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Was it a Simca 1501? My dad had one of those when I was a young lad, our neighbour said he didn't need an alarm as my dad left for work at 7, and that was what time my neighbour had to get up! The engine was somewhat tappety....
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Dipstick - says it all really!
Sorry - couldn't resist. We have all done something totally stupid and in this period of heavy weather, stressful driving conditions, Christmas approaching and other things on your mind I am surprised there aren't more of us admitting to such things.
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Dipstick - says it all really! Sorry - couldn't resist.
That's perfectly fine. When I joined here back in the mists of time I deliberately chose a name that would project a certain image of utter incompetence and worthlessness. Over the years, it has worked remarkably well I find.
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I did the same thing yesterday Dipstick
I drove it forwards onto a pavement (as is allowed here) near a cash machine while my wife nipped out. The car was teetering on a small mountain of snow left by the snow ploughs so I pulled the handbrake on hard and kept foot on the brake as I was sliding back onto the road. I never use the handbrake so when my wife got back in I simply tried to reverse out (with the rear wheels locked) which wasn't easy, I just assumed I had become really bogged down. I struggled to get about twenty metres down the road before I noticed the warning light on.
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Apart from romping away by a huge margin with the "klutz of the day" award, all I can say is that the weather wasnt too bad your way.
If I had done that the Altea would have come romping out the drive with the rear wheels locked and sliding on the ice.
The only way I would have noticed is the handbrake warning chime would have gone "ding ding ding" when i reached 15mph.....
Edited by Altea Ego on 22/12/2009 at 12:11
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I saw a total idiot losing his grip on the road this morning.
The road I live in is a crescent and the elbow of it consists of two 90° corners with about 50ft of straight between them. This straight gets next to no sunlight on it at this time of year and was completely covered in clearly visible ice that had built up over several days.
His rear end slid out to the left about ¾ the way along this straight - he was doing about 30mph+ at the time(!), somehow he managed to strighten it up as he went round the right hand corner and then shot off down the road at a similar speed!
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Dipstick, I would like to thank you from the heart of my bottom for giving me a much needed giggle. Very amusing!
I was on a country road earlier that was covered in compacted snow that was just turning to slush. Some utter numpty in a Seat came roaring along in the opposite direction right up the chuff of somebody who was driving according to the conditions. As he jabbed the anchors on, he lost it and thumped into the kerb. The look on the hard-of-thinking idiot's face was priceless. I'd swear that he was genuinely puzzled as to how that had happened.
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Over the last few days I have seem some terrible driving.
Driving in last nights snow showed some people (who had just finished Christmas shopping) were not giving any distance between them and the car in front, braking abruptly and sliding.
This was not a one off, I counted ten near crashes and lots of abandoned cars at or near the side of the road.
I am sure if people had a spike fitted on their steering wheel (pointing at the driver) they would drive alot more carefully.
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Dipstick - award for the most entertaining post I can remember reading this year. I almost never use the handbrake so inevitably forget to release it when I have applied it, and who looks at the warning lights anyway.
In a similar vein I almost never drive cars with a manual transmission any more, so inevitably forget to take the car out of gear before trying to start it, though I've not actually lurched into anything yet. Sadly, the Audi A3 I recently drove removed that little bit of fun from my life by not letting me start the car without depressing both brake and clutch pedals first.
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Not a personal 'Dipstick ' moment, but close to home....
Was in Asda this morning when I got a call. SIL and Son had called round 'cos the Blingo Van had no brake lights. ' Have a look and check the bulbs and I'll be back in half an hour ' Got
home, they'd been for new bulbs and still no luck.
Told them how to check the pedal switch with my multi meter 'cos no way was I kneeling in the snow ! They brought the switch in the house and it was fine.
Checked the power to the switch on the van and that was ok. Got one of them to sit in the van as we checked the rear fitting..nothing. Thought to meself 'Just a mo, trailer socket wire is red for brakes and this one is Scotchloked into a different bulb holder
Long story short...they'd only taken out the Rear fog bulbs, we'd been checking that bulbholder...put new 21/5s in the correct place and all was well.
It's Turnip Time again !
Ted
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While I can't disagree that not all drivers are perfect, I do think some of you are being a bit harsh. I've completed my IAM (for what it's worth) and regard myself as a reasonable driver. But during the long journey home last night even my car (yes, me driving too!) skidded a few times. As stated elsewhere, the trick is leave yourself enough space to cope with it if it does.
But what when it starts to slide from stationary, with handbrake on? I had been outside Bracknell Station for about 5 mins, happily sat there with the handbrake on and space between me and the car in front. The road is hardly an incline at all, but the car just started to slide. Luckily I was quickly onto the foot brake which stopped it (but pressing on that for the next 50+ minutes was a bit tedious).
When you are 5 hours into a 5 mile journey it's all too easy for us mere mortals to start thinking about other stuff and concentrating less on their driving - like should I do the sensible thing and ditch the car (but incur the wrath of the BR for doing so), when will I next see the family, I've missed the evening out I had planned, will my next meal be dinner or breakfast and I need a Wii.
If all the perfect drivers in the BR were to be given their own road to use, there'd be an awful lot more space for us imperfect but honest people to make a mess of :-)
btw Disptick thanks Vm for the laugh!
Edited by Webmaster on 26/12/2009 at 01:16
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But Smokie should those without the necessary brain function to work out that perhaps they might need a bit / a lot more room, in slippery conditions.
be allowed to drive?
Plus if conditions are that bad I do not see how one could slip into a happy daze.
I should therefore be allowed to drive with several pints in me.
My judgement would apparently therefore be as good? as some of the above.
que?
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Yes, there are people who drive idiotically and downright dangerously. My point wasn't aimed at anyone or any incident in particular, but just a general observation about why "ordinary" drivers might not always get it right.
I would suggest the dieseldogg hasn't driven in rally bad conditions - heavy snow at night can be very disorientating on it's own, not forgetting that you can't see road markings, kerbs, junctions, signs are obscured, journey times are longer, there are kamikaze idiots trying to kill you. What all that and the heater turned up because of the cold it is easy to drop your concentration for a short time. Try it sometime! :-)
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I understand your point Smokie, but the fellow I mentioned before was an out and out nutter. It would probably have been better if he'd have stuffed his car into a field. At least he'd have been off the road for a bit...
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I once hired a car in the States which had an auto gearbox. Jumped in, put it into gear, pressed my foot on the accelerator, nothing happened. Took me a while to get used to the fact that there was no clutch...I had my left foot firmly on the brake pedal.
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Well norn ireland is only a wee place so its more difficult to drive for hours & hours.
but at 50 odd I reasonably bin there, freezing fog the lot
yes driving snow is mesmersing
Not offended btw
Ps I was stopped by the Police a number of years ago after I undertook them on a wee country road on a bend through roadworks, over the cut stones, I did NOT realize there were the Polis ye ken.
The grilled me but decided ( I concluded) that perhaps i knew the road better than they did.
a lot to be said for being a farmers son
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I would suggest the dieseldogg hasn't driven in rally bad conditions -
I would love to drive a rally in bad conditions.!!
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I used to enjoy skating about, but I don't like it nearly so much these days. Much more, much less competent traffic is part of the reason, but I suppose timid puling verging-on-middle-age may count for even more.
Thinking back to the winter of 62-3 in a hired Victor, I believe many here would have seen me then as a dangerous lunatic, although I didn't crash. One thing I can remember doing, usually successfully, several times is overtaking people on a dual carriageway whose nearside lane had been cleared of snow but whose outside lane had six inches of virgin stuff on it. If I thought someone was mimsing I would come up behind at a good speed and just overtake them in the snowy outside lane, charging through the cleared stuff piled along the edge of the nearside lane and working hard at the steering as one has to under those circumstances, and trying not to be alarmed by the snow crashing and scraping along the underside of that surprisingly useful vehicle.
I don't think I would do it now unless I came up behind Rattle, or peterpiperpickedapeckapickledpeppers of the NIP thread, 'being sensible' as they see it. Just don't have enough energy to devote to superfluous effort these days.
:o}
Edited by Lud on 22/12/2009 at 18:06
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peterpiper
It has just occurred to me that one possible line of investigation for him might be the wronged motorist website Pepipoo...
That Victor had a damn good heater too, General Motors, fit for the great plains in midwinter...
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