New old boy
Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 2:32 pmHi everyone. After 50 years of motoring I'm delighted to report that I've managed not to kill myself! (You'd have been worried if I said that I had killed myself.) More importantly, neither have I killed or injured anyone else.
My initial skills were developed on a motorbike where I learnt to read the road. Get that wrong and it hurts! Then at 18 I bought my first car (an Austin A40 Somerset) and haven't looked back since (except in my mirrors or over my shoulder when changing lanes). From that time I've been interested in all aspects of motoring, but most particularly roadcraft. A day on a skid pan was most enlightening, but not as generally informative as the week long ambulance driving course I went on. It was on that course that I developed skills such as judging a country road well ahead by looking at tree tops, and leaving sufficient gap behind the preceding vehicle when stopped at junctions to be able to pull out and pass if that vehicle was unable to move off. More obvious techniques I learnt, but still rarely used by most motorists, included positioning when approaching bends for the best early view. I've also done a bit of single seater racing at Thruxton and only recently I enjoyed driving an Aston Martin V8 Vantage and a Ferrari 360F1 Modena at Silverstone. I currently own a 2012 Mercedes C350 Sport saloon.
So I can claim to be an advanced driver in years of experience, but by no means an expert and certainly willing to learn more. I look forward to many years of fascinating discussions here.
My initial skills were developed on a motorbike where I learnt to read the road. Get that wrong and it hurts! Then at 18 I bought my first car (an Austin A40 Somerset) and haven't looked back since (except in my mirrors or over my shoulder when changing lanes). From that time I've been interested in all aspects of motoring, but most particularly roadcraft. A day on a skid pan was most enlightening, but not as generally informative as the week long ambulance driving course I went on. It was on that course that I developed skills such as judging a country road well ahead by looking at tree tops, and leaving sufficient gap behind the preceding vehicle when stopped at junctions to be able to pull out and pass if that vehicle was unable to move off. More obvious techniques I learnt, but still rarely used by most motorists, included positioning when approaching bends for the best early view. I've also done a bit of single seater racing at Thruxton and only recently I enjoyed driving an Aston Martin V8 Vantage and a Ferrari 360F1 Modena at Silverstone. I currently own a 2012 Mercedes C350 Sport saloon.
So I can claim to be an advanced driver in years of experience, but by no means an expert and certainly willing to learn more. I look forward to many years of fascinating discussions here.
Now that's the sort of multitasking that would impress any woman. 
But don't tell me you do all that with Summer tyres fitted or I won't believe you.