UK road speeds

[Topdad]

Most Bmw drivers think that the indicators  are only fitted seal the corners of there cars and don't get me going about bloody Range rovers ,Bob

[bsa-bill]

yep, at our U3A meeting we had a talk from a guy (ex police I assume from mannerisms) who was along from the Advanced drivers institute (is that correct), he asked a few questions after, I was chuffed at being the only one to get a few correct, anyway he asserted what my old driving instructor (way back then) taught me - indicators are "direction" indicators not right of way indicators and should be used as such, to warn drivers what you are about to do, further to that he stated if you are alone on the road (unlikely theses days) then why use them.
We had an email from the U3A organiser a few days later to say he was so pleased with our reaction to his talk he's offered to come up in a few months with colleagues and take any of us who want to on assessment runs, sounds like fun I might go along.

at last I can shut up the missus when she accuses me of overuse of the indicaors 

[Greybeard]

Indicators...further to that he stated if you are alone on the road (unlikely theses days) then why use them.

I've heard this before and strongly disagree. What about pedestrians who need to know which way you are going? What about that car that's nosing out of their driveway and you have not seen it yet? What about your blind spots? etc etc. Also, if you give people an inch they will think it's OK to take a mile, and never signal; better to always indicate, (in my opinion).

[bsa-bill]

Yes he was talking about night driving to be fair when he stated that, I agree with you for a different reason tho, it's a question of getting/keeping good habit or practise, it comes without out thinking to me and I 'd like to keep it that way even if it's superfluous

[Triton Thrasher]

It's not as if signalling costs anything.

[Topdad]

That's very true TT and I always use the indicators in the car but back when I was  17 I took an advanced driving course at the instruction of our MD E Lambert ,at Horsman 's ,He was also chair of the Liverpool and Wirral road safety thingy and also heavily involved in setting up tests for driving instructors .Crafty old sod  he also got a hefty reduction in the block insurance for the company if everyone attended and passed . It was impressive and included use of the police skid pan  ( great fun ) the lessons learned there alone stay with me even now ,the night driving part was a great experience to. Most importantly the instructors,mostly ex police ,made you think ahead  and be "aware" of them ,they  taught that your vehicles position on the road should be enough, without indicators, to make other road users know or have a fair idea what you intended ( that was also in the police drivers handbook which back then was "roadcraft " if memory serves) Of course that was in 1967 traffics increased, drivers have dumbed down but a lot of that info  is still retained ,is still pertinent today and as served me well.Bob

[morris]

This discussion makes me wonder if legislation in the UK is the same as over here regarding indicators and other stuff that wasn't obligatory at the time a vehicle was first put on the road.
The only thing we ever needed to retrofit where fog lights on cars.
Wish it where the same regarding road speeds... 

[sparx]

This discussion makes me wonder if legislation in the UK is the same as over here regarding indicators and other stuff that wasn't obligatory at the time a vehicle was first put on the road.
The only thing we ever needed to retrofit where fog lights on cars.

The only thing that comes to mind that we've had to retrofit in the UK is windscreen washers on cars that don't have a fold down screen or one you can see round/over.
If a car was made before even seatbelts became compulsory fitment you don't have to fit them, but if they are fitted you have to wear them.
I have a Daimler that was made before rear fog lights became mandatory, I don't have to fit them, and I'm not going to because the car would no longer be "as original", but I think I would be on dodgy ground if I was out on a foggy day and someone punted me up the **** (rear).

The down-side to no longer having to do hand signals to pass a car driving test is that if you signal on a bike that you are "slowing down or stopping" the majority of car drivers would assume you have cramp in your arm and are exercising it a little to get the blood flowing.

My pet hate, apart from tail-gating, is cars hammering round roundabouts as if they were racing round Nurbergring. You can't get onto the roundabout unless you do a Formula One start, and it's the main reason why we've ended up with a lot of the larger roundabouts having traffic lights on them. I'd rather have a mandatory 30mph speed limit on all roundabouts than have to sit and wait at a set of lights.

[muskrat]

Poor buggas. I didn't even need a brake light as it was an optional extra in 1951 .
Cheers

[Butch (cb)]

If a car was made before even seatbelts became compulsory fitment you don't have to fit them, but if they are fitted you have to wear them.

Yeah - so why do I have to wear a helmet on a pre 1973 bike?

[bsa-bill]

Yeah - so why do I have to wear a helmet on a pre 1973 bike?

It's so that those who don't wear helmets don't damage the road surface when there heads make contact with it 

[morris]

It's so that those who don't wear helmets don't damage the road surface when there heads make contact with it 

Always thought bikers where a hard headed bunch though...?