Forward Vision #94

The Newsletter of Chelmsford Advanced Motorists

www.iamchelmsford.org.uk Issue 94 June & July 2012 IAM Group 7223 Registered Charity No 1059372

What am I?

Page 2 Chelmsford Advanced Motorists Issue 94

The first Driver Experience Day this year took place on Sunday 22nd April. Please put your name down early to ensure a place on the next one.

Advanced Driving is using the ‘System’ to be able to plan your drive even though you don’t know what is going to happen. Mental preparation, ’the what if scenario’ is very important. For instance: you are driving along a road in a town, lots of parked cars, a child runs out from between these cars. No warning, you couldn’t see any legs between cars. Do you know how long it will take your car to stop? Are you able to brake and steer away from the child?

The Driver Experience Day gives you the ability to practise braking and being able to assess you and your car’s performance in a controlled environment. Don’t miss the chance, book your place for Sunday September 30th.

These days are a fantastic oppor-tunity to test yourself and car in a test track environment being guided by our experienced Observers through a variety of manoeuvres designed to give you thrilling but safe experience. The Essex Air Ambulance benefits from the £10 each participant is asked to donate. Participants are known to suffer from aching jaws because they

spend so much time smiling. Please practise smiling before you arrive.

Terry Joyce


Associates, Full Members & Guests Welcome

Forthcoming Group Meetings These are usually held on the 2nd Monday of each month

at the Essex Police Sports and Social Club, Which is through the Police vehicle park at the very end of St. Margarets Road,

Chelmsford.

Group Meetings start promptly at 8pm, so please arrive at around 7.45pm.

Make a note in your diary and please be there!

http://www.essexexplorer.co.uk/cam.kmz

Date Topic Speaker

Monday July 9th

Ford Electric Cars and the Future (A new Electric car will be available to in-

spect)

Dr Tim Nicklin Ford

Monday August 13th

Motoring Offences - Points, Pounds or Prison Ship

His Honour Judge Hayward Smith QC

Disclaimer—Please note that the views and opinions expressed in this Newsletter are those of the individual writers and they do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, nor those of the Chelmsford and District Group of Advanced Motorists. Their accuracy has not been verified.

Notice—Data Protection Act: records are held of members personal details submitted on their application form. The information will be used solely for the Group’s administration purposes and will not be passed to any third party.

CM2 6DS


to our new Associate and Full Members.

We look forward to seeing and talking to them at our monthly Group nights

We have no new Associates Do you know of anybody who might like to join?

We are a friendly bunch, so don’t be worried about coming to our Group nights if you are on your own.

Make yourself known to John who will greet you at the desk, he will find one of us to come and talk to you. John will also try to get you to part with some money for the raffle.

There will be Senior Observers, Observers and generally an Examiner at the evening and you will be able to get answers to any questions that you have.

Please come along, we’ll even give you tea or coffee and there is a bar - for light refreshments obviously!

Terry Joyce

What make of car am I? What model? What was I used for? What year? See Page 7


Please remember: Do telephone both your Observer and Scott Bannister ( Associates Co-ordinator ) immediately after your test.

Congratulations to these latest Members of our Group

who have Passed

‘The Test’.

To all those people who have passed their test: It would be appreciated if you could write a few words thanking your Observer and maybe something about the process and your test, to give those New Associates an insight into the process of learning Advanced Driving.

Roll No Name Test Date Observer

968 Melissa Hodges 3rd April Scott Bannister

969 Brian Cole 19th April John Ockmore

970 Beverley Heydon 10th May Scott Bannister

971 Ian Smith 14th May Gaynor Manthorpe


Group Enquiry number: - 01245 264962

If you leave a message, please use a landline number for Sue to ring you back on, not a mobile.

Chairman Graham Lowe

Secretary Colin Snow

Treasurer John Johnston

Membership Secretary Colin Snowl

Associates Co-ordinator & Chief Observer

Scott Bannister

Website Editor Jon Ward

Newsletter Editor Terry Joyce

Events Organiser Graham Lowe

Publicity John Stone

Group Contact Susan Sweetland

Committee Member Dr Clifford Murira

Committee Member Steve Wright

Hon. Committee Member Ken Howard

Committee Member John Ockmore

Committee

Honorary Life Members Mr Mike Corbett, Mr Glyn Jarrett, Mrs Ruth Jarrett, Mr Dave Travers

Observer Examiner Gaynor Manthorpe

Do you have DATABASE experience?

We need a Membership Secretary and or help modifying/replacing our current database.


Please contact me

by email at

[email protected]

~~~~~~~~ Editorial ~~~~~~~~

Terry Joyce

Hello,

Thank you to those of you who have sent in letters and articles it is very

much appreciated. They may not all be featured in this edition.

From Page 4. As we have no New Associates I thought that I would add a

picture from the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon. See page 27 for a little

more about the centre.

The car is a Ford Thunderbird, created by Ford of Europe’s design team for

Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds (2004). Apparently it is fully functional and

road legal.

Many thanks to Sue Sweetland for her patient and educated assistance in

producing this Newsletter.

We are in need of a

Membership Secretary and Events organiser

urgently.

Can YOU help


Annual Reports to the AGM

By now we should all be experts in wet weather driving and taking detours to avoid deep water/floods. I think it was said to be the wettest April/May on record. Somewhat ironic though that as soon as the “hose pipe ban” was introduced it started raining, although officially we were still in “drought”. Only in Britain!

But, hey, the sun’s out and summer is here and not long to the Olympics. Are you looking forward to the 24 hour sport coverage on the box? The re-cord number of people queuing at Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick just to get into the country – legally or otherwise? Or just the record breaking traf-fic jams in east London and other Olympic venues? I see the signs are al-ready showing “Olympics – plan your journey”, or something to that effect. Personally, I think this will be the best time to leave the country and enjoy all the empty roads abroad.

On a more positive note we had a well attended Driver Experience Day in April which raised £240 for the Essex Air Ambulance. We would also have had a well attended visit to the Essex Police museum, had the visit not been cancelled by the Curator because of staffing shortages. I still think they could have given us the keys and we could have locked up when we’ve finished and put the keys through the letter box.

Now, some of you may know I live in Ongar…where John Osborne wrote the play, “Look Back In Ongar”!!! Well, we have something new there now - .our very own, fully operational, ever so smoky, steam train service (sometimes diesel) to Epping (more or less); or the opportunity to ride on a vintage bus for part of the way if you fancy the whole nostalgic experience. The Epping Ongar & Railway ( www.eorailway.co.uk ) has been a long time coming and might not be there for much longer (some new houses have been built about 60 metres from the track). So, if you do get fed up with seeing all the gold medals going to the Yanks and Russians, take a drive out to Ongar station and step back in time. Be advised – park in the car parks either side of the police station and walk back up, it’s not far.

I’m sure you all know that I’m standing down as Chairman/Events Organ-iser from June, in order to take-up my new post as Director of NASA. Sadly, no one has been cajoled, forced, or even volunteered to take on the role of Chairperson so Scott has said he will “stand in”. Thanks to all of you and especially the committee, for putting up with me for as long as you have. It couldn’t have been easy.

Graham Lowe


Group Secretary’s Report 2012

The deadline for writing this is today & I don’t know what to write about.

I feel that one thing’s for sure is that if things stay the way they are then the days of this group are numbered. Requests for a new Membership Sec-retary fall on deaf ears amongst you all. It’s not right that if someone has given a role several years faithful service to the Group then they shouldn’t be forced to carry on simply because no else wants to know. I’d like to thank David Wall for all he has done, not only as Membership Secretary but for the many Associate members that have passed through his hands as an Observer. Reluctantly I have taken on the role of Membership Secretary but David is still giving me lessons & I think I’ll need a few more yet. The other reason why things are very uncertain is that the number of new Associate members coming to us has fallen off a cliff in recent months and talking to other Groups it seems to be the way of things.

Thankfully, John Johnston agreed to join the committee earlier in the year so I was able to give up my role as stand in Treasurer with Scott assisting me, to someone who knows what he’s doing!!

I attended the Regional Forum meeting in April which this year was held in Aylesbury which made for a pleasant ride on my bike – read motorcycle!! The IAM have felt the need to standardise what we do before the DSA may well introduce new regulations with regards to post test coaching. It is well known that all Groups do things differently so there is a wide variety in the quality of what we do country wide so there is a need for consistency. In order to do this we need a set of written competencies which are check-able and be externally accredited to an independent body on the lines of GCSE examinations for schools. The IAM are now trying this out in two “pilot” areas in the country to iron out any snags & problems for 6 – 7 months before introducing it nationwide. We will keep you informed as to how this progresses. Colin Snow


Membership Secretary’s Report 2012

Colin is fulfilling this role on a temporary basis but It would be unfair to ask him to write a report.

We are urgently in need of someone urgently to take on this role. Database experience would be an advantage but not necessary as training can be given.

Below is a table showing the number of New Associates joining during each two month period as reported in this newsletter

The total number of new Associates in previous six issues totaled 52.

Although our standards remain high we are definitely on a downward trend of new members and the overall membership is going the same way. Please make an effort to recruit new members because you know the benefit of being an Advanced Driver.

Terry Joyce, in Lieu of a Membership Secretary

Treasurer’s Report 2012

You will be aware that I took over as the Treasurer of the Group earlier in this financial year and I would like to start my report by thanking both Colin and Scott for looking after the finances of the Group during the earlier part of the year and doing such an excellent job.

I am pleased to report that once again the Group charity account had a surplus for the year of £521.70 which means that our funds available to support better driving/road safety are now £11,599.89.

On the social account, although there was a deficit for the year of £78.94 the Social Fund still has a healthy £3,872.43.

John Johnston

Issue No Date Number of new Associates

Issue 89 August/September 2011 9

Issue 90 October/November 2011 5

Issue 91 December 2011/January 2012 10

Issue 92 February/March 2012 8

Issue 93 April/May 2012 11

Issue 94 June/July 2012 0

43


Chief Observer’s Report

Our Group continues to have a very high pass rate – around 98%. This is largely due to the fact that our observers maintain a very high standard for themselves and pass this on to associates – usually well in excess of what is required for the IAM test. For many other IAM groups, getting people up to test standard is all they are seeking. Our philosophy is to get people to be as good as they can be behind the wheel and for many this goes comfortably beyond what the IAM require,

The only fly in our ointment is the lack of new associates coming through the door. There are sufficient to keep our observers reasonably active but nobody is under pressure. Gone are the days where it would take three months to get started because there was a waiting list. It’s understandable given the current economic climate but it seems a shame that we have under-used capacity. So, if you know friends or relatives that could be persuaded to have an interest in becoming a better driver, please give them a prod in the right direction,

The fall off in new associates means that it is now some time since I last trained any new observers. Whilst it’s comfortable to have a steady bunch of people to work with, looking to the future it’s essential that we get a steady supply of new blood, not just in terms of associates, but also of observers. So if any of you are keen to become an observer, please let me know.

Scott Bannister

DUCK!!

Is it just me or have other readers had the same experience? Every day for the past few months I have noticed birds flying much lower than normal, swooping dangerously near to fast moving traffic. My daily commute takes me through a semi-countrified part of Essex, with many fields and trees. I have recently started to count how many I see and the current tally is around 8 – 10 on a 20 minute journey, some flying so low to my car that I actually duck (a subcon-scious reaction, but also a very dangerous one when I’m driving at 60mph!). I couldn’t believe my eyes when a large crow ‘crossed the road’ (about 10ft above the traffic), stopped in mid-air, turned and ‘crossed the road’ back to the other side! I have also seen hawks hovering perilously low above the road (not the fields) – makes me wonder what they are looking for. The last straw was today when a small bird, possibly a swift, appeared to dive-bomb my car before rapidly ascending into the air only a few feet clear of my vehicle, at the very last minute. It really is spoiling my usual enjoyment of driving on the open road – let’s hope the birds come to their senses soon! I’ll be arriving at work a nervous wreck if it continues much longer!

Jackie Thomson


Chelmsford & District Group of Advanced Motorists

Income & Expenditure account for the year to 31 March 2012 Income

Gift Aid £681.04

Full Member Renewals £2,957.50

Associate member joining fees £1,493.00

4x4 days £210.00

Skid pan £420.00

Newsletter £115.00

Book Sales £20.00 £5,896.54

Expenditure

Other £371.00

Books £93.80

General admin & room hire £257.50

Telephone & Postage £422.99

Printing & Stationary £788.56

Travel £586.46

4x4 Days £250.00

Skid Pan £744.00

Newsletter £1,860.53 £5,374.84

Surplus for Year £521.70

Gen Fund Bal bf £858.09

10/11 cqs outstanding -£103.79

11/12 cq outstanding £10.00

Surplus for year £521.70

Prior Year Adj £675.97

Gen bal cf £1,961.97

Funds in National Savings Certs £9,637.92

Total General Assets £11,599.89

Social Fund bf £4,165.02

10/11 cqs outstanding -£213.65

Deficit for Year -£78.94

Social Fund cf £3,872.43


Ron Adams

Scott Bannister

Pat Clements

Philip Cooper

Paul Crosby

Jamie Drummond

Max Ford

Tony Hawes

Helen Jeffries

Terry Joyce

Rob Laird

George Locker

Graham Lowe

Gaynor Manthorpe

John May

Janet Miller

Dr Clifford Murira

John Ockmore

Roger Spall

Lawrence Tattersall

John Tullett

David Wall

Brian Williams

Rob Wise

Our Observers

An Introduction to 4x4 driving on Saturday November 17th.

Increase your driving skills and have fun.

Book your place. Not to be missed, contact Scott for details.

The instructor demonstrates each section of the course prior to you taking your turn. They are carried out in a light hearted but professional manner.

The course has challenges and excitement. Steep inclines, muddy pits, tight corners, deep ruts and lots of mud.

Educational and Fun. Come and have a go. Terry Joyce


Wheel Alignment When I took my car for it’s MOT there were a number of items listed

under ‘Advisory Information’. Five items in all, three of which were minor

and just require checking from time to time, e.g. brake wear. There were

two which needed investigation.

The first said the was a nail in the nearside rear tyre and the second

stated that the front tyres were worn on the inner edges. I’d had no prob-

lem with the nearside rear tyre, the pressure was at its required pressure

of 36psi. I looked for the nail unsuccessfully. Now the worn inner edges

on the front tyres, I had noticed sometimes when I was driving along a

dual carriageway the car pulled slightly to the left.

A few months previously I was part of a group that was invited along to

Supertyres of Maldon for a presentation and one of the demonstrations

was four wheel alignment. With the more complex suspensions on

modern cars, I think the days of

just adjusting the track rod ends

for wheel alignment have al-

most gone. Now I’m no expert

on things mechanical, so if I

have made any mistakes in the

technical details please let me

know.

I phoned Supertyres and

arranged for a visit. Firstly they

removed my nearside rear

wheel and found the nail and carried out a repair. Then the car was put

on the ramps and some sensors attached to the wheels. These sensors

are read by a computer which generates a graphic on the screen to allow

the technician to assess the required adjustment.

Continued on Page 15


Wheel Alignment continued

Martin, my technician explained what he was looking at on the screen then printed out a detailed graphical report to show all of the settings and meas-urements. The machine he was using is John Bean Visualiner which has two cameras which take readings from the sensors attached to each wheel. As you can see from the picture, each sensor gauge has 33 points that the cameras read. On my car the thrust angle was out and also the toe on the nearside front tyre.

Thrust angle is the direction that the rear wheels are pointing in relation to the centre line of the vehicle. If the thrust angle is not zero, then the vehicle will "dog track". Dog Tracking refers to a condition in which the vehicle is out of alignment and the rear wheels do not follow in the path of the front wheels when the vehicle is travelling in a straight line.

Toe is the difference in distance between the front and rear of a pair of tyres mounted on the same axle. Toe in is fairly self explana-tory but just in case imagine stand-ing up, then moving your big toes towards each other.

When Martin had made the adjustments we were able to look at the computer screen and see the alignment report and check

each setting. Once this was done he printed me another graphical report which showed the current settings and measurements.

I haven’t mentioned everything there is to look at with wheel alignment as this subject is far more complicated than I have described here. If there are any experts out there please write an article for me.

Terry Joyce


“Something I meant to do years ago”

With the media interest in “over 70” driving capability it made me think that perhaps I

should get an independent assessment of” MY” driving. My thoughts turned to IAM

(something I meant to do years ago) but now had time for. So I enrolled on the” Skill

for Life”.

Very soon I was contacted by my nominated observer, John Ockmore, and taken for

my first observed drive, where he highlighted areas for improvement. Over several

more drives covering varying routes, with his constructive help, we got to the point of

applying for “the Test”

Test day arrived and I met with my examiner, Paula Fells. She made the elements of

the test quite clear but in a relaxed manner. As someone said in the Roadcraft video,

this is the day a black cat runs across the road. The weather was less than kind, rain-

ing all the time, sometimes torrential. At the end of the test I was happy to be given a

pass.

From my copy of the test sheet there are still areas where I need to improve my score

and this I will work on. However the bottom comment was “Good safe drive, smooth

and well planned”. This was the whole object of enrolling so that any passengers I

carried would have a comfortable and safe journey.

Many thanks to John for the interesting drives, some of which covered routes which

had been my daily commute for 30-40 years. The changes to road layouts and envi-

ronment proved a distraction as it has been ten years since I last visited these areas.

Paula made a comment that the number of tests she conducted had fallen since the

fee had been increased. I know we are in hard economic times but where else can

you get unlimited observed drives with very qualified observers plus a test with first

class examiners for this sort of money. Good value I say and well done IAM.

Thank you John for the enjoyable drives.

Brian Cole


Changes in the New Highway Code (2007)

© Crown copyright 2007

Highway Code

264

You should always drive in the left-hand lane when the road ahead is clear. If you are overtaking a number of slower-moving vehicles, you should return to the left-hand lane as soon as you are safely past. Slow-moving or speed-restricted vehicles should always remain in the left-hand lane of the carriageway unless overtaking. You MUST NOT drive on the hard shoulder except in an emergency or if directed to do so by the police, HA traffic officers in uniform or by signs.

[Laws MT(E&W)R regs 5, 9 & 16(1)(a), MT(S)R regs 4, 8 & 14(1)(a), and RTA 1988, sects 35 & 186, as amended by TMA 2004 sect 6]

Motorways

This rule has been modified and laws added.

The right-hand lane of a motorway with three or more lanes MUST NOT be used (except in prescribed circumstances) if you are driving • any vehicle drawing a trailer

• a goods vehicle with a maximum laden weight exceeding 3.5 tonnes but not exceeding 7.5 tonnes, which is required to be fitted with a speed limiter

• a goods vehicle with a maximum laden weight exceeding 7.5 tonnes

• a passenger vehicle with a maximum laden weight exceeding 7.5 ton-nes constructed or adapted to carry more than eight seated passengers in addition to the driver

• a passenger vehicle with a maximum laden weight not exceeding 7.5 tonnes which is constructed or adapted to carry more than eight seated passengers in addition to the driver, which is required to be fitted with a speed limiter

[Laws MT(E&W)R reg 12, MT(E&W)AR (2004), MT(S)R reg 11 & MT(S)AR (2004)]

265

This rule has been modified and laws added.


A South African Experience

Some explanation is needed on how my wife Rita and I came to be driving around South Africa (the Western Cape anyway) for many months: Having become enthusiastic about the art of driving it was disappointing for me, only a few months after passing my test some four/five years ago, to be unable to join the Chelmsford Group monthly meetings. Four years ago my wife had the misfortune of suffering, with no warning, a spontaneous brain haemorrhage. This disaster actually occurred as she was driving alone in the car. It was by mere good fortune that no-one else was involved in the resulting accident, but Rita unknowingly brought the car to a halt by driving it through a brick wall. Though the car was destroyed, Rita received no injury from the RTC itself which says a lot for the body strength and air-bag layout of a Honda Civic. The haemorrhage was a bad one and after nine weeks in hospital she was sent home still with multiple disabilities, both mental and physical. I suddenly became a full-time carer with no opportunity for getting out in the evenings, but it has unexpectedly given me the opportunity to write about driving in South Africa! Full-time caring might be fun if you have an aptitude for it. I don’t. After surviving two UK winters when we were both effectively house-bound for months, or so it seemed, I decided something had to change. That something was to organise a small house on the Cape Peninsula, south of Cape Town, where we have now spent the last two winters. What a good decision. Not only has it revolutionised our lives, but we quickly found therapists there who were willing and able to give Rita the therapy that she badly needed, and was not receiving in the UK. In addition to the house, I searched for a small runabout. Cars, new or second hand, are surprisingly expensive in South Africa and I finished up with a six year-old, 1.2 litre Renault Clio. Yes, I know, sad about the 1.2 litre bit, but at least we were mobile and the folding wheelchair fitted snugly into the boot. Driving in SA is fun. For historical reasons the road layout and ‘furniture’ (strange word in this context) are quite familiar to someone from the UK and of course all the vehicles are right hand drive. Mostly the driving is of a perfectly reasonable standard, though there is the inevitable small minority where it isn’t; these are the ones who keep life interesting. There is a strong tendency to jump red lights. You quickly learn that just because you have a green light doesn’t mean that nothing will come across in front of you, espe-cially a cyclist. Cycling is a major sporting activity on the Cape and a substantial mi-nority of riders seem to regard a red traffic light as meaning no more than ‘Caution’, not ‘Stop’. Actual STOP signs, of which there are many, seem invisible to all cyclists. Considering the way that many of them behave on the road, why they should con-stantly complain in the media about the frequency of cycle/vehicle contact is one of life’s minor mysteries.

Continued on page 19


A South African Experience continued

Talking about mysteries, I was flummoxed for quite a while by the words “Robot Ahead” occasionally painted on the road, usually before a bend. Despite looking carefully, I never saw a robot, or anything that looked like one. Enlightenment came in a supermarket. I bought a packet of three sweet peppers, one red, one yellow and the third green. Across the packet were printed the words “Robot Peppers”. The penny at last dropped – robots are traffic lights! Staying a little longer with the theme of traffic lights, I haven’t yet sorted out the best policy for approaching a green light with a car on my tail, a not infrequent occurrence. Inevitably, the timing of the amber light is sometimes such that you say to yourself “just got across before that turned red”, only to look in the mirror and see that both the following cars are still with you. I can see the situation where, in the UK, the amber appears at a time when it would be reasonable to brake firmly and stop. In SA the car behind probably thinks it reasonable to accelerate and get across – after all, it would be only a second or two after the red. In such a situation I usually slow to give myself more space – that merely irritates the driver behind even more. It hasn’t happened yet, but . . . . Suggestions will be welcome. One headline earlier this year, in the local weekly paper in Fish Hoek, proclaimed GRIDLOCK! And went on to bitterly complain about traffic jams south of Cape Town and on the Cape especially. Everything is relative. If those conditions had been transferred to many parts of urban Britain, the reaction would have been “Why’s the traffic running more freely today?” Admittedly Rita and I are never in a hurry to get anywhere, but traffic hold-ups are still a bore, so it is a real pleasure to be able to drive freely with almost never anything that approaches a serious delay in front of us. There is a qualification to the above paragraph – on at least two days of the year, at weekends, effectively all the main roads on the Cape are closed for a day. The first is for a marathon race, the second for a cycle rally that claims to be the biggest in the world in terms of numbers entering. It starts and ends in Cape Town and over roughly 100 km it pretty well circles the Cape Peninsula. We happen to live within a rectangu-lar area of several square km with the rally route going round three sides of the rec-tangle. The fourth side is the sea, so there is no hope of taking a car anywhere that day. But everyone goes to watch the action and there is huge enthusiasm for the rid-ers. It takes a good many hours for 35,000 cyclists to pass by the end of our road! As is probably well known, the accident rate in SA is quite poor. One cause is proba-bly the lack of any MoT system. Although there is a surprisingly high proportion of new 4x4s on the roads, there are also a good many 20+ year-old vehicles that mostly look as though they have just emerged from a stock car racing circuit. More impor-tantly though, is the habit of carrying passengers in open transport. It is common to see

To be continued in Issue 95 David Guthrie


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So far this year, we’ve had some extraordinary weather: snow, a lovely warm March, a drenching April (well, we need the rain!) and finally some lovely hot weather in May. We’ve got lots of birds in the garden, which is lovely but I really could do without that Magpie croaking at 5 in the morning! The Swifts are back from Africa and, say it qui-etly, it might be that summer is here. That leads us on to driving in bright sunlight, particularly early and late in the day when the sun is low in the sky . I’ve got prescrip-tion sunglasses and although they’re expensive, if you play your cards right and go to your optician when there’s a special offer, you might actually get them for nothing. They’re a great deal more comfortable and better for our eyes than squinting into the sun and trying desperately to make best use of the visor!

Some of you will be talking about grandmothers and eggs by now but when the next sharp shower arrives and the road surfaces are greasy and slippery – if we all know about it, why are there so many police cars rushing around on blues and twos?

Susan Sweetland


M25 and More

In the last edition, I wrote about a section of the M25. I am very pleased to

say I received a couple of responses. Please see this page and Page 22.

Terry Joyce

Hi Terry,

I am reading the new newsletter ('M25, which lane').

I think in your particular example I would go for the trundle along in lane 1. The sign shows a mile to the exit, so the time saving from an overtake is going to be next to nothing - most probably just the length of the lorry in the picture at the roundabout. Also we know the A127 is a dual carriageway, so there will soon be an overtaking opportunity along there.

I have made a few runs around the M25 as far as the M4 and I think the four lane sec-tions are wonderful. It seems to be substantially de-stressed compared with the for-mer 3-lane affair. There is room to keep up with the traffic, but not become consumed by it. There seems to be less lane changing, and a narrower spread of vehicle speeds, and also sight lines are much better. I think the reduced lane changing is partly because while door mirrors cover the lanes left and right (and the rear-view mir-ror covers the lane behind) there is more likely a blind spot looking across a lane to the one beyond. And moving into an apparently empty lane e.g. from 2 to 3, when something is approaching in lane 4 is a manoeuvre I will usually defer 'just in case' the lane 4 vehicle pulls into the same space.

I found I made very contented and relaxed progress choosing lane 3. If you accept the essence of my argument above, you will see why I might be reluctant to drop back to lane 2; but lane 4 is an easy option to keep the progress going. In the particular ex-ample in your photograph, I guess if you had aimed for lane 3 soon after arriving into the flow, an overtake of the three-abreast lorries might be more likely. The entry slip road from the A12 is very gentle (and a long climb) and I think the engineers have de-signed something which is excellent for the terrain and the space available ... and as a car driver you get plenty of time to weigh up the nature of the traffic on the main road.

If you define 'good progress' on a motorway as aiming to minimise the number of overtakes - i.e. equal number of overtakes 'by you' and 'of you' - then you will most likely need to trundle along at a bit more than 70 - say around the 75 mark. I think this is true on a journey of perhaps 5 miles or more, and where there are more cars than lorries. Going back to your particular example, and assuming you started at the A12, you have only a few miles to cover between entry and exit. If there were lots of lorries, then your attempts to optimise the number of overtakes may suggest you potter along with them.

Well, I hope this is helpful!

Regards, Richard Gawler.


M25 and More continued

Hi, Terry, Interesting article in last Forward Vision regarding Motorway travel. Couple of other points I always take heed of: 1. I always try and pass vehicles travelling in lane one by using lane three; just

out of risk reduction/avoidance. Especially if there is a line of vehicles in line one as it allows THEM to make an error in speed/distance judgement to their vehicle in front and swerving at the last minute into “my” lane if I was using lane two. Applies to traffic at normal motorway speeds; but also can be more important if lane one is slow moving as one vehicle may suddenly get fed up travelling slowly and decide to pull into lane two!

2. Try and avoid overtaking in lane three if two lorries are overtaking abreast in

lanes one & two. ie try and have only two vehicles abreast in a three lane motorway situation. Not always easy but reading ahead and speed control can make this happen for you without impeding drivers behind you.

3. At night on sparsely trafficked dual lane/motorways when approaching to

overtake a lorry, especially on dual lane road (ie A127), I usually flash my headlamps to main beam to try and ensure the lorry driver is aware of me pending overtaking him. I assume worse case that he may be about to drift sleepily into “my” lane so a flash may delay this until I’ve passed.

4. Where there is a long LH slip lane that you plan to use, try and pass lorries

on the “main” road BEFORE turning into the slip (but don’t do it late!), this not only gets you ahead of them if they plan to turn off as well but also avoids risk of them drifting into the lane if you adopt the passing on the left, in the slip lane. This applies to RH drive UK lorries in particular, not just for-eign.

Regards Eric Hoile


CHELMSFORD ADVANCED MOTORISTS

LIBRARY LIST

DVDs

Drive Smarter, Essential know-how for your driving career (2 copies) By Gem Motoring Assist

Roadcraft, The Police Driver’s Course on Advanced Driving By The Police Foundation

PC CD-ROMs

The Interactive Highway Code HMSO/ Interactive Driving Systems

Hazard Perception Test HMSO/Oasis

BOOKS

Roadcraft TSO Human Aspects of Police Driving Scottish Police College The Tyre Digest (2 copies) Michelin

Driving Abroad Robert Davies

The Official Highway Code Rev. 2007 Edition HMSO

The Official Guide to Accompanying L-Drivers DSA

Sideways to Victory Roger Clark

The Myway Code Ian Vince/Dan Kieran

Paul Ripley’s Expert Driving Daily Telegraph

The Inner Game of Tennis W Timothy Gallwey

Mind Driving Stephen Haley

Older Drivers – Safe or Unsafe? IAM Traffic– Why we drive the way we do Tom Vanderbilt

CDs

Awake, Driver Reviver THINK

Advanced Road Craft Bespoke Driving Training

The Driving Test – Your Licence to Drive IAM/Safety on the Move


Notification of Events

There has been a lot of positive feedback from events organised by the Group. If you would like to be kept informed of any up and coming events please make sure that David Wall has your current email address.

Young Driver Scheme

Do you know of anyone who is not 17 years of age, but wants to learn how to drive?

In partnership with DICE ( the Driving Instructors Club of Essex), our Group has launched a road safety scheme to give people the opportunity to learn basic car control skills in Driving School Dual Controlled cars on private land before they go on the public Highway.

getting behind the wheel (again, or for the first time).

Full details of the scheme, a letter from Essex Police and a map may be viewed, and the application Form can be downloaded, from

www.youngdriverscheme.org

Lessons, lasting for one hour, are run on the third Sunday of most months at Earls Colne (near Coggeshall). There is an initial Registration Fee of £28 which covers registration and the first one hour lesson. Subsequent lessons cost £24. Lessons must be booked in advance.

The scheme is intended primarily for 16 year-olds but, if vacancies permit, places may be offered to 15 year-olds or even to older people who are nervous about

Alternatively, forms may be obtained from the YDS Organiser.

Nicola Hyland, 67 Main Road,

St Lawrence Bay, Southminster,

CM0 7NA

Dedicated Mobile number

07847 645632 or

[email protected]


Lesson learned the hard way

Many of you will have noticed that the recent hosepipe ban coincided almost exactly with the start of large amounts of the wet stuff falling from on high. I suppose that’s just a good example of sod’s law, but as a gardener it was a most welcome turn of events. From the point of view of an observer, there was a further benefit in that all this rain caused localised flooding which meant that you never knew what might be round the next bend. It also enabled my associates to learn how to negotiate such new hazards. So, all round, a good thing? Well, up to a point. They say every cloud has a silver lin-ing, which is an appropriate metaphor under the circumstances, but for me it turned out that every silver lining has a cloud. An observed drive with a young chap came seriously unstuck as we tried to negotiate a moderate flood situation on a country lane. We did everything right. Stopped – as-sessed the situation – tried to gauge the depth – pulled to one side to let another mo-torist have a go first (it always pays to be polite !) - worked out that the water level was just above the half-way point of the wheel i.e. about 12 inches – built up the revs – slipped the clutch and went through at a slow pace. All went fine until about three-quarters way through when the car suddenly stopped. No warning, no labouring or sense of dissatisfaction in the engine. One minute it was going strong, the next – nothing. So there we sat in a foot of water, pondering our fate and working out how wet we were going to get pushing it out. Fortunately, after 10 minutes sitting there, not panicking, a local in a 4-wheel drive turned up and offered to pull us out. Since he had wellies, we sat there like very embarrassed lemons as he towed us to the shore. Re-lief was somewhat short-lived as the car refused to restart – not even a hint of trying to have a serious go at starting. It was little comfort to find a practically identical car to ours sitting nearby, having had exactly the same problem 20 minutes before us. To cut a long story short, we were eventually recovered by the RAC and the other car by Green Flag. I can’t say I would actually recommend either service. Both were pretty slow and both sent a van to effect repairs which was incapable of towing our vehicle home. So there wasn’t just one wait but two and at the end of the day, a two hour drive turned into a seven-hour one. Fortunately nobody else broke down while we were there and as we sat there growing older by the minute we watches as Fies-tas, Vectras and even an aging Rover went through – often far too fast – but com-pletely untroubled. Our problem? We were in a BMW. The clever design team at said manufacturer had decided that the best place for an air intake for the engine is down at the bottom – around 12 inches from the ground. Most cars I have owned have the intake on top of the engine and I suspect that is fairly common, hence all the other cars not having a problem. So the lessons for me are – find out where your car’s air intake is and don’t buy a car that can’t be driven in adverse weather. Scott


Group Nights & Events 2012

We were unable to get the second Monday of the month for all of our Group nights in the Olympic year.

Please make a note in your diary

Monday July 9th

Ford Electric Cars and the Future (A new Electric car will be available to inspect)

Dr Tim Nicklin Ford

Monday August 13th

Motoring Offences - Point, Pounds or Prison Ship

His Honour Judge Hayward Smith

QC

Monday September 10th

Supertyres Team Protyre TBC

Sunday September30th

Driver Experience Day

Sunday October 7th

Skid Pan

Monday October 8th

I saw the whole thing! (so did every-body else - just not in the same way)

Steve Wright

Monday November 12th

Essex Police ANPR/Interceptor Team Fame or Failure?

TBC

November 17th

4 x 4 Experience

Monday December 10th

Christmas Quiz Night & Buffet Andy Jarrett


I attended the Porsche Club Cotswold Rally, a very enjoyable drive in the beautiful countryside. We started at Moreton in Marsh and drove around forty miles on a variety of delightful roads, following a Tulip Map. Our destination was the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon

For those of you who don’t know what a Tulip Map is, a brief explanation. From the start point, you zero your odometer, then at each junction you come to there is a mileage shown, a symbol like the one on the left and maybe a description of the sign at the junction. You are the dot and the arrow signifies which way you need to turn.

At some stage I will copy the Tulip Map. If you want a copy please let me know. The scenery along the route was spectacular at times and the roads a pleasure to drive on, a million miles different than the M25.

I’ve been to the centre at Gaydon at least four times and still find it very interesting. Although the bulk of vehicles are there all the time there are a number that change. Here are a couple of the two hundred pictures that I took while we were in the Cotswolds. The car on the right is a 1924 Aston Martin 1½ litre side valve.

The car on the left is a 1970 Reliant Re-gal Supervan in Royal Mail livery. The Heritage Centre is a must for car enthusiasts.

Terry Joyce


The links below are to websites that you may have an interest in. Please

let me know if any of them are not working. Email me if you think of any websites that may be of interest.

IAM DrivingAdvice & Tips

http://www.iam.org.uk/driving_advice_and_tips

Online Highway Code

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/index.htm

Know your traffic signs

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@motor/documents/digitalasset/dg_191955.pdf

Tyresafe

http://www.tyresafe.org

Drive Alive

http://www.drive-alive.co.uk

Heritage Motor Centre http://www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk/

Photo by T.Joyce

One of my favourite roads - Creephedge Lane

Documents

Forward Vision #94