Is that right?

So, the post that I actually responded to that stated said what. exactly? Let' see, shall we? :


Well, I never. Perhaps you could look at it again, and come back any time you like (after you've picked up your bollock) to see if you can make an even bigger prat of yourself, as it is amusing.

I do hope your powers of observation when driving are better than when reading.

I was thinking of this thread yesterday while driving and realised that I can see in my wing mirrors whilst looking directly ahead. Not that I could give it my full attention but when you think about it you can actually see far more than you realise you can (if that makes any sense).

While concentrating on an object directly in front of you, you should have a field of vision of almost 180 degrees especially if the object on the periphery is moving.

Having something in your field of vision doesn't mean you are *SEEING* something. If a terrible driver refuses to look in their mirrors to actually see what is driving around them then they aren't going to know what's around them. Having the wide field of vision doesn't make up for the awful practice of not looking in your mirrors often.

A more pertinent experiment would be to properly look at a building on every road you drive on. The same level of looking that you'd give to the beautiful scenes that FA would drop from 60mph to 30 for. Do that on each road you drive on and I think you'll quickly realise that it is terrible driving, and driving a car deserves more attention than allowing your gaze to be focused on something else for vital seconds.

Do I think most people can get away with doing that for a long time before having an accident? Yes. I think you can do it and get away with it. But then people have driven while drunk for years before getting busted for it. Thousands of idiots will use their mobile to talk and text and not cause an accident. But that doesn't mean you should do it.

I think most guys on here will have checked out some hottie while moving in city traffic and had to drop anchor because the cars had stopped in front of them. There might even be a couple of people who have gone into the back of someone after doing it.

I think there's a middle ground here. It certainly wouldn't be safe to give the scenery your full attention whilst driving - you wouldn't stare in wonder at the top of a mountain, or watch a bird of prey as it swooped down to make a kill - but you can still appreciate that you are in a place of natural beauty as opposed to, say, a council estate in Runcorn. With that in mind, it wouldn't be unreasonable to slow down and enjoy that beauty for a little longer, would it?

No, I can't let that go.

* WHERE exactly did I say that I "would drop from 60 to 30" for anything?

* What exactly is this "same level of looking" you claim on my behalf, and where did I explain this "level"?

* And how on earth is "properly looking at a building", whatever that might mean, equal to taking in a vista spread right across your field of view? These are two completely different things. You wouldn't be "properly looking" at the details in the view. I'd have thought it was bleedin' obvious that it is all about the view - and not at all about any fine details anywhere within it.


Really? So clearly YOU have, anyway. I doubt anyone else does. Clearly, it appears you don't practice what you preach.

You are just as bad as a driving texter. It would be disgraceful and downright dangerous to take your eyes off the road to ogle some unsuspecting "hottie", as you put it, whilst driving, in such a way that when you can finally tear your lechy eyes away, you are almost up the back end of the poor bugger in front. Each post you make strengthens the impression that you are a rotten driver.

Summer is here. Nothing wrong with driving around eyeing up scantily clad members of the opposite sex. And anyone who is straight and says they don't do it is probably lying.

I think the whole point is what you can look at whilst driving safely.

We have one nutter who pretty much admits running into the back of people while not looking where he is going.

The point I would make is that it is an essential part of careful driving to look for, and see, potential hazards such as pedestrians. If you like the pedestrians you see, well, that's just a bonus. But as a careful driver you should be perfectly capable of seeing pedestrians safely. It shouldn't make you crash, or almost crash.

The sooner that cars that drive themselves become the norm, the better.
Then we can all read, text, look at the view, ogle the passing totty, hold conference calls or have a little snooze without killing each other.

Driving ... it's the past.

We used to have things like that and they were used by people all the time. We called them buses

Aye, that's the way to go. Bus driver - eye on the road ahead at all times.