What's wrong with people?

nick · Post by **nick** » 16 Jul 2005, 04:02

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Stempy

And why is it that if I drive into an empty car park, it doesn't matter where I put the car, there's always some tit who, with a hundred spaces to choose from, will park right along side?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
A few weeks ago I saw probably the strangest supermarket carpark accident ever. One corner at the side of the shop is usually is deserted unless the shop is very busy. There were just 2 cars parked there, a Fiesta & a Pug 306 along side each other, with one parking space between them.
The elderly driver of a very battered Transit had been dropping some bottles off at the bottle bank and for some reason decided to try and drive between the only 2 cars parked in an otherwise deserted car park!
There was probably only space for a very small car between them, certainly not enough for a van, and the Transit driver caught the side of the Peugeot with the corner of his bumper, scraping the panels all down the side of the car and ripping a piece of trim off . What made it all the more strange was the Peugeot driver was actually sat in his car at the time, reading the paper and eating a sandwich with a look of total horror on his face watching the Transit ripping the side off his car! [:0]
I stood there watching in disbelief for a while, but the drivers both got out and seemed to be sorting it out amicably, so I walked away. About half an hour later I walked past again, the Transit had gone, but the Peugeot driver was still sat in his car with the trim hanging off, calmly reading his paper again!
I can only assume the Transit driver misunderstood the idea of bottle banks, and thought he was supposed to drink the contents of all his bottles there & then in the carpark...........

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 16 Jul 2005, 04:17

Reminds me of seeing a parent going into a school to collect her child in her new (to her) VW Polo. the gate was steel, and wide open and about 18 ft wide - so she scrapes the thing trying to avoid part of the speed hump!
Unbelievable!
Don't these people ask themselves if they are fit to drive?
Jeremy

Stinkwheel · Post by **Stinkwheel** » 16 Jul 2005, 04:54

Have to admit dong something similar to the above myself.
We were on holiday in the Isle of Wight about 4 years ago, were in my old CX Gti Turbo1.
Reversing out of the guest house driveway/car park i was paying particular attention not to scrape the front on a car parked too close and managed to scrape the rear quarter trim down the gatepost........DOH!!!

j_roc · Post by **j_roc** » 16 Jul 2005, 05:10

What the problem is, is when people pass the driving test they think "I have passed the test now im the best driver in the world" - Bollo*kcs - Once you have passed the test THATS WHEN YOU LEARN TO DRIVE. When you are out there, on your own without any instructor/lecturer telling you what/what not to do. Also the test is co*k backwards. The test may teach you how to reverse around a corner (oh the joy) but it dont teach you "real world" driving. Let me explain - What happens when a tyre blows at 70 MPH in the middle lane of the Motorway (seen somebody slam on in that situ), or a bonnet flys up covering the windscreen on a busy B road (very, very scary is that one) the test/lessons dont teach that. How many people who pass the test know how to change a tyre - not many I know. They just phone the AA/RAC or Green flag. Question - "Sir, whats the spare wheel in the boot for?" Answer - "It's for you to fit of course". What the test teaches is complete crap, I dont mean to upset people on here as you/wives or partners are driving instructors, but you all know the point im driving home, and (if you want/dont want to agree with a slightley annoyed Welshman) know that in some way or another im right.
My conclusion - the D.O.T driving test - It's like p**s*ng in the wind - a mess.

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 16 Jul 2005, 06:56

J_Roc - I do not agree with you - and it reminds me of constant battles I have at work to get people PROPERLY trained to do jobs.
OK many people can do part of the job sucessfully after a little instruction from a workmate but there the problem starts. the learner will probably only be told what he needs to know to get by at that time and won't be instructed in the correct safety procedures or even the detailed operation so that when things go wrong he has no idea what he is doing.
Driving in the manner approved by the DSA may not be very exciting but if everyone did it all the time then there would be many fewer accidents. An important aspect of driving is to know what someone else if likely to do - ie for example hopefully check for overtaking traffic before changing lane and unless you have a uniform system of training you will have no idea if a person you are overtaking is likely to obey the rule or not.
What are you advocating? At age 17 being told 'here's a car full of fuel - go out and learn how to drive it.' ?
Jeremy

j_roc · Post by **j_roc** » 16 Jul 2005, 07:14

No thats the point - At 17 you can drive (up to 7.5 ton I belive on a car licence) a machine that can kill someone in the wrong hands, but you cannot drink???? Where is the logic behind that? THE POINT THAT I WAS TRYING TO MAKE JEREMY, was that you can scrape through the test (as far as the DSA is concerned, like my kid brother did) then you are out on the road when you are on your own. How long has it been since you took the test (out of curiosity)? Or do you, or your family work for the DSA? The advanced driving course should be compulsory. It dont matter how long we argue (and if the truth be told I dont really care if you agree with me or not) the point is TO MAKE THE ROADS SAFER. How many cars do you think are running (tonight) on brake fluid below the min mark because the 17yr old prat behind the wheel hasent got a clue on how to check it. The current test should be "altered" to include SAFTEY features like this, how many 17yr olds would take the cars they drive into a garage to have the brake fluid or tyre pressures checked? Oh yes, of course all of them. When you are out on the road on your own, YOU, the 17 yr old with no experience is in charge. Think about it for a mo......

Stempy · Post by **Stempy** » 16 Jul 2005, 13:43

The driving test should be tougher and I reckon there should be compulsory retests evey few years, especially for the elderly, but there are some things that you can only learn by experience. It's only by being out there that you can pick up on what other drivers are likely to do in any given situation. If everyone had to ride a motorbike for a year before they got a car their learning curve would be much quicker.

sbraud · Post by **sbraud** » 16 Jul 2005, 14:47

Stempy, if it’s any consolation…
I caught a neighbours boy helping himself to all the valve caps in our street. So I collared him `I aint done nothing’’ he said. ``Nice try’’ I said. ``Tell you what, put those back and I wont have to go and tell your mum what your up too!’’ He did too, all 15 of them.[:D]
The moral dilemma I have is this: Would I have gone out there if one of his victims had not been me! Oh well.. [?]
Cheers
Steve

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 16 Jul 2005, 14:50

Even that is not all its cracked up to be - passed my (intensive) test on a 125, jumped onto a 500cc came to a bend in the road and fooooooooooooook - it didnt go round. No one explained to me before hand about leaning into bends. Once I had picked the bits of hedge out of my face and teeth, I started to learn how to ride.
Mind you - once I jumped into a car, I can say it did affect the way I drove and treated other road users.

Post by **CitroJim** » 16 Jul 2005, 21:53

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by j_roc

Or do you, or your family work for the DSA? The advanced driving course should be compulsory. It dont matter how long we argue (and if the truth be told I dont really care if you agree with me or not) the point is TO MAKE THE ROADS SAFER. How many cars do you think are running (tonight) on brake fluid below the min mark because the 17yr old prat behind the wheel hasent got a clue on how to check it. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Yes, my wife is a very long-standing DSA Driving Instructor... She is the first to admit the teaching is to pass a test. She encourages all her pupils to take "Pass-Plus" when they pass and that is an intensive driving course including motorways, built-up areas, night driving and all the other things not in the test or standard lessons.
Now, it IS part of the test to be able to check vital fluids and to change a wheel. My wife has to teach it whilst she and her pupil wear a bright orange hi-vis tabard.. Very fetching!
When she got her last Corsa a while back (she now uses a Focus) we both had a lot of fun finding the brake fluid reservior, pretty well hidden and that in itself is not a good safety feature.

vanny · Post by **vanny** » 16 Jul 2005, 23:55

On the subject of dents and small spaces! park accross two spaces! A police friend of mine has been doing this for many years and has a G reg volvo with not a mark on it! Sorted! My record for taking up spaces is a masterfull 16 spaces, though that was with a trailer! try and ding a panel with that!
But seriously i find its all down to where you park, i tend to keep out fo the thick of it a come away without battle scars!
My mum's AX however is battered! She works at the hospital in the eye department, and most of her patients are blind and i mean very legally blind and drive in, sufice to say there is no area greater than a foot square that isnt dented or battered! (or perhaps maybe the roof is still sacred!)
As for learning to drive, well i know where j_roc is coming from. I didnt pass my test too long ago, and what a farce the test was! Its the worst i have ever driven and scraped through, i also started learning to drive when i was about 11, road laws, signs, overtaking manouvers, road reading, traffic reading, many supposedly 'advanced' techniques! It all stems from my dad being a police driver and thoughtfully he got me started early. When i came to drive he taught me to drive, including many so called advanced techniques, then my driving instructor taught me to pass the test. Now 4 years on with a good 60,000 miles under the belt, having raced on track and driven most types of vehicles and towed alsorts, i would only now consider myself to be a pasable driver. My consistency is waivering, reflexes often slow, concentration often wanders and i know i could certainly never be any sort of race driver as i dont have the fluent skills. I personally think i have a hell of a lot more to learn!
Since i passed my test i have never had any serious accident (clocked a couple of gates, thats about it), i love cars and build my own. Conversely ALL of my friends who passed around the same time as me have all crashed and most of them have written cars off! There attitudes have been as suggested that they have passed there test and have learnt to drive, WRONG! Even my suposedly clever sister who has only passed in the last year has put some serious dents into the car and somehow snapped a caliper, but these have all been down to a lack of concentration around inanimate objects! And similarly most of her mates have now crashed, in less than two years!
I guess that might be my mentality, i love driving and love having a clean license, and i keep it clean by not driving like a total scrote! Dont get me wrong i really have my moments, and would love to race more (on track), but i'm glad i drive a BX that is totally unreliable, i really wouldn't like to drive regularly for more than 6 months, roads these days are too stressfull and i feel sorry for anyone who has to drive regularly!

j_roc · Post by **j_roc** » 17 Jul 2005, 02:39

I thank you. As I said in some way or another im right. I will be the first to admit the test includes some very usefull features, but also some useless features. The point I was trying to make (even more so to certain people on here, THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE [^]) we want to make the roads safer. If this includes post pass training to check fluid levels, tyres and general condition of a vechicle then so be it. If you care to disagree with me then you know where I am. Or come down to Swansea and we can discuss it face to face, if you catch my drift......

Dave Bamber · Post by **Dave Bamber** » 17 Jul 2005, 04:31

And I think this is the point to end this topic.