Before overtaking, I always try to imagine myself coming the other way at the same speed. Could you make it then?
Always treat all other road-users as if they were morons - you'l only be pleasantly surprised if they're not!

 

What did you eventually end up paying in insurance? I paid £1400 and have written a scooby off since then. Renewal not due until November but I'm not looking forward to the quotes.

 

I think I paid 1200 in the end... with two years no claims (lost two years plus the current year for the accident) and 6 points and at 26... renewed it earlier this year so then 3years no claims and got it for £980... just rang around everywhere..

Search (it now works ) in the insurance forum for a list of companies to ring....

JGM

 

No wonder you lost it on the corner with those 15's on it

Seriously though - looked nasty , but shows how well these cars hold up even with those sorts of accidents.....

 

Re : National Driver Improvement Course (NDIC) instead of being prosecuted for DC&A - these courses are not run by the police - tend to be run by local authorities. It's a day & a half - first morning being spent classroom based, then the afternoon going out with another course attendee with an approved instructer - you spend about an hour driving with the other attendee also driving for about the same time. The following morning there is a written theory test on the Highway Code (and yes there was a question on stopping distances but the answer was in metres not feet!!) followed by another drive with your instructer. To "satisfactorily" complete the course you need to pass the multi choice test plus show improvement in your driving skills.

I understand from my course that you are only able to attend (a) if it is DC&A (b) if the police feel that it would be of more benefit for you to attend and (c) if you have not attended such a course in the last 3 years. A copy is taken of your driving licence and I assume a marker is placed at DVLC on your records.

Hope this helps P20SPD!! PS the instructers on my course were really nice - that day was the first day I had driven in 5 months, I had a flashback whilst on the course that the other driver was there, plus one of my client's was there!

 

ScoobyJawa,

I agree, the 15inch wheels are useless...

I now run 17 with 215/40/17's and find the handling far more predictable and safe..

The Impreza is a solid car, I did have crash test results website address at one point and the test result description for a head on described the damage to my car exactly.

It got a good result compared to other cars...

JGM

 

LOL - "try not to argue with the instructor.."

Sounds like a good idea

 

now finished 1st day, very useful indeed, if you view it from the point of revision and not a re education or poking fun at you.
really wide range of people there though. constantly taking **** from assessor how i would probalbly be doing 60 by now wheres as 1.4 clio is only doing 30 in 30 zone. answer no!!

still trying to get pictures of camera. software does not appear to work.

will update later.

 

jgm and others

finally managed to upload pictures.

put up a new thread see How did you damage yours??

 

passed improvement course ok. like i say my rehabilitation happened as i climbed out of the car.

apparently you can do the aim course free if you contact them direct and not go through a driving instructer. when you pass the aim course you are equivalent to bronze level on the RoSPA course.

as you may guess the RoSPA course takes you to a higher level. ie silver and gold. RoSPA actually rank your driving hence the bronze silver and gold.

i am going to seriously look at this as in some instances it can decrease your insurance premium.

one thing that does make you concentrate though is try giving yourself a running commentry of what you see in the road ahead and to the sides etc. at first its hard and you feel like a tit, but you actually start to see potential hazards before they are actually hazards. thus becoming a proactive driver as opposed to a reactive driver.

 

Funny, the running commentary bit you mention; I actually do this sometimes when I'm bored How sad

It's all about situational awareness (or SA as we brave aviators say ). I think my car handling skills are pretty average to low average however I believe that may strongest "skill"(not in an over-confident way) is my ability to actually take in and process lots of info all at once. Anybody on here that flies large and or fast aircraft (or has similar jobs) will probably agree that training for jobs like that has "knock on" effects in your day to day life. Improving your SA is a big one.

I'm not trying to be clever or claim to be the best driver ever. Far from it, like I said, I know stuff all about driving (I'll probably wipe out on a wet roundabout one day having very few handling skills as I do!! ). But if people just paid a little more attention to their surroundings rather than farting about with the stereo or just staring at the rear bumper of the car in front there'd be a hell of a lot less bunches of flowers by the roadside

PS. Why do I speed on the motorway (conditions allowing)? Because motorways are boring and I find that constantly having to scan the traffic and/or hard shoulder for the hidden fed keeps me far more alert than coffee ever would Also means you're looking far enough ahead to spot the roadworks/pile up/dullard pulling out ahead etc I don't even begin to believe that would stand up in a court of law but it's true.

 

This is why I don't like overtaking other cars doing more than 20mph faster than they are. If they're observant drivers they'll probably notice you, but if not, trying to slow down more than that speed differential is way too worrying in the limited distance you've usually got.

I've had it done on me several times, often on the occasions where any normal car wouldn't be able to consider overtaking safely, and also when I've just been cruising past at 10-15mph faster. Thank god for decent brakes.

 

I had a huge moment recently on a spirited run on some b-roads.

Coming down a hill onto a long-ish straight, roughly 7 cars behind a car towing an empty horsebox. Several of the cars were other scoobs on the same run.

Three of them pulled out from the middle of the pack to overtake the slow car, so I decided (as I was coming downhill and flat out in 3rd) to overtake the first few cars, then pull in the gap that the 3 scoobs had just left.

However, some guy in a new volvo decides that I'm not going to do that and PULLS FORWARDS to stop me, which now means I am stranded on the wrong side of the road approaching a blind left hander at almost the wrong side of three figures.

I had no choice but to carry on past the other cars and had to dive into the small gap behind the horsebox as somebody was rounding the bend. This meant SERIOUSLY heavy braking whilst steering into a small gap.

I ended up quite literally an inch from the back of the box at 40mph.

Didn't know whether to be angry at the volvo for potentially issuing me (and maybe others) a death sentence, or myself for putting people in that situation. I'm usually one of the most cautious overtakers due to a rather scared 'other half' but what I thought in a split second to be a text-book manouver could have cost dearly.

 

Its difficult to believe anyone can behave like that psycho did reversing over those people. He must have lost complete control of himself. Hope he was put away for some time.

I had to do one of those courses just over a year ago Steven when a pedestrian stepped off the kerb with his back to me in the middle of town and walked into my car. I had no witnesses to defend myself but was offered the course. Cost just over £100 I think.

It was a good course to do, the instructors were extremely pleasant and helpful and there is a lot of good information too. You just have to have the right attitude yourself and show improvememnt during the course as someone said and show willingness to accept instruction. Best to remember that the instructor is always right! The best laugh was a biker describing how he went through someone's rear screen and had to put up with a Westie licking his face! He described it just like CC would.

Glad you did not have any lasting injury from your accident.

Les