Non-motoring > Zoom Miscellaneous
Thread Author: bathtub tom Replies: 53

 Zoom - bathtub tom
Catching up with The Now Show (R4) they mentioned someone had to do a speed awareness course By Zoom. Oh the irony.

Does anyone know if this is true?
 Zoom - tyrednemotional
I mentioned it in passing on the third post here:

www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=28394&m=615576#
 Zoom - R.P.
Dunno if it's Zoom, but certainly it's an online experience now. One of my riding buddies is an assessor for the scheme.
 Zoom - neiltoo
It's true, it's on Zoom.

I was on one last week - first speeding ticket in thirty five years.

There were 8 of us with an invigilator. The first half was interesting covering braking distances etc - some things I didn't know.
Second half less so, covering roadcraft, with some poor examples for spotting hazards. Curiously, one was a village two miles away from me.

As an aside, it cost £90 each - total £720. I think that half goes to the police and half to the organisers, who cover the country - not bad for a two hour zoom meeting. I don't know how many they can go up to, my cohort was from all over the country, and the invigilator was in Batley, West Yorkshire.
Last edited by: neiltoo on Sun 15 Nov 20 at 13:22
 Zoom - Zero
Two hours? Phew I thought it was an all day job.
 Zoom - zippy
>> Two hours? Phew I thought it was an all day job.
>>

Mine, a physical course, from 4 or 5 years certainly was all day.
 Zoom - Fullchat
Last I heard it was around £180 a day as a 'Facilitator'
 Zoom - PeterS
>> Mine, a physical course, from 4 or 5 years certainly was all day.

I’ve done 2, most recent one being 2017, and they were both half day affairs.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 16 Nov 20 at 10:20
 Zoom - Zero
>> I’ve done 2, most recent one being 2017, and they were both half day affairs.

Clearly the first one wasnt long enough!!!!!
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 16 Nov 20 at 10:20
 Zoom - PeterS
It could look that way ;)

The 2017 incident was a calculated risk that didn’t lay off...I had an important meeting with champagne and fish and chips by the sea...I thought 70 in a 60 and 80 in a 70 would be okay...it wasn’t. I got two speeding tickets on one journey! One course and one set of pints. Expensive fish and chips :)
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 16 Nov 20 at 10:20
 Zoom - tyrednemotional
>> One course and one set of pints.
>>

....I'd have taken the pints for both (as long as I wasn't driving).
 Zoom - Fullchat
"Clearly the first one wasnt long enough!!!!!"

Maybe should have asked for a refund :))
 Zoom - Bromptonaut
>> There were 8 of us with an invigilator. The first half was interesting covering braking
>> distances etc - some things I didn't know.
>> Second half less so, covering roadcraft, with some poor examples for spotting hazards. Curiously, one
>> was a village two miles away from me.

I did one in Northampton in 2015. The hazards thing was a shot of the Harborough Road. I assume they'd chosen it because it was local.

How did the rest of your cohort get on? Quite worrying how many my group missed.

On the cost thing Zoom must have completely changed the equation. The one I did was in a meeting room at the Park Inn in the centre of town. Half day hire charge maybe £250? But there were a lot more than eight of us.
 Zoom - Fullchat
Did you do the 'Selective attention test' ?

Its here if anyone wishes to try it. Enlarge the picture.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo
Last edited by: Fullchat on Sun 15 Nov 20 at 17:14
 Zoom - zippy
>> Did you do the 'Selective attention test' ?
>>
>> Its here if anyone wishes to try it. Enlarge the picture.
>>
>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo
>>

This is my argument against variable speed limits - you spend so much time checking the limits that you miss what is actually going on around you!

(Seen the test before so knew it

Master Z got it - all that time on computer games looking for the baddy coming in from the sides

Miss Z (trainee surgeon) saw something walk across the screen but wasn't sure what it was.

Mrs Z was in denial that something walked across and said they edited it after so had to re-run the video - doh!)
 Zoom - Fullchat
Agreed. There is so much signage out there coupled with prioritising what other road users are doing or about to do then there is no surprise that information can be missed.

And waiting to take advantage is a camera.
Last edited by: Fullchat on Sun 15 Nov 20 at 21:25
 Zoom - legacylad
Wasn’t ‘Zoom Zoom’ a Mazda marketing phrase?

And talk of speed awareness courses, my current rental, an underpowered 208, struggles on uphill gradients on the local Autopista. It positively slows down and, seriously, I have to change down to 4th.
Downhill on the AP7 is a different matter when it gets thrashed to within a cm of its life keeping up with the locals in their Fiat 500s.
 Zoom - bathtub tom
>>Wasn’t ‘Zoom Zoom’ a Mazda marketing phrase?

Daughter was buying a new MX5 at the time and I mentioned to the salesman about one driving around with 'Zoom Zoom' on the bonnet. It was his company car! To say he was cheesed off with kids shouting 'Zoom Zoom' would be an understatement.

I thought it was good advertising.
 Zoom - henry k
>> Agreed. There is so much signage out there coupled with prioritising what other road users
>> are doing or about to do then there is no surprise that information can be missed.
>>
>> And waiting to take advantage is a camera.
>>
Some of it is so screamingly obviously wrong.
These decisions are made in an office not in the real world.

I suspect there are folks who would be prepared to drive some of the routes etc with a recorder and just say what they see. Hopefully some corrections might be implemented.

We were presented with no warning or consultation, a complex plan for parking restrictions in our crescent. A large protest and it was never seen again.

It took them years to sensibly mark the lanes of the A243 going North by the M25 junction 9
tinyurl.com/yxh5g9y8
Previously to take the second exit, use the right lane then immediately you enter the roundabout take the left lane ( without hitting the vehicle on your nearside.
I am guessing that resticting the left lane to M25 traffic was a good idea.

A27 Chichester bypass which I suspect is used by many vistors and many tourists.
There is a sign off the bypass to A & E at St Richard's Hospital ( via the A259 ) .
Then there are no more signs until you reach the other side of town and almost at the hospital.
( Hint ) Follow the sign to the theatre and just before you get there the A & E signs appear.
I assume the thinking is. It was indicated via the A259 so be patient and just follow the A259 through the various roundabouts around the city.
Just what you need as a stranger wanting to get to A and E in a hurry especially at night.

Boris will sort it!






 Zoom - Zero
>> >> Agreed. There is so much signage out there coupled with prioritising what other road
>> users
>> >> are doing or about to do then there is no surprise that information can
>> be missed.

Wast there some experiment where all signage and most street furniture was removed, revealing a huge drop in accidents? Might have been part of the Dutch "shared spaces" scheme, I think a few streets were tried in London. never saw a summary of the results.
 Zoom - Zero
>> >> Did you do the 'Selective attention test' ?
>> >>
>> >> Its here if anyone wishes to try it. Enlarge the picture.
>> >>
>> >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo

This one has more stuff. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bnnmWYI0lM&t=229s&ab_channel=MarissaWebb

But I'm not sure what this has to do with speeding? If someone expects me to play find the lady while I am driving, I am going to crash or kill someone, guaranteed.
 Zoom - No FM2R
>> If someone expects me to play find the lady while I am driving, I am going to crash

Unsurprising really, a lady is a lot smaller than a bus.
 Zoom - Zero
>> >> If someone expects me to play find the lady while I am driving, I
>> am going to crash
>>
>> Unsurprising really, a lady is a lot smaller than a bus.

Niblet!
 Zoom - Runfer D'Hills
>> Unsurprising really, a lady is a lot smaller than a bus.

Clearly it's a while since you had a Saturday night out in a Northern town...some of them get pretty close. ;-)
 Zoom - tyrednemotional
>>
>> Clearly it's a while since you had a Saturday night out in a Northern town...some
>> of them get pretty close. ;-)
>>

...I'm not sure the word "pretty" should feature in that sentence...
 Zoom - Zero
>> >> Unsurprising really, a lady is a lot smaller than a bus.
>>
>> Clearly it's a while since you had a Saturday night out in a Northern town...some
>> of them get pretty close. ;-)

I think you have hit the nail on the head.
 Zoom - Duncan
>> But I'm not sure what this has to do with speeding? If someone expects me
>> to play find the lady while I am driving, I am going to crash or
>> kill someone, guaranteed.
>>

Now a word from our sponsor 'Beryl from Bristol'

www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6-IQAdFU3w
 Zoom - Bobby
Think I mentioned this previously on another thread but I have been taking laddie out in an Arnold Clark dual control hire car once a week to give him extra driving time over and above his instructors’ lessons.
It really hammers home to me how much of our driving is based on experience and local knowledge. The desire to put lane direction markings on the road especially for approaching junctions rather than traditional roadside signs especially. The painted lane signs of course are either worn away, or are hidden beneath the vehicles in front of you. Is the roundabout a two lane or one lane? Looks like there might have been markings there before but who knows?

Add in that the local area has introduced blanket 20mph limits through all the towns and you need to travel quite a bit before you can use the fourth gear!
 Zoom - Fullchat
Spot on with that one Bobby. One of my irritations. Even if they are visible they are very close to the junction so you are unable to make an early lane change and end up hoping someone will let you move over or going with the flow and then pushing across on a roundabout to the indignation of locals.
 Zoom - Runfer D'Hills
Under "normal" circumstances, I spend most of my working life driving to quite a lot of places I'm not entirely familiar with. Resultantly, from time to time, I've found myself in the wrong lane, or some situation I need to correct.

The "indignation" factor you mention in other drivers is far more noticeable and prevalent in small towns than in large cities, I find anyway. Ironic really, as in a small town, even in heavy traffic, by default, it's not going to inconvenience anyone very much in terms of their journey time to allow a bit of room for someone to get themselves sorted out. Whereas in a large city where traffic flow is regularly restricted, it just might, but the city drivers, mostly anyway, are far more forgiving if you make your intentions clear and just get on with it.

 Zoom - Robin O'Reliant
>> Whereas in a large city where traffic flow is regularly restricted,
>> it just might, but the city drivers, mostly anyway, are far more forgiving if you
>> make your intentions clear and just get on with it.
>>
>>
>>
When I went back to London a few years ago it brought it home to me how good London drivers are compared to most other places. Courteous, brisk and efficient with good road sense. Down here with much lower traffic densities the proportion who haven't got a clue is much higher.
 Zoom - No FM2R
You don't know when you're well off.

Here no traffic rules are obeyed with anything more than a gesture.

You can go across a red light as long as you are blowing your horn as you do so.
One way streets are more of a suggestion than a rule.
You can stop anywhere with your hazard lights on.
Nobody gives way to anybody, ever, Nobody ever allows anyone to pull out or go first. Ever.
Motorbikes can do whatever they like. Including dying, which they do a lot.

The only offences enforced are documents and parking.

And then there is the intentional official stuff;

ALL bus stops are placed actually at major junctions. It's supposed to be so that the passenger can easily walk in either direction. But it makes turning at that junction lethal for cars since the bus will simply move off when he is ready, irrespective of traffic trying to go around him to turn..

In the UK traffic lights are typically traffic one way, traffic the other way, ped, and repeat. There is no ped setting here. Pedestrians have priority over turning traffic, even if the driver has a green light. At busy pedestrian times then cars simply cannot turn.

On Freeways (Motorways) the entrance is before the exit. Consequently all traffic entering the freeway must cross with all traffic leaving the freeway.

The only thing the average Chilean driver has no tolerance for is anybody inconveniencing them for any reason whatsoever. Even if what is being done is legal and appropriate and even if the offended driver did the same himself 5 minutes earlier.

The rudest drivers are older women - over 50, say.
The most aggressive are older men - again, over 50
The fastest most dangerous are men and women 30 - 40.

I could, and frequently do, go on at length.
 Zoom - Bobby
You never have got round to telling us about the good points about Chile!!
 Zoom - No FM2R
>> You never have got round to telling us about the good points about Chile!!

Fair.

Firstly there are many advantages to being a foreigner, wherever you are, especially if one happens to be part of the "establishement". However, trying to ignore that, and the negatives, and talk purely of Chile;

The weather is totally predictable. Totally. The weather forecast is pretty accurate a month out and we know what the seasons will be doing 6 months in advance. That might not sound like much, but it's huge. As was said to me; "The weather will never again affect your life in any way".

They don't worry about details. I ride an e-scooter. As long as I don't get in anybody's way and as long as I don't hurt anybody then nobody cares how close to the letter of the law I am. It is the ultimate in "if you don't bother me then I don't care what you do". (Unless they think that you're getting an advantage that they're not. Then tehy care a lot).

The landscape is phenomenal. Mountains, deserts, glaciers, and everything else you can think of. And it is all accessible (if you've got the balls and the vehicle to do it).

No "Nanny State". You want to leap off the back of the mountain on a snowboard and risk you're life? Go for it. Just don't expect them to come pick you up. Ditto a lively sea. Ditto hang/para gliding or anything else. Your act, your problem.

Management of foreigners. Break the law and you're out. (if they find you, not the best police service). As a foreigner if you light a fire somewhere you shouldn't then you will be deported.

If you are financial ok then your health care will be the est in the world. World-leading in eyes, for example.

Accommodation is far cheaper. Though mostly only if you're foreign or well off. For the poor it's crap.

On a one to one basis the people are open and friendly. Utterly shallow and unreliable, but nonetheless great, short term fun is possible.

Your pound goes further. A lot further. With all the benefits that brings.

One has much greater freedom. Despite the fact that the normal processes are buried in bureaucracy Chile is much freer in behavioural terms.

The fruit and veg is fantastic. Their cooking is rubbish, but the fruit and veg markets are far beyond anything the UK has. Perhaps not on a par with Brazil, but damned close.

They know how to party. Oh do they know how to party. Always with loud music, usually Reggaeton which is rubbish, but nonetheless fun.

If one is foreign, if one is reasonably well off, then life is good. If one is part of the Establishment then one's access to all areas opens up and life becomes very good. Not strictly a Chile thing, but certainly a South American thing. Other places also, of course.

No doubt I have missed a gazillion things, and no doubt the moment I click on "post" I shall remember them.

One should remember that there are many advantages in being foreign, over and above those of being in any particular country. Many of those come with being solvent and depend on one's lifestyle, but they are there.

I despise people who make use of such freedom themselves but would deny it to others.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 20 Jan 21 at 10:50
 Zoom - Zero
Reggaeton

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkcFQWvU0gM
 Zoom - bathtub tom
>> Reggaeton
>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkcFQWvU0gM

That could be worse to me (a teenager in the '60s).

I firmly believe there are three kinds of music

A Classical
B Pop
Crap
 Zoom - sooty123
>> >>>
>> One should remember that there are many advantages in being foreign, over and above those
>> of being in any particular country.

Such as?
 Zoom - Zero

>> get themselves sorted out. Whereas in a large city where traffic flow is regularly restricted,
>> it just might, but the city drivers, mostly anyway, are far more forgiving if you
>> make your intentions clear and just get on with it.

And there is the crux of it. As a London and environs driver as long as you make it clear what you are doing and get on with it (even if its wrong) briskly, that's fine, that is acceptable and expected London driving behaviour. Dither and faff however (even if you are right) and you will get toasted.

If you started to make a wrong turn, or end up going the wrong way, carry on and sort it out later
 Zoom - No FM2R
>>If you started to make a wrong turn, or end up going the wrong way, carry on and sort it out later

Isn't it remarkable how many people simply cannot do that. When you consider that the worst case is 10 wasted minutes it is surprising how people panic at the idea of taking a wrong turn and will risk life and limb to avoid it.
 Zoom - Runfer D'Hills
I so want to think of No FM2R as a habitual wearer of a crumpled, slightly grubby, off white canvas suit, once good, but now trashed, brown suede brogues and a battered Panama hat.

But having spent a great deal of time in South America too, I fear that is not the case.
 Zoom - No FM2R

>>I fear that is not the case.

It rather depends the moment and certainly never grubby. But brogues and panama do feature.
 Zoom - Runfer D'Hills
That pleases me. For no reason I can begin to think of.
 Zoom - tyrednemotional
>> That pleases me. For no reason I can begin to think of.
>>

...in your case, it'll be the brogues that do it....
 Zoom - Zero
OFFS we having a budding bromance......
 Zoom - Runfer D'Hills
No, it's going nowhere, I couldn't be doing with someone moodier than my wife...
;-)
 Zoom - Zero
True - you only want one old woman in your life.
 Zoom - Runfer D'Hills
:-)
 Zoom - No FM2R
>>No, it's going nowhere, I couldn't be doing with someone moodier than my wife...

You're just trying to cover yourself for fear I'll say no. You know you want me.
 Zoom - legacylad
Reminds me of a Human League song.

Get a room you two.
 Zoom - R.P.
We can arrange a private room if you wanted...

Anyway AGM of the local Foodbank tonight by Zoom. Oh what fun.
 Zoom - tyrednemotional
>>
>> Anyway AGM of the local Foodbank tonight by Zoom. Oh what fun.
>>

...that should inhibit any flan-flinging.....
 Zoom - R.P.
The only benefit.
 Zoom - Zero
>> >>
>> >> Anyway AGM of the local Foodbank tonight by Zoom. Oh what fun.

Lots of waffle.
 Zoom - Duncan

>> Anyway AGM of the local Foodbank tonight by Zoom. Oh what fun.
>>

I misread that as AGM of the Local Foodbank tonight by Zero.

Think how awful that would be!
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