ADUK Archive

I was chatting with a mate over the weekend was was telling him all about my driving day down in Cheddar. He told me that himself, his girlfriend and another mate had been "terrified" (direct quote) by my driving when I took them to Bath some months ago.

Now, I don't think my driving's too bad, and I can't remember any dodgy overtakes (especially that far back) but it got me to thinking. I came up with some possible reasons:

1. Is my driving that pants ?

2. Is it that, as non-advanced driving passengers, they're not thinking along the same lines as me and as thus don't understand why I've done something the way I have ?

3. As they're passengers have they switched off from looking out the windscreen and trust me to get them to point B in safety and comfort ?

I spoke to someone else who's a pretty reasonable driver (IAM some years ago but not RoSPA, albeit capable of it with tutoring) and she had a similar experience with her brother some time ago.

Interested to hear what you all think...

Hi dvenman.

Can't comment on your driving, but I'm assuming you were driving to an advanced standard.

IF this is the case could they not all be very nervous passengers anyway.

Many passengers who are drivers themselves do not have the same 'vision' as advanced drivers and maybe this was the problem.

Either way the only answer I guess is to actually ask them, their reasons (valid or otherwise) may then become apparent and if explanation needed you can pass this on.

I think you'll have to try and get more detail from him about what terrified him. It's a while since I've driven with you but I certainly wasn't disquieted in any way, and I hope you've improved since then.

Most people nowadays don't expect overtakes to happen at all, except on dual carriageways, so maybe you did overtake someone on a single carriageway road and they were spooked by this. Or maybe they're just not used to being driven at speeds up to the limit (although that'd be hard on some of the roads around Bath).

Many factors but I would say you have areas to improve if your co-drivers or passenger is uncomfortable with your driving. I'm in a similar boat.

Chauffeuring takes on different skill. Smoothness - I'm trying to drive progressively without my passenger notice that they are travelling faster than they thought they are. Being able to string a series of hazard together. For example, driving at a lower speed through the 2nd or 3rd hazards / bends, comprise some positioning so you get the 4th or 6th hazard right without heavier braking or acceleration or change of direction. Minimising gear change or engine noise, have a bigger safety zone around your vehicle, lower g-force, etc.

Garrison wrote:I'm in a similar boat.

I've been reliably informed you're nowhere near as scary as you used to be, Garrison

Mr Cholmondeley-Warner wrote:

Garrison wrote:I'm in a similar boat.

I've been reliably informed you're nowhere near as scary as you used to be, Garrison

Thanks for your kind words Nick!

There's likely to be a mismatch between expectation & your behaviour, which doesn't necessarily mean that the latter is wrong.

If you don't conform to the usual pattern, probably bimbling along at 40mph everywhere, you will surprise your passengers. And why not, since they don't know you're better equipped.

A quote that sticks in my mind is when a motorcyclist wrote something along the lines of, 'the scariest time I've ever had on a bike was riding pillion, because I could see all the hazards and watch the rider not reacting to them'.

To look at it the other way, other people's driving now alarms me, because I'm looking at all the things they're doing wrong, even if by the average person's standards it's a reasonably good drive. AD has turned me into a much poorer passenger.

To add to all the other great comments - it can come down to nuances as to how you drive...

e.g. - an overtake, an AD might see an overtake opportunity and be happy to take it where a less advanced driver hasn't seen the opportunity - but the actual physical way in which the overtake occurs can still be on a range from scary to so smooth it wasn't noticed...

when I did my recent course I was asked (in my z3) why I was continually changing up a gear at 3,000rpm - when the car came alive at that point - point accepted and wow the car is so much more fun and alive staying in 3rd gear, with fourth for occasional cruisy bits, 5th now seems underpowered... but the noise in the car changes you hear the howl of a straight six / you get pops and crackles from the over-run and it is generally noisier and more alive - for someone who is nervous / unsure this could be much more worrying than driving at 2,000rpm and feeling cocconed - don't forget that modern cars insulate drivers from the reality of the car, so sophistication / comfort is seen as a factor of lack of noise & isolation...

also worth going for a drive with someone else to ask this question - drive as normal and see what a dispassionate third party thinks - it is very easy as an AD to look further ahead, but sometimes to seem to ignore the situation around you because in your mind you have already dealt with it, whereas your passenger(s) is fixated on that...

not sure where you are - but if within reach of the Cotswolds, am happy to go for a drive...

Alasdair

Thanks all - useful pointers. Trying (as well as driving) to see the drive from a passenger's point of view may be a useful exercise and seeing it from a chauffeur's point of view may help.

Alasdair - PM sent...

As has been mentioned, ask them why they were terrified.

If they say they were terrified, then they were. It's their perception and you can't tell them otherwise, and it's their perception that you are going to have to manage.

If, after chatting to them, you believe it is down to differences in what you are looking at, observing and dealing with, would there be an opportunity for you to drive them again and this time you provide a commentary?

May I also add that an advanced driver should be able to adjust their driving to a level appropriate for their co-driver and passengers.

If you want to drive in a more highly populated areas, give me a shout. I'm east London based and use Essex, Kent, Sussex and Cambridgeshire for driving.

I have this issue, my parents seem to be fine, mostly, with my driving, but they don't like me doing certain things, such as straight-lining empty roundabouts, and the fact I will use my main beams on dual carriageways.

However, whenever I'm being driven by my parents, I find their driving to be alarming, and they don't seem to react to hazards that I've spotted miles back and their inability to use main-beam at night, much preferring to bomb along at NSL with nothing more than the dipped beam providing illumination.

Interestingly enough, my mother, who I tend to think is a better driver than my dad, complains more about my driving than my dad does.

The other thing that I do is I tend to rev the engine a lot and use the power-band much more than my parents do, they prefer to change up at about 2000 rpm.

What would you say the power band of your Yeti is, then? (thinks, isn't it a diesel? )

Mr Cholmondeley-Warner wrote:What would you say the power band of your Yeti is, then? (thinks, isn't it a diesel? )

Above 2000 rpm, it will pull decently until about 4000 rpm, after that is just pointless (Rev limiter kicks in about 5000 rpm)

You can cruise comfortably with the revs between 1500 and 2000, but it's very slow to respond whenever the revs are in that area, and below 1500 it's very unpleasant, and vibrates the whole car and feels like you could be labouring it.

I generally avoid going below 1500 if I know I'm not coming to a standstill.

OK, so it has a turbo that kicks in around the 2k mark. So for progressive driving, you want to be above that, as you've noticed. For economy, and when you don't need instant response, you can cruise just below that point.

My 308's turbo comes in just a little earlier, at around 1700, but like yours, it pulls best above 2k. Motorway cruising in 6th gear when it doesn't matter can be at 1700 or 1800 rpm, thus saving money.