Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.
|
|
| Author |
Message |
52classic
Joined: 02 Oct 2008
Posts: 493
Location: Cardiff.
|
 Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 5:11 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
TBH I never gave this subject a thought until it was recently covered at some length on another of my favorite car sites. The eventual emphasis was on whether it is reasonable to subject your children to the unnecessary risk of traveling in an old car.
Now on here as well - Perhaps I should think more clearly about it!
Save only for the increased volume of traffic I can't see that 'our' cars are any more dangerous now than they ever have been. That increased traffic is partly offset by the lower mileage too, so on balance I find the risk acceptable considering the amount of enjoyment we get. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Ray White
Joined: 02 Dec 2014
Posts: 6316
Location: Derby
|
| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 6:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I have never had children so I can't really say what I would do if I had but I do know I would not be happy about taking other people's kids in my tourer. I can imagine it would be taking a risk to let any children travel in an open touring car especially if they were not strapped in.
They make me nervous at the best of times; you never know what they are going to do next!  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Paul fairall
Joined: 17 Nov 2016
Posts: 429
Location: North west Kent
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2017 9:05 am Post subject: Re: How safe do you feel driving an old car? |
|
|
| Rick wrote: | Hi all,
Not wishing to tempt fate or anything, but it's a consideration when driving an oldie. Only a couple of weeks ago I was out in little Dodge, our road was closed for some reason so we had to divert down the lanes for a mile or so. Negotiating the lanes at our usual (very) leisurely pace, we nearly had a head-on with a modern Merc in a hurry, where the road narrowed to a single car's width.
A few hundred yards further on, a big Jap 4x4 pickup thing came at us from a turning on the left, its driver clearly hadn't spotted the unpainted junction, and nearly slid into the side of us, wheels locked etc.
Does the thought of an accident ever cross your mind while at the wheel? Perhaps this is one reason that many old cars are "high days and holidays" only now?
RJ |
i went to visit a friend recently and took my usual route through the the country lanes, I was taking it easy like I always do in these single track roads when a car came around a blind bend and I had to stand on the brake pedal and only just managed to stop. It's not something I would like to do on a daily basis.
_________________
1957 ford popular |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
peter scott
Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 7118
Location: Edinburgh
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2017 9:46 am Post subject: Re: How safe do you feel driving an old car? |
|
|
| Paul fairall wrote: | | I was taking it easy like I always do in these single track roads when a car came around a blind bend and I had to stand on the brake pedal and only just managed to stop. It's not something I would like to do on a daily basis. |
I have a friend who had an accident like this. It wasn't even a single track road. A VW Golf came round on the wrong side and slammed into my friend's Jaguar MkI. My friend would have lost his life due to blood loss had his wife not been able to administer first aid at the site. The Golf driver was uninjured!
Peter
_________________
http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
gillberry
Joined: 27 Nov 2007
Posts: 702
Location: Norwich
|
| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2017 7:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I am now a more cautious driver and all because when I used to use our old humber hawk estate for work everyday I knew what she could and could not do, stopping distance etc and was aware that modern owners do not take oldies into consideration. The Amazon is a different thing altogether as drives and stops more like a modern car
_________________
1968 Volvo Amazon estate (Gracie)
1967 Cheltenham Nyala caravan |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
consul 57
Joined: 09 Nov 2017
Posts: 487
Location: somerset
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 8:36 pm Post subject: |
|
|
i would call myself a safe driver in a modern car but i am much more carefull of stopping distances in my 57 consul.
mind you the brakes are much better than my 2000 suzuki vitara jeep!
i think a slower pace is obtainable in a classic and just let the others get on with it.
being a former driving instructor i would recomend just putting L plates on your car for a day and keep to the highway code and see what happens.
my wife refused to drive the learner car with L plates on as the idiots see you as fair game. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
baconsdozen
Joined: 03 Dec 2007
Posts: 1119
Location: Under the car.
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 2:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
What worries me is that some drivers seem determined to overtake an older car even when its unsafe or unwise to do so. Maybe its showing off,certainly I'm overtaken more in my P5b than the 75 and its their ages not speed that is different.
I remember once being followed in the P5b by some motorcycles,behind me for some time, they waited until I waved them through and gave me a thumbs up sign as they went past. Contrast that with the spotty imbecile in a 'hot hatch' six inches from the bumper,revving up as though he is having a hard job to contain the cars power.
I have a mate who has an immaculate older Rolls,he says driving it causes little concern but he never parks it where he can't see it because its been badly scratched on car parks,perhaps another manifestation of the same odd attitude of some people.
_________________
Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
alastairq
Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1954
Location: East Yorkshire
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 2:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
When coming across these 'overtake-at-any-cost-cos-the-car-in-front-is-old' drivers...I comply with the Highway Code......which annoys them no end.
I keep my road position [I never pull to the left when being overtaken]....and my speed...which is invariably either the prevailing speed limit, or 60 mph [often with the unlawful allowance of 10% +2]....thus compelling them to travel at well over the speed limit, to get past..
If anyone does 'get stroppy', or a passenger comments about my actions, I remind them of the overtaking vehicle's responsibilities under the Highway Code.
I don't often get back-seat drivers......a couple of decades of instructing all matters associated with driving, to a discerning bunch of 'students'....has left me with 'all the answers'....so now, especially as a 'retired' person, I simply make use of the skills I've had to learn & demonstrate all to often, in the past.
It's so easy to pee on other peoples' bonfires.....if the mood strikes. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ray White
Joined: 02 Dec 2014
Posts: 6316
Location: Derby
|
| Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:36 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Driving my Dodge Brothers tourer I have become acutely aware of the limitations in having only rear wheel brakes. Actually, it is not so much the brakes; rather the narrow cross ply tyres which provide little in the way of grip and the wheels will lock up easily especially on a poor road surface. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
colwyn500
Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 1745
Location: Nairn, Scotland
|
| Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:14 am Post subject: |
|
|
| alastairq wrote: | When coming across these 'overtake-at-any-cost-cos-the-car-in-front-is-old' drivers...I comply with the Highway Code......which annoys them no end.
I keep my road position [I never pull to the left when being overtaken]....and my speed...which is invariably either the prevailing speed limit, or 60 mph [often with the unlawful allowance of 10% +2]....thus compelling them to travel at well over the speed limit, to get past..
|
When regularly caught in the same scenario I always pull to the side a little if it is safe to do so and not to my detriment. I will slow down and pull back if my safety is threatened no matter how foolish the overtaker might be.
I wouldn't want to be involved in, observe or feel partly reponsible for a serious accident not being avoided. I prefer not to get involved in any action that might be misinterpreted as my old car causing a hazard; we need good public relations.
Whilst I share that sense of annoyance/anger? and understand the temptation to teach these idiots a lesson, I would rather display courteous and safe driving, even though my actions are likely to be seen as timid and humble by that sort of driver. 
There is not much chance of me surviving a collision a 60mph+ in my little Fiat. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
colwyn500
Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 1745
Location: Nairn, Scotland
|
| Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:32 am Post subject: Re: How safe do you feel driving an old car? |
|
|
| alastairq wrote: | | Rick wrote: | Hi all,
Does the thought of an accident ever cross your mind while at the wheel? Perhaps this is one reason that many old cars are "high days and holidays" only now?
RJ |
Aren't 'high-days & holidays'really the most risky times to be out driving ancient crocks? Old cars, as well? 
|
You're correct and I think this is one of the many reasons why we should all use our old cars more frequently; even if that' just a trip to the Post Office or the supermarket.
In my part of the world and in a radius of at least 100 miles from my home I am sure that my Fiat is now a well-known road feature. Admittedly, it is comfortable at 60mph and there are only a very small number of miles of road within that area which permit driving faster than 60. But I am regularly to be found in all types of traffic and at all times of the day. This has increased my familiarity with how my car performs on the roads and is gradually conditioning other drivers to accept me as normal.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
alastairq
Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1954
Location: East Yorkshire
|
| Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 2:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| colwyn500 wrote: |
When regularly caught in the same scenario I always pull to the side a little if it is safe to do so and not to my detriment. I will slow down and pull back if my safety is threatened no matter how foolish the overtaker might be.
I wouldn't want to be involved in, observe or feel partly reponsible for a serious accident not being avoided. I prefer not to get involved in any action that might be misinterpreted as my old car causing a hazard; we need good public relations.
Whilst I share that sense of annoyance/anger? and understand the temptation to teach these idiots a lesson, I would rather display courteous and safe driving, even though my actions are likely to be seen as timid and humble by that sort of driver.
There is not much chance of me surviving a collision a 60mph+ in my little Fiat. |
My actions have nothing to do with 'teaching anyone a lesson'.
They have everything to do with the reasons why both the Highway Code, & the Road Traffic Acts, have these things in place.
Indeed, going back as far as 1972, when I took my first PSV tests with London Transport, my first test resulted in a test-fail, [accumulation of one type of driving fault] because I did what I 'thought' was the right thing.....exactly as you have described....which turned out to be quite the 'wrong' thing to do.
The Highway Code 'advice' comes as a result of rigorous 'risk-assessment' of courses of action in any given circumstance.
It is also continuously worked-on, & improved, to meet the demands of modern traffic situations.
Indeed, the Highway Code, far from being a draconian manual , can, and is, altered or adapted by suggestions from ordinary members of the public. Subject, of course, to that rigorous risk-assessment being applied to any suggestions.
Actions by drivers, whilst seeming to be the most safety-orientated thing to do at the time, often can create a much higher level of risk.
Few, if any, drivers out there consider the 'bigger picture' when it comes to 'safety'. This is often borne out when drivers find themselves subject to a 'driving assessment'......
I don't 'move over' when being overtaken [as a conscious decision, rather than as a normal adaptation of road position I would conduct, for vehicle stability and observational reasons] simply because, by doing so, I deprive myself of an important safety area...into which I can move, should something go wrong. It is a basic Defensive Driving premis. It's also quite hard to do...since more drivers than would care to admit..when they look into their offside mirror, tend to unconsciously move left. Moving left prior to be overtaken can also be seen as an invitation to form an additional line of traffic...not something that ought to be encouraged unless road markings dictate.....especially for a motorcycle. Which are subject to the same rules of overtaking as a car or bus driver...[and which, too many motorcyclists tend to forget...especially when they look to pull back into the left?]
But,hey, now I am retired from work...I have surrendered all my vocational licence categories, my DSA registrations, my professional bits-of-paper...all have been dumped by me, so I am not tempted to revert back to a working individual.....[I may just qualify for collecting trolleys in Tesco.....but, so far, I am not tempted. Which may please many a polished modern car owner? Now, I just roar about the place being a hooligan...must weld up that rusty silencer!!] |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
colwyn500
Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 1745
Location: Nairn, Scotland
|
| Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 2:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| alastairq wrote: | Moving left prior to be overtaken can also be seen as an invitation to form an additional line of traffic...not something that ought to be encouraged unless road markings dictate...
Now, I just roar about the place being a hooligan...must weld up that rusty silencer!!] |
Good point that about moving over maybe encouraging overtaking.....
and I totally support your continuing as in that last statement.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tony Press
Joined: 07 Mar 2011
Posts: 10
|
| Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:07 am Post subject: Driving a Vintage Car |
|
|
Many complain about other drivers not recognising hand signals- here in Australia all cyclists have to use the same (or similar) hand signals and all drivers are expected to be aware of this.
I assume you have cyclists in the UK - how do they fare ?
Cheers, Tony. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mikeC
Joined: 31 Jul 2009
Posts: 1775
Location: Market Warsop, Nottinghamshire
|
| Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 9:29 am Post subject: |
|
|
Huh! UK cyclists wouldn't know a hand signal if it hit them in the face
_________________
in the garage: 1938 Talbot Ten Airline
Recently departed: 1953 Lancia Appia, 1931 Austin Seven, 1967 Singer Chamois, 1914 Saxon, 1930 Morris Cowley, 1936 BSA Scout, 1958 Lancia Appia coupe, 1922 Star 11.9 ... the list goes on! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
php BB powered © php BB Grp.
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
