Standard of driving in NI

[General Zod]

I think the standard of driving here is getting worse. The general awareness of people is shocking- pulling out without looking, changing lanes without looking, lane hogging, poorly exectued overtakes etc.

It seems like you have to not only drive for yourself, but also everyone in the immediate vicinity in order to avoid accidents.

Of course it has always been thus, but I really get the feeling it is deteriorating. Main culprits appear to be Silver/Black/White A4/A5/A6's; X5's; Megane Scenics and unfortunately a small minority of bikers who are very aggressive and seem to have no sense of self preservation.

Anyone agree, or is it just me?

[General Zod]

That whole area seems to completely stump 90 % of drivers going both ways. Lane 3 just ends up bunged & 50 mph, lanes 1 & 2 half empty. really frustrating.

[General Zod]

I was on the receiving end of old-man road rage recently. Old man in Hyundai Getz in front of me, car in front of him turning right, me at the back, big open straight road. When car at front turned off, and we started moving I drove round old man (overtake is probably an overstatement) in my C30 T5 which obviously could out-accelerate the miserable getz. The old man went bananas flashing lights and chased me up the road in a rage. As i hit traffic he was still flashing and waving his arms. I pulled over to give him the opportunity to discuss the "incident" but he drove away.

Why do people consider being overtaken to be some kind of assault?

[General Zod]

Comforting to know its not just me! Seems awareness is the major issue. I reckon the recession is causing stress and lack of focus in people. Hope things improve when the economy eventually picks up

[General Zod]

Many times i have seen the opposite too- a people carrier turning right where there actually is an arrow, but it is red. Lights at Knock Road/King's Road tend to get one major smash quite regularly where some idiot has attempted to kill themselves and some other folk.

I would really like to see some collation of the actual common causes of accidents. For example, when there is a crash on the motorway it is almost certainly due to poor observation and bad decisions. Can the PSNI not wait until accidents are a few years old and then use them anonymously as examples of how not to drive? Show them to learners and on the web or something?

[General Zod]

Crow555 said:

Same thing happens coming off at Fortwilliam heading northbound - straight into Lane 2 or 3. On the upside, it means I have my own personal lane until Sandyknowles barring the odd lorry or bus.

Amen to that! I think lane 1 is mined.

There is another dangerous trend- lorries veering across lanes on M-ways. I think they're texting or something, but it happens all the time. Last one was really close to taking me out. You'd think being in control of something so huge would naturally take your full attention, no?

[General Zod]

I am not talking about all cyclists here, but why some have to wear vacuum-pack-tight pink lycra covered in writing (exposing ample beer-guts and stingy lunchboxes) then cycle round like they're on a mission to save the world I will never know, but I wish this fad would die off.

Edited by General Zod on Tuesday 27th August 05:57

[General Zod]

JuniorD said:

As a cyclist, I often hear the old line about cyclists not obeying red lights. That may be true but they are not a patch on the drivers here. I don't think there has been a day in the last few years in which I failed to see cars happily shooting through red lights like they were advisory signals only. And that's not including those who totally ignore amber lights.

Yes indeed there are idiots in cars, idiots on bikes, idiots in lorries, idiot pedestrians and idiots on motorbikes. The point is though that whilst being an idiot is never a good idea, it is an even worse idea when you're as vulnerable as you are on your feet/bike/motorbike, or as potentially destructive as you are when driving an HGV. Not condoning car-idiots at all (cars can obviously be fairly destructive), I just think if I was travelling by one of the other options I would be extra careful.

[General Zod]

Few good rants there! I have noticed yet another spike down in standards, and I think Xmas is to blame. People who rarely drive are dragging their sorry asses out to buy fresh landfill for presents, and seem to think that their task is so vital they can more or less completely ignore everything around them and just batter on. It's very tiring having to constantly preempt the inevitable random lane change/turn off/braking etc.

[General Zod]

JuniorD said:

I find that that people who suddenly pull out in front of you from side streets or junctions nevitably exit at the next side street or junction. That seems to be peculiar to NI.

What is that all about!?! You see them all the time. You see their thought process:

"That car is too close,
I'd better wait,
or maybe it isn't after all,
I'll start moving,
they're even closer now,
maybe I'm so far out now I have to go,
no- I'd better stop again,
yes I'd better stop,
now that I've stopped I'm not so sure,
I actually think I can go,
yes I'm definitely going,
right here I go"

Que slow exit from side road followed by immediate indication to turn off again. This is always very annoying, but even more so when you have nobody behind you anyway and all they had to do was wait a bit anyway.

[General Zod]

This staggeringly bad driver yesterday could not seem to control their vehicle at all:



Constantly drifting into the middle of the road (much worse than photo kindly taken by passenger) then snapping back into lane just in time to avoid a head on collision. Seemingly completely unaware of the problem and totally lacking the ability to learn from the repetitive near misses. Needs removed from the roads asap.

[General Zod]

Oldandslow said:

Report the reg to police as potential drunk driver. They will respond.

Sadly this was a 60-ish year old lady simply having long eye contact conversations with her passenger. Not drunk, just an idiot. Police would have no interest.

[General Zod]

Oldandslow said:

Why not drunk?

She could have been off her tits on sherry and telling her passenger that she was her best mate.

Oldandslow- I've just noticed you have a Scimitar. I have always hankered after one of those. As it turns out i might consider picking up a second car to run for a year or so while my lift share buddy is off on maternity. When you see things like this- http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C412812 - it does look like a cheap way to have a bit of fun. However, I expect paying £2000 for one would be a false economy. What are your thoughts? Can it be done?