I’m very pleased to see that comments in my introductory post have inspired such well thought out criticisms, sometimes in favour of commentary but I think on balance, more often opposed. I will certainly be taking all of these thoughts on board making me already glad I joined the forums.
Will I continue my solo commentaries? Maybe, but I’ll probably try to reign it in a bit. At critical moments such as planning and executing single carriageway NSL overtakes my commentary already stops dead, in favour of 100% concentration on the situation in hand. I’ll be thinking now about less extreme examples, where commentary may be of questionable benefit, and maybe even counter productive.
What I don’t want is a return to my pre-IAM driving style, where everything was based on a familiarisation with Newtonian physics that helped me to drive reasonably briskly without crashing, a desire to stay out of trouble with the law that avoided speeding fines and other penalties, and gut-instinct to accommodate road hazards beyond my control. The physics aspect can probably be defended, and a desire to stay out of trouble can’t be bad. But as for for the gut-instinct I think the gut needs ongoing reassessment (a common problem after retirement, not just driving
) and I think that’s probably the issue I try to address with active commentaries.