Safe Speed Forums

Quite a witty piece in "AutoCar" - by Chris Harris this week. He observed how hopeless we are when we drive in the rain.

He compares with Finland and Switzerland "



He imagines Sir David Attenborough explaining it thus



and wryly comments that still the English cannot drive in the rain

He admits to struggling to find the reasons..

Drains

He wonders why the M4 floods - in the middle of a drought - whenever a family stops to allow the 5 year old a quick "piddle"

He wonders why teh government decided not to ues the anti-spray asphalt used in EU - Germany, France, Austria, |Switzerland - when it works and SAVES lives .. but then I suppose that COSTS money and the whole policy is to fleece the poor old motorists in the UK.. so we cannot have this basic then which would benefit all road users, taxpayers and the NHS longer term ...

So he concludes .. the conditions do not help...

But then he ponders .. is this lack of investment down to fact that average Brit removes brains when it rains?

Poor Chris he says it took him almost 4 hours to drive the 80 miles between Bristol and Reading because of people hitting the brakes needlessly and he was sure the Vx Signum who pumped his brakes ten times per minute was causing wave jams in Mid Wales by then ..

He agrees that the rain and poor visibility dictate a safe speed - as in below the limit - but decides that as long as the car is roadworthy it works very well in a down pour. after all



Bravo! I think nail hits head there.. And I think adds to the message on road safety we are all trying to get across.

So - he concludes

The British are not very good at adapting - prone to panicking and this panic causes excessive steering and throttle usage .. the mistakes which can and do cause some of our accidents.

So .. how do we attempt to improve driving in our common wet climate - cos although we may have a drought .. we still drive in drizzle. (Drought's been caused by this light drizzle ... it did not penetrate into the chalky "natural reserves" which feed the rivers in the South East ... per News Night and ITN blurbs all week )

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Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

Well isn't the advice to keep 4 seconds behind the car in front in wet weather rather than the usual 2? I don't know whether that's entirely necessary in all but the most torrential conditions.
I find in bad weather I just adapt automatically, ease off the throttle a little until I feel comfortable with the stopping distances and speed. I look at the visibility in front of me to judge whether side or headlights are needed or not.

Now I've only been driving 9 years, considerably less than most on here, but the weather conditions I drove through on Tuesday night, about 7:30, were without doubt the worst I have ever driven in. Was on the M60, when one of the most horrendous rain/thunder storms I've ever encountered erupted, even by Manchester's standards . It brought traffic almost to a standstill, and not surprising given that visibility was reduced to almost zero and there were several small floods to drive through. Odd though, how the general traffic speed was self-regulating - probably reduced to about 30-40mph as that was the current safe speed for the prevailing conditions....and that was without any intervention from cameras or other enforcement means.

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Why can't we just use Common Sense?

I was also on this same motorway at the same time I bet, travelling from Ashton Under Lyne to Manchester Airport by motorcycle, I must admit that I didn't do the same speed as the cars at this time, maybe it's due to being higher up, double screen or it may be due to being in contact with my road wheels as apposed to going through power this and that, but I was comfortable doing 70mph in these conditions on 2 wheels (even round bredbury corner :@) and wouldn't have minded all cars doing 30 - 40mph if they didn't feel the need to take all 3 lanes doing it.. If you want to do the same speed as the car next to you, get in front or behind them, don't sit next to them.

I must admit though, it was terrible weather, miserable and when I got in my coach at work and drove in it, visibility was terrible.

A camera would have done me for speeding on my bike, yet I probably slowed everyone down in my coach, I'm the same person, yet it was safe for me to do 70+mph on the bike, and probably dangerous at the 30 (if I was lucky) in the coach due to the visibility difference, the brake difference and most importantly the tyre difference (why do coaches, busses and trucks have such CRAP tyres??)

Must say though, if it rains, turn your lights on, it lets people know you're moving if nothing else and costs you nothing.

In real bad rain, especially on motorways, use your fogs, but please remember to turn them off again, it's not hard, it's the little button you pressed to turn them on and there's usually a light telling you they're still on, I know we're only human and all forget (I've gone miles with my indicator flashing because the light is behing the steering wheel) but if 5 - 10 cars flash at you from behind, check your fog lights, chances are they're on.

I Drove down to Southampton on Sunday and not only was it pouring with rain, it was blowing about a force 8 side wind too. It was hard work just keeping the car on the road. Thankfully being a weekend there weren't that many high siders about. I don't think I'd have liked to have been driving one of Scanny77's double deck trailers that day!

The thing that ceases to amaze me is that people don't slow down in these conditions! Even worse, when I was in L1 doing about 55-60mph people would pass me and then cut in so close in front of me that I was completely blinded by spray! The worst thing was that for the entire journey down (M4, A34, M3, M27) there were no matrix warnings about the conditions, but when we got back onto the M4 on the way back, AFTER the bad weather had passed, the matrix signs were showing 50mph.

All I can say is that its no wonder there are so many accidents in these conditions.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

They did on the M40 on Sunday - at one point as a squally shower went through everybody slowed to 30, which was just as well as visibility for about a minute was down to about 30 yards.

The cutting in however was common - I lost count of the number of times it happened to me as I did 60ish in L1. Somewhere between 1 and 2 car lengths before they cut in and blinded me with spray. Very similar to the problem in the other thread about being continuously cut up.

I was taught that you should be able to see the overtaken vehicle in your rear view mirror before you pull back in to ensure that you don't pull into their safety space. Apparently this isn't a particularly common practice.

Don't know what you're all talking about. You're completely safe* on the motorway as long as you keep below 70.


*from prosecution

That's news to me Rewolf - I was never tought anything like that. Personally I go by time interval - I try if possible to leave about a 2 second gap before I pull in.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Well that is the intention, but rather than trying to count 2 seconds, by simply being able to see the front of the overtaken vehicle in your rear view mirror (both headlights for example) before you indicate to pull in you will have left a suitably generous gap without having to put much concentration into it.

I was never taught that, but it is what I taught myself to do. Agree that it's the safest way to leave a safe gap.

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Why can't we just use Common Sense?

That's a good idea Rewolf - might give it a try next time I'm out in the car.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.