First driving lesson next week!! Yayyy

[clocker]

BTW-

I'd like your "honest opinion" on whether any level of attainable driving ability might warrant use of the term "great", considering you've already ruled out "excellent".

An elliptical aside:

I remember reading an interview with Jackie Stewart during which the journalist (Henry Manney III, David E. Davis?) became so engrossed in the converstaion that he lost track of time and was suddenly faced with an unmakeable deadline to catch his plane.
Stewart offered to drive him and they made record time through horrible London traffic.
What impressed the writer most was not that Stewart could drive fast (doh!), rather, despite the traffic and distance, he could not recall feeling any sensation of acceleration or braking- Stewart was so smooth and controlled that even blitzing through London seemed pedestrian.

That to me epitomises a good (or even great) driver.
Any idiot can go fast- to go fast without seeming effort or brouhaha takes real talent.

Well, proper handbrake etiquette helps as well.

[vidcc]

There are "good" race car drivers that make for lousy road drivers, just as there are "good" road drivers that make for lousy race car drivers.

[Ava Estelle]

UK driving Test.. you are certain to fail the test because your car was not secured when stationary.

http://ukadi.blogspot.com/

Thank you BB, just what this is all about, a kid taking his driving test.

I thought you guys were talking about pulling away from parking on an incline...not idling in traffic.

Quite right MN, and also stopping on a hill and pulling away again.

I have done my share of racing; Clocker has, believe me, done more than the rest of us combined (sorry, Ava)

You Googled that did you?

If you want to know about safety, ask a racer.

Rubbish ... period!

Sheer dumb luck, I suppose.

Now you're getting it.

Had Ava been driving in front of you, you would no doubt have been late arriving.

Had he been behind you, I expect you'd be somewhat injured just now, and your car roont, as well.

Oh, no, wait...he'd have been in the wrong lane.

Never mind...

I repeat ... I have been driving on the road for 43 years, I actually learned to drive in one of my father's Thames Trader trucks when I was 12, taking gravel from the pit to the hoppers. I've driven all over Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, motorbikes, cars, trucks, cranes, buses, four wheel drives and even a motorised rickshaw. In all that time I have never had an accident, nor as much as a speeding ticket, in fact, my only brush with the law was an $80 fine for not having my license with me, and a $40 fine for not wearing a seatbelt, both offences were 25 kilometres up a gravel road in the middle of the Great Dividing Range, driving a kilometre to a mate's house, the first cops I'd ever seen on the road. I've driven left hand drive vehicles on right hand drive roads and right hand drive vehicles on left hand drive roads. I raced Mini Coopers and Lotus Cortinas from the ages of 17 to 22, and still race go-karts. So if you seriously think I give a shit about childish taunts from someone who would come into a thread from a young kid taking driving lessons, and tell him it's OK to start off his driving with bad habits, you're sadly mistaken. I'll put my driving record against yours any day. A good driver is a safe driver, not a cocky show-off, as you seem to believe.

[Barbarossa]

I tried the heel/toe braking/accelerating thing last night on my way home, and almost crashed into a ditch

The problems were twofold:

1). My foot appears to be too long.
2). The pedals are at different heights.

I think I'll stick to proper driving from now on

[j2k4]

I repeat ... I have been driving on the road for 43 years, I actually learned to drive in one of my father's Thames Trader trucks when I was 12, taking gravel from the pit to the hoppers. I've driven all over Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, motorbikes, cars, trucks, cranes, buses, four wheel drives and even a motorised rickshaw. In all that time I have never had an accident, nor as much as a speeding ticket, in fact, my only brush with the law was an $80 fine for not having my license with me, and a $40 fine for not wearing a seatbelt, both offences were 25 kilometres up a gravel road in the middle of the Great Dividing Range, driving a kilometre to a mate's house, the first cops I'd ever seen on the road. I've driven left hand drive vehicles on right hand drive roads and right hand drive vehicles on left hand drive roads. I raced Mini Coopers and Lotus Cortinas from the ages of 17 to 22, and still race go-karts. So if you seriously think I give a shit about childish taunts from someone who would come into a thread from a young kid taking driving lessons, and tell him it's OK to start off his driving with bad habits, you're sadly mistaken. I'll put my driving record against yours any day. A good driver is a safe driver, not a cocky show-off, as you seem to believe.

So, you've done lots of driving in places where there no one was in attendence save perhaps some Sherpas and a scattering of sheep and rabbits, and certainly no rules or police.

Other than that, we may gather you are in your mid-fifties, and as yet unable to face facts.

This last is not news.

I'll tell you what:

Give yourself the vehicle of your choice, and me one just like it, and I'll catch you...then I'll drive around in front of you all day long - how's that work for you?

[j2k4]

I tried the heel/toe braking/accelerating thing last night on my way home, and almost crashed into a ditch

The problems were twofold:

1). My foot appears to be too long.
2). The pedals are at different heights.

These impediments are occasionally encountered.

Perhaps the hand-brake might be of use.

[clocker]

UK driving Test

Take the example of a simple mistake of not putting on the handbrake while waiting in traffic. That would be a driver error which will not cause you to fail the test (unless it takes you over the 15 driver error limit). However if the car behind you accidentally bumps you, and your car surges forward a bit without hitting the car in front of you (because you had stopped far enough behind using tyres and tarmac rule), your little mistake is now a serious error due to what you would say is no fault of yours, and you will fail the test. Even if your car does not surge forward when bumped, you are certain to fail the test because your car was not secured when stationary.

http://ukadi.blogspot.com/

Useful hints on sitting the UK driving test.

It occurs to me that nothing in this paragraph specifically mentions a manual transmission so I can only assume that when driving an automatic you guys put it in PARK and engage the handbrake at traffic stops as well.
Right?

Yeah, thought not.

[Ava Estelle]

Give yourself the vehicle of your choice, and me one just like it, and I'll catch you...then I'll drive around in front of you all day long - how's that work for you?

I wondered how long it would take for something as peurile as that to pop up, you never disappoint. Ask your dad if he'd like to fight my dad.

It occurs to me that nothing in this paragraph specifically mentions a manual transmission so I can only assume that when driving an automatic you guys put it in PARK and engage the handbrake at traffic stops as well.
Right?

Yeah, thought not.

So, you lost the argument for the manual gearbox, now you want a shot at automatics. Have you ever driven one, or are they a bit new for the age of cars you drive?

[clocker]

It occurs to me that nothing in this paragraph specifically mentions a manual transmission so I can only assume that when driving an automatic you guys put it in PARK and engage the handbrake at traffic stops as well.
Right?

Yeah, thought not.

So, you lost the argument for the manual gearbox, now you want a shot at automatics. Have you ever driven one, or are they a bit new for the age of cars you drive?

*sigh*
You failed to address the question.

[vidcc]

It occurs to me that nothing in this paragraph specifically mentions a manual transmission so I can only assume that when driving an automatic you guys put it in PARK and engage the handbrake at traffic stops as well.
Right?

Yeah, thought not.

Hardly anyone does (bad habits once they pass their test), however the correct thing to do (depending on what "stop") is put it in neutral with the handbrake engaged