What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Chris KC]

Hi Bob, indeed, locals make short work of these roads. The frustration comes when caravans and camper vans arrive from "up country" in the summer, then most locals stop at home! 

I noted with some curiosity on the way home yesterday, on larger roads than these, that when I occasionally tucked in to the left to let traffic behind pass, they simply slowed down too, scared or unprepared to overtake even on quite open stretches of road. That and drivers who seemed prepared to drive miles behind cyclists at 20 mph rather than attempt to pass them! I forgot to mention I overtook a Fiat 500!!

[Ian Dunford]

The curse of people who refuse, or are too timid to overtake,is almost as infuriating as those who overtake at blind bends,and then slow down dramatically.

[Tony Griffiths]

Towing a very heavy tailer in a Discovery I was down to bottom gear on a steep hill but a straight, clear road- and still the driver behind would not overtake. So I stopped, got out, and sat on the opposite grass bank and watched while the driver had to reverse - an amazing performance with a passenger directing and much wobbly reversing and clutch slip to get going. How do these people pass their test?

[Bob Culver]

On the subject of overtaking, 40 and more years ago, with winding roads not able to accommodate 3 cars wide, short sight lines, large variation in vehicle speeds, and unenforceable speed limit, wild overtaking was a serious annoyance and contributor to a very high road toll. Now with 100 kph limit enforced using hidden cameras, unmarked mobile cars with radar etc motorists are very afraid to overtake . Trucks with a 90 kph limit accumulate very long tail in busy conditions as overtaking without exceeding about 105 kph is very protracted. And anyone out in a vintage similarly accumulates a tail (and sometimes a ticket) because followers are simply unfamiliar with overtaking and don’t despite the performance available.

Sevens are somewhat beyond hope but as a driver of very dated cars with poor acceleration I developed the technique of making a run at the car ahead whenever a straight was known to be approaching, then cancelling if it proved to be obstructed. The majority of drivers pull out then accelerate,  no good in a Javelin or Super Minx. In the 60s dawdling ladies in Morris Minors obstructed the Seven.  Being overtaken invariably stirred them to life and they then disappeared into the distance. At night it was best to just follow and use their lights.

[Mike Costigan]

... And disturbing that the benign looking hedges often contain a stone wall...

That brings to mind driving my Austin Twelve in which visibility was excellent - the front wings were clearly visible and I could place that car inch-perfect. There was one particular local corner on a busy but narrow road where I used to regularly brush the greenery at relatively high speed. Some years later the owners of the property cleared away the ivy to reveal a vey substantial stone wall...

[Hedd_Jones]

The curse of people who refuse, or are too timid to overtake,is almost as infuriating as those who overtake at blind bends,and then slow down dramatically.

Driving back to the shed on Sunday on the steamer, I had a numpty in a Passat unable it seems to overtake me doing a mere 8 or 9 mph. 

I waved them by twice, then gave up. Result was a que of 6 or 7 cars. Thankfully they seemed to hoot at him, not me as they all overtook the both of us.

[Bob Culver]

Hi Hedd

It is very annoying but the lead vehicle usually gets the blame whilst it is a close following second which hugely compounds the situation. I hold my 1964 modern at 100 kph on regular long drives (360m) but try not to exceed as 4,000 rpm is already plenty . So inevitably end up following 95 kph trucks and others. Keeping a long spacing allows others to filter past. Police are often unsymapathetic toward drivers accumulating  tails, although they tolerate for trucks as they have a very powerful lobby. Often the lead driver is a tourist, someone not over competent etc. Cops  and others do not realise that it requires a higher level of skill to closely monitor following traffic, especially many cars back,  and to regularly pull off and back onto the road than it does to just drive fast. They also do not appreciate how quickly tails grow in heavy traffic. Expecting non confident drivrs to repeatedly reenter the stream from a near standstill is unreasonable. One of our Bradfords incurred a ticket in holiday traffic despite steady 50 mph on a wide straight for miles road with little oncomig.

[John Mason]

When I was driving my Austin Seven realising I wasn’t the fastest on the road I like most kept an eye on what was behind me. I would look for somewhere to pull over and let them pass but with my seven brakes it had to be a large place to pull into in order to stop. Pull over places only the length we no good. No stopping room.

John Mason

[Duncan Grimmond]

I tend to keep a weather-eye on the traffic astern and pull over while waving them on when it builds up to more than 4 or 5 cars. I know they all think
"Ah, a nice vintage machine, haven't seen one of those for years"
for the first couple of hundred yards but it soon turns to
"What's that B****y thing doing on a busy road, if I had my way I'd ban them!"

[Tony Press]

Oh for the time when everyone in a modern didn't have to get anywhere at breakneck speed. 

Even in the 50's people didn't seem to be so impatient- what has happened. Covid slowed down most and we generally survived