Advanced Driving Hub

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/36758433/Van%20Pull%20Out.m4v
Not sure if this link to the video has worked? If it has have a look at 04:49:18 onward. Fortunately I was coming off the throttle and covering the brake between 04:18 and 04:19 having spotted the moving roof of the van over the parked cars. Braked hard enough to activate the hazard warning lights but smoothly and without a jolt at the stop point. Good to see that despite being in the over 70"s age group my reactions are still not too bad.

There is a lesson I learnt from this:- A reminder that I should have gone to full beam on pulling away from the traffic lights a moment earlier. (Reminder to self that full beam is the default setting.) Had I done this then the full beam would have thrown light into the junction and aided the van driver who's visual view was restricted by the parked vehicles.

The incident also confirmed the importance of always driving no more than the speed that you can stop on the available road space.

jcochrane wrote:
There is a lesson I learnt from this:- A reminder that I should have gone to full beam on pulling away from the traffic lights a moment earlier. (Reminder to self that full beam is the default setting.)

That's a good point, there is a danger that we can tend to default to dipped in lit situations without thinking that main can be used where it won't inconvenience others.

Just as well it wasn't a lower vehicle.

WhoseGeneration wrote:

jcochrane wrote:
There is a lesson I learnt from this:- A reminder that I should have gone to full beam on pulling away from the traffic lights a moment earlier. (Reminder to self that full beam is the default setting.)

That's a good point, there is a danger that we can tend to default to dipped in lit situations without thinking that main can be used where it won't inconvenience others.

That's why I usually just leave my main beam on, unless I could be dazzling people.

Doesn't matter if I've got enough street lighting to illuminate every single square inch of the street, I'd still leave the main beam on.

I used to subscribe to the 'as much light as possible' school, but I've found that some modern cars have headlights so powerful on main that you can't tell if an oncoming car is round the corner by noticing their lights. It's still a positive overall, but it's quite frustrating to lose a source of information.

Pyrolol wrote:some modern cars have headlights so powerful on main that you can't tell if an oncoming car is round the corner by noticing their lights.

Briefly dip on approach for a right bend, dip to go around the bend if it's a left.

I'm not certain it would have made any difference what you did with your lights as a driver would still have to seen them (I understand the comments concerning high beam). In order to see them they would need to look.
It seems to me that many drivers do not take the extra second to ensure they see the road clear (by that I mean the actual road surface) before emerging.

I wouldn't have been using main beam there, and I doubt it would have made any difference to the van driver's actions, personally. I notice you did use them afterwards though, although perhaps not in the way the Highway Code recommends

Mr Cholmondeley-Warner wrote:I wouldn't have been using main beam there, and I doubt it would have made any difference to the van driver's actions, personally. I notice you did use them afterwards though, although perhaps not in the way the Highway Code recommends

I did manage not to swear though. Of course, I would say I was checking that main beam worked. (My excuse and I'm sticking to it. ) It was good to see though that he did acknowledge his error with the hazard lights.

Mr Cholmondeley-Warner wrote:I wouldn't have been using main beam there, and I doubt it would have made any difference to the van driver's actions, personally. I notice you did use them afterwards though, although perhaps not in the way the Highway Code recommends

It's highly likely that a vehicle emerging from a side road could misinterpret full beam as a long flash and take it as permission to pull out. I'm a firm believer in not doing anything that's not considered normal (at least on the road!) and driving on a lit street with full beam on is right up there with wearing your underwear on your head, IMO.

BTW, I was going to pretend I didn't notice the "courtesy" flash at the end.