The Highway Code
 

There was an item on BBC Breakfast this morning about the Highway Code, in as much as do you know it, and nearly everybody they asked said that they had never looked at the Highway Code since the day the passed their test, and, although I haven't driven for a while, I'm on of them. Can anybody say, hand on heart, that they have looked through the HC since they passed their test?

Re: The Highway Code
 

What's the Highway Code? Is that the book that you have to look at before your driving test and put away for future reference?

Re: The Highway Code
 

Yep i bought one n looked a few weeks ago, its like a pigging encyclopaedia these days,

Re: The Highway Code
 

Well not much good for thee then:p:D

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What's happened to the man with the flag walking in front of you?

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Err he got knocked down by a boy racer;)doing 12mph:D

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What on his go cart?

Re: The Highway Code
 

Push Bike

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Here's how it used to be...

The Original Highway Code: Amazon.co.uk: Edited by Rod Green: Books

Re: The Highway Code
 

once you pass your test you soon realise that by the time you have dealt with taxi drivers,boy racers , ingorant arses ,foriegn drivers with no understanding of our traffic signs and a severe lack of policing its pretty much survival of the fittest and the highway code has very little part of been safe :rolleyes:

Re: The Highway Code
 

We all got a copy of the 'Highway Code' at the speed awareness course I went on last year.:)

Re: The Highway Code
 

You weren't speeding wereyou? Have you not read your Highway Code?

Re: The Highway Code
 

I passed my test in 1957 in 1947 Ford Anglia.
It was my second attempt at the test, first time I failed because I gave a right turn hand signal and changed down at the same time, no hands on steering wheel equals a fail.

I have still got the Highway code I used, parts of it are below.

Re: The Highway Code
 

You didn't see that little flashing light did you yerself and then said darn it:D

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Think the hand signels are a bit out of date now Gremlin:D

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Yep I've looked at it a few times, checked the other month speed limit on dual carriageways, cause I was doubting myself. Or if I see a sign that I don't recognise I'll check it out in there.

Re: The Highway Code
 

Perhaps yeh weren't done by Greater Manchester Police Yerself? I had to bring me own in Feb this year.:)

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I got caught 5 years ago, booked on the speed awareness course.
I was ill on the day, rang up to re-book it. You can't do that, no second chance!
So £80 gone on the course, £60 fine,3 points and insurance rocketed.
An expensive 7mph! Have I been careful since!

Re: The Highway Code
 

I passed my test in 1971 and knowledge of those hand signals was part of the test. No one seems to use them these days, apart from the two-finger signal!

Re: The Highway Code
 

hand on heart... Yes reasd it every few years and follow motoring based websites where new rules/regs are discussed.

the driving standards in this country are abysmal, IMHO we shoudl be retested every 5 years, this would check eyeseight, good driving practice, awareness of new technology ( i.e. NO SAT NAV for the test!) ABS, cruise(adaptive and old style depending on whats fiotted to YOUR car), DSG style boxes ( auto/manual hybrids) ) it should also check motorway awareness and skills.

The crap driving nowadays is the root cause of most accidents and unfortunatley no government will ever have the balls to put regular tests in place.

Re: The Highway Code
 

Perhaps raising the Driving age to 21 and the Drinking age would improve things.

Re: The Highway Code
 

the government is quite happy sticking to the pricing people off teh road method which is easily proven by how they allow insurance companies to sky rocket premiums for not only people who have had claims but people who havnt using the same old tired excuses

for example now if you have an accident that isnt your fault what so ever it still effects your policey when its time to renew and in most cases puts up your premium .

i know plenty of people with many years no claims and their policies have shot up £500 and all teh insurance companies are in on it so theres no real choice for customers its all rigged to screw you because they say crime in your area is up despite government telling us crime is down :rolleyes:

sadly raising the driving age to 21 would only serve the insurance companies because instead of seeing a positive they would use it to tehir advantage and say 21 year olds are the new high risk group as they would need to recoup money lost made from 17 year olds who they say are high risk.

Car insurance laws and guidelines need a serious rethink in ths country the insurance companies are out of control and a law unto themselves.

there are speedcameras on almost every road,speedcheck areas,speedbumps bigger than a house in some cases and various other "traffic calming measures" in place.Are none of these measures working and reducing accidents hence bringing down insurance for people ?

Re: The Highway Code
 

other day I saw somebody driving between the bollards and the wall at the side of home bargains :O

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Can someone please teach some of the taxi drivers in and around Accy what the white lines across the road at junctions and traffic lights mean. And also about sounding their horn in a stationery vehicle.

Re: The Highway Code
 

I passed mine in 63 Michael and it was a bind then, remember that's little orange arms that used to stick out on cars a precursor of the lights indicator, ya and your right about the other sign either one or two finger:D

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There are people who these rules and regs don't apply to Max, well apparently so:rolleyes:

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Yes I remember the orange lights that flicked up. My uncle had a little black car which had them.

Re: The Highway Code
 

Another bugbear of mine is drivers who put on their fog lights when it isn't foggy.

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Oh, and drivers who join or leave a motorway without bothering to indicate get my gander up! Grr!

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I can remember years ago that Volvo always had their sidelights on, don'y know whether its still the case

Re: The Highway Code
 

My first car was a 1947 Anglia and that had the semaphore arms which came out to indicate you were about to turn.

If I was going above 20 miles an hour wind pressure would stop the arms returning and I had to bang on the door pillar from inside to get them to come back down.

You can just see the indicators on the front door pillar, the car was identical to mine.

I changed it in 1962 for a Mk 2 Zodiac after it fell on it's side on a bend.

Re: The Highway Code
 

In the 40s, my dad had an Austin 7 for family weekend camping trips - no indicators whatsoever - hand signals were the only way, but there weren't many other vehicles on the road who you needed to signal to.

Re: The Highway Code
 

My dad had one like it Margaret but it was black. We used to go for picnics on the Trough of Bowland at weekend and he let me drive it, as you say, there wasn't much traffic about.

The one in your photo is still on the road and the DVLA comes up with the following.

The enquiry is complete.
The vehicle details for AGW 591 are:
Date of Liability 01 07 2012
Date of First Registration 18 05 1933
Year of Manufacture 1933
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 747cc
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type PETROL
Export Marker N
Vehicle Status Licence Not Due
Vehicle Colour GREEN
Vehicle Type Approval Not Available

Re: The Highway Code
 

I still remember that my dad's reg no was HG 114 - that was black too.
I remember him selling it to Ken Cunliffe, a Clayton le Moors window cleaner, who chopped the roof off and stripped the paint off the lamps down to the brass - sacriledge!

Re: The Highway Code
 

Why?

Drivers joining the motorway - why indicate their intention? What else could they be doing?

Driver leaving the motorway - I indicate from the 100 metre marker, but that's just out of habit. I can't see the difference (to me) if the car in front exits without indicating.

It would be nice if the people who slew across three carriageways in the last 200M before the ramp indicated.


As to the original posting about the Highway Code, it's available online, but it's been "adapted" for online use and the printed version is the one that's the legally accepted version.

I once did road signs as the picture round in my pub quiz. The scary result? Most people could guess the more obscure signs, but the ones we pass every day had a lot of people stumped.

Re: The Highway Code
 

True, but it's courtesy to indicate.

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I've just checked your link. It does say signal before leaving a motorway. I will have to own up that I don't have a copy of the Highway Code. I will put it on my shopping list!

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Does that mean Max Cabs

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Didn't know I'd been done til the brown envelope arrived.

Lancashire Constabulary, a mobile camera near Rossendale ski slope. I had to go to a business park in Leyland for the course.

Re: The Highway Code
 

My first car, Margaret-I learnt to drive in it and passed my test(1959?).
Cost me £7 and my father made me save up to pay for it.
Children used to run alongside cheering me(embarrassing for a 19 year old) and the problem was if I was on a hill I couldn't accelerate away from them!
No indicators, no heater, no starter motor, crash gear box.
Gremlin- the Trough of Bowland- the brakes were'nt up to that, turned it over at the bottom of the hill! The girl wasn't amused.
The Highway Code was short and sweet then.

Re: The Highway Code
 

That is my biggest bugbear, I get my own back on them if there isn't another car behind them I put my lights on full beam to give them a taste of their own medicine. Another is those stupid L.E.D lights (Audi's spring to mind most) which blind ya too. They should be banned.

Re: The Highway Code
 

That's how learnt to go down through the gears when descending steep hills.

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Oh they're sneaky now too are they, how much do these courses cost yerself I know they are not free, but it does keep the 3 points of your licence

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The old days of doubling your clutch when changing down Gremlin, I learnt a lot of the time in a land rover and that's the only way you could change down in them in those days:D

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Dearer than the fine thats fer sure, I took the 3 pts first time, but they have run out now, so i did the course.:D

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£80, jaysay, see post 18- it can get quite expensive! If I'd been able to go I'd not have had 3 points and saved a fortune- the insurance really hits you!

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Thats obviously changed in last 3 years, cos i took the points back then n it made no difference to me insurance.

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I got stung with insurance for 3 points 35 mph on a dual carriageway near Blackpool Airport.

Re: The Highway Code
 

Yup, I did the course in Leyland in February, they told us that although the points are only on your license for 3 years, the insurance companies hold them on record for 5 years. Not sure if this affects your premium for that long though and no intention of personally finding out either :P

Re: The Highway Code
 

It affected my insurance for 4 years

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I'm sure I read somewhere that someone had lost his license in one day on that dual carriageway near Blackpool Airport because there are so many speed cameras on that particular stretch between Starr Gate and the M55 feed road.

Probably an urban legend though

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Thats correct cos me insurance broker told me that a couple of weeks ago, when i asked if it would come down now me points had expired.:(

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Well you know what they say cashy points make prizes, boobie prizes mate:D

Re: The Highway Code
 

Speed limits and the way they are represented are strange in this country. There are a lot of people who think this national speed limit sign means 60

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/a...1&d=1333793306


What do you think the speed limit is in the picture below :D

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/a...1&d=1333793330

Re: The Highway Code
 

Is it speed restrictions apply Neil

Re: The Highway Code
 

I do, but its sometimes in the last 100 yards, I am sure the markers are in yards still and not metres, its says so in the directgov pdf http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum.../dg_191928.pdf

Re: The Highway Code
 

Speed restrictions always apply if you are on a public road, the question was what is the speed limit?

Re: The Highway Code
 

My education was in the form of burning brake pads after going down a long Scottish hill with my foot on the pedal for about a mile.

I heard about this, but I never found out how you actually do it. I was told it was the way to stop your car if the brakes had failed. Not that it would do me any good: I usually drive an automatic.

It's 30, 60 or 70 if you're in a car. In built-up areas, it's 30mph (I think "built-up" is defined by the spacing of the street lights). On a motorway or dual carriageway (with a centre barrier) it's 70mph. Otherwise, it's 60mph.

It's lower for coaches, trucks and cars towing caravans.

Re: The Highway Code
 

Doubling your clutch was used on the old crash boxes Studio, you depressed the clutch, knocked the stick into neutral then depress the clutch again a engage the gear, this was used before gears for synchronised, I still did it up to stopping driving especially changing down.

Neil I think the speed limit sign means 30 maximum

Re: The Highway Code
 

The national speed limit sign only means 60 or 70 depending if its a dual carriageway. Its surprising how many people think a dual carriage way has to have 2 lanes each way but you can get dual carriageways with one lane in each direction.

Here is a single lane dual carriage way with no street lights so the speed limit will be 70mph


http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/a...1&d=1333795391

Re: The Highway Code
 

When you changed down a gear you had to give the engine a little rev to get it to the speed you needed for the lower gear.

I drove many miles in a Scammell tanker and the gear box was not only crash but gated as well, you had to go through every gear, no dropping from top to bottom when you stopped. By the time I had got to Dounreay power station (two days drive in 1970) my arm was nearly worn away. My right arm was as bad with having to give hand signals, good old days, I think not.


The photo is of the Scammell gate box.

Re: The Highway Code
 

Why do you think that?

Re: The Highway Code
 

Because theres 30 written on the road, or it could be 30mph minimum but thats usually combined with a blue backed sign with 30 on it in white lettering

Re: The Highway Code
 

Ya always used double clutch when I drove a TK at Shopfitters, I also suffered from the one arm sun burn syndrome Gremlin, the right Arm was always sun burnt in the summer with the sun on it all day:D

Re: The Highway Code
 

I'd add to that dip clutch, knock out of gear, quick rev, dip clutch, back into required gear. So taught by Army instructors for those of us doing HGV 2 in a "Knocker" AEC Militant 6x6. (there's a shed load of jokes in there but I'll not sink so low ;) this time)

Re: The Highway Code
 

TK's were syncro John but worked better double clutching.
I drove one for very short while at Gilbraith's, best thing about it was the shelf behind the seat, just enough room for an afternoon kip but if you rolled over and fell off the gear lever would (I guess you know the rest) but it hurt.

Re: The Highway Code
 

Long after my time Dave, this is the one I drove. I am the clown posing on the drivers side.

You may notice that it only a 6X4.

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Um a kip on the shelf, not when you where 6' 4" Gremlin:D

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My father learnt to drive in the army, think it was a dodge he learnt on, but not sure

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I just couldn't get the hang of double declutching on the Austin 7,the noise was terrible when I tried.
One night I went pubbing it with the friend who was teaching me to drive. After several beers I got in to drive home(you could do that in those days) and double- declutched all the way perfectly!
Even sober the next day I could still do it and I never lost the knack. Never really understood how I was doing it either.