Andrew Price 2 Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 Well said JD8. I don't know how it has been possible fior car manufacturers to consider that style is more important than safety when designing indicator placement. That nasty little orange bulb behind a clear cover, amongst a load of other stuff, is certainly an issue as it often can't be seen on sunny days. Not at all helpful when I am trying to safely negociate my local, very busy, roundabout. Mind you sorting out misuse, or rather non use, is an immediate priority by the sounds of it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Z Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 Not only have indicators dropped from use, I see a lot of people that see a red traffic light as an optional sign. The number of ‘jumpers’ seem to be increasing steadily. A sign of the way things are going? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 Talking of police cars and indicators reminds me of a very graphic example of little thought in indicator design...I was driving along a straight road, police car heading in the opposite direction with blue lights and headlamps flashing. No need to slow down or take avoiding action as the road was otherwise clear and unobstructed in both directions so I just carried on at the same speed. Which was fine until we were just about to cross at a side turning when as the main beam headlights started going into peripheral vision, I spotted that his indicators were blinking to turn across my path! One very late stop by the police car and an attempt by me to visualise as we passed that I'd been dazzled by his flashing headlights later (I've often wondered if the 2 systems were synchronised or how long he'd been indicating) we carried on to our respective destinations with intact cars (and raised heart rates, no doubt!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bisset Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 A depressingly large number of 'drivers' start a turn, then use the indicators. What possible use do they imagine that is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 One of the worst things was a car towing a trailer with the indicators reversed. Luckily for me he was turning left. If he had been turning right it could have got messy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Christy Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 I am reminded of the tale of the New York cabbie involved in a collision with a lady who claimed she had right of way. He replied (imagine a Bronx drawl!), "Lady! Right of way ain't something you got or you ain't got. Its something the other guy gives you. And if he doesn't give it, you ain't got it!". -- Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 Takes me back to 20. Triumph 650 Bonnerville, S Wales to Worcestershire, late for my mums dinner. The artic what was coming out of the farm gate, started to come out. I put the bike down. It shot under the artic, crushed flat as I slid by, the road was burning me through the leather, the cats eyes broke a couple of ribs. My mum was not very sympathetic. My poor dad was dispatched to get me a car. Comments like, "you taught him to drive, then let him buy a motorbike" ringing in his ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levanter Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 Driving in Spain can be taxing at times but it does however prepare you a bit for driving in Italy. The most anarchic country I have driven in has to be Greece. Interesting thing about Spain is there is virtually no road rage. The Spanish are blissfully unaware of the dangerous goings on. If you resort to a the horn you just get a bemused look and presumably they put you straight down as a foreigner. Horn though, if you are a micro-second late getting away at the traffic lights, prepare to be deafened. (oops I forgot Turkey) Levanter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingcoax Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 Its the same here in Portugal, you dont know what they are doing till they have done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 Now in France, the lights go from red to green. No red/amber to wake the waiter. And I swear, the average wait before the alarm horn goes has got to be 3 seconds. In a country where the driving instructors teach overtaking as, close up to the tailgate, hover, and pass. What can possibly go wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levanter Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 I have seen this elsewhere but the first time I saw it was in Turkey where there was a 20 second countdown to the green light. So many people were killing themselves and other jumping the lights and I believe it had some use. Side effect though was that every traffic light became a Formula 1 start with everyone revving to go. Don't start me on driving instructors. They catch them early here. (Spain) Levanter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Colman Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 Levanter, I echo your observations completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Christy Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 Posted by Levanter on 05/07/2019 19:00:04: (oops I forgot Turkey) Levanter Back in 1997, I escorted my son to the F3C World Championships, being held just outside Ankara. Nothing could have prepared me for the utter chaos of driving in the Turkish capital! Aside from the fact that the hire car stalled as soon as you lifted your foot from the throttle, imagine Hyde Park Corner in the rush hour times ten, with the added chaos of child beggars running into the road and accosting every car which bothered to stop at a red light! (It was a while before I twigged that only foreign visitors DID stop at red lights!) I still wake up at nights having cold sweats about it......! -- Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Laughton Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 Back to the OP - yes Martin and not just BMWs! At the risk of being Victor Meldrew I see more and more cars parked on double yellow lines and/or blocking a junction or worst of all on zig zag lines near a pedestrian crossing...police cars go sailing by probably because they have more important business 🤔 Last year one rainy evening Whilst waiting for a taxi near Twickenham a car pulled into a supermarket disabled spot - the passenger got out to buy what turned out to be booze...The driver a young woman who remained in the car failed to display a blue badge so I shook my head silently in disgust. This provoked a tirade of abuse from her and the excuse that she was “very heavily pregnant “.... my wife then told her in no uncertain terms that was not a disability but to no avail and we were then subjected to abuse from the passenger as she returned with her cider and Prosecco...men died for these idiots and their bad manners on the Normandy beaches 75 years ago.....enough said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Ellis 1 Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 My biggest problem is with modern indicators. An orange bulb with a clear cover just doesn't seem to show as well as ye olde ones with orange covers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 Not been to Ankara but we have been to and through Cairo in the rush hour. In one word , bizarre. A 3-4 lane road ( when the road was constructed the builders couldn’t make their minds up) filled with random piles of rubble. Cars with no lights at all but a serviceable horn. People on the road queuing, either for food from a street stall or a lift. Several camels that have road sense. And just for good measure 6 lanes of cars ! Here will give you a glimpse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 Well, at least their horns work...overtime!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudsy Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 Manouver, indicate, look.well that's how it seems to be round here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin McIntosh Posted July 6, 2019 Author Share Posted July 6, 2019 Amazing. Everybody seems to agree with me for a change. Not just my imagination after all, thanks for the replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 Where I live it is mostly single track lanes, the number of folk who can not even reverse ten yards in a straight line to a passing place amazes me, all they have to do is hold the wheel still but no as soon as reverse is selected they feel the need to turn the wheel left and right and weave their way into the hedge. Is reversing not part of the driving test anymore ? On UK drivers not having taken the driving test my mam was one of them, during the second world war with many men in service there was no one in the village to drive the bread van to out lying areas so she volunteered having only had a couple of goes at driving before. The local bobby went with her down the road when she changed gear and brought the van to a stop and that was it, licence was issued. In the many years she drove she only had one minor accident with a farm trailer. Edited By J D 8 on 06/07/2019 09:24:13 Edited By J D 8 on 06/07/2019 09:25:18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Christy Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 My father never took a driving test, despite running a charabanc company between the wars! He passed away back in 1979 at the grand old age of 90, and was never involved in an accident that I can recall. Driving standards do seem to have collapsed in the last decade or two, perhaps due to the inherent safety of modern cars. Perhaps Clarkson had a point when he suggested that the best safety feature you could fit to a car would be a commando dagger, mounted in the middle of the steering wheel, and pointing at the driver's chest! -- Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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