Quote:
Originally Posted by polinsteve
Firstly, it is rare indeed for an event to occur without warning.
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Hi Steve,
As a trained driving instructor, could I ask your opinion on this situation please?
I am on an 'A' or 'B' road travelling at 40 or 50 mph in 4th gear (the exact speed isn't really relevant). The driver in front of me signals an intended right turn and begins to slow. I brake gently and, at the appropriate speed, change down to 3rd, this being the old fashioned method. Our vehicles' speeds reduce a little more then something unexpected happens. The driver in front cancels the right turn indication and accelerates away briskly. I am in the correct gear to do likewise.
With the modern method, wouldn't I be taught
to assume that the driver in front would be stopping before the right turn and so I should brake but remain in 4th gear until the last minute, then change into 2nd (or even first) in order to drive on? But the driver in front didn't stop, so with 4th gear still selected I would be in the wrong gear for the changed circumstances. My acceleration would be desperately slow probably with uncomfortable vibration. I would naturally then wish to engage a lower gear but which one? I would have to make a hurried decision and a less than smooth change because a large increase in engine revs would be necessary.
I'm sorry, I disagree fundamentally with the modern method of not changing down through the gearbox. In my experience it offers no advantage and several disadvantages over the existing well proven technique.
Simon