[Closed] What's your driving style?

I increasingly find myself frustrated by people who insist on driving at 40, or 50 in a national zone

Actually it's those that drive at 40/45 everywhere that worry me most - through the national zone and then carry on exactly the same through the 30 zone. My mother is joining these ranks - I think it might be an age thing.

Car Driving/overtaking thread?....

You know who's missing, don't you?

Result A: You overtake, and 1 mile up the road, you end up stuck in more traffic. You've made a little progress.

Result B: You overtake and it's a long time until you see more traffic. You've made considerable progress.

When you actually look at the figures though, it starts to seem trivial, even if you've had the sensation of making stunning progress.

Take a 20 mile section of A-road. If you average 60 vs 50, I think you will arrive four minutes earlier, so eight minutes vs 40. But that's the absolute best case scenario where you overtake someone right at the beginning and it's clear right to the end.

TBH I'll still slip by someone going 40 unless I can already see the next slow driver up ahead, but increasingly I can see that this idea of progress is a bit of an illusion. Certainly if I'm behind someone going 50 on the A65 these days I'll just kick back and happily cruise.

Looking back, I had a lot stressful drives up the A5 to North Wales when I was younger where I spent the entire time brimming with frustration, and hunting for ways to get past folk, and probably gained a handful of minutes at best.

Car Driving/overtaking thread?....

You know who's missing, don't you?

He's probably stuck behind a tractor, unable to get past. Give him time 🙂

There are other cars on the road?

Car: whatever the hire company give me.

Rachel

I drive an invisible car aka POS, people always pull out on me from side roads or going around a round-a-bout, despite having my indicator on. I drive with the thought of, no one can see me. If one a bicycle or bike, then its a case of everyone is trying to kill me.

I used to be a fast driver, didn't we all when we were young? I have calmed down over the years, mainly after getting banned when I was 21 and keep the fast driving on the race track.

Actually it's those that drive at 40/45 everywhere that worry me most - through the national zone and then carry on exactly the same through the 30 zone. My mother is joining these ranks - I think it might be an age thing.

[img] [/img]

I drive an invisible car aka POS, people always pull out on me from side roads or going around a round-a-bout

I've never had that but I know a bloke who also complained of that and he drove round with his foglights on all the time to counter it. I bet its your driving style, hesitation etc- why? because as I said I've never had that and I've only heard of it once.

In central London its more marked- when its busy you can spot the hesitators, the ones who drive at a different speed or are 'unsure'.

Somewhere from pootle to hooning, depending on my mood and many other factors. I do enjoy driving, not necessarily fast, but not in traffic or sitting on the motorway either.

Like a blast along a nice flowing A or B road. Although tend not to overtake that much on single carriageway roads, unless (a) car in front is significantly slower than my unhindered speed, (b) there is a very good opportunity, and (c) general traffic volume is low such that I'm unlikely just end up behind another car after 100 yards anyway.

Bike licence holder, which even though I don't ride at the moment certainly helped my observation, awareness and anticipation skills.

Currently driving a T5.

Car history includes a number of Land Rovers, sensilble estates, vans, mild hot hatches, and an underpowered 1.1 Pug 106 that was an absolute hoot to drive.

[i]Fast and always 'making progress'.[/i]

Reminds me of the cock on the driving course I did - "I've got 2 speeds, fast and stopped. Huhhuh". Cock.

Yak - Member
[s]T5 kombi van. No mods.
I just drive from A-B. I don't 'make progress', nor do I intentionally pootle. Usually about the speed limit or lower pending road conditions.

As a vehicle, it doesn't encourage knob-end driving. The opposite I think. You are higher, better view of everything, so can make decisions earlier.[/s]

hold on, this is stw. I AM Ken Block and my Hoonivan destroys the roads. Makes them come alive in-fact

This is me! Were we twins separated at birth I wonder, are you incredibly short but quite hansome in a smaller unit kind of way?

Er come to think of it maybe not, just noticed the lack of mods on the T5, no chrome Roadie/Bull bar then and side bars?
Really loud horn conversion?
Pre recorded sound through forward speaker with "Bitch get out of the way bitch" booming loudly?

No?

You're probably quite tall then.. 😉

Edit: totally missed my style, I'm much better since my speed camera imposed anger management course, 30 in third all the time there's a limit I could not survive another of those without taking a warm bath with razor wrist management.

lol it's not my driving style, I did think it might be at one point, but there are now 2 others that drive my car, one of which is a "under the speed limit at all times" and what I would class as a hesitator, all of which also had people pull out and say "oh I didn't see you" it now has a dashcam installed. 😉

It really has to do with the roads I drive on as it happens to others that drive the same roads. Bristol Subarbs road rules: Pull out of a junction and look what is coming as your bonnet hits the road you are joining, put foot down if there is someone there.

I've noticed one thing- driving fast/quick/speeding only feels 'good' to the person doing it. For everyone else they look like a dick.

Can you remember the last time you saw someone driving fast (no not competition/professionals) and thought 'wow he/she looks ace'?

It just doesn't look/nor is it cool.

On a track or karting though- speed is AWESOME and fun.

I've said this countless times Pistonheads forum member Tenpence short posted up his experience and his subsequent jail time when he got his car squiffy and hit an oncoming motorbiker.

Reading that REALLY slows you down.

Ok! The Blockmiester has been mentioned.

Who's going to post the vid?

Give us something to watch while we await the arrival of our very own, in-house overtaking expert.

I drive everywhere flat out. I'm actually on my 3rd ban from driving, so unlicensed, no insurance, car isn't even mine. All the authorities will do is give me another ban on top of this one........

None of that is true.
I actually drive quite sedately most of the time, and only get 20mpg while doing it. Jag XJR. But know that when the mood takes, which it does occasionally, I can play with saxos and have my fun

[img] [/img]

I mean you can't stay high the same way forever. So when the 455 came out with the Mach IV Ram-Air with tunnel-port heads, beefed lower end and a Holley high-riser setup, I was
on line -- 390 h.p. and 500 foot-pounds of torque, whatever that is. It's in the folder in the glove compartment. But she's a Road King, all right.
Got a Doblo now though. Much more practical.

Who's going to post the vid?

Which one, they're all the same.

On my way to work yesterday:

[img] [/img]

😉

Style:
I once took a set of front tyres back to national and complained they'd melted.

And achieved 'significant' airtime over a hump backed bridge.

Drive:
Ford C-max 1.6 petrol, the non Ti-VCT, bog standard one, in that 'blue so boring it would be beige but then it would stand out against the sky'.

It really has to do with the roads I drive on as it happens to others that drive the same roads. Bristol Subarbs road rules: Pull out of a junction and look what is coming as your bonnet hits the road you are joining, put foot down if there is someone there.

Ha, i've spent the last 6 yrs living in Easton & St Pauls. It's like a comedy hazard perception video most of the time 😆

Personally i drive like i cycle - allow lots of room, never assume that others will necessarily follow the rules, etc etc. Makes me a much more relaxed driver than my wife who is always alarmed and angry when she gets cut up.

i am quite liable to be one of those people doing 50 (but not 40) on a NSL in snowdonia, mind. Get some tunes on, enjoy the scenery, relax a bit. That's the reason i'm in snowdonia in the first place!

I will start with the car, Audi A4 estate 2.0t, Its big enough for kayaks and bikes. Its comfertble as i do 25'000 miles a year. And most impotantlyits reliable. its got 80,000 miles on the clock and only had the tyres brake pads and usual services done.

It avarages 36mpg round town 48 on the motorway.

I have 9 years ncd and never had points. I've been driving 9 years.

I drive to make progress but do the speed limit, i leave space and dont tail gate i indicate when moving lanes and turning at junctions, i will happily sit behind cyclists untill i can see a fair distance to over take them.

I will use my horn when cut up i will slow down and be a pain in the arse when tail gated and i will get out my car and tell cyclist who use it as a prop to get the hell off it. (this does happen)

I didnt buy an Audi to have one i bought it as it was the best car in my budget with the least miles and the best service history. I payed £3500.

Maxtorque - I can almost believe that.... If it was an Ibiza. 😉

[img] ?itok=DQqmRc7O[/img]

You had to ask?

There used to be a teenager named MatthewT from Rhyl who posted a lot on Cycle Chat. He used a helmet cam and used to rant about car drivers and even filmed himself several times stopping drivers and ticking them off for minor traffic offences.

Silly young Matthew was no more than a source of irritated amusement on the forum, but then he got his first car and began posting videos of himself ragging his car on Youtube. As you can imagine this caused a lot of indignation on CC and in the end even Matt gave up posting, so heavy was the criticism. I wonder whether he's still alive.

usually irritated by everyone else on the road

"Ere' luv, I fand a spayce"

[img] [/img]

How many wheels ar we talking
on 4 - Audi A4, speed limit + a bit on the open road, making progress, looking ahead and keeping an eye on mirrors. Been rear ended twice whilst stopped in traffic, no other accidents in 30 odd years
on 2 - like a knob, surprised i'm still here to be honest

Hi folks!

The driving style I aspire to is smooth and relaxed. On a windy road I do enjoy the flow but that doesn't need to be dangerously fast. I give myself loads of headroom because I want to stay alive.

If everyone did the same, I think the roads would be far less stressful and we'd all be happier, tbh.

I save the thrills and spills for the bike.

Or is that your confirmation bias kicking in?

I've said this before and yes, it may well be confirmation bias, but I've noticed a definite shift in attitudes in certain quarters depending what you're driving.

I drove an E-class Merc for a while, and found that people treat you like you're a stereotypical Merc / BMW etc driver. You indicate and some people will actively close ranks to block you in. Sometimes the only way you could manoeuvre was to [i]not[/i] indicate and tip them off, and hey presto it's a self-fulfilling prophecy and I've become one of [i]them.[/i]

I've had small cars too, most recently as hire cars whilst mine's in for a service or what have you. Ka, Fiesta, Hyundai i20, that sort of thing. I've noticed that people will be quicker to bully you if you're driving a roller skate. Approaching a pinch point due to double parking, oncoming traffic will give way to you much more rarely, to a point of almost running you off the road. And heaven forbid you ever drive at the speed limit, you'll almost certainly end up towing someone.

it's those that drive at 40/45 everywhere that worry me most

Monospeeders, I don't know what goes through their mind. A light breeze maybe. I see this daily on my commute to work, I'll blat past someone doing 40 in a 60, then five minutes later they're inches from my back bumper in the 30 zone. Back up to a 50 zone and they disappear behind me. Weird.

Bike licence holder, which even though I don't ride at the moment certainly helped my observation, awareness and anticipation skills.

+1 to this. I'm certain that my driving improved considerably in learning to ride. Definitely improved my observation, I'd recommend it to anyone.

T4 campervan - I drives leisurely
1988 Landrover - I drives noisily. And slowly.
700cc motorbike - I rides like someone who wants to make it home to his boys.

Rarely do I have a deadline to meet when driving, and if I do, I leave such a silly amount of time I could be held up in traffic and still arrive early enough for a spot of lunch first. I think it's the height of bad manners to speed just because you're running late.

I find a lot of people around these parts drive like this guy:
[img] [/img]
without that guy who played Robin navigating..

Me, making progress in a safe and observant way (AIM). Seriously, people need to learn to use their mirrors more. My wife once drove for about 40 miles before realising here NS mirror was still folded in 😯

[i] molgrips - Member

Hi folks![/i]

Yay!
😀

Smart ForFour - the old version, we're not posh.

Style? I was taught to drive by my uncle on a frozen lake in Maine - first proper driving lesson I had here, tried cornering the way I was taught by using the handbrake to get the back end out. I've improved since then.

Spot on Stoner. I'm with you in the bad manors to speed when late, I've turned into my dad a leave massive margins for errors on trip if I have deadline, but hen if I'm early I just listen to the radio and have kip. bloke at work is consistantly 5 min late and complains that he get in trouble for being 5 min late. Get up 5 min earlier then!

I vary a lot. At or below speed limit in built up areas and areas with drive ways, entrences, junctions on main roads but frequently @ or slightly above speed limit on clear stretches with no junctions e.t.c. Fiat Sucudo SWB.

I drive a kia Cee'd - and I drive it boringly as you'd guess, invariably with children in the back ... the roads are too full of other users and speed cameras to 'make progress'

a term that describes people who invariably drive inappropriately fast into situations, tailgait and make the roads less safe for other users

Also a +1 to mirrors. I don't know why it is not an 3 point offence to drive along with you mirrors folded in. People must just pull of blindly.

Smooth and sedate..

4 years permanently carrying a cargo of either pregnant lady, newborn baby or precarious expensive wedding cakes taught me not to drive like a moron

Monospeeders, I don't know what goes through their mind.

Ahh, you should have stayed with singlespeeders 😉

Like a blast along a nice flowing A or B road. Although tend not to overtake that much on single carriageway roads, unless (a) car in front is significantly slower than my unhindered speed

As a sometimes cyclist on 'nice flowing B roads' this statement was ambiguous enough to (rightly or wrongly) make me momentarily wince.

Pleased to say though after reading all these responses my developing bias is thankfully reversing. Not least because I'm biased towards people displaying excessive confirmation bias. They tend to be total cocks. ie 'ah, you're a CYCLIST!' I remember first getting the Beemer (bangernomics) and a certain family member upon learning this snorted himself into a nodding/smirking apoplexy.

I religiously stick to speed limits in built up areas and I think 17 years of cycle commuting has given me pretty decent situational awareness/anticipation. You still get caught out sometimes mind so I always try to leave a decent gap.

On the open road, the gloves are off and I drive as fast as conditions and machinery permit.

I am an atypical Audi driver in that I use my indicators, flash people out/through, give space and I can often be found in lanes 1 and 2 of motorways provided lane 3 isn't a big long queue sitting behind some spanner doing 75mph with clear lanes 1 and 2.

I do tailgait people on motorways while 'making progress', but only as a last resort. I tend to leave a 2 second gap in the dry and 4 seconds or more in the wet. ****s consistently cut into the gap, and if they don't move back over when they get chance, my experience is that they will never get out of your way unless you tailgait them as considerate driving is an entirely alien concept to them. New black Landrover Discos in particular.

As a rally co-driver, I'm pretty well aware of my limitations as a driver - I've sat with some guys that really make it look effortless.

I drive a Honda Civic Vtec. My driving style has been described as "fast" "efficient" and "really something quite special" - I've been compared to Jenson Button; quick, smooth and completely in control.

For example; on the day, I set a lap record at Alton Park on my second attempt.

Passed my test first time with only two minors; I took the examiner to task over both of these at the end of the test, and he agreed that one of them shouldn't have been counted.

On the road; I've never been caught speeding and I don't get over taken, unless I'm out for a slow recovery drive. I've over taken cars upto and including Audi R8s, Porsche 911s & Ferrari F355s i.e. real supercars.

I'm with the OP on this; far too many people driving "skill compensators" like high powered Audis, BMWs etc. You don't even need to plan an overtaking move in one! Way too many cases of "all the gear, no idea!"

It's very similar to the mountainbiking scene; people with large amounts of disposable income trying to buy skill and speed. These are the same sort of people who don't even have the basic coordination/motor skills to be able to do a bunnyhop or manual. Would I trust them in a 300+bhp car? Would I hell.

Astra

I drive as if everyone around me is an idiot (edit: especially Civic Vtech drivers) TBH. I'm with the 40/45 annoyance though, WTF is that all about?

As a sometimes cyclist on 'nice flowing B roads' this statement was ambiguous enough to (rightly or wrongly) make me momentarily wince.

One of my major hates as a road cyclist and audaxer is cars driving round blind bends on the very limit. It means discovering a bike mid corner leads to some pretty hairy situations. I used to rant about motorists using public roads as a playground.

Since learning to drive, one of my favorite things ever is to drive like and absolute asshat on the open road 😳

I drive MrsSalmon's Rover 214 a handful of times a year, and when I do I stick religiously to speed limits in built up areas and generally take it very cautiously. I basically never overtake anyone unless it's on the motorway, and that's pretty rare!

I've never owned a car so I don't think I've really invested in driving and become desensitised to the fact that I'm steering a ton of metal around the streets.

The less I do it though the less I like it. Lately it tends to be short-ish (30 minutes) around the city and I'm getting to really hate it and wonder why anyone would want to do it.