Learners on motorways

Anything that doesn't fit elsewhere - doesn't have to be AD related.
crr003
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Re: Learners on motorways

Postby crr003 » Sat Mar 03, 2018 1:18 pm

ADI to Pupil: "Learners should experience all kinds of road - I know many pupils only drive around in towns and cities, but the whole point of allowing you on motorways is to give you more of a bank of knowledge to draw on when you're let loose on your own."

Pupil to ADI: "Is any of this on the test routes?"

ADI to Pupil: "Errrr, no, but that's not the point, I'm trying to teach you a skill for life"

Pupil to ADI: "I'm/my mum's not paying to drive around all these fancy bits you think are important - no thanks, teach me what I need or I'll go to a proper ADI who will."

Maybe.

Jonquirk
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Location: Guildford

Re: Learners on motorways

Postby Jonquirk » Sat Mar 03, 2018 1:47 pm

That sounds about right for the typical short sighted approach to testing. Only learn the stuff that will come up in the exam. Totally flies in the face of the old adage “you’ve passed your test, now you can start to learn to drive.”

Edited for spelling and punctuation.

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Mr Cholmondeley-Warner
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Location: Swindon

Re: Learners on motorways

Postby Mr Cholmondeley-Warner » Sat Mar 03, 2018 2:10 pm

crr003 wrote: :? :x :roll: :( :cry: :x :roll: :?
... and a load more miserable stuff ...

They're not all so hopeless you know! :D Teenagers are very bright people on the whole. If you explain the benefits, they understand.

At least, some will...
Nick

fungus
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Re: Learners on motorways

Postby fungus » Sat Mar 03, 2018 7:54 pm

waremark wrote:When teaching my children to drive, I took them on an NSL dual carriageway early on (and obviously without dual controls). They can be quite easy roads to drive on.

I think the reason for the current prohibition of learner drivers from using motorways was not primarily for safety but to avoid disrupting or delaying other motorway traffic. I hope instructors will not take learners on motorways until they reasonably expect them to be able to maintain at least 60 mph safely.


Dual carriageways may be easier in some respects, but there can be a wide variety of road users using them ranging from cyclists, horse riders, and locally on the A31 and A35 I have witnessed the local Gypsies with a horse and trap. Both of these roads are NSL with blind bends, and with traffic travelling at 70-80mph the unexpected causes chaos.

Some dual carriageways have three lanes, more like most motorways. An example of this is the A 30 East bound in Cornwall at Bodmin.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Bod ... a53e2e1d96

Most modern dual carriageways have grade seperated junctions with on and off slips, but some older dual carriageways, eg. the A24 in Sussex and the A48 in Wales have cross roads and T juctions. For me there are no such DCways that are NSL locally. I can think of only one that has a T junction, and that is in a 30 limit. With regards to slip roads learners need to be able to assess whether they can maintain high speed onto the slip road, or whether they will have to slow on the main carriageway. An example of this is given below. As with motorways, some pupils will not be able to experience these more unusual features without a long treck.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.74418 ... a=!3m1!1e3

Nigel.

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GTR1400MAN
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Re: Learners on motorways

Postby GTR1400MAN » Sat Mar 03, 2018 8:30 pm

This is what a lot of slip roads are like in Suffolk. Not a car wide and VERY short!

https://goo.gl/maps/BsvvbnA2mSy

https://goo.gl/maps/Fu2jVrXLeMD2
Mike Roberts - Now riding a Triumph Explorer XRT. My username comes from my 50K miles on a Kawasaki 1400GTR, after many years on Hondas of various shapes and styles. - https://tinyurl.com/mikerobertsonyoutube

fungus
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Location: Dorset

Re: Learners on motorways

Postby fungus » Sat Mar 03, 2018 8:44 pm

Just like the one I posted on the A35 just East of Dorchester. Damned dangerous.

Nigel

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GTR1400MAN
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Re: Learners on motorways

Postby GTR1400MAN » Sat Mar 03, 2018 10:07 pm

fungus wrote:Just like the one I posted on the A35 just East of Dorchester. Damned dangerous.

Nigel

That one is very narrow! Hardly worth the paint.
Mike Roberts - Now riding a Triumph Explorer XRT. My username comes from my 50K miles on a Kawasaki 1400GTR, after many years on Hondas of various shapes and styles. - https://tinyurl.com/mikerobertsonyoutube

sussex2
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Re: Learners on motorways

Postby sussex2 » Sun Mar 04, 2018 10:27 am

The A27 at Shoreham Airport has a 70mph limit and a complex set of traffic lights on it. The lights need careful planning even for an experienced driver and must be daunting for a novice.
I feel the 'powers that be' are not entirely certain about the lights either as cameras stand guard!

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/A27 ... -0.6639542

The junction is also popular with school pupils attending Lancing College.

Jonquirk
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Location: Guildford

Re: Learners on motorways

Postby Jonquirk » Sun Mar 04, 2018 12:58 pm

All these short slip roads and traffic lights on 70mph roads indicate that drivers need to be prepared to brake quite firmly in order to reduce speed more rapidly than you would normally prefer to do. Three stage braking is still the order of the day but stage 2 is going to require close to maximum pressure on the pedal and a firm grip on the steering in case there is loose material, particularly under the left hand wheels which may cause the vehicle to attempt to deviate from the desired course.

The key thing is knowing this to be the case before you find yourself heading into a tightening slip road carrying more speed than you can handle.

crr003
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Re: Learners on motorways

Postby crr003 » Sun Mar 04, 2018 1:51 pm


Cool aeroplane.

EDIT:
To avoid confusion ( :? ) this is where the link originally pointed to for a while:
https://goo.gl/maps/57x3hGomAvo

(or Google was just having a moment)
Last edited by crr003 on Mon Mar 05, 2018 5:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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