Diesel

I've had such a bad week on the roads - there seems to have been a chaos causing crash most days of the week this week. Three even happened right in front of me inc a car side wiped by a truck sliding on its roof up the hard shoulder

It's a pretty straightforward commute Bristol/Cardiff and all M4/ M32 motorway, but these crashes seem to happen all the time. Is this just my perception or is anyone else thinking its getting worse out there?

I wont get into my fave rant topic mode, but I barely see a cop car to pickup on bad driving. Speeds remain generally pretty low and 'license safe' due to regular speed cam van action on this stretch. Traffic really feels a bit on top of each other, all stuck to 70 or less...

I just dont feel that safe out there anymore!

D

FlightMan

Completely agree. I see so many collisions and near collisions on my commute M4/M25 its horrendous. And I simply cannot remember the last time I saw a patrol car. I bought a Yaris to cut my commuting costs, and TBH, I just get on the motorway and never stray from lane 1 now.

Shark Man

Yes, I've seen quite a few offs recently. I think there are a lot of factors; most of which are with the driver not realising the conditions and the limits of their vehicle. But another thing, which many a motorist skimps a few quid on:

Tyres.

My most hated tyre especially: Road Champ tyres: cold damp road = ice rink

Not actually saying it's only road champ, but there are 100s if not 1000s of cheap and nasty brands of tyre being sold from the likes of Kwick fit that shouldn't be allowed on a wheelbarrow, yet alone a car.

They are simply not suited to the Uk climate (cold and damp), where they are fine during the summer and in other (warmer+dryer) parts of europe or in the country they were imported from (i.e Korea).

And its not just cheap tyres; Even some expensive top brand tyres such as some models made by Pirelli and Yokahama can be very iffy in the UK at this time of year. Especally when fitted on the powerful cars they are intended for (Cold and damp road + P zero Rossos (for example) + RWD = slip slidey away).

Until a decent minimum standard is created that is sets out to catorgorise tyres that are suitable for use in the UK, then its going to continue.

This combined with increasingly heavy cars and drivers that drive far more ignorantly to the road conditions without any realisation of the limits their car has and without any ability to control a car in a slide is what is resulting in this carnage.

Moley

iTrader: (9)

Also the fact everyone seems to be in a rush nowadays.

I live on quite a busy road, and when i have to slow down to park people sit a few inches away from my rear bumper or will squeeze past instead of waiting a few seconds.

And don't get me on the subject of school mums.....

Shark Man

No need, how there isn't a serious accident by me now, I'll never know...my road is a series of 90 degree bends and a section only wide enough for one car, add to that a jucntion on a steep slope which is the main road to the school.

It all ices over quite badly if there is a frost.

And come 8:45am, out they come, MPVs and SUVs etc crammed full of kids and baby seats zooming down the road at their normal 25-30mph ignorant to the ice. One day there will be a serious crash, so far all they have done is bounce off curbs, crash onto my neighbour's front lawn and fail to stop at the junction hitting whatever is in the way.

They seem to think 30mph is safe? Presumably because thats the speed limit Seeing that I witnessed a SUV (Freelander) roll over at less than 15mph after clipping a curb, I'll even say 15mph isn't safe in those conditions.

bugeyeandy

Six dead in one weekend over in N.I.
Seems to me there's a lack of policing on the roads which has lead to a drop in driving standards.
I can pretty much drive the length of the uk now at any speed I like while chatting on my mobile and eating a Ginsters without fear of being caught so long as I know where the cameras are.
Can't remember the last time I saw a jam sandwich pulling someone over. Just the highways agency 4x4's who are universally ignored.

speye91

On my way down to Gatwick other week we were very lucky.

M1 Soutbound a car had spun out,hit central reservation,and came to a stop in the Fast lane visibilty poor due to heavy rain.We were in lane 2 when a truck indicates to pull into lane two,so moved over to lane 3 to be greeted by hazards in the outside lane.Hit the brakes,and swerved back over to lane two,nearlly **** me pants.

Further down in just north of Watford Gap Services there was a crash on the Northbound side,cur up in some trees,roof off,and alot of activity,when returning from Gatwick on Wednesday there was a Police Sign asking for witnesses.So it must of been a Fatality.

Further Down the M1 at Junction 6a,the police had a lane closed off,due to Water/Flooding,signs all iluminated from about 10 miles back,then some Numpty in a Forester,nearly takes out a police car,as he never noticed the flashy signs that had been illuminated for miles,warning of Lane closures.

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

People are not driving appropriately for the conditions, I was parked up last week and watched some daft bint accelerating up to a red light only to have to slam the brakes on and slam into the back of a ford focus Fecking roads are like ice rinks round here this time of the year with the rain and leaves god knows what she was thinking.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Only answer, good tyres, ABS, ESP and a bit of driver training.

The tyre thing makes a hell of a difference as already said, I will never buy budget again, if I go to see a car with them fitted I walk away.

Nankang tyres nearly killed me, made of Bakelite apparently.

thesyn

Which tyres are safe?

Fuzz

Our valeter stacked his Evo a few weeks ago as well, nearly didn't get out of it alive!
Lucky bugger!!

astraboy

Last thursday was a complete nightmare.
I left Solihull at 7am, expecting to be home by 930ish. I got back by 1045 in the end.
Not counting the enormous crash which closed the M40 completley, I counted 4 serious collisions, one of which happened about 5 cars in front of me.
Interestingly enough, it was also full moon the previous night, I dont know if the two are connected, but its a possibility.
astraboy.

gazza-uk

most accidents are caused by women/old drivers who sit 2cm away from the wheel, looking 1 foot ahead, who then panic and pull out (becuase they dont use those things we call mirrors).

Diesel

You arent joking mate - you need ESP to anticipate if a car is changing lane - so many dont bother to indicate these days. And dont get me started on roundabouts - anyone know Gabalfa roundabout? They are all saving their indicator bulbs there - coppers so should be 'avin a word...

Funnily enough I posted somewhere about tyres - was being given winter summer/option on tyres on Black Circles.com Now an M&S I know of but not winter/summer on std UK road cars?. Went for cheapest in the end >joke< actually went for prettiest pattern

My next thread will be about danger points that go unchecked by the authorities, and that could potentially cause acccidents...

D

simplesteve

You could have the best tyres in the world, but if the person behind the wheel is a duffer they aint going to help!

Leslie

I think it is a good point about cars all travelling at similar top speeds which causes bunching and a moment's inattention when the traffic slows down is likely to cause an accident.

I think that the motorway speed limit should be raised to around 85-90 mph which would tend to stretch the traffic out a bit more.

Les

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

Apparently the thing is the UK doesn't go in for winter tyres. Holland and Germany, very similar to use fit millions of winter or cold weather tyres after government campaigns but we still don't. Can actually be quite hard to get hold of decent ones too. I know i'm looking!

The Korean stuff just isn't up to it. The Jap tyres that were on my FTO when i got it showed me that. Falken's so would have been fine for Japan but over here it was like having plastic on the back. Rear end out at low speeds as soon as we got a bit of drizzle.

5t.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

I've been doing a bit more motorway driving as of late, owing to a GF that lives a trip around the M25 and up the M3 from me and, quite honestly, the standard of driving is, more often than not, appalling.

I'm no driving instructor, nor do I have an especially high opinion of my prowess behind the wheel, but there are some things which just inherently have "bad news" written all over them. For example

-Tailgating
-Not looking/indicating before changing lane
-Undertaking
-Failure to adjust driving style to the conditions e.g. reducing speed and allowing greater stopping distances in poor conditions
-Failing to make adequate progress in the fast lane
-Hogging the overtaking lane

You see this all the time. There are some people who exhibit behaviour that is so blatantl dumb as to make you wonder how on earth they got past their driving test, or have managed to avoiding killing themselves (and possibly others) to date!

Ns04

Shark Man

Generally I find tyres made in Europe do work better. The problem I think somewhat stems from "summer tyres" being an all for all catogory for any on-road car tyre that isn't for winter use. So that catorgory includes tyres for warm temperatures and dry roads as well as tyres better suited for wet/damp and colder temperatures.

Out of personal experience and solely looking at performance summer tyres, I usually end up with Michelins being at the top of the list (obviously the sport/primacy ranges, not the fuel savers ), not the best for handling or feel, but they generally give a good level of grip and progressive break away when cold and wet/damp. Whereas other tyres can lose grip quite violentally. But they are the most expensive brand out there, maybe there is a reason for that?

Second on my list is Continental Sport contact 3, they work well on most of the cars I've driven with them fitted. Quite a cheap tyre for its intended market (high performance) too. Third are Good-Year's GSD series which grip well, but roll about a bit on the sidewalls. Finally somewhere towards the bottom are Dunlops SP9000 as a bare minimum (they don't grip as well in the damp, but the break away is progressive and predictable) - they are cheap tyres, so obviously that's to be expected.

It's a pity we can't have try before you buy with tyres, as some tyres work better on some car than others (for example, P-zero Rossos are awful on the back of a Monaro with no rear passengers, but not so bad with two adults in the back, or on the rear of 996 where thay have a bit more weight on them).

I'd like to try some Vredesteins if I could find a decent supplier as I hear good things about their performance tyres in the wet

Moving on to winter tyres, the biggest problem is finding sizes that fit a performance car as most aren't available in low profile sizes. And then if you do find teh right sizes, you struggle to find anyone that sells them anyway.


However, all the above doesn't matter much if you are a crap driver.

But it could make a difference to being in control and out of control in an emergency sceinario....which you shouldn't be in in the first place

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

The two i've had recommended are the Toyo Snowprox and the Nokian range. The Nokians' don't look bad value off Mytyres

5t

SetoN

Old drivers are dangerous, they make me nervous

Asian drivers have rules of their own, they pi$$ me off

Women drivers are stupid, they have no sense of spacial awareness or speed

White van drivers are ruthless, not their van if they dint it

Taxi drivers, see Asian drivers above.

GC8WRX

Seton, agree with all the above

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

I had some woman pull out on me tonight , I wasn't too bothered as the road was wide enough so I just moved over to overtake. She then proceeds to drive straight across the road into my path so I had to brake hard not to hit her !!

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

I always get nervous overtaking woman drivers, mirrors and blind spots are not their strong point.

Diesel

You MUST have the same commute and common sense values as me mate. I'll wave next time and very well said!

D

Leslie

How refreshing it is to have such a perfect driver as you on our roads!

Les