whats the best way to make a slow driver go faster?

Lum

Weird_Nev wrote: »

I can see what Mikey72 means by "stealth overtakes" and I can envisage waht he means by his description of them, but I have to say I do not like that terminology at all. It is down to a driver considering an overtake to make sure that his actions are transparent and readable by all.

It was me, not Mikey72, that advocated stealth overtakes.

HOwever, you need to be aware of the negative actions your behaviour as a driver can provoke, and account and plan for them. The swervers/accelerators usually give the game away through the cars body language as you approach and plan the overtake. A huge part of advanced driver training is learning to read these signals and develop a "sixth sense". Stereotyping can often help. The chavvy Corsa, the Flat cap Nissan Almera, The Zafria full of Kids, The high performance Hatchback... All of these will more often than not confrom to typecast and can be planned for and dealt with.

And this is exactly the situation, and kind of driver, for which a stealth overtake may be appropriate. I did not advocate doing it for any and all drivers, only for those whom it seems likely will cause a problem.

My point is this: Sometimes, people have a real reason for wanting to be somewhere else, fast. How do you feel about blocking someones progress in one of the situations above? Sure, you've prevented them from breaking the LAW by blocking their overtake, or boxing them in on the motorway..... Not really your place though is it? The police can catch them and deal with them as they see fit, but as a motorist it's your job to drive with courtesy and respect for everyone, even those who want to go a bit faster than you do.

Absolutely spot on. If everyone followed this advice, the stealth overtake would be completely unnecessary.

alastairq

To be honest, Alastair, you sound like a really dangerous character from your descriptions throughout this thread. You appear to feel you are a far better driver than everyone else, and you appear to have a very naive and black and white view of the world (or driving). The moment you start to think that you're better than the rest, or the moment you stop regarding driving as a dangerous activity is the moment you come unstuck! Driving is pretty much THE MOST dangerous activity most of us participate in on a regular basis. Skydiving and Motorcycling are about the only things that beat it, even in the relatively safe environment of UK roads.
And overtaking is a complex manouver. It brings you into potential conflict with a number of other road users, it provokes negative reactions from those who don't know any better, and particularly if you're untrained in the art it can put you into incredibly dangerous situations far, far faster than almost any other common driving manouver.
To dismiss these things as "not dangerous" is to show complacency bordering on negligence, IMO.

don't concern yourself about coming across me in a pub.... unlikely, and I don't 'talk shop' as I cannot be bothered trying to educate drivers when I'm not being paid for it.....plus, I struggle to hide my thoughts, and people won't like what I really think of their ideas...being quite big, definitely ugly, and confrontational in the extreme, I am constantly reminded to think of the 'bigger picture'....besides, why should I upset nice folk?

A forum is different, since hundreds more lurk and read, and some of the inane rubbish I see spouted sometimes needs putting right... otherwise, urban myth prevails.

However, I admit to occasionally being stumped for the right word.....that is a fact of life.

I don't see the skill of 'driving' as an emotive topic.....unlike most on here?

I take it you are, what I term as a 'lay-driver?' [ie, someone who has a driving licence, yet professionally does something entirely different? And by that I include some of the driving jobs as well.]

You appear to view lots of activities as 'dangerous', yet totally misunderstand the whole point.....?

Perhaps you don't actually participate in these activities?

Or, perhaps, you are including yourself in your contrary 2nd half I have hilited?

In any event, in any activity where there is a presence of risk to body and property, there are also techniques and procedures the participant does and considers, the aim of which is to minimise or negate levels of such risk [what you may refer to as 'safety?].

Thereby creating a 'safe' working environment!


Driving is the same.

More to the point, learning to apply the essential techniques and procedures to make driving 'safe' as you may like to put it, is open to all, if the will to look is there?

As you rightly point out, [and as I have mentioned elsewhere] if a driver is 'untrained'...then conducting any sort of procedure during driving, for them, will have raised levels of risk unacceptably.

Overtaking is a process constantly faced by any driver....whether a 'passing' procedure, for a stationary object, or overtaking, for a moving object

So, reducing the risks by proper procedures and considerations will eliminate the danger, perceived or otherwise.

It is absolutely about education.......and one doesn't start learning by being completely frightened of conducting a task beforehand....which is what the term 'dangerous' does.


Therefore, when someone posts a comment which asserts..in this case, that ''overtaking is dangerous'', then I am duty-bound to point out ,it is not, if the person doing it, applies correct process ....process which is intended to minimise any risks involved...?

Part of the process of learning...'getting it right', is to also know what to do if something goes wrong.

Anyone who has undergone an Advanced driver training course will also know and understand the need to 'abort' if things prove to be not right.

It never ceases to amaze me how many[lay?] drivers will vilify another driver who has...for example...commenced an overtake manoeuvre, and has decided to slow and pull back in? [abort]

Yet few will consider that driver to have actually done the most appropriate thing?


You, and others, get the impression I feel I am a 'better driver' than anyone else?

Your perception, not mine.

And if your perception is correct, that's OK, I can live with that.......you only confirm what I have set out to achieve...and that is, to be a good driver.

And a good driver also realises that one never ceases to learn. ...................[but don't take my word for it, try an advanced driving course? Continual learning and improvement are one of the fundamentals]

Sometimes it takes decades to become a 'good' driver.....as in my case....however, hopefully, for my 'customers' they get there a lot sooner?



'Safety' is a state brought about primarily by correct observation.....followed by, acting on what one see's....and by appropriate process.

Safety is not something that just happens.

Weird_Nev

If you'd bothered to read my post fully, you'd know exactly what "kind" of driver I am.

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. We are both evidently people who care deeply about our driving, perhaps that just manifests itself in different ways.

If you'll excuse me, it's a bank holiday, so I'm off out for a drive.

alastairq

If you'd bothered to read my post fully, you'd know exactly what "kind" of driver I am.

In which case, [no, I admit I didn't read the full post.....time at times isn't generous], however, whilst you do indeed remark you have received training, I deliver it...!

So, whilst you approach things from one side of the the fence, I see both sides, so to speak.

And not from just the 'high-speed' aspect, but also from vastly differing sorts of vehicle.

It is very easy to pander to people's fears on a forum...better to show how to think?

I'm not off for a busman's holiday...not with the price of fuel these days, anyway.

David_Aston

I wonder if Tod hasnt responded recently, because he has found the "Top Gear" forums! Surely the perfect place for such trolling. Come to think of it, he might actually be Jeremy Clarkson!

mattyprice4004

Slam on the anchors with no warning. Oh sorry, the question was about what to do if you're stuck behind someone, not if you're being flashed by some **** for not going fast enough.

I'm quite lucky in that I can make my car emit a dense, acrid plume of black death-fog on demand - usually annoys people enough to get them to drop back. Sitting at 1,100 rpm and flooring it in 5th usually does it well.

Very amusing doing it to someone in a white car on your bumper, or any convertible with the roof down.

Harry_Flashman

David_Aston wrote: »

I wonder if Tod hasnt responded recently, because he has found the "Top Gear" forums! Surely the perfect place for such trolling. Come to think of it, he might actually be Jeremy Clarkson!

If he is Mr Clarkson, then he is, in fact, God and doesn't need to interact with us mere mortals.

Lum

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

I'm quite lucky in that I can make my car emit a dense, acrid plume of black death-fog on demand - usually annoys people enough to get them to drop back. Sitting at 1,100 rpm and flooring it in 5th usually does it well.

Hope the driver of that car isn't carrying a passenger that is genetically predisposed to developing asthma, because that's really really mean.

Crabman

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

I'm quite lucky in that I can make my car emit a dense, acrid plume of black death-fog on demand - usually annoys people enough to get them to drop back. Sitting at 1,100 rpm and flooring it in 5th usually does it well.

I find a quick spray of windscreen wash works well

Lum

You'd have loved the Citroen AX that belonged to my friend's (now ex) girlfriend.

When she bought it, the rear washer didn't work, and the previous owner had just pulled the hose out of the hole where the jet was supposed to be, and left it lying over the rear window, letting the water dribble down the middle of the window when you fired the washer.

Thing with the AX, the washer jet hole is pretty much on the roof so it needs a slightly non-standard washer jet. Against my advice my mate bought her a standard 90 degree one from Halfords and fitted it.

It pretty much just made the water fire straight backwards. She ended up leaving it like that for the same reason, annoying tailgaters.

It's a shame the AX didn't have a separate rear washer tank (or if it did, they never found it!) as some yellow food colouring in the water would have made it much more effective.