StressedDave wrote:Nicola wrote:Dave - your MX5 sounds something else it really does:)
Alas, no longer. Fatherhood means a nicely underpowered Skoda Octavia diesel estate these days.
Nicola wrote:I have been practising again today and actually got some better results coming up to roundabouts. The thing is - your method is clearly different and you are an advanced driver but others advocate the slower approach. Does it mean that there is no right or wrong as long as it is safe?
I'm just 'different', full stop. I'm not an advanced driver in terms of the fact that I'm neither a member of IAM or ROADAR (nor ever likely to be as I have enough jam recipes already - joke (C) Simon Hiscock). My method is different because a lot of my formative experience comes from watching Met Police traffic officers drive under blue light conditions. They most certainly wouldn't recognise Chris' teachings as what actually happens in a jam sandwich. As with the answer to every question on here, it depends...
Why do I do what I do when it comes to linear hazards like roundabouts?
Firstly, I'm a pessimist - I always assume that I am going to have to stop at the give way line. If you're trying to cross a bust traffic stream then you are going to have to stop and weight.
Secondly, I've only got £10 worth of concentration to spend, and if I have to spend some of that answering the question 'do I need to do some more braking?', then I'm wasting money.
Thirdly, if you start slowing down early, you're just wasting time. Early observation is wonderful if things aren't going to signficantly change by the time you reach a hazard. In a roundabout situation, a lot can happen in say 20 seconds. Your concentration is far better spent deciding if you can come out of a braking phase that, if you do nothing, will stop you at the give way line. That thing you need to remember here, though, is that if you start braking early, it's very difficult to modulate the brakes over a long distance to get the right rate of deceleration. Engine braking is even worse because you only have six possible rates of retardation and some of those are locked out by road speed.
Fourthly, I've been doing this for over twenty years now and I only had three years of 'untrained' driving before that. Getting this shit right takes time... I was unbdoubtedly as awful a driver as it is possible to be and it took quite a few years of doing it wrong, even after training, before my driving was what could be considered acceptable. You cannot change things overnight.
Nicola wrote:I am sure that a slower approach is much smoother but does that necessarily mean it is safer? I don't know the answer to all of these questions - I am on the bottom rung of the ladder and clearly don't have the experience to have formed opinions yet so just throwing out questions
Martine - that is an invitation I can't refuse
I will sign up and come along and see what it is all about.....and jc - I'm glad you have your eyes closed because it's quite likely that you've seen me over in the Redhill area, behaving badly , before I saw the light
I will be there tomorrow morning as well so watch out for me 'n Bluebell
I'm hoping to be at Oxford too... if sitting in a Skoda isn't too much of a climbdown, I'm happy to drive with anyone; except JC who did his formative years when he had to have a speedy runner with a flag in front...