Quote:
Originally Posted by SD1too
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
|
Having been taught the old way and also trained drivers on the modern method, the new method is easier and more effective.
In the scenario you present, assuming you keep a decent safety gap, your approach to the hazard is good, i.e. observation, assessment and action, (light use of your brakes).
Now the big but! The time to check around you is no less than the time to do a block change to a lower gear. The advantages are: Your foot is in the right place (over the brake) for a slowing moving hazard and secondly, once the other car accelerates past the junction you can then select the appropriate gear. Rapid acceleration would be unwise. My thought process would be, why has the driver changed his mind and also, does that mean that they will slow down and turn into the next road or premises. With respect to that, I would hold back and wait to see what transpired. Also, going by your comment you drive pretty well to the old methods. Does that mean that when changing down you blip the throttle to synchronise the engine/gearbox and road speed? I know I do. If that is the case, your foot could well be off the brakes and on the gas at a critical time.
That reminds me of a trainee many years ago, training in a crashbox double decker. He was a nightmare to train, heavy footed and always thought he new best. When he failed his test to no-ones surprise except his own, he demanded an examiners report. Which was so typical of the trainees driving. The examiner reported, "On the approach to a steep downhill T junction, the driver attempted to change from 3rd gear to 2nd. The vehicle gained speed alarmingly and eventually with a horrendous crashing of gears the driver succeeded in engaging the gear before coming to a fast and abrupt stop".
A classic case of a foot in the wrong place and changing gear at the wrong time.