Motors Is it me or are there more idiots on the road?

PIT manoeuvre. Nuff said

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Another thing that fascinate me (scare me...) is that people simply don't get the concept of reaction time.

I drive on a 2 lane road to work. The left lane is supposed to be a lane for passing slower cars, but people simply don't get that. Many of the people in the left lane are those that are scared of merging and those that are going left about 8KM further ahead.

Anyway, because of this the traffic in both lanes go at the exact same quite often. If the car in front of me is side by side with one in the left lane there can be two cars between the front most cars and the car beside me. I usually go by the 3 second rule. They apparently go by the half second rule or something.

It's not unusual to see cars with less than 2 meters distance at 80KM/h.

 

Ah, now i reserve what the 306 did for those C**t drivers, you know the ones, you watch them popping in and out of traffic behind cutting people up just to get in front. Taking every possible opportunity to to be front no matter how dangerous the overtake or related to the speed people are doing.

case in point, whilst on A47 towards Peterborough, making fair pace of 60mph, a little ford Ka, comes thrashing up behind me, after overtaking 3 cars and then cutting the guy behind me up, causing him to use horn and flash, brake heavily and such. At the time I thought he was sounding off at me, until I spotted the Ka tailing me on my rear quarter, looking to pass.

It was clear in front of me, on the Guyhirn straight, if you know the area, but off in the fair distance was on coming traffic, but had to be a good half mile away. Anyway the little Ka popped its nose out to overtake, and started leaning on its horn as if 60mph wasn't good enough for a single carriage way. (national speed limit after all)

Red mist descended at this point and a crafty drop to 3rd and a rassle on the go go juice soon found the Ka no where to go other than stay out in that lane.

What i found most enjoyable was the guy behind me blocked off the gap the Ka came from so no where to retreat to, and we were speed matching the Ka, dangerously keeping them in the on coming lane.

I like to think they learnt something from this experience once I finally let them back in, don't bully traffic because the bullied soon can up rise and give you a bloody nose. Once they came across they didn't break much more than 65mph.

 

I had it once where I was pootling along at 30 through Toft and as soon as I passed the speed delimiting sign some stupid nob tries to overtake, the same time I'm getting up to 60. The road ahead was clear, but there was a bend in the road ahead. Why they'd think I'd stick at 30 god knows.. They pulled in back behind me, hopefully learning a lesson. I wasn't going to slow down just so they could be in front.

And indicators seem to be an option on cars these days. And stopping at zebra crossings. My dog and I have nearly been turned to mush a couple of times where I thought they were slowing down and then started speeding up again.

 

Just got back from a drive now.

I had 3 cars in front of me. the two in front was going to turn left and had of course reduced their speed to check that it was clear in the oncoming lane (there is a slight bend further ahead). Both of them were indicating to the left. Everything looked fine until the knob in the car in front of me decided to try to overtake the two cars that were going left...

He never made it because the first car had started to turn, but the guy in front of me almost drove into the rear of the second car.


A few minutes later I also saw a British car in the right lane. I wonder if he did it because it was the right thing to do, or if he did it on old habit...

 

I hate zebra crossings with a passion and personally think they should be removed. I know, that as a driver, you should be prepared to let people cross but it seems you always get a weird situation: the driver's wondering if the pedestrian's going to cross and the pedestrian's wondering if the cars going to continue. You also see people dashing across zebra crossings without looking - they seem to think zebra crossings make them immune to getting flattened by a car.

I actively avoid using zebra crossings and instead go further down the road to cross.

 

Zebra crossings are a good idea of placed properly. The problem is that they are often placed too close to junctions, so there is to many things for a driver to process at the same time.

 

the other day was driving and the was quite a bit of traffic and a vehicle 2 cars ahead of me wanted to turn left onto a street so they had to stop to wait for traffic to clear. just a little bit ahead of us was a stop light with a left turning lane and a straight/right lane. well the impatient morons behind me thought it was okay to pass on the shoulder because that lane was just a couple car length ahead. about 2 or 3 got passed me and the cars ahead of me. If I wasnt so close to the car infront of me i would have turned to the right to block them but couldn't. Then just as the cars infront of me were able to turn another car behind me was pulling out to sneak by. I stepped on it and turned to the right to cut them off while spinning my tires. I think they got the hint becasue they stayed like 10 -15 car lengths behind me after that.



Another thing that happened this tuesday was I was on my way home from another town and driving normal down the 4 lane highway, going maybe a bit faster than most people. Then I saw in my mirror someone coming up fairly quick and being a jerk tailgating anyone that got in their way. So once they got clear of all the cars except me I was coming up to another vehicle to pass so I slowed right down to the same speed as the other car and just slowly passed it while this moron was on my bumper. I like dong that because usually people can tell you do it on purpose to them so they back off but this just didn't get it. Did it for like 3 - 5 minutes.


Sadly passed up an opportunity to do the same thing to another retard who was speeding and tailgating and weaving in and out of traffic without turn signals. But as they came up to me I was just past another car and didn't slow enough to block them in. I wish I could have cuz they were being total pricks.

 

As a driver, you shouldn't be wondering, you should be reacting.

If I see someone waiting I'll slow down. As a pedestrian, I always wait until it's okay to cross. It's the times when you can tell that the vehicle is slowing so you cross and they speed up, so what do you do? Run the rest? Stop? Go back?

Did you know it's illegal to look as if you're going to use a crossing but don't?

 

I do find it a bit disturbing that people boast about blocking other people when they try to overtake. They may be jerks for trying to overtake, but trying to block them doesn't help the situation. It just makes it more dangerous.



The same goes for people that try to get other people out of the fast-lane by tailgating. It's just dangerous and idiotic. It's better to flash your headlights or even use the horn. People tend to see this as very aggressive, but at least it's relatively safe.

True.

As a pedestrian I always make sure to get eye contact with the driver. That way you can be pretty sure that they have seen you. Don't start walking unless you are sure you can get away.

Oh, and that last part I don't think people know. I just hate it when people stand in front of zebra crossings and just talk. At least step a bit away from the curb...

 

Believe!

I've never so many crazed Berlingos. No signs, no lines and zero 5-0 presence.

Normally, I'd be dreading the tourists down here, but I'm working abroad in 3 weeks for 7months, so I'll miss it

 

Ill get shot down for this but ive all but given up indicating on the majority of multilane roads i drive on,

Now let me explain, I got tired of making sure there was sufficient space to pull out, then indicating to change lanes only to find that the bellend id left enough space for decides to speed up upon seeing me indicate so i cant pull out.

Yes i know its not the right thing to do and everywhere else im a stickler for indicating, but theres only so much i can take, and what does it achieve? oooo they get past the lorry 3 secs quicker.

 

Another one, try driving in the UAE where it's bumper to bumper @70mph. They have a lot of minor roads just going onto major roads (eg housing compounds) with no slip road, so it's pretty standard to just pull out. Then you're cruising along and an AMG 6L G-Wagon roars past you, quite an experience

Personally I like driving in london/etc as it keeps you concentrating and it's like a challenge you just need to do

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm ready to stop but you get some pedestrians (and me as well) who prefer to let a car go by before crossing. In fact, if I have to use one, I'll hang back until there's no traffic.

I didn't know it's illegal to look as if you're going to use a crossing but don't. Never had to deal with that situation TBH.

 

As a car driver a simple not or hand gesture could remove any doubt for the pedestrian. If you can assure pedestrians that you intend to let them get across the road from a distance you don't have to stop your car entirely, simply glide towards the crossing while they walk over.

The same goes for people in oncoming lanes turning left (or right for brits). If you are heading into a queue there is no reason for not letting them cross. You won't loose any time. (You may even gain some as the oncoming queue may be what's causing the queue in your own lane.)

Good communication is the key to smoothly flowing traffic.

 

Yer, also pedestrians already in the road (formal crossing or not) when a driver turns into it have right of way.

Seems to me like most of the problems on the roads are down to folk being greedy. If someone starts to overtake you , let em. I'm pretty sure there's something in our highway code about not accelerating if someone is overtaking you, but it's been a while since I sat my theory test so that may have changed.

If you start to overtake someone & they make like they're going to race & maintain pace, all you can really do, legally, is take your foot off the throttle.

I've had folk so impatient theyve overtaken me on the inside when I've been overtaking something else & have left a big enough gap (like a cars length) cause I don't like cutting trucks up. Stopping distance is a pet hate subject of mine - leave any more than a second or so in front of you on the A80 and three cars will squeeze in there. Folk in Clackmannanshire seem to find it the greatest thing to overtake along the A92/A907 Alloa Road into oncoming traffic (blows my mind that one).

My absolute least favourite situation was in Nottingham, visiting a friend in Mansfield & there's this stretch of road with a few blind spots on it. I turned into the road & accellerated to 60, as per speed limit, no rush but not slouching either, (rover 25 1.4l at the time, not exactly a fast car) but there's some guy (with a passenger) so close I couldn't see his headlights in my rearview but could hear his engine revving and see the "glow" reflecting back onto their faces. So I do as the highway code suggests & slow down (throttle off, not braking). He doesn't overtake. So I wave him past (now doing 40 and decelerating) cos it's annoying me and I'm not going to have my speed dictated to me. So he overtakes, quite violently changing lane, and a car appears coming the other way, fast & not very far away. So I brake to make sure the guy that is overtaking me has clearance but he clearly also braked instead of just carrying on, realises I'm slowing down & very nearly swiped me off the road. Brown trouser time. So, incident narrowly avoided & I start to accelerate away but no, he wants to speed up & jam his brakes on at me. Moral? just ignore other drivers, and if they should happen to go into the back of you because they haven't allowed sufficient distance it's their own problem.

M8 westbound between M80 junction & glasgow cathedral winds me up as well, people leaving the main 3 lanes to go into the slip lane then caning up the inside lane, overtaking as many as possible, denying anyone access joining from the other slip lanes then cutting back in at the cathedral exit. Except they often don't make that much headway. All they do is force other traffic to slow down. Accidents there are fairly regular.

 

The difference is, we know the roads down here, they don't.

Have seen many an tourist get caught out by the speed on the A30 on the way into Penzance

 

Got caught out myself when it changed from 50 to 30

5-0 where loving the Porsche wheels on my Golf! That was some time ago though. The real issue is the B roads, a lot of the rest of the country have never seen one, and it brings out the worst in them.

 

Take a taxi ride on any Italian motorway and then everything will seem so much more serene...

 

Went to Penzance today but nothing was open. It looked like even the sea had got bored and left.

A few people tried taking me out around Truro later on. I don't know if they were following sat-navs or just blind, but the bike is Kawasaki green and super hard to miss. I guess the tourist season started early this year.

B-roads are suicide during summer. I've seen cars stop right in the middle of the Nancledra and Zennor roads for people get out, into the road itself, to take photographs. I don't know which is worse, abandoned vehicles, 25mph crawlers, camper vans or the full size coaches tooling along single track roads.