Hats off to our local drivers - kings of the country lanes

I am in awe of how proficient our local drivers are, managing the narrow lanes we often have to navigate. In particular the older drivers amongst us who have mastered the skill of assessing the distance to the next passing place, whether to stop and indicate the opposing car to proceed or whether to continue forwards, having worked out instantly who needs to stop or proceed in order to cause the least delay.
All this while seeing who is behind to nudge up in the gap so following cars may also sneak into the space. The experienced drivers also calculate the right speed to get to the passing place to ensure a smooth brake free pass and of course to proffer the obligatory thank you hand signal before pressing onwards.
It is very obvious how these skills are indigenous to our residents if you follow holiday makers with their box tops and large 4x4’s who seemingly do not even know what the letter R stands for on their gear selector!
I also doubt that proper reversing skills are taught anymore.
Panic often ensues once their parking sensors detect a stray bramble and all traffic grinds to a halt.
The size of even modest family cars has increased such that the narrow Devon lanes can become quite troublesome and stressful to our visitors. All the driving aids in the world such as parking sensors and rear-view cameras do nothing when compared to good old fashioned driver experience and local knowledge of the lane in question. We get used to knowing precisely where the next appropriate passing place is whereas the hapless visitor does not, of course.
We very much appreciate our summer guests, and the lifeblood they bring to our region, but don’t we love it when we get our lanes back to ourselves. It gets even better when the autumnal hedge trimming is complete and an extra two feet each side is revealed.
Night driving becomes easier in the lanes as you get advance warning from oncoming headlights but watch out for nocturnal animals. They love our lanes too!