Drivers inability to judge time and distance.
in [UK Drivers]
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From: Harry Bloomfield on 1 Dec 2009 12:40 Approaching a dead straight for 3/4 mile country road, having just negotiated a very gentle down hill bend - 3/4 of a mile away in the far distance was a Chelsea Tractor, indicator on waiting to turn right and no other vehicles in sight or even over the horizons (dark - no headlight halos). She would have seen my lights approaching from more than a mile away - at least. Doing 60 on that puts me around 45 seconds away from her (my guess), but she waited and waited and waited - until I had gone past, before making her turn. Headlights were on it was black and I'm certain they didn't dim as she restarted the engine, so why the lack of confidence in crossing the path of a vehicle such a distance away? I think some people just never develop the ability to assess a situation accurately and this driver was a good example of this. This is why I so often get people misjudging it the other way, with not enough time to complete their maneuver safely. Discuss.... -- Regards, Harry (M1BYT) (L) http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk
From: Mike P on 1 Dec 2009 13:03 On 1 Dec, 17:40, Harry Bloomfield <harry.m1...(a)NOSPAM.tiscali.co.uk> wrote: > Approaching a dead straight for 3/4 mile country road, having just > negotiated a very gentle down hill bend - 3/4 of a mile away in the far > distance was a Chelsea Tractor, indicator on waiting to turn right and > no other vehicles in sight or even over the horizons (dark - no > headlight halos). She would have seen my lights approaching from more > than a mile away - at least. Doing 60 on that puts me around 45 seconds > away from her (my guess), but she waited and waited and waited - until > I had gone past, before making her turn. Headlights were on it was > black and I'm certain they didn't dim as she restarted the engine, so > why the lack of confidence in crossing the path of a vehicle such a > distance away? > > I think some people just never develop the ability to assess a > situation accurately and this driver was a good example of this. This > is why I so often get people misjudging it the other way, with not > enough time to complete their maneuver safely. > Perhaps she's had a bad experience with someone approaching down the same stretch in the dark going much faster than they should have been and was just erring on the side of caution? Mike P
From: Harry Bloomfield on 1 Dec 2009 13:20 Mike P explained on 01/12/2009 : > Perhaps she's had a bad experience with someone approaching down the > same stretch in the dark going much faster than they should have been > and was just erring on the side of caution? Perhaps, but had I been doing 120 she would have had a good 20 some seconds to cover the fours yards into her right turn. Personally I find it somewhat more reassuring to cross the path of another vehicle to make a turn - If you have a lead vehicle in sight, you can better judge how much time you have to get across, rather than an empty road and have something suddenly come around the corner at speed. Hope that makes sense? -- Regards, Harry (M1BYT) (L) http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk
From: Steve Firth on 1 Dec 2009 14:04 Harry Bloomfield <harry.m1byt(a)NOSPAM.tiscali.co.uk> wrote: > I think some people just never develop the ability to assess a > situation accurately Add your name to that list.
From: Ray Keattch on 2 Dec 2009 15:42
Harry Bloomfield wrote: > Approaching a dead straight for 3/4 mile country road, having just > negotiated a very gentle down hill bend - 3/4 of a mile away in the far > distance was a Chelsea Tractor, indicator on waiting to turn right and > no other vehicles in sight or even over the horizons (dark - no > headlight halos). She would have seen my lights approaching from more > than a mile away - at least. Doing 60 on that puts me around 45 seconds > away from her (my guess), but she waited and waited and waited - until I > had gone past, before making her turn. Headlights were on it was black > and I'm certain they didn't dim as she restarted the engine, so why the > lack of confidence in crossing the path of a vehicle such a distance away? She was reading, opening a packet of fags, on the phone, unsure of her location, looking at a map ... You do not know if she had trouble judging distance. -- MrBitsy |