Can You Drive In The Dark?

November 8, 2006

As for people not learning to drive in the dark it should be a requirement. When I was learning to drive my instructor turned up once in thick fog and told me the lesson was going ahead. When I queried it he just replied "Would you rather the first time you drove in fog you were on your own". That evening I learnt about not using high beams in the fog, winding the windows down at junctions to listen out for traffic I couldnt yet see etc.
It's a shame more instructors are not like that.

Thats quite a useful little tip :) , id either forgotton that from my lessons or never been taught it in the first place

thanks ill remember that :thumbsup:

November 8, 2006

there was someone doing 30 in a 60!
Ryan,
Sometimes the conditions do not allow you to do 60.
Remember the 60 is a LIMIT ...............not a TARGET.

60 may be the limit and not a target but 30 in a 60 on country roads can be so dangerous...its half the speed limit and if they didnt feel safe doing at least 45/50 they shouldnt be on that particular road (weather conditions permitting obviously) - thats my wee rant over!

I enjoy driving at night in the fens if your lucky you will see wildlife you would never normally see.

I dont like the wildlife at night...nearly hit a few deer and numerous hares and rabbits. Wouldnt like to imagine the state of the deer or my car if i ever hit one :S

November 9, 2006

okay... here we go for my rant of the decade! :lol:

first off... it takes me an hour to drive to work, a journey which should normally take a max of 25 mins obeying all speed limits etc. as I stay in the middle of nowhere almost, I drive rural roads all the time... these roads have a few bad bends... which are clearly marked by the appropriate traffic signs. as it has now got darker earlier, the traffic is doing it's usual... "even though the road conditions are fine, it's dark... i'm going to drop my speed" :angry: even when it didn't get dark as early... if you drive these roads at night... you will find the odd "pleb" who will drive stupidly slow for no reason...

point raised to case number 1 - the IDIOT in front of me the other week... at night... going up a hill which has relatevly safe double bends... have no idea what he was playing at (yes it was a HE i doubled checked when i overtook him at the straight)... said road has a 60 limit... he drove up the hill at 15mph, and on the straight he managed 30mph... the dozy man had an EXTREMLY near miss with another car, cause he cut one of the double bends... was not amused to say the least! his driving was dangerous!!!!

okay as for the 60 is a limit not a target... yes totally agree etc... but you can get done for driving to slow as that can be dangerous in itself!

driving at night is now becoming more fun for myself... MR2 owner that I am... I seem to be getting blinded by everyone that passes me or is behind me!!! gives me bad headaches at times... doesn't help when they sit up your rear end either... drove slower one time due to a van's lights blinding me, and all HE done was sit right up my rear end!!! :angry:

wildlife at night... no likey at all!!! deers, badgers, foxes, etc! i don't want to hit one... had a near miss when I had my rover on a back road... came round a corner, wasn't going too fast (thankfully) and a deer ran right out in front of me just as i was turning!! was really scary!! those back roads aren't that busy late at night, and theres the odd BIG drop at some bits :(

another point I want to raise since I'm going on a bit here... rain! I have a rear wheel drive car... it does go sideways rather easily... please when it's raining and I have left a nice big gap between myself and you... DO NOT slam on the breaks half way round a corner!!! it scares the bejesus outta me!!!

oh and back on topic to driving at night... ALL new drivers should be made to take a PASS PLUS test after they pass their intial driving test. Pass Plus incorporates = driving at night, in severe weather, on the motorway, plus some other stuff if i remember correctly!

okay I'm done... :D

November 9, 2006

there was someone doing 30 in a 60!
Remember the 60 is a LIMIT ...............not a TARGET.
You could of course have overtaken them.....if you thought that it was safe to do so :)
What would you have done with your "extra" 15 minutes??

Steve, it was only a wee bit of rain!

We couldn't overtake as we were about 12th in the queue of cars she was holding up.

With my "extra" 15 minutes I would've been on time and done some stretching etc.

:thumbsup:

November 9, 2006

I've found the same, I always knew that leaving at 5.30 instead of 6pm would add on a bit of time but I was pleasantly surprised when it was light at that time it was only 5 mins or so. Now it's dark, it takes me an extra 15 minutes! I left at 6pm tonight - wasnt planned but had a few things to do, still it took longer! :ffs:

As it gets dark so late in the Summer I dont drive in the dark hardly at all sometimes, so I am always a slight bit nervous when it gets dark earlier so I go out when its pretty quiet and get myself used to it then I'm fine.