Shard

I don't get this point which keeps coming up. As a new country, all those people are "Canadians" (Canadian accent or not) and their driving standard is Canadian. It is like saying someone living in London that has a foreign accent (1 out of 5?) is not a Londoner ?!?!

As for the courteous drivers of BC, after the spirited drivers of Portugal, let's see how many months it will take until you request a full frontal lobotomy for driving purposes.

Gazman

oh my goodness!, and there was me thinking I'd be getting away from this kind of driving by leaving Ireland and heading to Canada
When I first came to Ireland in 98 there was no such thing as an MOT for cars, only half the population bothered with insurance, most people got their driving license by saying three 'hail Marys'...and if you got caught speeding it didn't matter because EVERYONE in Ireland has a relative in the guards (police) that can get them off with it

Things changed drastically in the 00ties and as motorways began to appear, this 'hog-the-middle-lane' syndrome became rife!...as did the 'silver-car-syndrome' and the 'fine-weather-fog-light-syndrome'...(which basically involves driving around showing off your fog lights on a sunny day but then turning them off when it's really insanely foggy!.

Over the years penalty points came in along with more stringent enforcement of road traffic laws and it's been amazing to see how the overall standard of driving has improved so much in the space of ten years.

I'm alarmed though to discover through this thread that Canadian drivers seem to be at the poor level the Irish were over 10 years ago.
Just another thought though...perhaps it's just that us BEs have adopted a better standard of driving because our driving test was harder and the police in the UK are very unforgiving...??????....

JonboyE

Nlo, it is because every single Briton is inherently a better driver than every single Canadian.

FACT.

iaink

Jacques and Gilles Villeneuve might respectfully disagree

Hawk13

So when you get your PR, are you not a Canadian?

What if have kids born in Canada and you teach them to drive?

Hawk13

You're heading to Sooke, right. If you like that windy road from Vic to Sooke and have a tendancy to exceed the speed limit, be careful on the double lane section as it's notorious for speed traps.

Awesome section of road to "drive" in the TR6 when no one else is around.

JonboyE

It is an interesting question and deserves more research. How long does it take a Brit to lose their world leading driving skills once they move to Canada? A month? A year?

At first thought it must be a gradual change. I don't remember waking up one morning and thinking that I had finally assimilated so I don't need to use blinkers or mirrors again.

On second thoughts, and seeing the number of ******* idiots trying to drive out of the airport a couple of hours after a BA plane lands, it might be almost instantaneous.

rivingtonpike

Around here there are so many oldies that it's hard to differentiate between the crap drivers and the living dead. I was watching a seriously old biddy in Walmart the other day struggling to put a bag of onions onto the checkout conveyor belt whilst still holding onto her wheely walking frame thing. I was actually curious enough about how she was going to get her shopping home that I slowed down my own shopping to watch the outcome. Sure enough, after much faffing and a change of oxygen cylinder, she managed to get out to the car park. She then proceeded, with the aid of Santa's (Walmart's) Helpers, to get her shopping and self into an ENORMOUS SUV! She couldn't turn her head to see if there was anything behind her before lurching out of her parking space and kangarooing off towards the highway.

Thank God I was going the other way!

Hawk13

Haha - there's a reason they drive big ass SUV's - it help when they run into things

Gazman

...oh my goodness!, we shouldn't laugh should we, but,.... I can see now that when I eventually arrive in Canada I'm going to have to pick up my old texting habit that I employed when I was getting used to living Ireland... I used to send text messages to friends with the heading "Amusement Of The Day"... if I could retrieve enough of those old texts, I could actually publish a book about the oddities of life in a new culture,..

james.mc

Yep... East Sooke to be precise.

I know the bit of road you are on about. I'll be in an F350 .... or our Jeep.
Later a motorbike will join the wheeled stable.

I can see why it might be a blast in your TR6

Thanks for tip on speed Camera's.

james.mc

You might be right there

Hawk13

No speed camera's in BC anymore just ghost cars waiting for you around the corner.

bats

You know you've assimilated when you think the local driving skills are ok.

JonboyE

It looks like I am a lost cause.