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Post by the light works on Jul 30, 2014 23:37:59 GMT
Or at least the myth is that people badly overestimate their own driving skills, and assume that they would be able to handle such vehicles without major problems. How about just starting there? Having people grade their own driving skills in advance and then doing an actual test to see if they do in fact overestimate their own abilities? If they overestimate their own abilities in a regular car, then chances are they'll do the same with any other type of vehicle. Maybe even throw in other statistical factors, such as sex and age*. *I have a sneaking suspicion that young men will overestimate their own skills more than older men and more than women in general. I say 50/50 split on women. half grossly overestimate their skills, and half underestimate their skills.
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Post by OziRiS on Jul 31, 2014 1:05:08 GMT
How about just starting there? Having people grade their own driving skills in advance and then doing an actual test to see if they do in fact overestimate their own abilities? If they overestimate their own abilities in a regular car, then chances are they'll do the same with any other type of vehicle. Maybe even throw in other statistical factors, such as sex and age*. *I have a sneaking suspicion that young men will overestimate their own skills more than older men and more than women in general. I say 50/50 split on women. half grossly overestimate their skills, and half underestimate their skills. You might actually be right there. Many women have that weird and irrational sense that they do everything wrong, no matter how well they're actually doing. I'd wager more women have that problem than men. Would be fun to see if the data backs that up.
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Post by silverdragon on Jul 31, 2014 9:07:57 GMT
So the phrase "I can drive pretty muck ok, I just have problems when other people are on the road" was spoken by a Man?.... I ask because this was actually said by someone learning to drive to a room full of drivers..... My own addition to the advice given back at that stage was along the lines of any fool can control a car in a straight line, its dealing with the other fools on the road that makes a driver.
So you can drive half a mile up that farm track, because its quiet and there are no other drivers about?... Come back when you can do the trip in Reverse. I will accept you as a good driver when you can reverse a 60ft trailer and cab combo up the same road without scratching the paintwork......
ANY fool, and I mean that literally, but anyone can drive in a straight line.... Its the not so straight, reverses, tight bends, reading signs whilst not hitting anything else, ... Driving is much more than control of the vehicle from the inside. In the UK, Heavy Goods test, touching the kerb with a wheel is an instant fail. Last week I watched with horror as a wagon took so much bite out of a corner pedestrians were actually running away.... He had no reason. I have taken that corner many times, there is plenty of room?...
So, summarising what I need to add to this, driving is one thing, can you negotiate a road course that an accepted driver of that class of vehicle would be happy to tackle without failing badly?...
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Post by kharnynb on Aug 6, 2014 19:21:17 GMT
I have a B-license, which means just a car and up to 750 kg in trailer.
I can drive motorcycles, but my license long ago expired, same with forklifts, which i used to have up to 8T license back when living in NL.
I can drive a caravan, having learned from dad, who has more than 100k km without accident with them, but am not allowed to.
I doubt i would be able to drive a full on truck with trailer or a new model traktor safely.
Boats, i can sail and drive small motorboats, but i draw the line at anything over 30 meters.
Can't fly any more than straight down....
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Post by the light works on Aug 7, 2014 1:12:06 GMT
here, it is required to have a boater safety card to operate any boat with 10 horsepower or more.
as you can guess, all of the manufacturers make 9.9HP motors.
you can get the card and still be totally unable to operate a boat. but they can prove that you know the rules of the road.
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Post by silverdragon on Aug 7, 2014 8:16:16 GMT
Which is extremely useful with an amphibious vehicle?....
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Post by silverdragon on Aug 7, 2014 8:22:40 GMT
I have found a vehicle that I cant drive.
A Smart car.
I literally can not drive that vehicle at all.... In any way, shape, form, despite a willingness to try, even if its just to the end of the road, and this is despite earlier saying I was unwilling ever to travel in one, I was actually trying here, as I WONT be beaten.
And now the reason why. I couldn't get in.
Imagine John Clease in full ministry of silly walks trying to bend his ample frame to "Fit" inside a toy kids car?... Well, I just could not bend my legs in any way that would allow them to go inside this vehicle. I dont fit. I am too tall. and that is it...
I just wanted to make it known that I CANT actually drive "anything with wheels on", as the phrase goes, because small Micro-cars just dont fit. Unless I have two, one for each foot............
Strange thing is, I just fold up and fit into a Mini, the original micro car... and I can drive one of them like it was part of me.
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Post by kharnynb on Aug 7, 2014 9:59:26 GMT
I can drive my mom's yaris for about half an hour, then i start getting cramp in my legs. The trouble of being 2 meters tall...
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Post by c64 on Aug 7, 2014 11:10:35 GMT
I just wanted to make it known that I CANT actually drive "anything with wheels on", as the phrase goes, because small Micro-cars just dont fit. Unless I have two, one for each foot............ Strange thing is, I just fold up and fit into a Mini, the original micro car... and I can drive one of them like it was part of me. That's odd! I am too tall to drive most cars comfortable. I can sit inside a rover mini, but I can't operate the pedals safely. I once had to drive one and to do that I had to remove the heater hoses to make more leg room in order to operate the brake pedal. The current Smart car (the original version is smaller, the Smart grew a bit to meet better safety standards) if quite OK, not comfortable but at least I can drive it safely. What I really hate is most modern cars. They all have a huge brake pedal sitting quite high so I need to lift the entire leg to put the foot onto the pedal which isn't easy because the knee is deflected by the steering wheel. On TV, every member of the 7ft club loves to demonstrate that they are unable to drive cars due to their size. But the tallest man of the UK simply folds himself into his Passat 35i - that's one of the major reasons I own one. Here's a picture of Christopher Greener (on a scooter) next to his car: He made a good decision to buy that car. Long roof rails which help climbing out of the car and (according to the shape of the tailpipe) he has the highly reliable and long lasting 1.8L RP or ABS engine. Actually, Neil Fingleton is listed as the tallest man in England, but he immigrated from the US recently, Mr. Greener was born in the UK. I am not that tall, for me, the car is "just right". Set the seat all the way down and back and it is very comfortable. Also the brake pedal is just a few millimeters higher than the accelerator pedal. With the shin leaning to the middle console near the stick shift, the foot is either turned to the right to work the accelerator or left to work the brake pedal. The heel never has to be lifted of the floor to switch between braking and accelerating. So the knee won't bump into anything and the time to prepare an emergency braking is cut down dramatically. I have tested many cars. Audi A5 is horrible and defiantly not safe to drive, the A7 is safe but still highly uncomfortable. The VW Golf-2 and -3 are smaller than the A7 but somewhat more comfortable, the Golf-3 has the huge and high brake pedal which makes it dangerous because when the knee bumps into the radio, you can't lift the foot high enough to put it onto the brake pedal. YOu have to sit in a very uncomfortable position to avoid this problem. The Golf-2 is OK to drive on a long trip, the -3 not! And the -3 is a lot larger than the -2! In the picture above, this Golf-3 is an early version which uses the same "pedal box" as the Golf-2 and the Passat B2 and early 35i. A great surprise is the Ford Ka. Even if it is a relative small compact car, its almost as comfortable and about as safe to drive than my Passat 35i! The only problem, nobody can sit behind the driver any more. In the 35i, I can sit behind the driver's seat when it is still set to my size.
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Post by the light works on Aug 7, 2014 13:51:06 GMT
Which is extremely useful with an amphibious vehicle?.... in the US, any navigable waterway is considered to be a road.
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Post by OziRiS on Aug 7, 2014 20:12:46 GMT
<SNIP> I have found a vehicle that I cant drive. A Smart car. Ever tried a Suzuki Siwft or Alto? Perhaps a Toyota Yaris, as kharnynb mentioned? If so, how did that go?
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Post by kharnynb on Aug 7, 2014 21:42:58 GMT
Toyota is a bad one anyway, even the auris is too small, the verso does just and just fit decent enough.
Another nasty thing on small toyota's, the clutch and the brake aren't smooth, they are practically on/off switches instead...
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Post by silverdragon on Aug 8, 2014 6:38:08 GMT
Yaris two door, I could roll the seat back far enough, as long as no one wanted to sit in the back seat, no problem. Yaris Verso, I drive on a regular basis (Owned by family member) I like that as it has a high headroom... its basically a small van with rear seats removed. Suzuki swift, been a few years, but that was quite easy to drive... I dont like the new small Toyotas. I looked at one of those IO thinks... no damn way... its just not big enough for me to even consider trying?... like trying to get in to drive a washing machine.....
I was close to one of those Reva G-Wizz things recently... look, I get claustrophobia, seriously you expect me to believe people think they are real cars?.... Apparently so. I had a "Lecture" from a tree hugger about how green they are until I shut him up by reminding him he was charging it from a coal powered generator and that as my own car has almost zero emissions, my car was actually "greener" than his was... plus I can drive 50 miles and still get home afterwards. With the heater and lights and radio running..... He wasnt expecting anyone would have done some research?... When I also reminded him that us of the larger stature wouldnt fit inside anyway and therefore its only "For children sized people", he nearly exploded with rage.....
Aint "Karma" a {female canine}?... if you start lecturing me on how awful I am but get your facts wrong, I aint half a right cow when I set you right, I am a sarcastic expert, I have had the practise... Trouble with me, I am so polite when I do it?....
Back to Micro cars.
Some goit of a twerp practising twonka and complete set of wrong size spanners kept parking his micro-dongle as far in as he could into a parking space because it delighted him to know that people would be thinking it was an empty space until they tried to park there.
Laugh?.. I nearly had to leave the vehicle to recover... Some "wag" had towed a pallet and put it upright behind his vehicle with a big sign "Beware space occupied by kiddy-car"....
Where I see the point in smaller vehicle and less space occupied on the road, lighter, more economical, and all the rest, cant they get with the plan that evolution is we are all getting slowly taller.....
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Post by Cybermortis on Aug 8, 2014 9:55:10 GMT
Its not evolution, its a 'better' diet.
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Post by the light works on Aug 8, 2014 13:27:58 GMT
Its not evolution, its a 'better' diet. its a little of both.
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Post by OziRiS on Aug 8, 2014 14:29:37 GMT
Yaris two door, I could roll the seat back far enough, as long as no one wanted to sit in the back seat, no problem. Yaris Verso, I drive on a regular basis (Owned by family member) I like that as it has a high headroom... its basically a small van with rear seats removed. Suzuki swift, been a few years, but that was quite easy to drive... I dont like the new small Toyotas. I looked at one of those IO thinks... no damn way... its just not big enough for me to even consider trying?... like trying to get in to drive a washing machine..... If you can fit in a Yaris or Swift, but can't fit in a Smart, either you're doing something wrong with the Smart, or I'm doing something wrong with the others. I can fit quite comfortably in a Smart (wouldn't want one if I got it for free, but I fit in it), but the two others? Not a chance! I constantly bang my knees on the steering wheel no matter how I adjust the seats, or even the steering wheel itself. The Smart feels like a loveseat crammed into a lunch box glued to a roller skate. Comfortable enough to physically sit in, but mentally? I'm not comfortable with the fact that from any given point on the outside of the vehicle, there's a maximum distance of 8 inches to one or more of my bodyparts inside. It may have been proven safe enough, but so has bungee jumping off a bridge and I ain't doing that either!
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Post by the light works on Aug 8, 2014 14:38:03 GMT
the fact that I have driven several models of car with the seat clear back against the stops - and I'm "only" 6 feet would seem to imply that carmakers haven't yet figured out that they make people bigger than average...
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Post by Cybermortis on Aug 8, 2014 15:15:11 GMT
Its not evolution, its a 'better' diet. its a little of both. No, its not. Evolution is about genetics, not diet. Diet may (and does) affect how strongly some genetic traits may be evident - such as height - but the basic coding remains the same. The average height in Japan, for example, has increased quite dramatically since the end of WW2. But this is due purely to a much richer protein diet since 1945. If you went back in time and grabbed a baby from 1700's Japan, then brought them forward to today and raised them as any other child in Japan they would not automatically be shorter than their class mates.
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Post by kharnynb on Aug 8, 2014 16:01:12 GMT
Not quite true, there is a generational effect as well.
The dutch are the tallest people in the world on average, this is due to a better than average diet ever since the 16th century, or our golden age.
If it was not generational, the germans, belgians and British would have caught up by now.
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Post by mrfatso on Aug 8, 2014 16:42:01 GMT
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