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Quote: Originally posted by Fat Bum on 15/11/2007

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Why is everyone in such a rush nowadays? - Just leave earlier and give yourself more time for the journey and the roads would be better, safer places (and in the end we would probably all get there quicker anyway!!).

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 reminds me of an old adage i read many years ago, and i still put it into practice  now " better to be 10 minutes late in this world, than 10 years early in the next"

It makes sense to drive at a reasonable speed (weather conditions allowing) so as not to inconvenience other road users. I will do 60 when conditions allow and its legal!

On french autoroutes I will do 65 or 70 as our outfit is stable and capable of doing it.

Pet hates as I use the M54 daily (2 lane motorway)

The plonker that sits at 45mph in the rush hour- in a car, if you want to drive that slow stay off the bloody motorway!

Truckers, one doing 55, other doing 56mph, take forever to pass each other, really annoying at going to work time!

Or- I have a 40 tonne truck I am going to indicate and pull out when you are almost level with the back of the trailor-usually  foriegn drivers!

Rant over!!!

Quote: Originally posted by mickeyb on 15/11/2007

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Had a good giggle at this thread, make a point of never finding fault with other peoples driving, the motto being 'Patience is the name of the game'. Try never to rush anywhere can't quite understand what all the rushing and tearing is all about.   Nevertheless all the talk of caravans delaying other vehicles brings to mind my days as a trucker. I had the misfortune of having to load china clay occasionally from deepest Cornwall destined for the Kentish paper mills. The truck was an eight wheeler AEC (No power steering either). Grinding up the hills coming out of Par, Bugle comes to mind, changing down into crawler the vehicle actually came to a momentary stop to effect this change. Let go of the wheel, both hands on the gear stick to slam it over thro the gate and back into crawler. Before starting this manoevre would always signal to following traffic with the old fashioned hand signal for 'I am stopping' followed by a one finger salute to denote 'I am changing to first gear'. However, I think a lot of the car/boats on trailers/caravan drivers were totally bemused by all this gesticulating and as I would pull away again would see a line of traffic left behind as many of them stalled  on the hill. Would always pull over to let a build up of traffic by, but in the West country during the summer had a job to get back out of the lay bye. Remember once being overtaken uphill by a guy on a bike, ah well, the pace of life was different then

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 Your showing your age mickeyb, thats when you had to drive them, put some of these drivers of today in one with a crash gearbox, double the clutch to change gear and all you would hear would be the Warsaw concerto on the teeth in the box.

oh for the days of leyland octopus's,aec matadors,etc.etc.etc.

i learnt to drive for my pcv license on aec,s leylands and crossleys,you could roll a fag when changing gear,happy days!!! and we used to go over the pennines in winter,as well with the old girls,lovely,

we had some buses at our depot,single deckers,full front,loverl and warm,get to wakefild had to change after an hours break,bring back a half cab,ex west riding,united,or yorks traction,they were pigs,wooden cab floors,no heating, one left leg roasting other frozen stiff,had to stamp foot on deck to keep use in it and stand on clutch to change gear.

onyone else remember em!!!!

Quote: Originally posted by corrakid on 21/11/2007

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 Your showing your age mickeyb, thats when you had to drive them, put some of these drivers of today in one with a crash gearbox, double the clutch to change gear and all you would hear would be the Warsaw concerto on the teeth in the box.

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Horny handed sons of the road like myself only needed the clutch on a crash gearbox when starting and stopping, the rest of the time you could change up and down the box by timing the revs of the engine. No clutch required.

Err...it's double de-clutch by the way.

Quote: Originally posted by bordercaz on 08/11/2007

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But it isn't the driver going too slow who is creating the accident - it's the impatient driver behind who doesn't wait till he can safely overtake. If it isn't safe then stay behind and wait for an opportunity. Drive within the limits of your car - if it's low powered then you need a much bigger gap to overtake safely.

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Yes, I know that road well - used by lots of agricultural vehicles!

Hopefully he will have learnt from the experience - sometimes experience is the only teacher that drivers take notice of.