Spring stuff

Pen and ink, by me

 Now we have exited the wettest winter on record here in Devon and Cornwall, spring is beginning to make an appearance. Some early tulips came and went, wild garlic arrived - and was promptly removed and put into home made pesto - and the trees have all acquired that lovely, spring green tinge. This chartreuse green will disappear as the leaves mature and the darker, summer greens take over.

The hydrangea, too, is making the effort with buds hiding among the new leaves. They deserve their own portrait.

Image: Hydrangea in ink. (c) 2026 by me

So much more

The world of motoring - unless you are lucky enough to be driving the 'more interesting' kind of vehicle - is pretty bland these days.

Ink and watercolour - by me

Most cars are the same shape, same colour, same performance - and have so many driver aids it's not surprising that drivers don't know how to drive anymore. Some call this blandness 'vanilla', but I rather like vanilla, especially in ice cream. 

So, I will fill this space with some other stuff while I wait for interesting car-stuff to happen, which means there will be so much more to entertain you. 

Let's lift a glass to celebrate ...

Pot holes ...

 Now there's a word to get you all going!

Yep, there are loads of 'em, and after the winter we've had it's hardly surprising. I won't enter into the 'councils aren't doing enough'-'why aren't they all filled immediately after I call'-'it's disgusting, the country is falling apart' conversations, but I do have suggestions.

I find the ride is more comfortable, and less damage is done to the wheels and suspension if you don't drive in to them. 

Sounds obvious, really, but having been a passenger with some friends, recently, apparently not.

First, don't follow too close behind other vehicles, keep at least the 'two seconds' gap. This will allow you to observe the road ahead and plan your route around many potholes.

Second, along with the first, keep your speed down. Again allowing you more time to observe and avoid.

Third, concentrate on your driving and observe the road ahead. Together with 1 and 2, it will help. On roads you use often - remember where you last saw them, unless your memory is failing.

Fourth, take extra care at night. Main beam is useful, as long as you can manage to find the dip switch when required, which seems to be an issue on newer cars.

Let's face it, most of you are not interested in driving you just want to get from A to B with the least effort, as fast as you can. No amount of advice will help you, you will just whinge when you bend your rims, and blame anyone except your own incompetence. I appreciate many of you have been further de-skilled by buying cars that do it all for you, but hey ho, that's progress. The standards of your driving can only get worse ... unless you do something about it.

Happy potholing!

Two seconds - or too close

I first posted this in 2011 -  after 14 years, nothing has changed. Although not one of what a current campaign calls "The Fatal Five", following too close is a significant cause of accidents, and woud be classed as careless driving. (The Fatal Five are listed as: drink/drug driving, careless driving, speeding, using a mobile phone or other distraction, not wearing a seat belt).

"Only a fool breaks the two second rule." Read on ...

Of all road accidents, around 97% are caused by driver error - following too close is one of the errors most often cited.

 

So what's all this stuff about the 'two second rule'?

At 30 miles an hour, a car travels 88 feet (26.83 metres) in two seconds.

A fit, alert and attentive human being, concentrating on the road ahead and the traffic around them would have a reaction time of at least 0.6 second. This means, if the brake lights of the car in front come on, it takes 0.6 second for your eyes to tell your brain to apply the foot brake, and for your foot to start lifting off the accelerator. Next, your foot has to travel from the accelerator and across to the brake pedal, before you can apply pressure and slow the car.
At 30 mph, you are already nearly 30 feet (9 metres) closer to the car in front.

Once you've applied pressure to the foot brake and the brake pads start to bite against the discs the car will begin to slow down and eventually stop. When it does it will have travelled another 46 feet (14 metres).

The above figures are the best case scenario. If your car's brakes are poorly maintained, or tyres not in tip-top condition, or the road surface is wet or greasy, the distances mentioned above will be greater; much greater.

So, if you are travelling two seconds behind, you should have a pretty good chance of not running into the back of the car in front.

How do I know when I am two seconds behind?

Pick a mark on the road, say a bridge's shadow, or manhole cover. As the car in front crosses the shadow, say to yourself, "Only a fool, breaks the two second rule." This should take you about two seconds. If you cross the same mark before you have completed the sentence, you are too close. Aim to be far enough behind to complete the sentence before you reach the mark. Easy.


But what if I am travelling faster than 30, will the two second rule still work?

Yes, it is a useful guide. The faster you go, the greater distance is covered in two seconds; 176 feet (54 metres) at 60 mph. But, the Highway Code suggests that stopping distances get proportionately longer - 240 feet, 73 metres - so, speak more slowly.

When you are next on the motorway, check to see if you are complying with the Two Seconds Rule, and if not ... Back Off!

Just for fun you can test your reaction time here:

http://www.mathsisfun.com/games/reaction-time.html

... and check out stopping distances here:

http://www.passingplacedriving.co.uk/stoppingdistances.html

Choices

 There are many things to consider when driving on our roads. Speed, weather, road conditions, other motorists, pedestrians, animals, time of day, the list goes on. If you are concentrating fully on your driving then all should go according to plan ... should.

Unfortunately, there are drivers out there who; are not concentrating on their driving, don't care about their driving, whose confidence exceeds their ability, whose vehicle is in an unsafe condition, are drunk or drugged, using a cell phone, who are just bad drivers. 

This German registered Tesla driver fell in to one, or more, of the above considering, too, that he is in a foreign (to him) country, for example: driving too fast for the conditions, overtaking in an unsafe manner, failing to observe the junction ahead, driving too close to the vehicle ahead. 

Having done all that, he found that some of the lanes in Devon are, shall we say, constricted. We watched as he had to reverse and send his passenger go guide him through the gap - then rushed off, in an embarrassed huff, once he had cleared the parapet.

So, the simple advice regarding road safety, when you have to choice of being a Tom, Dick, or Harry - don't be a dick!

Two years!

 Well. there's a thing, as my old gran used to say! I haven't posted here for two years. I've been so busy!

The previous post was a moan about cyclists abandoning their vivid yellow clothing in favour of camouflage greens, browns, and blacks. Nothing's changed there. They still don't want to be seen, yet whinge when you don't.

I'm still driving the Dacia, now with 146,000 on the clock, and still doing 60mpg (on summer grade diesel).

Electric cars continue to improve, especially range-wise, but are still not a really viable alternative for high mileage rural dwellers - yet.

And it's been 11 years since I passed advanced riding tests for both IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) and RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents). They completed my set with the IAM car test in 1982. How time flies.

But what does the future hold? Who knows - except I will soon have to renew my driving licence, as us old farts have to do that more often. There are supposed to have been some rule changes to cater for the diminishing abilities of older drivers. When the reminder arrives I'll see what is required. I still have my original licence with entries dated 1972, but I don't think they'll accept that.

Until then I'll keep burning rubber! Keep it shiny side up, folks!

Hide and seek - cycling revisited

 Gosh! It was 11 years ago that I wrote about how evolution had provided certain species with protective colouration, either to protect themselves (usually from being eaten), or to warn others that they are a danger. (See: Black and Yellow means Danger)

The post was about wasps and cyclists both wearing black and yellow so that they could be easily seen and avoided.

What has happened since is proof that evolution is a continuing process - nothing to do with wasps, which continue to dress in their bright, fear inducing, warning colours - but cyclists. When I wrote the earlier post I lived in urbania, streetlights, wide footpaths, and traffic at 30mph or less. I now live in deepest, darkest Devon.

The cycling clones who either live in, or visit the countryside for their holidays, have, by and large, evolved from the conspicuous, brightly coloured pestilence that you could see from afar, your heart sinking with dismay at joining a queue of slow moving traffic unable to pass with the compulsory 1.5 metre gap, to a covert, secretive, and almost invisible camouflaged shape lurking in the shadows and hedgerows.

What has happened to the gaudy, hi-viz, eye-screechingly yellow tops? They have been replaced with, grey, green, brown, and black - and not on their own, sometimes in combination. 

Now, the lanes of north Devon are lined with banks, bushes, walls, and trees. These, in turn, cast shadows so the standard colour-scheme is ... grey, green, brown, and black, usually in combination.

I've tried to understand this change. Has being visible caused them to become targets? Is there some fashion where yellow is no longer de rigueur and wearing it is an embarrassment? Have cyclists, like lemmings, some kind of death-wish? As a keen motorcyclist I was more than happy to wear bright reflective gear to avoid the SMIDSY effect (Sorry Mate I Didn't See You|). 

I shall continue to give them a wide berth - assuming I see them, of course - because; I have no desire to hear their inane drivel if they think I'm too close, pathetic whinging should I bounce them into the bushes, or have to polish off the nasty marks they leave on the paintwork. 

I can't envisage that being camouflaged will do their cause any good, and will be interested to see if any court cases are decided  against them on the grounds of failing to ensure their own safety.

I'll revisit the matter in another 11 years.