drivers

Driving standards vary so much, it at times is very scary.during a mid life crises seriously thought of getting a bike licence until I remembered if drivers can't see the six foot wide yellow vehicle with flashing lights and a siren what chance has a motorbike.
So often you hear "you don't learn to drive until you pass your test".
The stats of Young recently passed drivers for accidents are not a pretty read and I don't think they are given the skills to drive but given the skills to pass the test and the two are not the same.
The cost of learning to drive and applying for licences is ridiculous but at the same time you hear of people travelling to Briton because the driving tests to get a full licence is easier than there home European country

The strange thing is that where we live it's the other way round. The locals generally drive very carefully (apart from the idiotic kamikaze youngsters of course) around the bends on our single track roads, and it's the holidaymakers who go tearing round the bends on the wrong side of the road and can't reverse when they meet up with a car. With us, at any rate, the difference is down to experience. At some point we've all met a cow in the road or nearly gone into the back of a hay trailer etc. on a bend and we've learnt to slow down.

I do know what Iceman means. The last time we were in France we had a taxi from Moutiers to Meribel and the taxi driver nearly scared us all to death overtaking on the bends and made those sitting in the back pretty car sick. At one point I did feel like asking if we could get out and walk, but it was a long way to go with all our luggage! The bus, however, which we took back to Moutiers, was driven extremely well and we didn't feel at all nervous (or sick!).

I understand the point about winter tyres being faster than chains and that the locals know the road and can therefore drive faster on it, but it would be nice to know how many crashes there are on those mountain roads during the ski season.

Ally

AllyG wrote: it would be nice to know how many crashes there are on those mountain roads during the ski season.
Ally

ermmmm .........
No it wouldn't IMHO, prefer not to be scared and still go to the resorts with a smile on my face.
:D

OldAndy wrote:

AllyG wrote: it would be nice to know how many crashes there are on those mountain roads during the ski season.
Ally

ermmmm .........
No it wouldn't IMHO, prefer not to be scared and still go to the resorts with a smile on my face.
:D

Wear your lid whilst driving and you will remain safe ;)

Why do we do a driving test, pass it then the following day can go on a 4 lane motorway without any prior instruction :roll:

Helmets when driving, thats the future!! :D

snowb4ndit wrote:

merry wrote:

Iceman wrote:While I am sitting in the passenger seat of the car going down a hill chained up. Time for a rant.

3. Why do some 'local' drivers seem think it is ok to race down a snowy road and overtake on the outside of a bend with cars coming the other way?

They have proper winter tyres and lots of experience driving on snow. With chains on you have to drive very slow which is really very anoying for the natives ;)

That makes sense. :thumbup:

I have to revise this post...

I agree to a certain extent, in that I have, and will continue to overtake very slow traffic, especially when I am on my way to work. Mostly it is vehicles with snow chains or people who do not know their way. I understand why and am not an agressive driver but sometimes I just don't have the time to hang around. However I am not the kind of idiot that does it on a bend and/or when traffic is coming in the other direction.

AJMCA wrote:My sis also finding return transfers from Chamberey to Peisey
VERY expensive- any advice ?

I flew into, and out of Chambery last year and drove to Tignes. It was pretty quiet, but can see it being a nightmare if the weather is bad, or it's busy.

Prices were way higher this year (not helped with me booking a few weeks later) so we're flying into Turin, and driving from there. It's going to take a bit longer, but as others have said, I quite like driving.

It'll certainly be very scenic.

snowb4ndit wrote:

I have to revise this post...

I agree to a certain extent, in that I have, and will continue to overtake very slow traffic, especially when I am on my way to work. Mostly it is vehicles with snow chains or people who do not know their way. I understand why and am not an agressive driver but sometimes I just don't have the time to hang around. However I am not the kind of idiot that does it on a bend and/or when traffic is coming in the other direction.

Lucky for us there are not too many out of State drivers in MN in the winter. When the weather does change at the start of winter, we don't automatically switch to winter driving mode. Every year it takes a while to get a feel back for the conditions and assessing how much grip there actually is. Just as the Eskimos are supposed to have a hundred different words for snow, so the roads are different everyday. Sometimes snow crystals are very slippery, sometimes they are very grippy. Being able to quickly (and subconsciously) asses how to drive takes while.

Other than driving with a degree of common sense, the biggest aide for driving on snowy/icy roads is the use of winter tyres. And I mean 'winter' tyres not mud/snow or all season.

We own an Audi four wheel drive (A6 Quattro). When we bought it (December 2010), I also acquired a 2nd set of alloys which I had shod in Vreidstein winter tyres as we were planning to take the car over to Norway. The additional grip on snowy roads was a revelation. We drove from Oslo up to Hemsedal in April 2011 and December 2011 without incident. Not as good as studded tyres of course but definitely the next best thing for general use. We were able to drive up and down the access road to our cabin in Hemsedal even though it was permanently covered in snow and was a series of switchback bends. The majority of the german and dutch visitors were using chains.

Interestingly the tread has now worn down to between 4mm and 7mm and the grip is already going. Apparently winter tyres need changing earlier than summer tyres.

We uploaded a couple of clips to youtube when 1st trying out the tyres:-