Gentlemanly Driver Ahead

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Nigel H-J
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Gentlemanly Driver Ahead

Post by Nigel H-J »

Returning from Grantham yesterday I caught up with an Austin A7, have to say that even with its' slow progress I was more than happy following it apart from when it had to negotiate a hill which left a plume of blue exhaust smoke which was somewhat smelly but then, on approaching a flyover the driver by means of using a hand signal indicated that he was slowing down and allowed us to pass and continue our journey unhindered. (I forgot that I had the microphone switched on and the reason I sounded the horn was as a means of thanking him for pulling over to allow me to pass)

The driver appeared only a few years younger than the car he was driving but what struck me more than anything else was the gentlemanly manner of his driving and of his unselfishness when other vehicles were following at reduced speed. The road I was on is the A607 but is more like a 'B' Road due to the amount of blind bends and is, in places, quite narrow especially through some of the villages and overtaking is very limited.

Secondly, whenever I see an Austin A7 it always reminds me when I was four years old and my father owned one before he became Sales Director of British Nylon Spinners, it even had an indicator arm that popped out between the doors either side instead of having to give hand signals. Just out of interest I had to use hand signals on my driving test in the sixties so when and why was it phased out?

I can remember the time when he was teaching my mother to drive and because the steering was quite heavy she could not turn it quickly enough before crashing through the wooden doors of the garage opposite out home, my father was gutted especially when he realised it needed a new front mudguard come wing!! From then on she had an instructor and used his car though it wasn't until the sixties when we were living in Nottingham that she took her driving test.

Anyway, back to the story, only a few minutes later and on taking a hump back bridge with a blind bend immediately after it I was met by a van wandering over the centre line markings of the road towards me!! he made no attempt to correct but instead continued straddling the white lines as we passed. This is one reason I fitted a camera to the car but I have noticed that a lot of drivers when taking a right hand bend always appear to drive towards the centre of the road regardless of approaching vehicles and whether or not the view around the bend is restricted. Just makes me extremely angry that some drivers are totally oblivious to the poor standard of driving that they display.

Have to apologise about the video but it is in HD but does not appear to be very good from where I am viewing, at home it comes out High Def but via Photobucket it appears nowhere near?? :dunno:

http://vid1379.photobucket.com/albums/a ... 2so78u.mp4

Poor Road Positioning

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Regards
Nigel.
I used to be an optimist but with age I am now a grumpy old pessimist.

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DaveB
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Re: Gentlemanly Driver Ahead

Post by DaveB »

Just makes me extremely angry that some drivers are totally oblivious to the poor standard of driving that they display.
Nothing I can add to that Nigel. Driving is what I do for a living and I never cease to be amazed by what I see each and every day 8)
ATB
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rohan
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Re: Gentlemanly Driver Ahead

Post by rohan »

When I do my weekly shopping at Sainsbury's I use the basement car park, which means going down and up a ramp. At least once a week, approaching the bend at the top of the ramp means I have to brake suddenly because of another car cutting the bend - and it's usually a very expensive car that does it !

And do they bother to correct their flight path ? No, no, no ...

"More money than sense" and "lowest common denominator" come to mind as the air turns blue,
ATB,
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simondix
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Re: Gentlemanly Driver Ahead

Post by simondix »

Try Birmingham.
Simon

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Re: Gentlemanly Driver Ahead

Post by Airspeed »

Must get one of those "dashed cams"!
I don't clock up great distances, but /i do see plenty of material for a gallery of horrors!

Don't know how your pricing is in the UK and US, but the cheapest camera is about $45, and a memory card about $60.
Rather like buying a car with optional wheels.
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robbie
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Re: Gentlemanly Driver Ahead

Post by robbie »

Nigel, after sooo many years driving on the wrong side of the road, that photo frightens the life out of me!!

Having said that, after a drive through Montreal I would need a large G&T just to calm the nerves enough to get out of the car!!

Robbie.

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Tomliner
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Re: Gentlemanly Driver Ahead

Post by Tomliner »

Hi Nigel. Like you, I also had to demonstrate the correct usage of hand signals during my test in the 60s. I seem to recall the signal indicator arms were sometimes referred to as 'trafficators' which may orinally have been an American term.
The final thing to say after watching the video is that I clearly identified the East Midland accent.It's an accent that many people find difficult to place unless they originate from the area, and like you I lived in the region for most of my life,specifically the Nottingham area.In fact SWMBO and I have similar accents.Thanks for posting :thumbsup: EricT
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Kevin Farnell
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Re: Gentlemanly Driver Ahead

Post by Kevin Farnell »

What type of dashcam have you got Nigel?
I've been thinking of getting one (or even 2, front and rear). It seems that on anything other than short journeys, I'll see at least one incident that I wish I had a record of.
A few months ago, I was travelling on the A14 near Kettering. There were 6 Miles of road works with a 40mph limit, a ban on lorries in the RH lane and plenty of speed cameras . I set cruise control to 39mph and let the cat take care of it. There was one car behind me and behind that, an HGV (UK reg). The HGV driver spent the whole 6 miles sounding his horn and flashing roof mounted spot lights. Funny how the HGV driver obeyed the ban on the RH lane, but seemed not to care about the speed limit :dunno:

Kevin
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Re: Gentlemanly Driver Ahead

Post by Dev One »

Semaphore arms? My first car didn't have them, so purely arm signals! It was a soft top Morris OHC Minor of 1931 vintage, 3 speed crash box & 4 wheel cable brakes which were useless! Dynamo took about 10 miles to burn off the oil before it would start charging (it was the link between the crankshaft & the Camshaft!)

Austin 10 1937 vintage after that & a '53 Austin A40 Somerset, both had hardly working semaphore arms & one became adept at bashing ones fist on the door post to get it to pop out!
Glad cars are now a lot more reliable these days as I haven't got the energy to get under them like I used to have to!
Keith

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Re: Gentlemanly Driver Ahead

Post by Filonian »

Dev One wrote: both had hardly working semaphore arms & one became adept at bashing ones fist on the door post to get it to pop out! Keith

Remember 'em well Keith. I had to bash mine to get 'em in and out at times.



Graham
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