200 mph


Have you personally taken an old O'level and a new GCSE in the same subject?

Anyway, if younger drivers are better, why are they disproportionally involved in more accidents? Surely the aim of driving is to get from A to B without being involved in or causing an accident, something which older drivers (up to a point) are significantly better at.
 
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To throw some anecdotal evidence in. When I was teaching advanced riding courses, the standard of new riders with a license acquired by Direct Access was way better than those who'd passed a while ago on a 125 and been riding since.
 
Have you personally taken an old O'level and a new GCSE in the same subject?

Anyway, if younger drivers are better, why are they disproportionally involved in more accidents? Surely the aim of driving is to get from A to B without being involved in or causing an accident, something which older drivers (up to a point) are significantly better at.
Practice obviously makes you more proficient. For drivers that didn't take a test, took an easier version of the test and those taking the (maybe) more stringent one.

New drivers are a menace now, but they might have been even worse when they started driving. The roads used to be lethal, for a range of reasons among those I think driver standards improving is one of them.

But I'm not saying I can prove it, it's an opinion.

Going back to my earlier post my point was supposed to be that: I'm not convinced that older drivers are that up to speed on the highway code. Historically there was no written test and the test has gotten harder since it's introduction. This would match some of the crap driving you see when people overtake cyclists and some of the general ignorance around what bikes are and aren't allowed to do.
 
...some of the general ignorance around what bikes are and aren't allowed to do.

Am I allowed to cycle away filtering traffic after smashing someone's car?
What about after running over people on zebra crossing?
Really got to get that cycle licence, it would clear all these doubts.
 
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Am I allowed to cycle away filtering traffic after smashing someone's car?
What about after running over people on zebra crossing?
Really got to get that cycle licence, it would clear all these doubts.
As you well know nobody is allowed to do that whether pushing a pram, riding a bike or going for a jog. When people are caught acting like that they are dealt with by our legal system.
 
To throw some anecdotal evidence in. When I was teaching advanced riding courses, the standard of new riders with a license acquired by Direct Access was way better than those who'd passed a while ago on a 125 and been riding since.

I did a direct access course having never bothered to take the 2 wheel test when I used a bike daily. I used 2 different instructors. One was a solo operator and the other a company that used several trainers including the bloke that owned it. The course did teach me a couple of things that I hadn't picked up myself and frankly I feel that sort of course should be the only route into riding a bike. Bicycles need something different as essentially aren't suitable for faster moving traffic. It's clear from what I see some haven't got a clue. A test is required really. Bicycles are frightening and hitting pedestrians. Another problem that is getting more common.

Anyway when I took my test the examiner said that I didn't learn to ride like that from the solo instructor I used. I was riding one of his bikes. He was rather complementary. The reason for the difference is pretty simple. Appreciation of speed, distance, things that can't be seen and what can happen gained via both 2 and 4 wheels. ;) I have driven with more wheels - artics but shouldn't as no license but if working on something associated the opportunity presents itself now and again. Usually I would be a passenger.

;) Just for motorbiking I have mixed feelings about advanced driving courses. They mostly seem to relate to teararsing and what happens in the extremes relates to the roads and the car being driven. FI style cornering may be wonderful for instance but leave feint tire marks on the road when done perfectly - fine if the road is perfect but few are.
 
Historically there was no written test and the test has gotten harder since it's introduction

People were asked about all sorts in the highway code. The rest was down to driving in a variety of conditions many not easy ones. One rather common reason for failing was not getting up to speed in traffic. ;) I get the impression this area isn't even touched on these days or that cars loose speed going around corners and up hills.

I nearly failed my driving test due to the emergency stop. Having driven something else and being asked to ram the brakes on while on a loose surface doesn't come naturally. Fortunately I had to do a real one and stick the car between 2 parked ones at the same time. I'd have failed if that didn't happen - he had me do the emergency stop twice on the same freshly gravelled road. ;) The 2nd one was sort ok if you insist and I did keep the car straight but a bit of a lag before I did it. He told me why he decided to pass me.

The highway code is a little different in my case. Will admit that. From a paper round and similar I bought a lambretta for a £5 while at school. Parents paid for 3rd party insurance. The school decided to do a short highway code cross school quiz so knew it like the back of my hand. No need to take a test on the scooter. Most who took a driving test did anyway as there was no way of knowing what questions would be asked and a number of aspects would come up from driving while taking the test.
 
Am I allowed to cycle away filtering traffic after smashing someone's car?
What about after running over people on zebra crossing?
Really got to get that cycle licence, it would clear all these doubts.
It's all about the scale of the problem you're trying to fix. Cyclists do cause some damage to cars and have knocked people down and hurt or killed them. But both are pretty negligible, closer to to Dog attacks in scale rather than car deaths
 
I have mixed feelings about advanced driving courses. They mostly seem to relate to teararsing and what happens in the extremes relates to the roads and the car being driven.

Where did you find that type of advanced driving course, was it some rally driving school ? The advanced driving courses I am aware of have concentrated on defensive driving and car control in adverse conditions.
 
It's all about the scale of the problem you're trying to fix. Cyclists do cause some damage to cars and have knocked people down and hurt or killed them. But both are pretty negligible, closer to to Dog attacks in scale rather than car deaths

Don't you thinks relative numbers come into comments like that?

I used to know someone who cycled to work daily around this in the rush hour and back home again in the same.

SwanIsland.jpg


He did it for many years, Yardely Rd - A4040, to right up to the point where he retired at 65. No accidents. Did cars get close - yes, too close - no. Curious thing about car drivers - they don't usually want to collide with anything. Later he had to cope with a side road and right turn onto the Stratford Rd, another rather busy one. How did he do it. Pretty simple really, hand signals and probably more importantly being fully aware of what was going on around him. Did he slow traffic down - no just used as much space as he needed making it easy for cars to pass him. I used to follow the same route in a car including a rather tricky island before he got to the one above.

Another bloke I worked with rode his push bike to a train station then used the bike to get him to work. Quieter roads and all ok for 10 years or more I know of. Then one day he was riding across a side road and a car drove straight into him. It took him 9 months to recover. Motorcyclists sometimes have the same experience or more often in both cases some one just pulls out not leaving time for some one to brake. That can happen in heavier traffic conditions as well. Driver looking for cars so 2 wheel things don't register. ;) There is a well known preventative measure but not much used called day glow jackets. Some one else I know stopped at an island due to traffic and a car ran firmly straight into the back of him. Same problem.
 
Still no eye test? Apart from the farcical number plate reading when taking the test.

That seems a pretty fundamental requirement to me as people get older.
 
As you well know nobody is allowed to do that whether pushing a pram, riding a bike or going for a jog. When people are caught acting like that they are dealt with by our legal system.
Nobody directly told me, ever, so it must be ok.
That's what many cyclists seem to think.
 
The most skilful manoeuvre I've performed in a car, the first occasion was when I was 18, the further two occasions, possibly slightly embarrassingly, when I was much older.
The reason I've only performed it on three occasions is because the conditions have to be perfect in a myriad of ways, you can spend 50 years driving and not have the opportunity to carry out this manoeuvre.

So, picture this, I'm 18 years old, Mk 2 Cortina, 1.3 De Luxe, Anchor Blue 2 door coupe. A quiet dual carriageway, 2 lanes, traffic lights ahead, just at the end of a slight uphill gradient.
Pull up at the lights next to another car, elderly couple in car, quickly check mirror, nothing behind, I turn and smile at the elderly couple next to me, they smile back as I start to ride the clutch and pull forward slowly but positively.

The look of horror on the elderly chap's face as he desperately tried yanking on his handbrake thinking he was rolling backwards. 45 years on I still chuckle when I think about it.
 
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