Driving in Bourne - BIG TOM Driving School 07894 262 718

Driving Lessons in Bourne.

I like my Learners who take driving lessons in Bourne to experience the different types of surrounding roads.  One of the challenges for people who live and drive in more rural areas is appreciating the hazards that are around them when they are driving on what appear to be quite basic, simple roads.

It is a fact, that statistically, serious injuries and fatalities occur on these rural roads in higher frequency than on town (urban) roads.  This is quite a surprising fact when you consider the differences in volumes of traffic between the two types of road.  One way I describe this is to say that when it does go wrong on a rural road, it really goes wrong.  Often the roads are quieter, sometimes straight and long, and as such the average speeds travelled on them tend to be higher.  Look how often when you are on a single carraigeway rural road, the national speed limit of 60mph is in force.  Because of the way the road looks, many drivers look upon that speed as a target speed as a minimum, some even regularly drive over that speed. 

So average speed is certainly one factor that makes these rural roads hazardous, and the other factor is how unforgiving they are.  By that I mean, they often have quite unique characteristics that when combined with the speed issue, really does raise the potential for problems.  Some of these characteristics include, no street lighting, very sharp bends, no 'escape routes', no footpaths for pedestrians, unstable road surfaces, long straight roads inviting overtakes, blind junctions, lack of vision due to hedges/trees and there are more.

Just to illustrate this point, I made a video of one of these roads, inviting my Learners in Bourne to think about what hazards they saw on the Spalding Road, between Bourne and Spalding.  When the video starts, have a look at the road and conditions, see how it looks on first appearances as a calm, hazard free road.  As it goes on, have a go at listing any potential hazards you can spot (there are a list I've added on the text underneath for you to compare).

Then..... freeze the video at precisely 2mins 22secs.  What do you see on the road surface?  No better real example of the hazards these rural roads bring with them.

So my message really is, no matter how 'easy' a road looks to drive on, it's important to stay switched on, thinking about the potential hazards around you.

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