Needs skid pan training obviously:)
He or she did seem to be getting the hang of it at the end, at least started to twiddle the wheel in the right direction.
It does take some believing, but some people just never get the steering wheel/direction thing in reverse.
My wonderful mother would reverse out of her drive (she couldn't reverse in) and end up pointing either up or down the road without knowing in advance which it was going to be.
Luckily (a) she didn't live in a cul de sac, and (b) I didn't inherit that particular handicap.
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I believe Pat has that problem, (with a car). :-)
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It did occur to me that the driver may have just had an encounter with BBD and was still a bit dazed...
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Not at all ON, I would never have gone in a tight spot like that in a car in the first place:)
Pat
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Some of the new cars I deliver go to drivers like this. One particular fellow in Somerset the other week seemed to be determined to damage the thing before he'd even signed for it - during my explanation of the controls he just could not grasp the operation of brake or clutch pedals. His excuse was that this new Golf was "completely different" to his previous Honda Accord.
Not surprisingly, we often get customers "discovering" a scraped bumper or kerbed wheel on their new car only a few hours after I'd walked around it with them to confirm its pristine condition...
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Well thanks for posting that, my mrs now needs a syrup cos shes pulled most of her hair out in frustration...muttering things like get back behind the sink you useless etc.
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I know she's your wife GB but you really don't have to put up with abuse like that. There are people you can speak to about such matters...
;-)
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Our road has an ' up ' and a 'down '.....OK ?
My next door neighbour has a wide gateway...about 10 ft..like mine. He never, ever backs his LR Freeloader in. He is able to back out, though. So, to go down the road he backs out in the up direction and drives off.....that's the way to do it !
However, to go up the road, he still backs out in the up direction, drives off 50 yds down the road, turns into the mouth of a side road, reverses back out so he's now facing up the road and then drives off past the gate he's just come out of. I've never seen him do it the proper way.
He doesn't have any vision or health issues so why ?
Does that make sense ?
One day I'll ask him why but I don't want him to know that I know he's a prat !
Ted
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>>
>>
>> It does take some believing, but some people just never get the steering wheel/direction thing
>> in reverse.
>>
About a third of the drivers I encounter on our narrow country lanes are incapable of reversing even in a straight line. If I am feeling in a good mood I reverse half a mile for them to spare them the embarasment of trying to reverse 10 feet into a passing place.
If I am grumpy from having already reversed for someone else I turn off the engine and ostentatiously get my newspaper out.
No one who grew up with meccano or lego, or boats, has any difficulty working out which way to turn the steering wheel.
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I've managed to convince SWMBO to reverse into the drive, but she'll only do it if she approaches from a certain direction. If she's coming from the other way, she'll drive round the block.
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>> I've managed to convince SWMBO to reverse into the drive
I managed to do this once. The first time she tried it, she hit a wall with the front passenger door. I then tried to talk her in to persisting, as I believe it's the safest thing to do (I've explained why before). However, she's given up and drives in again.
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>> I've managed to convince SWMBO to reverse into the drive, ...
Mine has just changed to a Yaris with a reversing camera. She has probably reversed onto the drive more in the last fortnight than the last 10 years put together.
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But of course you have done it hundreds or even thousands of times. These things come with experience. Many people just don't drive that much and seldom need to reverse any distance.
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My father's uncle used to drive a double decker bus all day. He wasn't able to reverse his little Austin 7 up the drive and into the garage!
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>> But of course you have done it hundreds or even thousands of times. These things
>> come with experience. Many people just don't drive that much and seldom need to reverse
>> any distance.
>>
Don't you still have to reverse round a corner, in either direction, for the driving test?
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I believe you may be required to reverse around a corner. Alternatively you may be required to reverse into a parking space.
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That's my point - how do all these people who cannot reverse because they haven't had thousands of practices manage to pass their driving test?
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>> That's my point - how do all these people who cannot reverse because they haven't
>> had thousands of practices manage to pass their driving test?
>>
Someone else sat it for them....
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You might appreciate what I'm about to discuss Cliff in that I'd quite forgotten how much easier it is to park a RWD car in a tight space than it is a FWD or 4X4. It must be the better lock/angle you can get on the steering. *
I'd not regularly driven a RWD for 20 years or more and my E Class estate, despite its bulk, is an absolute doddle to shuffle into a parking space either when parallel parking or indeed in a multi storey designed for 1960s car sizes. I actually find my wife's, allegedly Golf sized Qashqai more unwieldy when it comes to parking. The beepy things on the Merc though are over sensitive and scream at you when there's a good 4/5 inches of shuffle room left. I turn the irritating little blighters off most of the time. Being a fairly angular beast you can see all the corners anyway so they seem to be a bit redundant.
* And before anyone starts, yes I'm sure that's one of the reasons Germans use them as taxis...
;-)
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>> * And before anyone starts, yes I'm sure that's one of the reasons Germans
>> use them as taxis...
I saw a Volvo S60 being used as a taxi yesterday. There can't be many worse cars for maneuvering in tight spaces than that. Luxury for the passengers though.
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I've always been envious of those who can spell manouv...maneov...manevou... parking !
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Just in case anyone even slightly cares...( I shall never remember it anyway, mental block on this one I'm afraid )
oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/manoeuvre
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I can only spell manoeuvre reliably by thinking about how to spell oeuf, if that helps. Can you spell oeuf?
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>> Just in case anyone even slightly cares...( I shall never remember it anyway, mental block
>> on this one I'm afraid )
>>
>> oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/manoeuvre
Now I thought my spelling looked wrong even when I looked it up. Damn thing was telling fibs. I should have used the Oxford Dictionary Humph :)
I'm not a bad hand at spelling but that word is a little trickster.
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It's one of my Nemeses ( as in Nemesises )
;-)
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>> I'm not a bad hand at spelling but that word is a little trickster.
But you were right, if transatlantic, corax. I thought you were and I just looked it up to make sure, in the Shorter Oxford: '... also, U.S., manoeuver, -euver, 1479...'
Heh heh.
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>> I saw a Volvo S60 being used as a taxi yesterday. There can't be many
>> worse cars for maneuvering in tight spaces than that. Luxury for the passengers though.
>>
I know what you mean but an oil tanker pilot always gets home ;-)
There is one FWD car out there that I know of with a worse turning circle/lock than the S60 and it's not another Volvo.
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gmac: There is one FWD car out there that I know of with a worse turning circle/lock than the S60 and it's not another Volvo.
No, its the Mk1 Punto. How Fiat managed to give it a worse turning circle than the S60/V70 I'll never understand, but manage they did...
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>>No, its the Mk1 Punto. How Fiat managed to give it a worse turning circle than the S60/V70 I'll never understand, but manage they did...
Do the CVs last any longer as a result?
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It was another FIAT product I was thinking of Gromit, the Coupe. To answer the CV joint question I never had to replace one in over three years and ninety-two thousand miles. It went through track rod ends though.
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Turning circle?...pah, the most embarrasing car we had for turning was that little C2, you could have put the thing in the boot of the Hilux yet it was like trying to park a supertanker, son said their Panda 100hp was just as bad.
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>> Turning circle?...pah, the most embarrasing car we had for turning was that little C2, you
>> could have put the thing in the boot of the Hilux yet it was like
>> trying to park a supertanker, son said their Panda 100hp was just as bad.
Use the handbrake then...;-)
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>> Use the handbrake then...;-)
>>
Thats another good point about the old MB, no need for handbrake turns (not going to be easy with the foot operated parking brake) but the turning circle is fantastic, makes parking a doddle.
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You do it once for your test. If you're not confident or comfortable doing it then you will probably avoid the manouvre in future.
Reversing round a corner on the test is usually done in a location that's inherently safe - on a housing estate for example. Other places may be less so either generally or if approached in one direction rather than the other.
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I take it that expecting people to use their mirrors for reversing is a non starter. :-)
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Kinda with you there ON. I trust my eyes a lot more than I do a little beepy German pixie. Nervous little tyke he is.
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>> Kinda with you there ON. I trust my eyes a lot more than I do
>> a little beepy German pixie. Nervous little tyke he is.
>>
My beepy thing is female, it nags unnecessarily. It amuses Mrs ON when I tell it to shut up, I can see there is loads of room.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 15 Oct 13 at 15:13
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What does it say? "You too bruddy crose, you clash soon you iriot !" or something?
;-)
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Mine just says "sucky sucky ten dollar"
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>> "sucky sucky ten dollar"
Wow! Carriage trade prices!
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The accent is odd, Korean car, designed in Germany, built in Slovakia. Sort of mid European with a hint of Orient, annoying anyway. :-)
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Driving tests and real life care two different things. To be able to reverse effortlessly into a narrow gap or hundreds of yards down a lane does require experience which many never acquire.
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Poor something to do with the test or driving lessons?.I see this regulary in our small town majority female drivers who can't reverse park.
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Pity I am not allowed to post the CCTV clip of a car hitting mine the other week in the work car park - it wasn't far off this for utter disbelief!
The difference with this driver is they are actually quite accurate with how close they will go to another vehicle without hitting it! But also seems to suffer from the issue that your car won't change direction unless you turn the wheels!!
Lack of power steering in the old Corsa maybe preventing full lock (any lock) being applied at slow speed?
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Perhaps partly a (lack of) spatial awareness problem, not knowing what they need to do as well as how to do it?
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That sounds like multitasking, how come females are always telling us men how good they are at it, but they can't park a car?
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That assumes all men can and all women can't which is patently untrue. It's all down to experience, male or female.
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>> That assumes all men can and all women can't which is patently untrue. It's all
>> down to experience, male or female.
>>
I disagree, it is a skill, which some learn, some don't, and some can't.
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Reversing, like driving in general actually, isn't exactly rocket science. Most anybody can do it with a little training and a reasonable amount of experience. Being able to reverse a car is surely a fairly minor accomplishment: somewhat less that riding a bike , touch typing, or baking a cake I would surmise.
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I find reversing using mirrors easy, can ride a bike, can't bake a cake or touch type, so two skills I have not learnt, maybe I can't learn them I don't know. :-)
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I'll reverse an artic around Trafalgar Square before I'd try and bake a cake!
Pat
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>> I'll reverse an artic around Trafalgar Square before I'd try and bake a cake!
>>
>> Pat
>>
...and pass it off as an artic roll ? I'll get my coat...
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Seriously? - Manatee
