Speck:
‘…Big difference is you can overtake safely on a motorway…’
That kind of statement is worthy of Molehusband contempt: A properly trained driver will consider overtaking safely on any reasonable class of road: How many muppets have you had loyally glued 6 feet from your tail when the straight & flat road on which you’re legally travelling (with no side roads & in good vis’, etc, etc) is oblivious to them as providing an ideal passing opportunity? Many want spoon-feeding with ‘limits’ to suit their ignorance …most need training beyond their dismal ‘test’ standard.
I feel sorry for a trained/wise driver at the back of the wagon-train with a string of cars and an LGV to get past.
(Perhaps consider giving IAM gift vouchers for crap-driving ability friends/rellies this Christmas…or those too scared to “make reasonable progress when suitable conditions allow”)
I agree. Not wagon related, but I was in my car on the A169 in N Yorks a few days ago - lovely bright sunny day and fairly light traffic. Life is good, doing about 75-80 and then up ahead was a line of about 25 cars all sat behind a tractor doing about 15mph. I could see the road ahead of the tractor for a good quarter mile and it was completely clear . Hmm… There was no turning or gates for the tractor to turn in to and no road markings preventing me from overtaking so as I still had a decent speed going I pulled out and overtook them all in one go , of course being extremely cautious of anyone else in the queue pulling out though. Would’ve loved to have seen the looks of their faces but as I was chuckling to myself I was also wondering wtf was wrong with them all■■? Why the hell were they all sat behind the tractor doing 15mph like a load of lemons when there was a clear road ahead for miles?
Rob K:
I agree. Not wagon related, but I was in my car on the A169 in N Yorks a few days ago - lovely bright sunny day and fairly light traffic. Life is good, doing about 75-80 and then up ahead was a line of about 25 cars all sat behind a tractor doing about 15mph. I could see the road ahead of the tractor for a good quarter mile and it was completely clear . Hmm… There was no turning or gates for the tractor to turn in to and no road markings preventing me from overtaking so as I still had a decent speed going I pulled out and overtook them all in one go , of course being extremely cautious of anyone else in the queue pulling out though. Would’ve loved to have seen the looks of their faces but as I was chuckling to myself I was also wondering wtf was wrong with them all■■? Why the hell were they all sat behind the tractor doing 15mph like a load of lemons when there was a clear road ahead for miles?
I can tell you why - they have never been shown/trained as to how to do an overtake on a that type of road safely & properly.
I am going to bet that you went into the opposing lane either, before you put your foot down to overtake, or you got into the opposing lane very early (for vision) but gave yourself the option to slow and join the back of the queue if it was needed - am I right
Car learners, generally, don’t get to do that on their training or on test and there is no compulsory post test training so that they can be taught how to do it when they have gained a little more experience and confidence.
I teach so many how to do this type of overtake when they come for AD training and when they see how to think about it, do it, and have the reasons explained for each phase, they are amazed that they never got taught it in the first place
Speck:
‘…So would my “50mph for all” idea not solve all these issues?..’
Because it would anihilate any positive social sensation and trash the efficient means of transport that motorcyclists enjoy - which as you wrote earlier:
Speck:
‘…As a biker, trucker and car driver…’
some may have reasonably assumed might have occurred to you.
Who the blazes needs a more ‘grey-faced’ nation than the homogenised, ‘Strictly- Euro-Tesco’ - and spiritually bereft culture that is brain-numbing the nuts off this island seemingly now known as ‘Brit-land’…?
the maoster:
dropping Mr Sales Rep to 56mph in the near future.
Now that would be funny , could be argued he drives for a living in the course of his work, so why not
Tiger.
Be even funnier if he had to do a rep driver cpc
Well there you are Rog! you got a job at last. This will include a lot of multitask training (all at 80mph), on phone, taking notes, adjusting tie, shaving, reading paper and whatever else reps get up to on the road
ROG:
Be even funnier if he had to do a rep driver cpc
Well there you are Rog! you got a job at last. This will include a lot of multitask training (all at 80mph), on phone, taking notes, adjusting tie, shaving, reading paper and whatever else reps get up to on the road
You got it spot on Rob, the average motorist hasn’t a clue, I do similar to you on a regular basis.
Not so sure about the need for further training though. I’ve never had any additional driver training! Sadly, too many average motorists leave their brains at home!!
Truck brakes have come a long way in the past few years. The distance that a modern truck needs to come to a halt is far shorter that that of a truck from 30 years ago.
It is simply stupid to have different speed limits for different vehicles on the same road. The trucks are going to hold up the cars, they will try to overtake, this increases the risk of accidents
Why would 50mph for all not be a good idea?
Point 1. Truck brakes may have come on in 30 years, the difference is that the load restraint has not, why are there so many shed loads? A sudden stop will still be overtaken by a load. Worse still if it is steel or timber restrained by PVC
Point 2. It may be stupid but the nature of it says that all vehicles will be able to travel at different speeds. or do you want us all to follow the European example and limit tractors to 12 mph and all other road users have to obey the same limit.
50 mph on some roads is possible, on others it is clearly not.
Rob K:
I agree. Not wagon related, but I was in my car on the A169 in N Yorks a few days ago - lovely bright sunny day and fairly light traffic. Life is good, doing about 75-80 and then up ahead was a line of about 25 cars all sat behind a tractor doing about 15mph. I could see the road ahead of the tractor for a good quarter mile and it was completely clear . Hmm… There was no turning or gates for the tractor to turn in to and no road markings preventing me from overtaking so as I still had a decent speed going I pulled out and overtook them all in one go , of course being extremely cautious of anyone else in the queue pulling out though. Would’ve loved to have seen the looks of their faces but as I was chuckling to myself I was also wondering wtf was wrong with them all■■? Why the hell were they all sat behind the tractor doing 15mph like a load of lemons when there was a clear road ahead for miles?
I can tell you why - they have never been shown/trained as to how to do an overtake on a that type of road safely & properly.
I am going to bet that you went into the opposing lane either, before you put your foot down to overtake, or you got into the opposing lane very early (for vision) but gave yourself the option to slow and join the back of the queue if it was needed - am I right
You are right although I didn’t straddle the road in this situation as I was coming round a very shallow curve in the road hence how I could see the tractor and all the cars and all the surroundings/view of the road ahead etc. I’d be lying if I said that my arse wasn’t nipping a bit when I’d begun the overtake though !! 25ish cars and a tractor all with about 2 car lengths between them all made the whole line up about 200 yards long and although I could see quarter of a mile of the road ahead, that really isn’t much road to play with when you’re committing yourself to spending 6-7 seconds in the oncoming lane with no option to chicken out!! But hey, I lived to tell the tale!
. Hmm… There was no turning or gates for the tractor to turn in to and no road markings preventing me from overtaking so as I still had a decent speed going I pulled out and overtook them all in one go 
I’d be lying if I said that my arse wasn’t nipping a bit when I’d begun the overtake though !! 25ish cars and a tractor all with about 2 car lengths between them all made the whole line up about 200 yards long 
