Re: Driving while hatted

This is a dilemma though, what's an acceptable type of hat to wear while driving? I need one to keep the sun out of my eyes when I have the sunroof open. My white, floppy sunhat does tend to raise unfavourable comments. And I can't bring myself to wear a flat cap. Baseball caps are right out, for obvious reasons. I suppose a casino dealer's shade might do, at a pinch ... but then again...

I think I heard it said that the Dolomite Sprint is the only Sports Saloon you can drive whilst wearing a bowler hat.

I think this refers to people of normal stature and wearing the bowler in the customary position, but the point about headroom is well made :-)

Absolutely. And beware of motorcyclists wearing headgear too.

The message from Dave Plowman contains these words:

The notion that male drivers in tin tops wearing hats are bad drivers was commonplace when I started driving in the early 60s. It did seem quite apt then, perhaps because it was bad manners to wear a hat indoors and at least some bad driving is no more than lack of courtesy.

I don't know the actual origin of the idea but ISTR that it appears in one of the James Bond books (Goldfinger?) which should push it back at least as far as the 50s.

Oh yes and motorcyclists were not obliged to wear helmets and often didn't.

Roger

It certainly goes back a fair way.

However, old blokes may just wear a hat to keep warm - the head can be quite a heat loss area.

Young blokes who've never played baseball wear baseball caps for what reason? ;-)

Maybe we've stumbled on a good idea here: There should be a new offence of "Crap Driving" or "Driving to a Shite Standard" or "Driving at less than walking pace and not in any particular direction", for which the penalty could be the compulsory wearing of the a Trilby to warn other road users?

Pete W TR7 FHC Astra Belmont (my Son's, honest) No hat.

It is a well known fact that putting on a baseball cap immediately reduces the wearer's IQ by 10%. 20% if worn back to front. ;-)

Ron Robinson

I thought the relevant figures were 25% and 50% respectively ?.

Smiley noted. I can hardly claim to be young, but I wear a baseball cap when driving because it has a very large, well-shaped peak which shades the eyes and reduces glare. Works well for me.

David Betts ( snipped-for-privacy@motorsport.org.uk) The Classic Car Gallery:

Somewhere in the middle age here (38) and I drive (top down) with either Cuffley or a beret or the occasional basball cap depending on the weather. No Stetson or Greek Fishermans Cap, thank you

This doesnt just happen to minors. It happens to my Dolomites too.... Quick dab of the right foot and a blast on the horn usually consigns them to the rear view mirror. Failing that if I can be arsed a bit of abusive gesticulating and tailgating with a few jefrrey archers and mouthed abuse has the desired effect...:-) The stealth effect is to draw alomg side at the lights...ignoring them...then blast away... works every time...:-) Funny how the 110 |Landy deisel...while dog slow...never seems to get pulled out on. Must be that rsj of a bumper across the front Jonners

You should see how irate people can get when they're passed by one :-)

Bob Watt ( snipped-for-privacy@tiscali.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

When the starting point is that low, the %age is academic.

Jamie ( snipped-for-privacy@hornbeam.demon.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Ah, that. I know it as "2cv syndrome". I've had some near misses as a result of that....

My friend had a Regal van (Del-boy type - but fitted with windows), we fitted a wider Robin back axle, underslung, 10-inch wheels* and a later, bigger, engine - by God it was low, you had to be careful about things in the road, but it certainly went round corners :-)

(Loud sound system as well, with big speakers in the rear wheel arches)

• Cosmic alloys and those excellent Avon cross-plies.

We nearly went up the back of a Saab Turbo in a 2CV - she suddenly slowed down to about 40 just as we were building up speed on a motorway slip-road prior to mergeing. It takes *miles* to get a 2CV back up to speed...

In article , Eu Gra writes

I too am only a couple of years off 40, and I too have been known to wear a hat while driving - but only with the roof down[1] under a blazing sun. My preferred head gear is a flat cap, because I find it less daft than a baseball hat and less likely to blow off than almost any other option.

[1] This includes the GT6 with its sunroof wide open[2]. That was the car that made me _really_ aware of the danger of sunstroke. [2] Actually it now sports a removable panel rather than a traditional sunroof.

In article , Jon Tilson writes

I used to get it with my first Vitesse, too.

Oddly enough the multi-coloured Vitesse (obvious front end repair) didn't always have that effect. Some drivers saw it and apparently decided I was likely to be reckless, others seemed to read it as a sign that I probably wasn't moving :)

Heh heh. I remember pulling out to pass a beat up old Dolomite when the speed restriction ended in my last BMW 525 auto. And couldn't, despite kickdown and 190+ BHP. It was a Sprint.