Upsde down on Runger Lane

[smokeyjoe03]

The problem is made a million times worth with wet weather.

People don't realise that after such a dry spell as we have just had, when it rains all sorts of grease and oil is brought to the surface of the road along with the film of water. This makes even the better road surfaces dangerous.

And then you get the boy/girl racer types who don't know about vanishing points, and use their accelerator as an on/off switches. They don't realise how just whacking on the power into a bend can cause a skid so easily.

I felt a bit uncomfortable the other day coming home from Wales in my girlfriends car. She has a New shape Nissan Micra :yuck: and the ride height and body roll is ridiculous. She has the standard wheels on which aren't the widest and don't have the biggest contact area. Anyway, she is blasting down the road, nothing in front of her, but she is braking AROUND corners and changing gear in the middle of bends.

I tried to tell her about how the power level should be set up before, maintained through and increased on the way out of the corner. She really couldn't see the danger of changing gear when the car is loaded into the corner. Was just glad to get home

 

[The Beard]

i disagree, we have a bend near here that got resurfaced with crap stuff and every time it rained in the summer about 10 cars a day ( no exageration) would end up in a field, drivers of all ages an standards an soon as the surface was changed back to proper stuff no one came off again

10 cars a day, must, must have made the local press and TV, yet they still came off the road.

 

[The Beard]

The problem is made a million times worth with wet weather.

People don't realise that after such a dry spell as we have just had, when it rains all sorts of grease and oil is brought to the surface of the road along with the film of water. This makes even the better road surfaces dangerous.

And then you get the boy/girl racer types who don't know about vanishing points, and use their accelerator as an on/off switches. They don't realise how just whacking on the power into a bend can cause a skid so easily.

I felt a bit uncomfortable the other day coming home from Wales in my girlfriends car. She has a New shape Nissan Micra :yuck: and the ride height and body roll is ridiculous. She has the standard wheels on which aren't the widest and don't have the biggest contact area. Anyway, she is blasting down the road, nothing in front of her, but she is braking AROUND corners and changing gear in the middle of bends.

I tried to tell her about how the power level should be set up before, maintained through and increased on the way out of the corner. She really couldn't see the danger of changing gear when the car is loaded into the corner. Was just glad to get home

All good points. Despite improvements in roadholding and braking the principles of good driving still hold true. Inertia is something that is sadly overlooked and generally not understood at all. If a vehicle is standing still, or travelling in a straight line at a constant speed then it is in a state of constant inertia. Therefore it is very safe. As soon as you introduce a variable, ie braking, turning or accelerating, the car becomes less stable. Instability is the first stage of a car going off the road.

Incidentally, we had a new Micra as a courtesy car after Mrs. Beard's Stilo went in for body repairs and I actually quite liked it, although I thought it undergeared.

 

[Ffoxy]

Just yesterday morning a dumbass kid in a Clio spun a 180 on the roundabout near me at 9.00 in the rush hour... lucky no-one was following him. Too fast, turned too hard, over estimated his ability and the cars grip. Looked a real tool sat there facing the wrong way, and a learner driver was sat in a Driving School car in the lane next to me. The Instructor and I exchanged knowing looks and both shook our heads....

This island has a good grippy surface... but it was the first wet day after the dry spell, no idea some people, "it says 40Mph so I'm blo*dy well doing 40...." :shakehead::nono:

 

[dave]

10 cars a day, must, must have made the local press and TV, yet they still came off the road.

no. no one hurt so its not news. most of the people who came off knew how bad it was, an was going round very very carefully, but still came off

 

[ThisBitterPill]

Just yesterday morning a dumbass kid in a Clio spun a 180 on the roundabout near me at 9.00 in the rush hour...

it was the first wet day after the dry spell, no idea some people,

I saw two people spin out on roundabouts on the same day last summer....One in a Volvo one in a BMW.... Both going slow, but no idea on what to do when the slide started....

This week I was doing about 70mph in the inside lane of an half empty M40 at about 6:30am and this RS Focus went past in the outside lane at what I would guess to be over 130mph....

About 500m ahead there was a van passing a truck and a car pulled out into the outside lane to pass the van....

The RS closed in so fast and I think he totally misjudged the situation.... Next thing I see is the RS with hazards on (I'm guessing an ABS auto feature) fishtailing about trying damn hard not to give the other car a Ford enema....

Definitely a case of car outperforming the drivers' ability....

 

[Lloyd71]

There is no such thing as a dangerous road; only dangerous drivers.

I'd say the Nordschleife is pretty dangerous to a lot of drivers! I know it's technically not just a road anymore but anyone can drive round it of all ages and all experience levels.

 

[osher]

One of those little nuggets of information the government chooses to ignore is that a survey found that councils have switched to this new, cheaper, road-surface, but, it has to be laid more carefully, or something, but often is not, resulting in 20% of the roads in this country being sub-standard. Common problems include significantly reduced grip in the wet; an extended period of settling down with again reduced grip; but the most extraordinary is that, in hot weather, with a hot tyre, the tarmac can melt (if it's not laid properly), and basically act as a pool of liquid under the tyre resulting in zero grip, causing what amounts to aquaplaning, in the dry. People have died from this, but, the government prefers to blame speed, abilities, etc, because, to fix the problem would cost billions and result in huge traffic jams.

 

[Ken131269]

When I was a learner back in 89 I witnessed the BMW in front of me spin across oncoming traffic on a 20 degree left dog leg to end facing the wrong way with rear wheels off the ground in someones sunken garden after demolishing the fence. Damn instructor made me stop and the three of us lifted it out while another driver who witnessed it steered.

For my own part my only real accident was in my Cinq, hit a Vectra stationary on the coast road that was behind an old Escort that had been abandoned 9+hrs before and reported by a friend of mine that morning.

I pulled onto slip lane behind another car that just peeled off back into slow lane, by this time I had a Landrover parallel to me and had no options but brake. Suffice to say bending the steering wheel with my chest due to no pretensioners hurt like hell for over a month.

Crashing aint worth the pain, drive according to the conditions and learn your own limits as they are what cause the problems not the car or the road.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Suffice to say bending the steering wheel with my chest due to no pretensioners hurt like hell for over a month.

Pretensioners wouldn't have stopped that from happening. You not wearing your seatbelt

 

[maddogmorg]

I'm with Daz and Dave.

Although ultimatly another factor I'll chuck in is Tyre quality. Be it age, tread, or both.

but your driving would adapt to the gradual change in tyre grip? the grip doesn't usually suddenly drop off in my expereince

reading the road in front is important, usually to avoid potholes which are too common, but also you can often see a change in surface so expect the charecteristics to change. got to admit new stuff in the wet is usually shocking.

the Nordschleife isn't a dangerous road/track it's the drivers that make it dangerous. but then i've never been. but if you were to drive it like a normal road (and others did the same), i.e. making sure going into a corner you can stop in the space you can see in front of you etc.. then it'll be no more dangerous than any other... but then like i say i've never been.

 

[Focus Owner]

i have lost grip on my passenger side front before suddenly my own fault i didn't see a can on ground and had to stop slowly downhill thought i was gonna go into the back

100 yards down road i pulled into a side street got to 30 n slammed on has to have being a can
most roads around me the road surfaces vary alot and some are hidden

bits of mud cans i have found the worst for loss of grip
never hydrathingied tho (have felt steering go light tho and just let off accelerator)

I think its the a50 or a15 or other going into lincoln road i hate most its too old and sue to that its single carriageway, with hidden dips and many speed cameras, road changes from 60 to 50 alot
then you get idiots overtaking and you see them 3 places ahead 40 mins on

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

but your driving would adapt to the gradual change in tyre grip? the grip doesn't usually suddenly drop off in my expereince

Yeah, but say you only do an evasive manovour once every 6 months.

With new tyres you could say slam on brake and swerve at the same time very well, but after 6 months of ware you repeate this manovour for some reason and this time the car doesn't behave because of the tyre wear.

Under normal driving conditions tyre wear doesn't matter that much, only matters when you come to demand stuff from your tyres I find.

 

[maddogmorg]

Yeah, but say you only do an evasive manovour once every 6 months.

With new tyres you could say slam on brake and swerve at the same time very well, but after 6 months of ware you repeate this manovour for some reason and this time the car doesn't behave because of the tyre wear.

Under normal driving conditions tyre wear doesn't matter that much, only matters when you come to demand stuff from your tyres I find.

an evasive manouevre is little different from normal driving i always demand stuff from my tyres, usually anyway...

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

an evasive manouevre is little different from normal driving

Exactly, hence how dodgy tyres will catch the average driver out. Hence why mine are checked and tested fairly regularly