They’re called “Boats” reddragon.Maybe not in the UK but still in many areas it will be needed. Saying that, the Arctic was 25C today so floating cars soon instead?
They’re called “Boats” reddragon.Maybe not in the UK but still in many areas it will be needed. Saying that, the Arctic was 25C today so floating cars soon instead?
Cars with autonomy level 2 already have half the accidents and those with level 3 a third of the accidents of pure human driven cars. Driver-less cars are already safer, we are just not ready to accept that yet.
Blimey. I wouldn’t fancy one passing the local 377 bus if it hadn’t been updated.I took a ride in a colleague's Tesla a couple of years ago. Very impressive until it happily read the numbers on the front of approaching buses as speed limits! (A software update has apparently fixed the bug now, but …..)
All sounds good. What's not to like?
Riding a bike in winter weather is not particularly appealing, as the ONS transport mileage figures across the year demonstrate.
I'm afraid if we all wanted to live sustainably we would all live in London sized cities.
City dwellers consume much less energy and produce much less pollution due to easily available and good quality public transport and short commute distances etc.
Sustaining that level of public transport service in small towns is far beyond the means of government, given the political costs of taxation.
Global warming induces climate change. Climate change is expected to make weather more unpredictable and extreme. So we could end up with very wet and stormy weather interspersed with very hot and very cold waves.It’s an interesting point.
Perhaps snow will be one the few things we don’t have to worry about in the future though...
Yes and we’re certainly no strangers to wet weather here at Cowley Bridge.Global warming induces climate change. Climate change is expected to make weather more unpredictable and extreme. So we could en up with very wet and stomp weather interspersed with very hot and very cold waves.
I tried cruise control a couple of times when I bought my latest car. Didn't like it at all. Kept getting too close to the cars in front - I kept trying to "tweak" the speed incrementally to get it the same, but then you end up too slow. A few times I got closer than I'd like to the cars in front and had to over-ride it. Couldn't really see the point and it frightened me that I tended to lose concentration. So, I didn't use it again for a couple of years.
Then a couple of months ago, I was going through the miles of 50mph roadworks on the M6 on a quiet Saturday evening with very little traffic about. Thought I'd give it a try and set it to 52mph and it was absolutely brilliant - kept me from being fined for speeding, and because there was so little traffic, I don't think I had to "tweak" it or over-ride it once.
So, from my experience, don't like it and wouldn't use it on a normal/busy motorway, but loved it and worked well when quiet through roadworks.
if you want to change lanes without indicating if there’s no cars around (which is how I was taught to drive)
That seems an utterly bizarre thing to be taught. Why on earth would you not ALWAYS indicate when changing lanes? It costs you nothing, and it's always possible that there is a car, bike, pedestrian etc around which you haven't seen.
Please ALWAYS indicate!
The Institute of Advanced Motorists teach you to only indicate when there's a need/reason. They are against automatic indicating. The reason is that they want you to think whether there's a need, i.e. to be aware of who is around you, including pedestrians. That thought process is what makes you safer and part of their "system" where you are constantly planning, identifying risks, etc. You'd get marked down in an advanced driving test if you indicate out of habit when there is no-one around who'd benefit.
Far too many drivers indicate without thinking, often too late, and treat an indicator as a right of way - i.e. "I've indicated so I can pull out into the next lane whether it's safe or not" - as seen daily on motorways by lorry drivers who blink and move regardless of who's in the next lane!
I totally disagree with that advice. It assumes that a driver will always see all risks around them, and will care enough to do something about them, which is simply not the case.
Saying that drivers shouldn't indicate because they might indicate badly is also bizarre. Always indicate, and indicate well.
It's all based on the police driver's "Roadcraft" manual and is well explained on one IAM group's website:-
https://www.iam-bristol.org.uk/index.php/articles/associate-s-guide/56-signalling
That seems an utterly bizarre thing to be taught. Why on earth would you not ALWAYS indicate when changing lanes? It costs you nothing, and it's always possible that there is a car, bike, pedestrian etc around which you haven't seen.
Please ALWAYS indicate!
Because it makes you look, and it makes you look properly.
I’ve been driving for ten years now, and have never had an accident. So forgive me if I say I’m going to carry on doing it the way I’ve been taught, the way the IAM teach and the way the Police teach before I listen to a stranger on the internet.
By the way, on a motorway or a lot of dual carriageways, if there’s a pedestrian or cyclist I haven’t seen, something has gone very, very wrong.
I find that advice shocking, and I am a safety professional. I cannot say I had a high opinion of the IAM before, but that demolishes it.The Institute of Advanced Motorists teach you to only indicate when there's a need/reason. They are against automatic indicating. The reason is that they want you to think whether there's a need, i.e. to be aware of who is around you, including pedestrians ..... Far too many drivers indicate without thinking, often too late, and treat an indicator as a right of way
"Allowing" people not to signal is not going to make them think any more, in fact I suggest many will think less because not signalling will tend to make the manoeuvre seem unimportant, so therefore not worth much thought. I see plenty of non-signalling impulsive driving, and to me the non-signalling is part of that attitude. With me, signalling is the easy part of a "ritual" I do ever time, involving mirror, timing, signalling, manoeuvre.
You're never going to get it wrong (from a signalling point of view).
The point you're missing is that the IAM approach isn't just indicating/not indicating as an isolated decision. It's part of the "system" of advanced driving.
>Course>mirror>signal>brake/speed>gear>accelerate> - you go through that thought process when approaching every "hazard" (which can be anything, i.e. a junction, a pelican crossing, a child, a cyclist, a mobility scooter, a bend in the road, a speed limit change, a slow vehicle ahead, etc etc.). IAM instructors/observers spend hours with drivers hammering that system into them and they won't pass the IAM advanced driving test if they don't slavishly follow it, every hazard, every time.
I.e. if there is a filter lane at a junction, far too many drivers drive into the filter lane and then decide to indicate once they're in it, often when they've stopped in the middle of queue of traffic. That shows a complete lack of road awareness/understanding and is a classic case of the auto-pilot mentality of pointless signalling. Once you're in the filter lane, there's absolutely no point in indicating. You're in a lane that is clearly marked with arrows etc., so cars behind you already know where you're going. The time to indicate was a long way back when you were approaching the filter lane and before you started changing your course towards it - that gives the following vehicles the "heads up" which lane you're going into. Once you're in it, turn off the indicator. (Of course, if there are pedestrians at the same junction, then you may feel the need to indicate to them as they may not know you're in a filter lane!).
On, say a motorway, if you need to indicate to "bully" your way into an overtaking lane, then you've already failed to plan your driving as you should have anticipated the need to overtake a fair way back, adjusted your own speed accordingly, and moved over into an overtaking lane when it was clear. You should drive in a way so that you don't cause anyone else to change their course/speed. Hence why there should be very little need to indicate on a free flowing motorway or dual carriageway.
Unfortunately, it starts to morph into an "I've signalled, so I'm going to do it" mentality where drivers bully into overtaking lanes, pulling out into traffic, causing other vehicles to change their course/speed.
There's also the very real risk of indicating too soon and causing other drivers to think you're turning at an earlier junction (i.e. at a roundabout or a side road before a main road junction), encouraging them to pull out right into your path.
Not necessarily mistakes, because very often the arrows painted on the road are covered by waiting cars and, if you don't know the area, the fact that cars in it are signalling is the only information you have that it is a filter lane.you should keep indicating while in the filter lane because it may be helpful to other road users such as pedestrians or drivers coming from another direction who don't necessarily know that it's a filter lane. It will also help those who should know it's a filter lane but have missed the signs. People make mistakes.
Unfortunately, it starts to morph into an "I've signalled, so I'm going to do it" mentality where drivers bully into overtaking lanes, pulling out into traffic, causing other vehicles to change their course/speed.
There's also the very real risk of indicating too soon and causing other drivers to think you're turning at an earlier junction (i.e. at a roundabout or a side road before a main road junction), encouraging them to pull out right into your path.