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I don't think it matters whether you're driving 35 or 65, if you can't stop, you can't stop. "Too fast for conditions" is a really subjective statement.
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Feb 15, 2016 04:02
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I was driving in a rather sudden snow storm about 15 years ago, visibility so bad that I was doing 20 and unsure if I was going too fast to be safe, when all of a sudden I lost traction and went spinning in a circle somehow and ended up smacking my front bumper off a guard rail as I came back to forward facing. No real damage other than paint and pride, and the storm blew over about 15 minutes later, fortunately. But it was quite an asspucker experience.
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Feb 15, 2016 04:12
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I have definitely been in a few situations where I thought "I really hope no one is stopped in the road ahead of me." One time I was going through southern utah at night, snowing so hard I could actually see better with just the parking lights until I pulled off into a gas station and adjusted my headlights way down. At one point i came up to a car pulled over, I almost lost it just touching the brakes and probably would have gone right into him.
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Feb 15, 2016 04:19
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Ludicro posted:I swear to god I am so loving sick of people who drive at a slowish speed on the motorway and promptly speed up as you try to overtake them. Then once you move back in behind them slow down again. I had someone do this to me the other day when I was walking on a sidewalk that narrowed ahead of where I tried to pass them. Some people are just deeply, deeply defective. At least when driving, it doesn't take additional effort to accelerate...
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Feb 15, 2016 09:02
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Few years ago leaving Revelstoke following a friend, we came up the hill and traffic was stopped because of a flipped car up top. Complete ice, he dove off across the oncoming lane (no cars coming luckily) into a pull out, and I just barely stopped a few feet short of the car in front of us, had he not dove out I would have hit him for sure, even going up hill.
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Feb 15, 2016 10:08
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Nitrox posted:I don't think it matters whether you're driving 35 or 65, if you can't stop, you can't stop. "Too fast for conditions" is a really subjective statement. Which is why you should be continually monitoring both the conditions and your speed to match, don't wait until you can see the pile up 20ft in front of you before thinking "maybe I shouldn't be doing 75?" Instead slow when the visibility diminishes, or the temperature drops. And it does matter if you're doing 35 or 65 when you suddenly realise you can't stop, one is a fender bender, the other is fatalities or life-changing injuries.
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Feb 15, 2016 10:45
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When your roads are that covered with snow and ice, most speeds are 'too fast for conditions'
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Feb 15, 2016 11:07
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I've been petitioning my boss to put cameras on our driver education cars to help assist local police in finding troublemakers. More than I can count, while evaluating instructors, I've seen the following: -passing our car in a residential zone on a two-way going twice the speed limit -go around our car and blow through a four-way stop -countless pointless speeding -countless pointless tailgating despite following the speed limit. This one makes me laugh the most because do people think that a driver ed car is going to go over the speed limit? -hitting our cars due to texting -side swiping our cars at merges on the highway to use the exit lane as a passing lane to get around slower traffic -cutting us off because of reasons
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Feb 15, 2016 14:43
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Part of me loves the idea of a panopticon stream around driver's ed cars fed directly to the police. "Oh, you can't drive like a sane person for the 30 seconds you will be near a driver's ed car? Ok, enjoy your ticket for literally getting frustrated with a child novice."
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Feb 15, 2016 15:07
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Generally when I see a driver's ed car driving unforgivably badly, I look over and... yep, just one person in there!
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Feb 15, 2016 16:37
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CharlieWhiskey posted:Part of me loves the idea of a panopticon stream around driver's ed cars fed directly to the police. "Oh, you can't drive like a sane person for the 30 seconds you will be near a driver's ed car? Ok, enjoy your ticket for literally getting frustrated with a child novice." I'd settle for the same in a school bus.
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Feb 15, 2016 16:38
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carry on then posted:I'd settle for the same in a school bus. Make all government owned public road transportation traffic police informants. I for one welcome our new traffic overlords.
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Feb 15, 2016 16:42
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Killstick posted:Make all government owned public road transportation traffic police informants. I for one welcome our new traffic overlords. A while ago, there was the proposal in the UK to allow driving instructors to report bad drivers and it be taken as seriously as if a police traffic officer observed it. It didn't seem to come to fruition for some reason PT6A posted:Generally when I see a driver's ed car driving unforgivably badly, I look over and... yep, just one person in there! Oh yeah, that's the reason.
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Feb 15, 2016 17:41
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Oh we have gotten calls about our instructors driving badly. Some even going through red light cameras. Some thought that because the student is not in the car, they can drive however they want. Those instructors don't last long... Some other good stories: -a furious lady calling up our customer service line to complain about one of our instructors speeding like a madman, cutting people off, and using their cellphone. So we started to ask for a description of the driver. When their description wasn't fitting, we asked for the car's number or license plate. That didn't match anything. We asked which kind of car it is since now we have three different body styles of the same make, just different years. Lady claims it was a red SUV. All our cars are midsize sedans. She was complaining about a car that had a "Student Driver" sticker on it. She still said it was our fault. -we offer high school pickup for our students. Sadly some parents see this as a free day to have their kids picked up and dropped off at home rather than a lesson. I had a student that I picked up every Monday at 3PM. To get out of this schools parking lot, it took at least ten to fifteen minutes. Not to mention this student always showed up ten minutes late. Parent would always complain about being shorted 25 mins because of it. Never would budge to any other openings. -a lot of these parents are terrible drivers. There I said it. I feel bad because their bad habits definitely get picked up by the students, so a lot of my work is breaking those habits as early as possible. A parent complained to me because every time her son would drive the family car, he would adjust the mirrors and seat. She was mad because "after he drives the family car, I have to move the seat and mirrors again." Apparently she's expecting her son to just deal with the seat and mirrors how it is. -a lot of parents are awesome too. I don't instruct much because I'm in corporate now, but I do go out and survey locations and instructors. I've had parents recognize me when I'm out in the area and tell me how well their son or daughter is doing, etc. it's a great feeling because this type of job can help save lives on the road. I got more but I don't want to bore you guys too much. Teaching driver education does have its perks but there is risks. Just a few weeks ago an instructor was t-boned by a car flying out of its driveway in reverse at full speed. I myself was involved in a crash because a moron at a four way stop didn't look both ways before flooring it.
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Feb 15, 2016 18:19
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Killstick posted:Make all government owned public road transportation traffic police informants. I for one welcome our new traffic overlords. Most* works vehicles in the UK have dash cams now as companies can get a very good insurance discount for HGV's/Taxis/Busses by having them installed. *Apart from vans. They all drive like cunts so don't want evidence that they are to blame for he collision
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Feb 15, 2016 18:34
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carry on then posted:I'd settle for the same in a school bus. Dallas unified school district does this, primarily to catch people passing school busses with flashing red lights.
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Feb 15, 2016 18:50
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Do you or any other driving schools offer lessons in manual cars or are manuals just a thing you teach yourself to drive? And do you need to take a test in a manual to legally drive one or is manual just not a thing that gets recorded on a license? Over here if you take a test in an auto that's all you're legal to drive.
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Feb 15, 2016 19:59
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88h88 posted:Do you or any other driving schools offer lessons in manual cars or are manuals just a thing you teach yourself to drive? And do you need to take a test in a manual to legally drive one or is manual just not a thing that gets recorded on a license? Speaking for Canada: you can test in an auto and drive a manual thereafter. "Good" driving schools offer courses on manual transmission driving but it's intended primarily for people who already know how to drive, and want to learn how to drive a standard. No-name schools do not offer manual transmission courses in general.
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Feb 15, 2016 20:22
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Speaking for Sweden (and probably most of Europe?), if you take the test with an auto, you aren't allowed to drive a manual without retaking it for manual. Worryingly, I heard that 10% of tests are now taken with autos, and it's rising.
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Feb 15, 2016 20:43
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88h88 posted:Do you or any other driving schools offer lessons in manual cars or are manuals just a thing you teach yourself to drive? And do you need to take a test in a manual to legally drive one or is manual just not a thing that gets recorded on a license? Some schools do offer manual transmission courses/lessons. Ours does not currently because of cost/demand since we service a large area and having a manual car on the books for insurance and maintenance would just be wasteful. Although if demand continues to raise, we are open to doing it. Aside from that, it's up to the drivers to teach themselves. You can get your license and drive a manual or an auto and vice versa. I took my instructor licensing test in my Focus ST and it made no difference.
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Feb 15, 2016 20:55
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MrOnBicycle posted:Speaking for Sweden (and probably most of Europe?), if you take the test with an auto, you aren't allowed to drive a manual without retaking it for manual. Worryingly, I heard that 10% of tests are now taken with autos, and it's rising. Yeeep same in the UK, and the way it should be IMO. Although they made it so you can take your truck or bus test in an auto and still get a manual licence as long as you passed in a manual car. New manual trucks and buses are basically non existent.
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Feb 15, 2016 21:05
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88h88 posted:And do you need to take a test in a manual to legally drive one or is manual just not a thing that gets recorded on a license? The only time I've seen the vehicle you test on affecting your license is getting a restricted motorcycle license if you test on a trike or with a sidecar. I don't think there's even a penalty to test on a motorcycle with an automatic transmission. Otherwise, you get your license and drive/ride whatever you want! (yes, you can teach yourself to ride a motorcycle, test on a lazy 250 cc starter bike, and immediately buy a 1340 cc Hyabusa that tops out at "186 mph" (artificially restricted to meet regulations and easily bypassed))
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Feb 15, 2016 21:06
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MrOnBicycle posted:Worryingly, I heard that 10% of tests are now taken with autos, and it's rising. This is absolutely nothing compared to how high the percentage probably is here in America  When I was 16, I took my driver's license test in Minnesota in a 5-speed hatchback - when the test administrator got into the car, she looked down at the stick and said "You sure about this?" I only had one point docked off out of like 100 or whatever, and I think it was for not returning my shifting hand back to the steering wheel fast enough one time.
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Feb 15, 2016 21:26
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MrOnBicycle posted:Speaking for Sweden (and probably most of Europe?), if you take the test with an auto, you aren't allowed to drive a manual without retaking it for manual. Worryingly, I heard that 10% of tests are now taken with autos, and it's rising. You're going to have to explain why this is worrying.
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Feb 15, 2016 21:59
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Most people in the us/canada have no idea how to drive a manual. There have even been numerous cases where people tried to steal a car and could not drive it.
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Feb 15, 2016 22:24
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jamal posted:Most people in the us/canada have no idea how to drive a manual. And if it's a VW, just park it nose-in. 
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Feb 15, 2016 22:28
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jamal posted:Most people in the us/canada have no idea how to drive a manual. I was just at a mazda dealer and there was a woman who wanted a red mazda 3 in manual. The salesman was trying to make her consider an automatic because manuals were so rare. She wouldn't budge. If she hadn't mentioned her husband I would have proposed.
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Feb 15, 2016 23:39
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Salesmen will try to convince you red is actually blue if you walk in and ask for a blue car but they don't have any in stock. If she asked for a manual transmission and wasn't immediately offered a test drive in one, she should have left and gone to the next dealer. No I'm not bitter, why do you ask? 
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Feb 15, 2016 23:48
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xzzy posted:If she asked for a manual transmission and wasn't immediately offered a test drive in one, she should have left and gone to the next dealer. They probably wouldn't have had a manual in stock to do a test drive in.
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Feb 16, 2016 04:08
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- on the way to work (at the mass i90E->i95N interchange/toll plaza, a hotspot for fuckheadery of all sorts, which features prominently in my posts in this thread) some jackwagon in a bright yellow scion cubemobile directly in front of me threw out the anchor while heading for an ezpass lane. Then swerved into the other ezpass lane, which had more people in it, cutting 3 or 4 of them off in the process.  Then... just as I'm about to go into the now-empty ezpass lane they got out of, they swerve back out of the other one, slam on the brakes again and end up parked diagonally in the entrance to the empty ezpass lane - in front of me.  I gave them the "you're #1" sign and honked a lot since traffic was now building up behind us, they continued to sit there with their thumb in their rear end. So I went into the other ezpass lane. What the gently caress???- something else ridiculous like this happened right before that, but I can't remember it at all anymore due to the previous story. Probably some wanker bumblefucking into the left lane right in front of me or something while doing 20 under my speed, then failing to accelerate at all, you know, the usual.
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Feb 16, 2016 17:32
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Blue Footed Booby posted:You're going to have to explain why this is worrying. Because in Sweden, unless you have some sort of disability you pretty much always get a drivers license with a manual transmission. There are a lot of people who drive automatic cars, but they pretty much all have licenses for manuals. There is no good reason to limit yourself, unless you are having so much problems driving a car that operating a manual gearbox and drive safely at the same time is too much to handle. For me this shows a lack of interest in even the most basic elements of car control and driving. Of course, in the future when automatic cars are much more common, I'd accept it. But even then, unless manual cars are some kind of rarity. Why limit yourself? Edit: I'll add this is only in the context of my country. No reflection on driving tests / habits in the US etc. MrOnBicycle fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Feb 16, 2016 |
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Feb 16, 2016 17:59
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I wouldn't want to limit myself, but on the other hand, as long as North America allows you to test for an unrestricted license in an automatic car, why give the examiner additional ways to take points off by driving a manual for the test? In Alberta, you're pretty much guaranteed 15 points off for using a manual because you'll either be going too slow, revving too high, or taking your hand off the wheel during a turn (they can take 5 points off for each time you do it, up to a maximum of three times). Also, you can test on an (automatic) scooter for a full, unrestricted motorcycle license. I have a theory about why our drivers are very lovely here...
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Feb 16, 2016 18:15
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I took my driving test in a manual. The day after we got a foot of snow. In a quarter ton truck that had no studded tires. I passed first try. 
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Feb 16, 2016 18:19
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xzzy posted:I took my driving test in a manual. The day after we got a foot of snow. In a quarter ton truck that had no studded tires. My kids learned how to drive stick when they were 12.
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Feb 16, 2016 18:20
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ratbert90 posted:My kids learned how to drive stick when they were 12. I learned on a manual trans full-size F150 pickup, 2WD in winter when I was 14 years old. A little tricky since I'd never driven stick before but once I had the clutch timing and shifting down, it was simple. More parents need to take themselves and their kids to some empty/abandoned parking lot when it gets cold, show them the basics and then show them how to control a car when it skids to avoid trouble. Either that or the DMV for each state needs a more rigorous testing that includes covering inclement weather and vehicle control (goes without saying anyhow).
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Feb 16, 2016 18:30
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My dad/grandpa were both convinced by the time I was of an age to learn to drive that manual transmissions were dead, they wouldn't be making any more in 5-10 years, and it would be a waste of time to teach me to drive one because there just wouldn't be any. I didn't learn to drive one until I had been driving for years and decided to go buy a car with a manual to learn on. I even brought my first motorcycle home to show off 5 or so years later and they were surprised it wasn't an automatic, since they were so sure manuals were dead. I should give my dad a call and ask if he thinks manuals will be around in another 10, just to rile him up. He's getting closer to right in the US though 
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Feb 16, 2016 18:37
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MrOnBicycle posted:Because in Sweden, unless you have some sort of disability you pretty much always get a drivers license with a manual transmission. There are a lot of people who drive automatic cars, but they pretty much all have licenses for manuals. There is no good reason to limit yourself, unless you are having so much problems driving a car that operating a manual gearbox and drive safely at the same time is too much to handle. For me this shows a lack of interest in even the most basic elements of car control and driving. From what I've seen, manual cars are a rarity in the US. That said, I find limiting the license to automatic only, like it's done in some places here, quite silly. Once you're comfortable driving an automatic, it's a matter of an hour or two to get used to shifting gears yourself. The transmission isn't the hard part of driving a car, it's all the other stupid rules and poo poo.
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Feb 16, 2016 18:43
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PT6A posted:I wouldn't want to limit myself, but on the other hand, as long as North America allows you to test for an unrestricted license in an automatic car, why give the examiner additional ways to take points off by driving a manual for the test? In Alberta, you're pretty much guaranteed 15 points off for using a manual because you'll either be going too slow, revving too high, or taking your hand off the wheel during a turn (they can take 5 points off for each time you do it, up to a maximum of three times). Or you could just, y'know, learn to drive properly? 
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Feb 16, 2016 19:08
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Ozz81 posted:I learned on a manual trans full-size F150 pickup, 2WD in winter when I was 14 years old. A little tricky since I'd never driven stick before but once I had the clutch timing and shifting down, it was simple. More parents need to take themselves and their kids to some empty/abandoned parking lot when it gets cold, show them the basics and then show them how to control a car when it skids to avoid trouble. Either that or the DMV for each state needs a more rigorous testing that includes covering inclement weather and vehicle control (goes without saying anyhow). I did just that. Empty school parking lot, winter break, 2 feet of snow, and a 92 Subaru Legacy. After a few stalls both kids got it and had a blast doing donuts and learning to steer into the drat skid!
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Feb 16, 2016 19:16
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Remember, when you are riding in an automatic car, to inform all present that you are a conscientious objector and only drive Standard.
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Feb 16, 2016 19:20
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