Harder driving tests considered
- Thread starter dirtydog
- Start date
Mr Jack said:
Because it doesn't actually work that well? High top speed isn't required to get into trouble, nor is fast acceleration. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that many fast cars are more forgiving of mistakes at normal speed than most shopping trolleys, especially in terms of cornering and stopping distances.
I think your instructor does play an important part in how well prepared you are for the road, and that price isn't the best comparison to make between them. I also think the merits of the smaller firms or private instructors are undervalued. A lot of people I know learnt to drive with the "major" instructors such as the AA or BSM, and they all paid more than I did, and that's despite me having the luxury of a Grade 6 ADI! Granted, his car may have been more than a couple of years old, but I'd rather that than a pants instructor! (Not saying that all the instructors in the big organisations are pants!)Dashik said:
I can agree with that. A friend of mine has been involved in no less than three accidents where he has rear-ended someone after just stamping on the brakes and skidding to an abrupt halt in their rear bumper. I'm certain that even good-old ABS would have at least saved him from one, if not all!Dolph said:
PMKeates said:
LOL, dont start me on BSM lol, I did my training with them (Excellent btw) and nearly went bankrupt on their franchise afterwards (Carp BTW)! I would obviously as an independant extoll our virtues but to be honest you get good and bad in both the large schools and as independants, best way is to get word of mouth recommendations or if you like the sound of the instructor go for an initial lesson and if you are comfortable then book more if not vote with your feet, too many young kids get poor instruction cos they are scared to change instructor if they are genuinly unhappy/uncomfortable etc.
Dolph said:
Exactly besides most new drives on average driver corsas/fiestas etc smaller cars, infact at a busy junction a Corsa 1.0 would be more risk than my 1.6 Focus, due to the fact the Corsa can't pull out the speed the 1.6 Focus can, thus creating more of a risk
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Tom|Nbk said:
i'd say a 1.6 focus and a 1.2 corsa would be pretty similar pulling away from a junction
My first car (micra 1.0 16v) was tres nippy upto about 50mph, so i dont think that argument really washes.
It will probably be the driver being hesitant or not being aware of everything going on that will end up causing the risk
Tom|Nbk said:
So you are saying that you need to pull out of a junction quickly and emerge in front of the oncoming car and accellerate rapidly to avoid them?
Thats asking for trouble, what if as you move off you stall? There you are sitting in the way of the oncoming car like a dead duck.... And just to add insult to injury your the one at fault!
Thats just one scary scenaro from many that come to mind from what you just said. Its not the cars power or lack thereof causing the problem its the driver as usual.
How about you wait patiently until its safe to emerge and do so normally as per the instructor taught you? Or did you pay money to somebody for nothing......
Oh and just for the record I teach in a very highly specced Mini Cooper
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Mr Jack said:
Australia limits drivers to certain speeds etc but whether it has any useful effect is still very much up for debate. No matter how much they tighten things up, there is still a disproportionate number of accidents among P plate drivers.
Driver's license - Wikipedia
I'm afraid that it would only feel fast because of the incredibly short gearing. The Focus may well hit nigh on 40 in 1st gear, making entrance on to busy roundabouts much easier.Jimmi said:i'd say a 1.6 focus and a 1.2 corsa would be pretty similar pulling away from a junction
My first car (micra 1.0 16v) was tres nippy upto about 50mph, so i dont think that argument really washes.
I'd say that situation is impossible. If you pull on to the roundabout enough to get in the way, you'd be going fast enough to not need your foot on the clutch, and thus you will be accelerating. If you tried to pull away fast and stalled, you'd have not moved more than a yard at bestDashik said:
Dashik said:So you are saying that you need to pull out of a junction quickly and emerge in front of the oncoming car and accellerate rapidly to avoid them?
Thats asking for trouble, what if as you move off you stall? There you are sitting in the way of the oncoming car like a dead duck.... And just to add insult to injury your the one at fault!
Thats just one scary scenaro from many that come to mind from what you just said. Its not the cars power or lack thereof causing the problem its the driver as usual.
How about you wait patiently until its safe to emerge and do so normally as per the instructor taught you? Or did you pay money to somebody for nothing......
Oh and just for the record I teach in a very highly specced Mini Cooper
My instructor taught me not to hesitate and get going asap, once i started driving more like this this especially on the test it impressed the examiner
Jimmi said:i'd say a 1.6 focus and a 1.2 corsa would be pretty similar pulling away from a junction
My first car (micra 1.0 16v) was tres nippy upto about 50mph, so i dont think that argument really washes.
It will probably be the driver being hesitant or not being aware of everything going on that will end up causing the risk
1.0*
Dashik said:
That's a problem irrespective of car power level, and one that could be a problem even if you leave plenty of room if you stall/loose traction as you pull away and the other driver is paying less attention than they should be.
I actually disagree with you here. Pulling out into moving traffic is something that can't be avoided, and is best done not at the maximum capabilility of the car, that way you have something left in reserve should you happen to have miscalculated or should anything else happen that could be a problem. In small, low power cars, you don't have that option. Sometimes braking is not the way you avoid an accident.
There is no gap length that will protect you from your point above. If your car dies on the way out of a junction, you're potentially in trouble no matter what, as you're causing an unexpected hazard. That's why hazard anticipation and observation skills are vital for all drivers. The number of people who drive around blindly scares the hell out of me.
Dashik said:
As has been said this is pretty much unavoidable pulling out in busy traffic, a focus 1.6 WILL get going and make progress much faster than a Corsa 1.0, thus causing no delay or issues for the driver which is oncoming.
Jimmi said:I cant see a Focus ever doing 40 round a roundabout though
I think what helped was 16 valves in the micra (and also a lead foot)
You are at less risk in a Focus 1.6 than Micra 1.0 FACT. Read all the pointers above 900cc is dangerously slow on todays roads imo.
Tom|Nbk said:
Only due to the fact that you have mummy driving chandler and jessica to school while trying to finish her make up and settle a deal via her mobile in the family chelsea tractor.
My micra had plenty of "go" to get it into smallish gaps, round roundabouts with out slowing others down, and general driving....once it got past 50-60mph it started to run out of oomph though...which isnt really a massive problem as this is rarely reached unless your on a dual carriage way/motorway.
Dolph said:
First of all the original post was = "infact at a busy junction", no one mentioned roundabouts until later.
Dolph said:
Wrong, Have you heard of the walking rule? Used to judge if you can cross the WHOLE width of the road in question? That's walk across mind not run.
If you can walk across the road then its safe to emerge.
If on emerging from a junction and you are not rushing to get out just in front of an oncoming car etc and you leave enough space as per the walking rule mentioned above then the oncomeing traffic can brake without doing an emergency stop if you stall they may be a bit annoyed but they can see you and act accordingly.
So the definition of safe in this context is = visible to others
So there is a gap that will be safe, are you suggesting that you never stall? If more drivers thought "what if" then they would be less likely to become statistics. Wheres the fire?
Dolph said:
They scare me too!!!!
