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Old June 3rd 11, 10:01 AM posted to uk.transport.london
Recliner[_2_] Recliner[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity at LondonBanter: Dec 2008
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Default Exiotic cars in London?

"M J Forbes" wrote in message

How they learn to drive such kind of cars?


The same way that you learn to drive any other car - you take lessons
and then you rake a test. If you are taking the thing on a track,
then you may wish to take specialist lessons, but driving around the
centre of London, such things aren't really needed ...

Is it "ask the bleedin' obvious day" or something?


Actually, driving cars like that in London probably does need some extra
training (not, of course, that most of the drivers of such cars are
likely to have had it). They're much wider than normal cars, and
certainly won't get through a 2m width-restricted road, which means that
the driver needs some route awareness and a good feel for the size of
the car.

They also have very low ground clearance, and can ground all too easily
(and expensively) on ramps or speed bumps (as happened recently with the
POTUS Beast in Dublin). So forget trying to get into a multi-story car
park, or fitting into a normal parking bay.

Visibility is poor, too, as they're low and often have a very restricted
rear view, and it's even worse if they're left-hand drive, as most of
the really exotic cars are. Over-heating might be a problem in traffic
jams. And that's before you think about driving car with such extreme
acceleration that's completely out of synch with the buses and taxis
that set the normal road speed.

So, basically, they make no sense at all in a crowded, urban environment
like London, where the one thing they're really good at (driving at
speeds over 125mph) is completely useless. It's even worse if the driver
is young and unused to driving in London.