Tailgate and speed

Twiggy_34

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

First of all, you do know that it is absolutely fine to straight line corners, as long as it is 100% safe to do so, and there are no solid white lines in the middle? It actually helps with fuel economy, and is therefore more environmentally friendly.

I can honestly say that no, it's not something I have ever heard of being considered as an appropriate driving practice, and is quite different to what I was taught! I was taught that the difference between solid white lines and dashed white lines merely indicates whether overtaking is permitted or not and how safe it might be if it is. Out of sheer curiosity I did look up rules regarding these road markings and this is what the guidance states:

127

A broken white line. This marks the centre of the road. When this line lengthens and the gaps shorten, it means that there is a hazard ahead. Do not cross it unless you can see the road is clear and wish to overtake or turn off.

128

Double white lines where the line nearest to you is broken. This means you may cross the lines to overtake if it is safe, provided you can complete the manoeuvre before reaching a solid white line on your side. White direction arrows on the road indicate that you need to get back onto your side of the road.

129

Double white lines where the line nearest you is solid. This means you MUST NOT cross or straddle it unless it is safe and you need to enter adjoining premises or a side road. You may cross the line if necessary, provided the road is clear, to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle, if they are travelling at 10 mph (16 km/h) or less.
Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD regs 10 & 26

I agree, there are many many variations of "bad drivers", and we all pick up bad habits unfortunately, but at least the majority of these don't prove to be dangerous.

smashingyour...

Twiggy_34 wrote: »

I can honestly say that no, it's not something I have ever heard of being considered as an appropriate driving practice, and is quite different to what I was taught! I was taught that the difference between solid white lines and dashed white lines merely indicates whether overtaking is permitted or not and how safe it might be if it is. Out of sheer curiosity I did look up rules regarding these road markings and this is what the guidance states:

I agree, there are many many variations of "bad drivers", and we all pick up bad habits unfortunately, but at least the majority of these don't prove to be dangerous.

Carter thinks he's trained to a higher standard than some other posters. He won't say what that standard is though and he isn't higher qualified than some.;)

Lum

Twiggy_34 wrote: »

I can honestly say that no, it's not something I have ever heard of being considered as an appropriate driving practice, and is quite different to what I was taught! I was taught that the difference between solid white lines and dashed white lines merely indicates whether overtaking is permitted or not and how safe it might be if it is. Out of sheer curiosity I did look up rules regarding these road markings and this is what the guidance states:

I agree, there are many many variations of "bad drivers", and we all pick up bad habits unfortunately, but at least the majority of these don't prove to be dangerous.

Of those only Rule 129 is law, 127 and 128 are advice that you can legally choose to ignore.

Of course if you ignore that advice and then have an accident, the fact that you ignored them will be used to hold you liable, so you need to think VERY carefully before straight lining a corner.

When the visibility is good (e.g. not on a road with tall hedges either side) and nothing is coming, nobody is waiting to cross etc. The ideal situation is a completely flat road, no fences, hedges or anything in the middle of a completely flat field.

In that situation I too would happily cross the centre line while cornering to maintain speed and momentum and avoid an unnecessary slowing down and speeding up.

I don't agree with a lot of things Jamie has posted on this thread, but in the right circumstances I have no problem with this one.

Strider590

Straight lining is absolutely fine provided road markings and conditions/traffic allow it safely. You couldn't make a hard fast rule against it, because many larger vehicles have no choice.

westwood68

Has anyone noticed that the initial Troll who started this whole thing has succeeded in their intentions?

They posted exactly 2 times on moneysavingexpert (both in this thread and both right at the start) before sitting back & allowing the future posters to kick each other over 7 pages.....

some people never learn

Lum

Who cares if it was originally a troll thread, the discussion has gone way off topic and is actually quite interesting in parts.

neilmcl

westwood68 wrote: »

Has anyone noticed that the initial Troll who started this whole thing has succeeded in their intentions?

They posted exactly 2 times on moneysavingexpert (both in this thread and both right at the start) before sitting back & allowing the future posters to kick each other over 7 pages.....

some people never learn

Don't worry, as one troll disappears another one (or more) fills the gap.

Joe_Horner

Lum wrote: »

Who cares if it was originally a troll thread, the discussion has gone way off topic and is actually quite interesting in parts.

^^^ This.

If you filter out the personal sniping between some groups of posters there have been some interesting points raises about general standards of and attitudes to driving.

Knowing how another driver might see what's happening on the road is never a bad thing and the thread's given a pretty good idea of how widely those views can vary!

Lum

On the subject of straightlining corners, here's one I want to throw out there and see what people's thoughts are.

Situation: You're on a single carriageway that is just wide enough for two cars to pass side by side. There are tall hedges either side of the road that would obstruct visibility even for HGVs, there is a long sweeping left hand bend coming up. It is daytime on a clear day.

Do you:

a) Tuck in as tightly to the left as possible
b) Move to the middle of the road, or even closer to the right, to improve visibility.

You can also do the horn thing, but not everyone hears a horn or knows what to do about it. Some people like to beep their horn and then hurtle into the corner expecting everyone to give way. One day they will encounter a deaf person or someone with the radio turned up really loud.

I generally lean towards B. The logic being that while two cars may be able to pass side by side, that may not be true for vans or HGVs. By moving out I increase my visibility and give myself more opportunity to shove my car to the far left of the road and stop if need be. Obviously my speed will be such that I can pull left and stop without any risk of losing control of my car.

If the road is narrower than what I described above, same basic process, but easier to justify.. If there's something coming, only stopping will prevent a head on collision (albiet offset head-on if you keep to the far left) so better visibility = both parties stop sooner.

Strider590

^^ I'd go for visibility every time, even if that means being on the wrong side.
I mean what happens if you round that corner and there's a cyclist or some obstruction?

On my way home (alternative route 2), there's a similar road, left hand bend, partially fallen tree on the apex. Racing line through there and you'd hit it......