Driving After Dark

[Skodaman 192]

15 hours ago, enotian said:

Interesting that (and I have an interest) up to now nobody has mentioned public transport.

Such a ban (although not something I would agree with) should not mean the end, for those affected, in attending any events during non daylight hours.  However, I would imagine that the vast majority of people could not even contemplate using public transport at night as an alternative. 'Could not' being the operative words.

I'd suggest that if such a ban was in place the standard, frequency, reliability and safety of public transport would have to increase dramatically to avoid making a vast section of the public prisoners in there own homes......     ......getting good at that this government.

 

PS I drove home in the dark last week without putting my lights on like a total moron.  I'm 48. 

For a while two years ago, I used public transport to get to matches but it was impossible to get home again on the bus. My wife had to pick me up from the stadium!

[steve roberts 9,242]

20 minutes ago, Skodaman said:

For a while two years ago, I used public transport to get to matches but it was impossible to get home again on the bus. My wife had to pick me up from the stadium!

If I remember speedway journalist and all round enthusiast Bryn Willliams used to travel around the country via public transport or lifts from colleagues because he never could drive. That's dedication for you but there's no way I would have relied upon public transport to get to matches personally...how he managed it is beyond me?

[foamfence 2,917]

22 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

If I remember speedway journalist and all round enthusiast Bryn Willliams used to travel around the country via public transport or lifts from colleagues because he never could drive. That's dedication for you but there's no way I would have relied upon public transport to get to matches personally...how he managed it is beyond me?

These days a lot of tracks aren't accessible by public transport, we used to have loads around Yorkshire and Lancashire, you could visit several meetings every week.

[Mimmo 1,070]

1 hour ago, steve roberts said:

If I remember speedway journalist and all round enthusiast Bryn Willliams used to travel around the country via public transport or lifts from colleagues because he never could drive. That's dedication for you but there's no way I would have relied upon public transport to get to matches personally...how he managed it is beyond me?

Bryn seldom used public transport, 99.9% of the time it was lifts from friends.

[steve roberts 9,242]

56 minutes ago, foamfence said:

These days a lot of tracks aren't accessible by public transport, we used to have loads around Yorkshire and Lancashire, you could visit several meetings every week.

I know that Bryn was closely associated with Hackney and Crayford so travelling within London was somewhat easier but to think he used  to announce (?) at the Isle of Wight  and covered meetings at both King's Lynn and Oxford was quite a feat considering he was based, I believe, in Kent (?)

[steve roberts 9,242]

1 minute ago, Mimmo said:

Bryn seldom used public transport, 99.9% of the time it was lifts from friends.

Thanks for that!

[E I Addio 15,843]

3 hours ago, *JJ said:

I do bear this in mind, and always stop for a break half way along a journey. As for accidents: most are caused by young men under 25!

My Dad became a driving instructor to top up his pension after he retired at age 65. He was 66 when he passed his advanced driving test and carried on as a driving instructor until he was about 72 or 73. He had the patience that comes with age and built a terrific reputation for getting so called “hopeless cases “ through the Driving Test”. There were a number who had failed 4or 5 tests with other driving schools so the school he worked for gave them to him and as far as I recall he got them all through first time with him.  It’s not that he was a better teacher than anyone else but he fifty years experience behind him and he got his pupils to relax behind the wheel and really passed on all the little hints and tips that come with a lifetimes driving. So I think when we talk about older drivers, if their eyesight is good and they have a reasonable degree of common sense, what they lack with reactions perhaps not being what they used to be they usually make for in experience. As you say, the highest insurance risk group is for men and women under 25, when really their eyesight and reactions should be at their peak.

Edited April 1, 2021 by E I Addio

[steve roberts 9,242]

4 minutes ago, E I Addio said:

My Dad became a driving instructor to top up his pension after he retired at age 65. He was 66 when he passed his advanced driving test and carried on as a driving instructor until he was about 72 or 73. He had the patience that comes with age and built a terrific reputation for getting so called “hopeless cases “ through the Driving Test”. There were a number who had failed 4or 5 tests with other driving schools so the school he worked for gave them to him and as far as I recall he got them all through first time with him.  It’s not that he was a better teacher than anyone else but he fifty years experience behind him and he got his pupils to relax behind the wheel and really passed on all the little hints and tips that come with a lifetimes driving. So I think when we talk about older drivers, if their eyesight is good and they have a reasonable degree of common sense, what they lack with reactions perhaps not being what they used to be they usually make for in experience. As you say, the highest insurance risk group is for men and women under 25, when really their eyesight and reactions should be at their peak.

Reminds me many years ago I had visions of becoming a Driving Instructor and passed the inital test but I backed out at the last moment...don't think my patience would have sufficed!

[E I Addio 15,843]

6 hours ago, Vince said:

 was still an excellent driver at 85 and I have an uncle of 80 who still drives his camper all over mainland Europe every year perfectly well. On the other hand my mother at 61 was dying of cancer and driving around full of morphine until I stopped her as the doctors wouldn't and I have a 19 year old niece who passed her test 3rd time but shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a car.

I was watching one of these Motorway Police programmes a couple of months ago. They stopped a 19/20 year old woman, two weeks after her driving test, doing 100 mph, while talking on her mobile phone.

As with most areas of life you can’t educate the terminally stupid !

[stevehone 3,425]

4 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

Reminds me many years ago I had visions of becoming a Driving Instructor and passed the inital test but I backed out at the last moment...don't think my patience would have sufficed!

same, but the cost was unreal

[Mimmo 1,070]

1 hour ago, steve roberts said:

I know that Bryn was closely associated with Hackney and Crayford so travelling within London was somewhat easier but to think he used  to announce (?) at the Isle of Wight  and covered meetings at both King's Lynn and Oxford was quite a feat considering he was based, I believe, in Kent (?)

Yes he did live in Kent, as did the people giving him a lift to Isle of Wight & King's Lynn, but those people were also working in the box too.

[E I Addio 15,843]

1 hour ago, steve roberts said:

I know that Bryn was closely associated with Hackney and Crayford so travelling within London was somewhat easier but to think he used  to announce (?) at the Isle of Wight  and covered meetings at both King's Lynn and Oxford was quite a feat considering he was based, I believe, in Kent (?)

I knew Bryan quite well. Lakesides General Manager , Alan Sargeant used to drive him around most of the time, but occasionally he would need a lift to somewhere like Rye House, and living in Erith he would need to get a train into London then back out to Lakeside where someone would pick him up so it would mean travelling the best part of two hours to be  picked up about a mile as the crow flies from his home, then still had another hour or so to get to Rye House. That’s what you call a speedway fan !

[Humphrey Appleby 13,935]

2 hours ago, E I Addio said:

As you say, the highest insurance risk group is for men and women under 25, when really their eyesight and reactions should be at their peak.

I seem to remember seeing a study of racing drivers that showed their reactions were little or no better than the average person, and driving ability is more down to spatial awareness.

Even though accidents amongst the 25 are probably more down to overconfidence and driving too fast, I think there is a significant element of needing to develop spatial awareness on the road which only comes with a few years of driving experience. 

[iris123 20,935]

We have one fairly posh street near me that has over the years seen quite a few crashes from OAP's parking their cars and going through the shop fronts and they have tried a few things. Now it is 600kg blocks in front of the shops. Not saying OAP's are dangerous drivers, but it seems in this one street they make up about 100% of the culprits

 

[Ray Stadia 1,064]

4 minutes ago, iris123 said:

We have one fairly posh street near me that has over the years seen quite a few crashes from OAP's parking their cars and going through the shop fronts and they have tried a few things. Now it is 600kg blocks in front of the shops. Not saying OAP's are dangerous drivers, but it seems in this one street they make up about 100% of the culprits

 

Maybe automatic gearboxes...'I thought I was pressing on the brake pedal!'