Drivers pulling out from side streets not looking/giving way

[98elise]

Happened to me last night. I'm driving along a residential road when a car pulls out from the left, making a right turn. Not only does he pull out without spotting me, but he pulls onto my side of the road. I still can't believe I stopped in such a short distance!

[mwstewart]

In my humble opinion we have years of campaigning against speed to thank for this. Camera safety partnerships and BRAKE etc have so distorted the required approach to driving I think the average driver believes if they drive like an OAP they are safe regardless of what they are doing, so yes, pulling out from a junction and sauntering up to the limit is perfectly fine.

It was refreshing to drive through Europe the past two week: drivers making progress (and, I don't mean drive flat out everywhere), good lane discipline, actually driving to the limit and conditions, waiting at junctions or if not making sure they get a move on. I saw various posters at the roadside encouraging 'be an intelligent driver' with focus on observation and decision making.

Rant over

[marksx]

Our next door neighbour does it constantly. Reverses his RR out blind onto the main road. Not slowly either.

[k-ink]

marksx said:

Our next door neighbour does it constantly. Reverses his RR out blind onto the main road. Not slowly either.

I always thought reversing onto a main road was supposed to be illegal.

[Blown2CV]

whilst it's completely wrong and negligent for other drivers to do this, we are all aware that it happens regularly. So, you'd also be negligent by driving in such a way that would prevent you from avoiding an accident should it happen. This includes awareness, anticipation and all the things that turn an average driver into a good driver. Don't get mad, get better.

[SilverSixer]

k-ink said:

marksx said:

Our next door neighbour does it constantly. Reverses his RR out blind onto the main road. Not slowly either.

I always thought reversing onto a main road was supposed to be illegal.

It's not illegal but the Highway Code states you should reverse in and drive out as a rule where possible. Someone failing to follow this advice reversed out of their drive one spring morning in 1983, knocked my Dad off his motorbike, ran him over and killed him.

Reverse in, drive out folks.

[rampageturke]

Debaser said:

I think it's nuts that the law doesn't allow for this situation.

Surely it can be argued right? Presume you do get caught going over a red, presumably by a camera used to detect it, wouldn't it also snap the ambulance, so there is evidence of the emergency situation? I have no idea honestly.

[cpjitservices]

What I dont get is, When im driving home at 5PM, I go through a 20 zone (Ill show you on a map) and in this 20 zone I am guaranteed to be overtaken by 2 or 3 cars. Ill be doing 20-21. Am I the only one the 20 sign applies to ? Am I the only one who can see it ? is it invisible to other drivers ?

And yes they over take usually on the level crossing.

Every time I get to this 20 zone ease off gas pedal and slow to 20... then you look in the mirror and off they go. One guy did it on Friday texting whilst doing his maneuver and didn't see the car pulling out of the side street just after the crossing luckily the guy coming form the side street saw him passing my car and stayed still.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.7367453,-0.37988...

[cpjitservices]

SilverSixer said:

It's not illegal but the Highway Code states you should reverse in and drive out as a rule where possible. Someone failing to follow this advice reversed out of their drive one spring morning in 1983, knocked my Dad off his motorbike, ran him over and killed him.

Reverse in, drive out folks.

As part of your advanced driving you get tought to do this where possible, I believe. Its to do with economy too as it saves fuel.

[Europa1]

cpjitservices said:

What I dont get is, When im driving home at 5PM, I go through a 20 zone (Ill show you on a map) and in this 20 zone I am guaranteed to be overtaken by 2 or 3 cars. Ill be doing 20-21. Am I the only one the 20 sign applies to ? Am I the only one who can see it ? is it invisible to other drivers ?

And yes they over take usually on the level crossing.

Every time I get to this 20 zone ease off gas pedal and slow to 20... then you look in the mirror and off they go. One guy did it on Friday texting whilst doing his maneuver and didn't see the car pulling out of the side street just after the crossing luckily the guy coming form the side street saw him passing my car and stayed still.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.7367453,-0.37988...

Happens a lot in Cambridge, where the whole city centre is now a 20mph zone, with plenty of signs, and "20" painted frequently on the orads themselves.

[4U2P]

cpjitservices said:

As part of your advanced driving you get tought to do this where possible, I believe. Its to do with economy too as it saves fuel.

Eh? Just out of interest, how does it save fuel?

[cpjitservices]

4U2P said:

Eh? Just out of interest, how does it save fuel?

As noted in car parks etc when someone drives into a space, they can do more maneuvers to get into that space when they simply could of reversed in in one manouver. I guess.

Less maneuvers, less fuel. Driving out of space is also easier.

Edited by cpjitservices on Monday 19th September 13:38

[bony_13]

I notice a lot of people happily reversing out into the road when their drive appears plenty big enough to turn around in - what's with that?

My other pet hate is the amount of people that approach a busy NSL single carriageway from a side road at 30mph, then braking hard seemingly surprised that there is traffic on the road.. I'm all for keeping momentum, but honestly the chances of these roads being clear a slim to none.

[Gary29]

Had a classic the other day, a rep looking bloke in a BMW, I was coming from the opposite direction, huge ambulance bearing down on the BMW, blues and siren, cyclist in front of the BMW, I had already slowed expecting the BMW to do the same so the ambulance could pass him (I purposely didn't flash or indicate so as not to invite the BMW to pass the cyclist) ambulance gets alongside the BMW, and the BMW mustn't have seen him at all, as he goes to overtake the cyclist, spots the ambulance at the last second and swerves back nearly knocking the cyclist off, ambulance had to swerve but made it past safely in the end.

I'm by no means a driving god, but without my anticipation there would have been some kind of accident, BMW in his own world.

[4U2P]

cpjitservices said:

As noted in car parks etc when someone drives into a space, they can do more maneuvers to get into that space when they simply could of reversed in in one manouver. I guess.

Less maneuvers, less fuel. Driving out of space is also easier.

Edited by cpjitservices on Monday 19th September 13:38

I see. Tbh I'd think the fuel difference would be so insignifanct it wouldn't be worth worrying about. I'd personally be more concerned about clutch and gearbox wear would occur with more manoeuvres. Especially when vehicle is cold if it's been parked a while. And as you said it's far easier to drive out of a parking space, rather than reverse.

[Gary29]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Do you think modern cars are partly responsible for the seeming lack of attention and drop in driving standards?

They're so isolated/insulated from the outside world now, with your radio on and air con set 'just so' with the windows closed, it would be easily to slip into a relaxed state where you are no longer paying complete attention to the main task of actually driving the thing safely.

[Jimmyarm]

Get this quite a bit round here.

What really irritates me though is mini roundabouts, quite frequently cars will pull out in front of me when their exit is blocked. Not only are they not giving way when they should but they block the flipping roundabout as well !

[Robbins]

Round here its the private hire taxi drivers. Cycling to work or back and approaching a junction I am usually able to catch the eye of a driver waiting to emerge... except taxi drivers. They just pull out. I think it's the "I do this for my job, I've been doing it for years, therefore rules do not apply to me" mentality.

[Europa1]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

To me, the not taking driving seriously anymore is partly a function of how cars have developed - not just the cocoon thing, but also the fact that ABS is standard, cars have airbags, NVH isolates drivers from the mechanical side of driving. There is also the "me, me, me" point - driving is seen as a right, not a privilege that can be revoked. I wonder if part of that is due to the fact that to many people, the car is just a consumer good: an appliance to which they are "entitled" just like a fridge freezer, microwave etc.