h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Motorway Overtaking for a Better Britain - A20720873
Author: The Apprentice - U35204

A point of view, for certain, but perhaps not necessarily the basis of an Edited entry in the Guide. Complete (to the extent that I don't feel I need to say much more about the subject covered), I'm obviously open to comment (or I wouldn't have put it in here).

The Apprentice

It's a bit extreme - for starters you should tone down things like 'selfish idiocy', and you should aim for a presentation of the facts instead of an over-the-top opinion piece.

Also, I think these two sidenotes might be a little too pushy:

(which happens to be 70 mph as well, for those who have forgotten3)
(when have you ever actually needed to do that?)

Meanwhile, I'd say the idea for the Entry is very good - just make sure the execution is good, too.

Alex

I'm about half-way through writing something similar to this but more of a generalised problem, with a very different solution.

As for this entry, I would strongly support its inclusion in the Edited guide, as yours is a widely-held opinion. Very well-written, too.

Some tweaking to remove the bile... I think I have caught a fair amount of it. Poke me if I have left anything...



The Apprentice

"The law of the land requires new drivers know how to reverse around corners (when have you ever actually needed to do that?)"

That's opinion, that bit in brackets. Maybe it's because I drove for a living for a decade, but I've often reversed around a corner. The same technique is also used for parking in car parks, so it's a very useful maneuver, regardless of whether you've ever done it.

"three-point turns "

I don't think they are called this any more, as they are allowed more 'points' in the turn.

Also you've called them 'inner' and 'outer' lanes. It's more common for them to be referred to as the inside and outside lanes, although admittedly the HC uses 'outer, centre, and left-hand' I've not heard any person speak like that! It also says that you should remain in the overtaking lane rather then pop in and out after each vehicle, so it may be correct to cruise in the middle lane if you are trying to overtake a line of lorries going up a hill.

The Highway Code link doesn't work.

You say that those doing the test require no knowledge of motorway driving. But surely the written test will grill them on this particular aspect of driving, even if they have never actually driven on a motorway?

Are the terms inner and outer universally understood? I know people who think the slow lane is the outer lane, and the fast lane is the inner lane; in their opinion, outer means away from the centre of the road.

I think, for simplicity, I'll use the Highway Codes outer, centre, and left-hand. The reference to left-hand defines the order then.

Eco Worrier - re. the name for three-point turns, I believe the term is turn in the road. Fair point. I had a nine point turn in one of my tests.

Re. reverse corners - fair point. However, my wife - an Australian who also lived in America for a while - believes this maneuver is (a) dangerous, (b) stupid and (c) pointless. I will, nevertheless, remove the comment.

Gnomen - whatever theoretical grilling you might get regarding motorways, it pales compared to the actual act of driving on one.

Thanks for your feedback!

The Apprentice

A good chance to correct all those wallies then I think.

There are some people who never sat a written test, so would have had about 5 minutes answering a few questions, which may well not have included motorway driving. Many of these are the hat/sunday/old drivers who sit in the middle lane and annoy lorry drivers!

I can't even remember what I was asked at my test.

I think my examiner asked me about a few road signs, something to do with fog and a speed limit query. That's about it...

...then off for a celebratory pint.



The Apprentice

Oh - and the Highway Code link downtime appears temporary.

The Apprentice

You're using a different Highway Code page to the one I use.

I thought the Highway Code hosted by the Department of Transport might be worth linking to...



Not to say, necessarily, that it will be any more accurate or uptodate than anywhere else.





The Apprentice

This is the one I use - http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/

OK... I've switched to that one...



The Apprentice

Some additional content tweaking done to remove a little more 'bile'.



The Apprentice

Looks good to me - caught a '21st century' (Century) but apart from that, I reckon this is there

Ah. I see you've ignored the point I made earlier.

Do tell us how anyone north of Perth, or from Norfolk or from Cornwall is going to practice motorway driving? There are no motorways there. If training in motorway driving is to be compulsory, either nobody from these areas gets to drive or they have driving lessons lasting many hours and entailing trips of hundreds of miles.

In Scotland, there are only two places I can think of where the motorway has more than two lanes. Should every learner driver make a bee-line there to be trained in 3 lane driving?

What about Belfast, which has the wonderful confluence of two motorways running alongside each other for a couple of miles. Seven lanes at one point. Great fun, but not in the Highway Code.


Don't get me wrong. You make valid points, but they're opinions and they fail to recognise that not everyone lives within reach of motorways or that motorways themselves don't always play by the rules, (offside exits on the M8).

"Ah. I see you've ignored the point I made earlier..."

Um... yes, I did. Did you read footnote 5... which has been there since you left your message.



The Apprentice