02-10-2021, 12:30 PM
This might be an age thing, but it is confirmed by the anecdotal evidence of friends and acquaintances’ comments to me on this subject, and that is that the roads are a far more aggressive environment than they were in the past. As we have become a more and more competitive society this, I feel this has become reflected in driving habits, aided and abetted by the general technological advances in engine performance, suspension, braking and (low profile) tyres that mean that the average road car is, mechanically, a far closer relative of Formula 1 than a Morris 1000.
Such courtesy as ever existed on the road has pretty much gone. The regular sound of the horn which characterised cities in France and Italy is now endemic here. Tail-gating has become the norm, the driver up your rear intent on bullying you along – often when you are at the speed limit – and assuming that in the worst case scenario his (and it usually is a him) huge vented ABS servo-assisted disks and low profile big footprint rubber will get him out of bother. On a nearby urban dual carriageway, festooned with traffic lights, I watch bemused how, when I set off from the grid in my unassuming but reasonable performance hack, the vehicle behind will roar out past me only for me to catch it up at the next set of lights. One or two people I know, despite mostly driving on their own or with one passenger, have said that the reason for driving large SUV size/type vehicles is that they feel more protected from other vehicles in them (always bearing in mind there will be other reasons for their choice some of which will not be stated) but they do have a point. Last time I followed a BMC/BL Mini I thought how vulnerable it looked. And to think how commonplace these once were.
Still in the workaday world I have long ceased to enjoy general motoring. I live on the edge of a metropolitan area and the one bonus of lock-down was, when I needed to venture out, the reduction in traffic made driving, if not quite a pleasure, comfortable once more. For years, if I have needed to go to the city I have used train or bus. Like several on these forums I have a classic in the garage. Driving enjoyment is when I can point it away from the metro area into the country on a run with friends of a similar ilk – something that has been sadly missing these last couple of years.
My own driving technique is based on a defensive approach. Keep plenty of distance between me and the vehicle in front, read the road, don’t rely on others’ signals and expect the unexpected. I shall keep the old hack as long as it keeps going through MOTs, my annual mileage is well below average (this last year, the lowest ever since I’ve owned a car) and it has minimal gadgetry which means there’s less to go wrong.
Such courtesy as ever existed on the road has pretty much gone. The regular sound of the horn which characterised cities in France and Italy is now endemic here. Tail-gating has become the norm, the driver up your rear intent on bullying you along – often when you are at the speed limit – and assuming that in the worst case scenario his (and it usually is a him) huge vented ABS servo-assisted disks and low profile big footprint rubber will get him out of bother. On a nearby urban dual carriageway, festooned with traffic lights, I watch bemused how, when I set off from the grid in my unassuming but reasonable performance hack, the vehicle behind will roar out past me only for me to catch it up at the next set of lights. One or two people I know, despite mostly driving on their own or with one passenger, have said that the reason for driving large SUV size/type vehicles is that they feel more protected from other vehicles in them (always bearing in mind there will be other reasons for their choice some of which will not be stated) but they do have a point. Last time I followed a BMC/BL Mini I thought how vulnerable it looked. And to think how commonplace these once were.
Still in the workaday world I have long ceased to enjoy general motoring. I live on the edge of a metropolitan area and the one bonus of lock-down was, when I needed to venture out, the reduction in traffic made driving, if not quite a pleasure, comfortable once more. For years, if I have needed to go to the city I have used train or bus. Like several on these forums I have a classic in the garage. Driving enjoyment is when I can point it away from the metro area into the country on a run with friends of a similar ilk – something that has been sadly missing these last couple of years.
My own driving technique is based on a defensive approach. Keep plenty of distance between me and the vehicle in front, read the road, don’t rely on others’ signals and expect the unexpected. I shall keep the old hack as long as it keeps going through MOTs, my annual mileage is well below average (this last year, the lowest ever since I’ve owned a car) and it has minimal gadgetry which means there’s less to go wrong.
Nick
