Silver Mercedes
Discussion
This is meant for the driver of the silver Mercedes that followed me from Stroud out towards the M5 at around 10:15am on Sunday morning. I am probably wasting my time as anyone who drives like you has certainly never read the Advanced Driving forum and probably not even read Pistonheads.
The correct distance to follow my car is not so that the only part of your car visible in my rearview mirror is the windscreen and a small part of the bonnet. To ensure that you had time to stop I doubled my distance from the car in front. I was driving at the speed limit so you weren't going to intimidate me into driving faster and the amount of oncoming traffic was preventing you from overtaking. You showed your appreciation of my concern by offering to grind my coffee beans for me (at least I think that is what your hand gesture meant). As I do not drink coffee I would have been far happier if you had just dropped back to a reasonable following distance. After 2 miles of your close company I circled a roundabout so that I was then behind you. I then had a fine view (from 50 yards behind) of you then closely tailgating the car in front of you. On reaching the M5 slip road you turned southwards at high speed. When turned off the M5 and joined the queue on the sliproad for Cribbs Causeway I was 3 cars behind you in the outer lane. On exiting the roundabout you 'chopped' through the traffic in the inner lane to turn left for Carfours - much sounding of horns resulted (not by me).
In the vain hope that you may read this, just a hint - a reasonable following distance is, at least, 2 seconds = 1 yard per mph = 40 yards at 40mph = 15 car lengths.
The correct distance to follow my car is not so that the only part of your car visible in my rearview mirror is the windscreen and a small part of the bonnet. To ensure that you had time to stop I doubled my distance from the car in front. I was driving at the speed limit so you weren't going to intimidate me into driving faster and the amount of oncoming traffic was preventing you from overtaking. You showed your appreciation of my concern by offering to grind my coffee beans for me (at least I think that is what your hand gesture meant). As I do not drink coffee I would have been far happier if you had just dropped back to a reasonable following distance. After 2 miles of your close company I circled a roundabout so that I was then behind you. I then had a fine view (from 50 yards behind) of you then closely tailgating the car in front of you. On reaching the M5 slip road you turned southwards at high speed. When turned off the M5 and joined the queue on the sliproad for Cribbs Causeway I was 3 cars behind you in the outer lane. On exiting the roundabout you 'chopped' through the traffic in the inner lane to turn left for Carfours - much sounding of horns resulted (not by me).
In the vain hope that you may read this, just a hint - a reasonable following distance is, at least, 2 seconds = 1 yard per mph = 40 yards at 40mph = 15 car lengths.
Edited by Philbes on Tuesday 1st May 15:24
Edited by Philbes on Tuesday 1st May 15:26
My initial post was intended as irony. You pointed it out yourself that someone with such a limited grasp of road manners and safety is hardly going to be reading an "advanced driving" forum, and they're even less likely to admit to their behaviour. That of course relies on them being aware that they were at fault, which they probably aren't.
Rather than let your thread suffer the ignomy of a reply-less sink off of page 1, I thought I'd liven it up a bit....
Rather than let your thread suffer the ignomy of a reply-less sink off of page 1, I thought I'd liven it up a bit....
WeirdNeville said:
My initial post was intended as irony. You pointed it out yourself that someone with such a limited grasp of road manners and safety is hardly going to be reading an "advanced driving" forum, and they're even less likely to admit to their behaviour. That of course relies on them being aware that they were at fault, which they probably aren't.
Rather than let your thread suffer the ignomy of a reply-less sink off of page 1, I thought I'd liven it up a bit....
Rather than let your thread suffer the ignomy of a reply-less sink off of page 1, I thought I'd liven it up a bit....
My reply was meant to be light-hearted, hence the rolling, laughing head! And thanks for your post - any reply is better than being ignored. Perhaps I chose the wrong forum?
Edited by Philbes on Tuesday 1st May 13:48
The sad truth is that we all here could start such a topic.
Probably several times a day.
Nevermind, those speed cameras, of their various types, will sort it all out.
Except, I have one question.
How is it that a Government that has testing at the heart of so many things, together with constant assessment of many, not decided to have regular retesting of drivers?
Probably several times a day.
Nevermind, those speed cameras, of their various types, will sort it all out.
Except, I have one question.
How is it that a Government that has testing at the heart of so many things, together with constant assessment of many, not decided to have regular retesting of drivers?
I wonder if this particular silver Mercedes driver was the same on who undertook me this evening on a two-lane stretch of motorway (I was about to pass an Eddie Stobart truck) in excess of 100MPH whilst towing a trailer with a motorbike on, and then swerved into my lane in such a way that if I hadn't braked hard, I'd have been hit by the trailer.
I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
R_U_LOCAL said:
I wonder if this particular silver Mercedes driver was the same on who undertook me this evening on a two-lane stretch of motorway (I was about to pass an Eddie Stobart truck) in excess of 100MPH whilst towing a trailer with a motorbike on, and then swerved into my lane in such a way that if I hadn't braked hard, I'd have been hit by the trailer.
I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
Good, go get him or her!
Make something stick.
R_U_LOCAL said:
I wonder if this particular silver Mercedes driver was the same on who undertook me this evening on a two-lane stretch of motorway (I was about to pass an Eddie Stobart truck) in excess of 100MPH whilst towing a trailer with a motorbike on, and then swerved into my lane in such a way that if I hadn't braked hard, I'd have been hit by the trailer.
I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
Had to read that twice to make sure it wasn't Dr. Local doing a ton up with bikes in tow.
WhoseGeneration said:
R_U_LOCAL said:
I wonder if this particular silver Mercedes driver was the same on who undertook me this evening on a two-lane stretch of motorway (I was about to pass an Eddie Stobart truck) in excess of 100MPH whilst towing a trailer with a motorbike on, and then swerved into my lane in such a way that if I hadn't braked hard, I'd have been hit by the trailer.
I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
Good, go get him or her!
Make something stick.
This has the ring of poetic justice about it...
R_U_LOCAL said:
I wonder if this particular silver Mercedes driver was the same on who undertook me this evening on a two-lane stretch of motorway (I was about to pass an Eddie Stobart truck) in excess of 100MPH whilst towing a trailer with a motorbike on, and then swerved into my lane in such a way that if I hadn't braked hard, I'd have been hit by the trailer.
I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
That partly answers a question I was meaning to ask anyway. We all have experiences similar to these when we wish we had a blue light on the roof. I had one on the M40 this evening when a blue drophead Audi covered all three lanes plus the hard shoulder, several times in rapid succession and all in the space of half a mile, in his desperation to overtake absolutely everyone. He undertook a petrol tanker by using the hard shoulder and cut into lines of traffic with total recklessness. In practice, do BiBs take action when they witness atrocious driving but are off duty? Obviously, it's not feasible to give high speed chase but if there is an incident in slow moving traffic and you have an opportunity to speak to the driver, is it then a case of once a policeman, always a policeman?
gdaybruce said:
R_U_LOCAL said:
I wonder if this particular silver Mercedes driver was the same on who undertook me this evening on a two-lane stretch of motorway (I was about to pass an Eddie Stobart truck) in excess of 100MPH whilst towing a trailer with a motorbike on, and then swerved into my lane in such a way that if I hadn't braked hard, I'd have been hit by the trailer.
I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
That partly answers a question I was meaning to ask anyway. We all have experiences similar to these when we wish we had a blue light on the roof. I had one on the M40 this evening when a blue drophead Audi covered all three lanes plus the hard shoulder, several times in rapid succession and all in the space of half a mile, in his desperation to overtake absolutely everyone. He undertook a petrol tanker by using the hard shoulder and cut into lines of traffic with total recklessness. In practice, do BiBs take action when they witness atrocious driving but are off duty? Obviously, it's not feasible to give high speed chase but if there is an incident in slow moving traffic and you have an opportunity to speak to the driver, is it then a case of once a policeman, always a policeman?
It's not something I do very often at all - we all see bad driving on the roads every day, and when I'm not at work, well, I'm not at work, if you get my drift. I'm not in the Police for any kind of power trip, and I can pretty much leave work at work as soon as I walk out of the nick.
It would have to be something pretty bad, but this was an exceptionally bad piece of driving - an oscar-winning, world championship leading pile of excrement of epic proportions. So bad, in fact, that I had to stop at the services and check whether the trailer had actually made contact with my car or not.
I'm somewhat calmer now and a little annoyed with myself for not realising his intentions sooner (it occurred next to a junction, and I assumed, stupidly, that he was leaving at that exit), but I'll certainly be paying him a visit if I get a chance tomorrow, and providing he's local, of course.
My dad to day work car is a nondescript Ford Focus - with covert lights and sirens of course - and this affords me numerous opportunities to observe the driver in his natural habitat. People attempt things they would never dream of in the vicinity of a marked car. There's few sights quite as rewarding as firing up the old blue's and twos (going for the sarcastic "wail" siren) and seeing the startled drivers expression in the rear view mirror. No doubt the first time he's looked in it since setting off!
As for poor driving whilst off duty - As RUL said unless it's monumentally bad I tend to let it lie. I have taken umbrige with drivers who nearly killed me whilst on my pedal cycle, and then tell ne to "**** off and buy a car" when I remonstrate with them. They tend to get a knock on the door.....
As for poor driving whilst off duty - As RUL said unless it's monumentally bad I tend to let it lie. I have taken umbrige with drivers who nearly killed me whilst on my pedal cycle, and then tell ne to "**** off and buy a car" when I remonstrate with them. They tend to get a knock on the door.....
WeirdNeville said:
My dad to day work car is a nondescript Ford Focus - with covert lights and sirens of course - and this affords me numerous opportunities to observe the driver in his natural habitat. People attempt things they would never dream of in the vicinity of a marked car. There's few sights quite as rewarding as firing up the old blue's and twos (going for the sarcastic "wail" siren) and seeing the startled drivers expression in the rear view mirror. No doubt the first time he's looked in it since setting off!
As for poor driving whilst off duty - As RUL said unless it's monumentally bad I tend to let it lie. I have taken umbrige with drivers who nearly killed me whilst on my pedal cycle, and then tell ne to "**** off and buy a car" when I remonstrate with them. They tend to get a knock on the door.....
As for poor driving whilst off duty - As RUL said unless it's monumentally bad I tend to let it lie. I have taken umbrige with drivers who nearly killed me whilst on my pedal cycle, and then tell ne to "**** off and buy a car" when I remonstrate with them. They tend to get a knock on the door.....
That's the kind of thing I always wish would happen when I see an example of really, really despicably bad and dangerous driving.
It's so satisfying to hear that it sometimes does happen.
R_U_LOCAL said:
I wonder if this particular silver Mercedes driver was the same on who undertook me this evening on a two-lane stretch of motorway (I was about to pass an Eddie Stobart truck) in excess of 100MPH whilst towing a trailer with a motorbike on, and then swerved into my lane in such a way that if I hadn't braked hard, I'd have been hit by the trailer.
I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
Did you manage to pay a visit, Reg?I know - I'll ask the driver tomorrow when I pay him a visit.
I find the best way to deal with people who drive too close, is to slow down.
The closer they get, the slower I drive - until of course I get to some lights, I will go slow enough so that the lights are about to go red, then nail it through the lights, leaving the idiot facing a red light.
The closer they get, the slower I drive - until of course I get to some lights, I will go slow enough so that the lights are about to go red, then nail it through the lights, leaving the idiot facing a red light.
Not that I'm recommending this, but when being tailgated on the motorway, I commented to my passenger how dangerous it is. He said "Put on your rear foglight for a second, and watch them sh*t themselves".
I've never done that, as I can picture seeing the car behind get a fright, brake hard, and witness a pile-up form in my rear view mirror. Cute (if somewhat irresponsible) move
Erd
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