A9 - is it always this bad?
Discussion
Drove all the way back from Inverness to Perth, Glasgow and beyond yesterday and the queues behind lorries were quite something. Is it like this all the time or was it just because it was a bank holiday?
Also a lot of people seem to be content sitting behind the lorries at 40-45mph for a long time... had I been in a slower car I would have smashed something in frustration.
Also a lot of people seem to be content sitting behind the lorries at 40-45mph for a long time... had I been in a slower car I would have smashed something in frustration.
Having just spent a week driving in Scotland the standard of driving is so piss poor up here they should all be made to take public transport, and leave the driving to visitors.
Some examples:
Complete refusal to change lane after overtaking a slow vehicle - so everyone is stuck following the leader doing 60 mph in lane 2.
Inability to use bus lanes out of hours
Confusion when faced with more than one lane ( 3 lanes would cause chaos!)
Aggressive slow driving (ie not letting anyone out of a junction - just in case they are English?)
Complete lack of observation any further ahead than the end of their nose
From what I've seen in the last 500 miles of driving round Scotland I think they must be putting Bromide in the water!
Some examples:
Complete refusal to change lane after overtaking a slow vehicle - so everyone is stuck following the leader doing 60 mph in lane 2.
Inability to use bus lanes out of hours
Confusion when faced with more than one lane ( 3 lanes would cause chaos!)
Aggressive slow driving (ie not letting anyone out of a junction - just in case they are English?)
Complete lack of observation any further ahead than the end of their nose
From what I've seen in the last 500 miles of driving round Scotland I think they must be putting Bromide in the water!
It is worse than it used to be, that's for sure. I can't remember the last time I drove past Birnam/Dunkeld between 7am and 9pm and got above 40mph. The average speed cameras have made things worse for sure as most people are totally oblivious to the speed they're doing so just settle for something they know is safely under the NSL. Standards have slipped chronically but the road is still pretty safe in the grand scheme of things and the speed camera's are just treating the wrong issue. The issue is bad driving and impatience, not excessive speed. Curbing the ability of drivers to overtake just adds to that frustration. I used to do Edinburgh to Inverness on a Friday night quite regularly and rarely did it take over two hours. Now you're looking at half an hour to an hour on that, easily.
Being one of those soft southern Sassenachs I'm only up there once or twice a year. Even so, I avoid the A9 like the plague. I much prefer the alternatives. More interesting, less congested and a much lower stress level.
It has its dangers too. The one time I ignored my own advice resulted in a major delay because the road was temporarily closed in both directions while the emergency services dealt with the aftermath of a coach crash. Luckily nobody was seriously injured.
The intention was to have lunch at 12.30 in Aviemore. I was over 3 hours late when I finally got there.
It has its dangers too. The one time I ignored my own advice resulted in a major delay because the road was temporarily closed in both directions while the emergency services dealt with the aftermath of a coach crash. Luckily nobody was seriously injured.
The intention was to have lunch at 12.30 in Aviemore. I was over 3 hours late when I finally got there.
I have just done an 1100 mile tour of Scotland in my Seven (Glencoe,Sutherland , Wester Ross, Cairngorms- usual suspects) and found the standard of driving very good. Nobody minded being overtaken , no flashing lights or aggression , often doing all they could to make it easier and the only unpleasantness was a couple of idiots who wouldn't let me by on single track roads when caught. It is in line with what I have found in the decades I have been visiting - none of the passive aggression I find at home but , increasingly, the disinclination to risk any overtaking and the inclination as a result to form long sheep like queues .
coppice said:
I have just done an 1100 mile tour of Scotland in my Seven (Glencoe,Sutherland , Wester Ross, Cairngorms- usual suspects) and found the standard of driving very good. Nobody minded being overtaken , no flashing lights or aggression , often doing all they could to make it easier and the only unpleasantness was a couple of idiots who wouldn't let me by on single track roads when caught. It is in line with what I have found in the decades I have been visiting - none of the passive aggression I find at home but , increasingly, the disinclination to risk any overtaking and the inclination as a result to form long sheep like queues .
Yep, agree with all you said! I didn't get flashed once even though I kept "pushing in" while in the long queues. Had that been around London/home counties my retinas would have been burnt.However people were very slow overtaking in the sections where one lane became 2 lanes, to the extent that only about 5-6 people got past a lorry.
rallycross said:
Having just spent a week driving in Scotland the standard of driving is so piss poor up here they should all be made to take public transport, and leave the driving to visitors.
Some examples:
Complete refusal to change lane after overtaking a slow vehicle - so everyone is stuck following the leader doing 60 mph in lane 2.
Inability to use bus lanes out of hours
Confusion when faced with more than one lane ( 3 lanes would cause chaos!)
Aggressive slow driving (ie not letting anyone out of a junction - just in case they are English?)
Complete lack of observation any further ahead than the end of their nose
From what I've seen in the last 500 miles of driving round Scotland I think they must be putting Bromide in the water!
You will probably find that this is fellow tourists rather than the locals. Outside of the tourist season the roads are very free flowing although there is a few locals who drive at 30 mph Some examples:
Complete refusal to change lane after overtaking a slow vehicle - so everyone is stuck following the leader doing 60 mph in lane 2.
Inability to use bus lanes out of hours
Confusion when faced with more than one lane ( 3 lanes would cause chaos!)
Aggressive slow driving (ie not letting anyone out of a junction - just in case they are English?)
Complete lack of observation any further ahead than the end of their nose
From what I've seen in the last 500 miles of driving round Scotland I think they must be putting Bromide in the water!
rallycross said:
Having just spent a week driving in Scotland the standard of driving is so piss poor up here they should all be made to take public transport, and leave the driving to visitors.
Some examples:
Complete refusal to change lane after overtaking a slow vehicle - so everyone is stuck following the leader doing 60 mph in lane 2.
Inability to use bus lanes out of hours
Confusion when faced with more than one lane ( 3 lanes would cause chaos!)
Aggressive slow driving (ie not letting anyone out of a junction - just in case they are English?)
Complete lack of observation any further ahead than the end of their nose
From what I've seen in the last 500 miles of driving round Scotland I think they must be putting Bromide in the water!
Hmmm....I'm a native of Sutherland....a pistonheader's "destination". I'd say the flip of your observations are true, visitors either dawdle along and don't know how to drive on single track roads and don't let locals past, it's not uncommon to be stuck behind a visitor for 15 - 20 miles as they pootle along admiring the scenery. Alternatively if you meet some drivers head on they swerve to the wrong side of the road causing accidents. Some examples:
Complete refusal to change lane after overtaking a slow vehicle - so everyone is stuck following the leader doing 60 mph in lane 2.
Inability to use bus lanes out of hours
Confusion when faced with more than one lane ( 3 lanes would cause chaos!)
Aggressive slow driving (ie not letting anyone out of a junction - just in case they are English?)
Complete lack of observation any further ahead than the end of their nose
From what I've seen in the last 500 miles of driving round Scotland I think they must be putting Bromide in the water!
You also get the road warriors who just drive far to fast on roads they just don't know.
BTW nice attitude to take when visiting our fair country - next time you're popping up we'll make sure we clear the riff raff out of your way so you can have a clear run.....toodle pip....
coppice said:
I have just done an 1100 mile tour of Scotland in my Seven (Glencoe,Sutherland , Wester Ross, Cairngorms- usual suspects) and found the standard of driving very good. Nobody minded being overtaken , no flashing lights or aggression , often doing all they could to make it easier and the only unpleasantness was a couple of idiots who wouldn't let me by on single track roads when caught. It is in line with what I have found in the decades I have been visiting - none of the passive aggression I find at home but , increasingly, the disinclination to risk any overtaking and the inclination as a result to form long sheep like queues .
You didn't happen to be passing through Kinlochleven on Tuesday did you? I spotted a lovely sounding Caterham trundling through the village.rallycross said:
Having just spent a week driving in Scotland the standard of driving is so piss poor up here they should all be made to take public transport, and leave the driving to visitors.
Some examples:
Complete refusal to change lane after overtaking a slow vehicle - so everyone is stuck following the leader doing 60 mph in lane 2.
Inability to use bus lanes out of hours
Confusion when faced with more than one lane ( 3 lanes would cause chaos!)
Aggressive slow driving (ie not letting anyone out of a junction - just in case they are English?)
Complete lack of observation any further ahead than the end of their nose
From what I've seen in the last 500 miles of driving round Scotland I think they must be putting Bromide in the water!
To qualify that statement, how many of the offending vehicles had Scottish plates ( clue is in the FIRST LETTER of registration, which on the new plates for the benefit of southerners is "S" .I hail from the west coast ,although I now live down south, but make regular trips up north. I'm possibly fortunate that I never had to contend with the A9.I made every effort to avoid it. but I note that every year in Glencoe, it gets worse. It can be a fast road ,as I remember pre the speed freaks and limits taking over as I sped through Glencoe killing thousand virtual bunnies and small game and according to them ,my self several times over at the disgusting speed og 90ph, or there abouts. That was in a Wolseley 1500 which had slightly better adhesion than a Moggie 1000. These days the speed of the average "sheep " convoy is 40 . Attempt to pass and the gaps between vehicles will close up - not something highland drivers would do . The problem is not the severity or camber of the corners, but the road undulations. Some examples:
Complete refusal to change lane after overtaking a slow vehicle - so everyone is stuck following the leader doing 60 mph in lane 2.
Inability to use bus lanes out of hours
Confusion when faced with more than one lane ( 3 lanes would cause chaos!)
Aggressive slow driving (ie not letting anyone out of a junction - just in case they are English?)
Complete lack of observation any further ahead than the end of their nose
From what I've seen in the last 500 miles of driving round Scotland I think they must be putting Bromide in the water!
Pre the Ballachulish bridge, the route round Kinlochleven was torture following a flock of home county sheep, who braked at the sight of a vehicle coming the other way .
That perhaps sums it up . October to May , locals had to contend with four legged sheep on the roads. Mostly predictable ,and a bit of horn blasting and hand slapping on doors moved them on. May -October, we had a different breed of sheep to contend with . The Home counties white faced brainless and sans common sense variety, who were conditioned to to /three lane carriageways and Motorways and when faced with a bit of road a bit wider than their car developed tunnel vision .
Lochaber said:
You will probably find that this is fellow tourists rather than the locals. Outside of the tourist season the roads are very free flowing although there is a few locals who drive at 30 mph
I can confirm that the natives don't hang around. Earlier this year we had 12 cars in our group and we had caught up with another car which was following a builder's dropside truck on the A87 in Skye. I was 'tail end charlie' and had noticed in my mirror a small white van which was rapidly closing in on us. Within seconds it came flying past me. What I hadn't anticipated was an overtake of the entire 14 vehicle convoy!The signwriting on the rear door showed it belonged to a local electrical contractor. He clearly knew the road intimately but I still reckon he was taking a bit of a risk given the left/right bends in the middle distance. The latter is completely blind. He only just managed to clear the truck before reaching it.
We were leaving sufficient gaps between our cars to allow him to slot in, so he need not have taken everyone in one pass. I wouldn't have had the cojones to try doing so myself despite having 3 times his bhp!
sjabrown said:
You didn't happen to be passing through Kinlochleven on Tuesday did you? I spotted a lovely sounding Caterham trundling through the village.
No- not me, I went through Ballachulish on Friday ; I tend to avoid this road at bank holiday time because I don't want to encounter other people doing the same as me .I drove the Sterling to just beyond Inverness stretch last Sunday around late afternoon and back yesterday mid-morning, no real issue either way. There was the odd artic however the general flow of traffic was good, I didn't mind the odd stretch of 45mph as I enjoy the scenery and was in for a day long drive anyway so it wasn't something for me to get worked up about. I did witness some stupid overtaking manoeuvres where oncoming traffic had to visably slow with a prolonged flash of the lights and traffic the same side had to generate a gap, though I witness this down South anyway.
My FiL isn't too impressed about the soon to be activated cameras. As has been said already in this thread he's of the opinion that the real issue is that of slower/inconsiderate/incapable/ill disciplined driving rather than just breaking the speed limit, I don't drive that road often enough to comment. What I did notice though was the number of road signs saying words to the effect of "impatient driving causes accidents" which I think is fair enough.
My FiL isn't too impressed about the soon to be activated cameras. As has been said already in this thread he's of the opinion that the real issue is that of slower/inconsiderate/incapable/ill disciplined driving rather than just breaking the speed limit, I don't drive that road often enough to comment. What I did notice though was the number of road signs saying words to the effect of "impatient driving causes accidents" which I think is fair enough.
Edited by CardShark on Sunday 31st August 16:00
Bank holiday weekends, and other holiday times are usually busy/bad. And Friday evenings even out of holiday time can be pretty busy heading north, but at other times it's not usually too terrible to keep a reasonable speed.
I'll often head north early(ish) in the morning or wait till after 10/11, when most of the traffic is on the road or stopped of for a break. Having said that I came south from Inv to Edi on Saturday mid afternoon and it was pretty easy to keep to about 60 a lot of the time and there were no really bad long tailbacks.
I'll often head north early(ish) in the morning or wait till after 10/11, when most of the traffic is on the road or stopped of for a break. Having said that I came south from Inv to Edi on Saturday mid afternoon and it was pretty easy to keep to about 60 a lot of the time and there were no really bad long tailbacks.
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