Hubby and I were both taught to reverse by looking over our shoulder. It wasn't a legal requirement to have any wing mirrors at all until 1978, when an offside wing mirror became compulsory. If your car was first used before 1978 it's still not compulsory to have a nearside wing mirror...
A long time ago I had a stiff neck and taught myself to reverse using the wing mirrors. Now hubby, at 73 becoming a bit less mobile, is thinking it would be nice not to have to look over his shoulder when reversing... I said he should find a quiet road and practise with the wing mirrors.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Didn’t have a lot of extras on my first early ‘50’s car, my dad bought a set of indicators for me because the little arms didn’t always work, and although we were taught hand signals, if it was pouring with rain we didn’t want to open the windows.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
What annoys me about new cars is the reverse lights often aren't bright enough for country lanes in the dark. Having grown up driving single lane roads every day I can reverse as well as I can drive forward but when an SUV size car is blinding you with headlights through your windscreen and refusing to reverse a few yards it can be impossible to see anything.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
It's not always tourists who have a problem reversing in single track lanes. Having lived in West Somerset (oldest population in the country, allegedly) I can attest to the older drivers who blatantly declare, "I don't do backwards" thus causing any number of problems and hold-ups. Unfortunately, because of diminished rural transport (no buses after 5pm where I used to live, for example) more elderly people keep their licences than they ought. Doctors collude with them to keep them "mobile".
It's not always tourists who have a problem reversing in single track lanes. Having lived in West Somerset (oldest population in the country, allegedly) I can attest to the older drivers who blatantly declare, "I don't do backwards" thus causing any number of problems and hold-ups. Unfortunately, because of diminished rural transport (no buses after 5pm where I used to live, for example) more elderly people keep their licences than they ought. Doctors collude with them to keep them "mobile".
Don't even start me on that "issue" Everyone should resit their driving test . The whole test: theory , practical the lot. No " assessment" nonsense. Whether you're 17 or 70.the same test.
You are quite right, Philippa smith 2 - no single age has all the worst drivers, and there are plenty of exceptions of all ages. I shall hit the big 70 later this year. I shall take the Advanced School of Motorists advisory test, to see whether or not I need to rethink my driving ability. We can all get complacent (after all, we all see other people's poor driving, rarely our own), and will either give up my licence or retrain as necessary. I shall not carry on regardless!
Don't get me started on single track road driving... The worst ones are those who can't read, and therefore can't tell the difference between 'passing' and 'parking'. Is it wrong that I have a little giggle when I see the police and/or the park rangers there 'having a word' with the offenders?
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
What annoys me about new cars is the reverse lights often aren't bright enough for country lanes in the dark.
I've had that experience. Friends of ours were 'house sitting' and we went down to visit them. The house was about 100 yards down a narrow lane with a stone wall one side and a stream on the other. There was one other house down the same lane, and a small turning area. We came out of the house in the dark, to discover a car parked in the turning area and the house next door in complete darkness. The only way I could see anything was by keeping my foot on the brake pedal, enough to put the brake lights on but not enough to stop the car moving. In the end our friend walked down the lane behind me with a torch. My new car has two reversing lights (who ever thought only one was a good one was a good idea?)
Posts
A long time ago I had a stiff neck and taught myself to reverse using the wing mirrors. Now hubby, at 73 becoming a bit less mobile, is thinking it would be nice not to have to look over his shoulder when reversing... I said he should find a quiet road and practise with the wing mirrors.
Don't get me started on single track road driving...
The worst ones are those who can't read, and therefore can't tell the difference between 'passing' and 'parking'.
Is it wrong that I have a little giggle when I see the police and/or the park rangers there 'having a word' with the offenders?
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...