - I was horrified and did suggest he took it to our drive and collect it today. I felt the parents were rather casual about the whole incident although I wonder what he would have been like without us there? Seems strange their son rang us for help first. Hopefully he has checked it today before he lets his son out in it.
|
|
Tyre pressures are part of the basics of car maintenance and are vital to the handling of any car. It is something that every learner should be made aware of and I am amazed at the number of drivers, particularly women, who never think of checking tyre pressures.
|
Does anyone mention car handling during tuition? How about constantly, everytime you approach a bend.
But they have to find out for themselves, didn't we all?
|
Glad they survived and hope the jalopy came out of it not too foxed - of course that's the usual outcome of adolescent excursions into the scenery, everyone a bit shaken for a few minutes, end of story.
I remember saying in another thread that driving doesn't demand high cognitive ability, just a flow of precise intellectual activity.
Perhaps a certain level of intelligence is required after all.
|
|
|
|
|
expierence is a great teacher, dont you remember.you can tell them but they have to feel for themselves.
|
|
Girl drove past me while I was walking in to uni today in a Saxo with a completely flat rear tyre. I could hear the noise it was making, and cannot believe that she was not aware of it. Mind you, she had the radio up loud and some friends in the car with her.
|
It reminds me of when my daughter had a similar experience of going off the road without understanding handling.
Going absolutely flat out down a hill she tried to negotiate a right angle bend. Was thrown clear and taken to hospital with concussion and still has a scar.
You would have thought at four years old she would have had more pavement sense, her tricycle wasn't badly damaged.
|
My very point Cardew. Experience only applies when people are being ambitious and may think they're pretty cool. When you're just doing transport all that's required is to be more than 4. Soft tyres, which one sees everywhere, are the sort of thing a car-aware 10 year old would have mentioned. Pity they didn't have one with them.
Interesting sort of intellectual regression seems to occur during adolescenc3e. Something to do with sex no doubt. Wonder what explains the similar regressions that occur every decade for the rest of one's life.
|
|
|
|
It was a small 2 door Suzuki - no idea what. Hopefully he will learned from it. Phil (our son) has now been banned from getting in any car where there are more people than seat belts - and that includes when he is driving our micra.
|
|
|
|
|
Hi.
First thing to say is that I'm glad that all were OK and it sounds like your son is mature enough to have learned a lesson here.
Personally, I would recommend that your son now looks at doing the AIM or RoSPA, as they DO teach about road positioning on corners. I know that many people are sceptical of the 'advanced' lobby, but if it helps to keep your son on the road (quite literally), then that's good thing for all of us.
Cheers. Pass the choccies!
TT
--
Top Turkey - the fastest hands in Brum
|
Country lane with NSL by any chance?
My son did something similar and swore he was not going too fast as the speed limit was 60!
I explained to him that it is a maximum and on a narrow lane with humps and bends you drive at a safe speed (20-30 for that section), not 60 - but driving instructors teach them to drive at the speed limit to avoid being failed for "insufficient progress" or holding up others.
|
My daughter went off road a few months back in the Fiesta, no serious consequences except shaken up and one damaged tyre.
After she passed her test I was encouraging her to take a smooth driving style (a la IAM). I had shown her that, with proper anticipation, she would get places as quickly (and more economically) by driving within the speed limit as people who zoom to the roundabouts then slam on the brakes then zoom away again.
So, on the right roundabout and with the right approach and traffic conditions, she can carry a reasonable amount of speed into a roundabout. On this occassion the road was wet (probably greasy) and there was a small amount of adverse camber which meant she just slid off. She hadn't appreciated the handling limits of the car.
However much you teach them, much of the real skill of driving, in particular handling, is learnt from experience. This has to be so, as cars differ in their handling.
|
|
|
indeed, i failed my first test for that reason, then failed the second for over compensating and driving too fast when it had been raining. some kids seem to get in a car, do 10 lessons and pass their test and that's it. the more time they spend in a car, the more they learn.
Unfortunately you would think it would be obvious that a small 2 door car wouldn't handle the same with 5 people in it. It frightens me somewhat that he didn't. But still, he will now!
|
One extra person, even in a small car designed to take four people, shouldn't upset the handling to the degree that the car goes off the road at a fairly moderate speed. After all, the car would be designed to take a max load which would include all shapes and sizes of bodies, plus luggage. The fact that it has only two doors is totally irrelevant.
Very low tyre pressures, on the other hand, would be a major factor.
|
If the driver is used to being solo three/four extra people will make a significant difference to braking. Extended stopping distances are likley unless there is additional pressure on the pedal.
Very nearly learned this the hard way up the back of a truck the first time I took mates out in an 850 Mini.
|
If the driver is used to being solo three/four extra people will make a significant difference to braking. Extended stopping distances are likley unless there is additional pressure on the pedal. Very nearly learned this the hard way up the back of a truck the first time I took mates out in an 850 Mini.
>>
Not likely to lead to the car leaving the road at moderate to low speeds though. At higher speeds, yes.
|
Not likely to lead to the car leaving the road at moderate to low speeds though. At higher speeds, yes.
When I was 20 moderate speed was limit +10mph!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks - sure my son learned from seeing the aftermath - He wasn't in the car qat the time!!
|
|
|
|
