Driving Each Other Crazy...

[adrianh]

Wake up, drive fast, drive defensively and focus on what you are doing and stop worrying about every else on the road, you will be a happier person with less road rage.

I fully agree with you. My moer gets totally stripped when people keep pushing etc. I make a point of concentrating on something else so that whatever is going on doesn't get on my nerves. It sure ain't easy but it does help...f*ck 'm, let the rest of them f*ck up their own Chi....I'll rather try to relax and watch them battle it out!

[Houses4Rent]

This cannot be answered so easily. It depends... E.g. I was working part time for years as a youngster for rental car companies in Germany. Often long distances on the Autobahn pedal to the metal (traffic permitting), often close to or beyond 200 Km/h. Never had an accident. This was not really a problem as all people in Germany have to take a lot of driving lessons before they do their test (skill). Even driving lessons on the Autobahn are compulsory. Roads are generally good (road quality) and most cars are good too (technical standards). The law is usually abided by and the fast lanes are really the faster lanes. That is all very different here, however most cars here are advanced too now even in RSA.
It was quite a challenge when the Berlin wall fell and the Trabbi's came onto our roads. They outside shell is not made from metal. Some called it cardboard. They were slow (100 km/h max at a push) and their drivers had no idea that others can easily be double their speed. I am sure that caused lots of accidents back then.

Today I am riding a 170cc scooter since 6 years which developed my foresight/awareness much more.

I also have a heavy duty truck license code EC and a big bike license code A. I can pretty much drive anything with wheels up to 20 tones.

Luckily nowadays I do not spend much time driving any more. Our family car only clocks up 10000km a year.


All in all

[Blurock]

Speed does not kill - stupidity does.

When I was younger I always drove fast on the open road (never in town!) and tried to beat my previous best. Never had an accident. On the autobahn there are sections with no speed limits. The only accidents that happen is because of stupidity when people do not switch their lights on and slow down in misty conditions. Statistics confirm that the autobahn is the safest road in the world.

On our roads one has to negotiate obstacles travelling at anything from 30 kph to 100 kph. There are countries where they have a minimum speed on certain roads. It won't work here because we allow horse drawn carriages and broken down jalopies on the road.

[adrianh]

Don't kid yourself, speed kills. Although I love driving fast, there is no denying it. The faster you go the more likely you are yo get into serious trouble if something goes wrong. Sh1t happens, tires burst, animals run across the road, oncoming traffic overtake into your lane, the other guy falls asleep and crosses into your lane...etc

I used to drive a Nissan 200SX Turbo and I soon realized that it's better for me to sell the car because the urge to drive at 200km/h + is going to get me or somebody else killed.

My mother in law rolled her car one night when her left front tie rod snapped on her Jetta. Thankfully she was wearing her seat belt.

The bigger picture is that we cannot decide which laws are ok to break. One person thinks its ok to speed, another that it is ok to skip a robot etc.

[Houses4Rent]

The biggest problem in my mind in RSA is not wearing a seat belt, not using children/baby seats etc. Even at slower speeds this will cause much more harm than without them.
Even silly traffic cops do not wear them - so much for leading by example. Do yourself a favour and count how many people wear a belt. Just look at the drivers of oncoming traffic in urban traffic. You will be horrified.

My bad is not wearing a belt in the back seat as I have not formed an automatic habit about it, but then I can count these occasions in my one hand. In the front the reach for the belt is automatic.

[pmbguy]

Speed reduces reaction time and reaction options. You are less capable to deal with changes in the environment the faster you go – difficult to argue against that. There are some exceptions where speed is safer. Evading a threat (or object) or using your vehicle offensively etc.

Competency is crucial, but it does not eliminate the speed-danger factor it only mitigates it. A good driver is competent in both vehicle and environmental awareness -and must have his/her head screwed on right.

In town I drive relatively fast, more like nippy, but I don’t ever speed around. I certainly don’t make the wheels spin, that’s just vulgar. On the highway or long road I go up to 120 with my daughter or wife in the car, if I am alone I go up to 140, rarely over that. I never take blind risks. When I was a teenager I had my fair share of accidents and write offs and it made me wiser.

I don’t know, but sometimes I wish we here in Natal could drive more like you Highveld guys and girls, you know how to drive.

As for seatbelts, I always wear it on the highway/long road, but never for just town driving.

[Houses4Rent]

Maybe you should try to hit a wall/truck etc with 40 km/h or even slower without a seat belt and see what happens. I doubt you will look good after that.

I feel the faster I go (up to the speed limit) the more alert/focussed I am. If I am just cruising along slowly my mind wanders.... which in occasion has made me miss turn offs.

[pmbguy]

I had a head on at about 60km/h and I did not fly out the car, but did hit my head rather hard on the steering wheel. A child on the other hand will fly out the car at 60km, so my daughter always always sits in her kiddy chair and always wears the seatbelt. I will not even reverse out the driveway without her totally secured.

I also get a bit dreamy if I drive too slow. In town I try and chase down the green robot and cut seconds and minutes from the trip, I just hate waiting - generally. I get very frustrated when my wife drives, not that she is particularly slow, its just that she won't take gaps like I do and will often slow down for something she could easily drive around. Wait Don't get me started on the damn learner drivers. There is an area in PMB that seems to be designated as a practice zone. Sometimes 3 cars in front of me are all learner drivers, often passing them is just impossible...so you wait. I would rather not say what goes on in my head at such times.

[adrianh]

My family and I always wear seatbelts, it's one of those things that become a habit. You may do 60Km/h in town but another fool may be doing 120km/h and skip your robot. Seatbelts are exactly like motor cycle helmets, you may be a brilliant rider who obeys the law, who has the best training in the world...but you have no control over what the other person does nor about sh1t that happens. Not if you fall, when you fall you are going to hit the tar. You choose to protect your face or not. Imagine what you will do when you look up from the speedometer at 60km/h and the guy coming in the opposite direction blows a tire and swerves across the road 5m in front of you.

You cannot argue that seat belts save lives.

Spend a couple of hours looking at dash cam crash videos on YouTube, you will soon realize that sh1t happens, that speed kills and that seatbelts save live.

Like I said, I love driving in general and driving fast but we unfortunately share roads with many others and as such have to take care not only to protect ourselves but also to protect them. We can only do this by being mindful and aware of our surrounding and not only of their actions but also the outcome our actions may have on them. You may have ABS and be able to brake perfectly or whatever wonderful gadget that saves your ass...but the other guy may not have all that stuff.

[pmbguy]

I am a great advocate of seatbelts, but for me personally driving in town robot to robot seems pointless wearing one. As soon as there is speed I buckle up. I know I know I should always have it on etc etc, but I don’t care

[adrianh]

I am a great advocate of seatbelts, but for me personally driving in town robot to robot seems pointless wearing one. As soon as there is speed I buckle up. I know I know I should always have it on etc etc, but I don’t care

Maybe, but remember that some d00s may just skip that robot and smack you. Wearing seatbelts is just another habit to develop. Remember that kids do what you do, not what you say. (I say this with your kiddie in mind) My girls have always known that that is the way it works because mu wife and I have always does it.

[Houses4Rent]

Hm, maybe picture yourself the traffic from the side skipping a robot and hitting your drivers side with 60 km/h. Make that a heavy duty truck (with failing breaks or just a dumb driver on the cell phone) for more convincing power.

I would also say you have been pretty lucky to only hit your head on the steering wheel when you crashed at 60 km/h. If the other car was moving to (head on) you are double lucky. You must have been buckled up to not fly out/against the windscreen. An after this experience you still do not wear a belt in town? What did you learn from this crash then? Buy at least a car with air bag.

I am also sure my kids get a fit if the car starts rolling and they are not buckled up yet, because they see that we never drive without one.

[Dave S]

I notice how just about every post here is about SPEED, but there is little mention of anything else, we have become sensitised to the 'speed hype' because of the way the law perceives it as 'easy money', but there is so much else going on the driving front. I can't remember when I last observed a driver obeying (or even knowing) the law at a 4-way stop, I rarely ever see anyone that looks both ways when turning left at an intersection, robots just seem to be coloured lights that don't have any true significance, un-roadworthy vehicles seems to be the "norm", nobody seems to know when to use the lights or when a 'Fog-light' is appropriate, and the list goes on.

I have never researched it, but I would be willing to bet that the instances where speeding has caused the accident, is less than 0.5% or even lower. I think that driving too slowly is more dangerous than driving too fast, both within reason. Typically I like to get on the road, go where I want to be, and get off the road in as little time and as safely as possible, if I am held up by slow drivers it is frustrating and I find myself having to concentrate on watching the car ahead instead of watching what I am doing, while looking for a gap to overtake, hazard potential is 100%, accident potential is somewhere around 40% (just guesstimates as there is no real way to actually measure), and if this slow driver is one of those inconsiderate 'Fog Light Bandits', then I have to do all this with bright light in my eyes. Yes, I can just slow down and pull back, increase the following distance and be on the road for 1-hour instead of 10-mins. Fortunately, I rarely have to drive in peak-hour traffic.

Too fast or too slow? easiest way to determine if this is you, If there is a line of cars behind you and open road in front, you're going too slow and causing a hazard. Likewise if there's open road behind you and a line of cars in front, you're going too fast and are creating a hazard.

[Dave S]

I am a great advocate of seatbelts, but for me personally driving in town robot to robot seems pointless wearing one. As soon as there is speed I buckle up. I know I know I should always have it on etc etc, but I don’t care

The seatbelt protects the wearer and each individual should have the right to decide how well they wish to protect themselves, the point where it gets tricky is with children, will a child have enough experience/knowledge to make this decision for themselves? As Adrian has already said, children follow examples rather than rules.

[pmbguy]

I am a bad parent