Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Howards Dillema...Almost.

Roundabouts! Don't get me started in roundabouts.......

a) Those who pull up to a completely clear roundabout and then stop because their 'observation zone' doesn't exceed the end of their bonnet,
b) Those than have no lane discipline and 'straighten' the roundabout
c) Afrorementioned performance car drivers who scream up to a roundabout at 80mph, and then drive round it at 10 because they can't use a steering wheel.

Driving has changed dramatically as cars have become generally bigger, there is a greater density of traffic on the roads, there are more speed restrictions and traffic calming measures today as well as more policing whether static or mobile speed camera's etc. more public indoctrination eg speed kills, has changed driving styles. Add in the rising cost of petrol into the equation and an ageing population still using our roads and changes to the highway code priorities and its no wonder that driving isn't the most rewarding/ demanding as it seemed in our youth.

Then add in the changes to the vehicle dynamics and tyre construction and speeds which seemed quite challenging and therefore involving in the past, seem sedentary today, when even basic cars today are capable of operating at a much more elevated and more reliable performance envelope, once the reserve of more exotic cars in the past. Then add in our for want of a better word ' patience horizon;, the increasing need to do things quickly as our prospective of available time allocated to a given task allowing less tolerance for delays eg when I was young it used to take most of the day to get our holiday destination in Wales , now I can do it in a matter of a few hours, has changed my tolerance allowance for that journey and therefore reduced my tolerance of any unexpected delays. In the past the holiday also seemed to begin when we left home, where today the holiday only seems to begin when we get there, maybe we are losing sight of the journey itself, which we should enjoy more rather than just the focusing on the destination, Many of the roads used have become far more efficient, can process far greater volumes of traffic, creating more journeys than in the past, so when things do go wrong as they invariably do, the consequences are far greater.

Or maybe we are just getting less tolerant and more impatient as we grow older.

I still enjoy the journey, often as much as the destination. All my SatNavs are set to avoid Motorways - not cause I'm scared or worried by them, but they bore the tits off me, and are full of idiots who don't use lanes properly.

The alternative holiday route often takes me on magical mystery tours, and I'll try and schedule a few stops on the way - often National Trust/English Heritage as you're fairly guaranteed a toilet and a half decent cup of tea/coffee. If the journey is more than a couple of hundred miles, I'll usually stick an overnighter in and sort out a good bar or restaurant to explore mid route.

We're having a couple of nights in York just before Christmas - it's only 140miles door to door - we'll probably go a fairly direct route up (avoiding Motorways and much of the A1) but have planned to spend the entire day Sunday travelling home - probably take a good 8 hours or so.

Interesting comments guys. Being a shift worker, when I bought my Morgan to replace m/cycling mid week days on the interesting A, B and back roads in and around my area. I feel fortunate to live but a field away from the suburbs of Glasgow and as such don`t have as much as a traffic light between my home and local interesting roads on which I enjoyed many a year of almost traffic free driving on many sections, though things would get busy in the Trossachs during tourist season and on my very favourite stretch of Tarmac.. Shrug!

As the years passed and vehicle ownership rose exponentially combined with industry downsizing, delayering enhanced pension offers and lump sums, even the formerly quiet roads became rather busy with "mature motorists" on any day the sun might care to shine, enjoying the wonderful scenery and inevitably creating lengthy traffic snakes by driving too close to the car in front to allow overtaking in any kind of leap frog progress Thus if one did not wish to join the snake and travel at circa 30-40MPH on the straights and much slower during cornering... One had to overtake the whole snake in one go, assuming it was safe to do so.

Safe to do so... Hmm..? I knew most of my favoured roads like the back of my hand and my +8, although in standard engine tune, it`s exhaust system is minus back boxes, thus when you step on the loud pedal with serious intent, it does SHOUT a bit, pops and bangs and might even spit the occasional flame on the over-run.

After a few occasions of coming across a snake of a reasonable length to overtake, and knowing the road very well, I would drop back and down a gear or two, and on expectation that the straight section of road about to appear round the next bend, I would be accelerating out of the bend catching tail end Charlie but with enough braking distance not to bite Charlie on the tail,should the straight have on coming traffic on it.... If the road was clear, I would then roar past the snake and leave plenty of room after passing the head of the snake before pulling back in...No problemo...

Hmm..? Some years back in conversation relative to increasing traffic with our departed pal Bill Button, it did seem there was a chance of scaring some timid soul as I roared past, perhaps even some envious type and not only that, as Mr Harris typed above, with all the comms, in-car and roadside camera`s etc.etc. It would seem possible to convert what was a safe thought out overtake into some sort of hooligan behaviour....? Another way had to be found if I was to continue enjoying my favoured roads.

As one who worked rotating shifts on occasional seven day patterns, I was well used to being wide awake at any hour of the night or day, thus in the Summer months I would head out at or around dawn, in my part of the world in mid summer it can often stay reasonably bright all through the night, though heading out circa 04:00 hrs tends to find traffic free tarmac in most places.... However one has to maintain a weather eye for the wildlife, deer, foxes hedgehogs wabbits and hares a plenty, even a lost cow on one occasion...! Memories of a chap on local roads being killed when his car hit a stray horse in the early morning hours, so yes best to be wide awake when otherwise one`s body might expect to be sleeping....

These days if I catch a snake on interesting roads I pull over and park up till enough time and space is likely to be created between me and the tail, then head out again to be able to enjoy the corners at road legal speeds. I do the same thing on a road that is tight and twisting if I come upon a truck trundling along where there is little to no chance of an overtake for miles, usually a tourist type route which has occasional lay-bys..Fortunately that is still possible in my part of the world, though I appreciate that in some areas trying to create that sort of space on an interesting road may be impossible for some... Sorry.

Still lots of enjoyment to be had out there if one picks just the right time..

When touring, we used maps back circa 2002/3/5 thus we got pleasantly lost on the deserted back roads of France Spain and Italy.... Happy days.. (-:

I think Johns comments re

Expectations due to better abilites and infrastructure
Less patience as I grow older and less enamoured with inexperience and foolishness

Hit many of my buttons.

I also admit that driving an Aero with dual sidepipes is wonderful in a clear open area but awkward as hell sometimes (passing horses, speed humps in built up areas at night, passing a queue with open throttles) so I choose not open the throttles.

I always have to remind myself that the roads a shared resource to allow travel by all.

Also that whilst a corner may be marked 40mph because that was set when a Morris Minor on bald cross-ply's was used as the benchmark it would probably have only just made it. But today it is more likely that some donkey has dumped diesel on the same bend on a wet day and so my 295/30 shod sport-air suspended uber-sofa is still going to dance on ice just before sucking ditch. Track days/hill climbs/autocross are a good thing to let the inner loony out as long as the loonies are evenly matched and all pointing the same way.

Oh the joys of motoring, when the sun shines, as it did last Saturday, it was roof down, warmly dressed to keep the chill out and a normally 50 mile round trip (that turned into a 80 mile journey with a detour due to an accident on the A6) for an Wallings ice cream from the diary where it's made, an ice cream I can get ft from the shop around the corner, it's' just the excuse to go meander thru some beautiful countryside.

One thing I do find in an open topped car, you get a greater sense of the area you are travelling thru., the smells, the scenery, the open blue sky above and feel the warming sun on your body, which makes a meandering journey more enjoyable than in a closed car. I probably should have draw that distinction in my earlier posting, as to how the mode of transport and bringing the county side into the cabin etc, changes my approach to any given journey. In September coming back from Ireland across the top of North Wales via fast dual carriageways at dusk, was taken at a more leisurely place whilst enjoying the setting sun. Had it been raining or roof up I would have covered the same journey much quicker, as the imperative would have changed to just getting home, rather than savouring the journey in the closing days of summer.

In the current inclement conditions I use the MGB GT much more than the Mog, but still enjoy the relaxed pace of motoring and the greater connection with the environment you get from classic motoring.

If we have to make pace, we'll take the Golf but the Mrs drives as I can't stand all the bells, whistles and gadgets.....

Well said Alistair..............diesel, bends, roundabouts and motorcycles never mixed. Whilst the quality of tarmac used these days has improved over the past, I still find the road craft I learnt from riding a motorcycle before a car eg the first rains after a period of weeks of summer dryness leads to slippy roads is lost on many young drivers.......eg .as the number of motorway accidents increase as more people travel in autumn darkness till they learn to acclimatise!

It may help younger drivers if they were required to ride a motorcycle before a driving a car, to develop their road craft.

I find its less a question of the vehicle age/type of motoring and more a question of the opportunity to enjoy open air motoring I enjoy driving the SLK as much as I did the Morgan when the roof is down, but I can understand exactly where you are coming from

Somehow the word "button" dropped out.

In Italian one of the terms used for a car horn is "Avvitatore acustico".