Suicidal impatience and general bad driving

[larrylamb11]

Feel compelled to tell the story of what i saw at the weekend and how much it made me want to be a BiB traffic so i could have a quiet word

Pulling out of a service station at a major arterial roads junction up the slip road to approach the main roundabout .....as we go up the slip road there is a Passat all over the rear end of our lorry who then squeezes past up the slip road at the first opportunity - pushy i thought.....top of the slip road, traffic lights - on red... so his overtake saved nothing. As i always do in an LGV, i was carefully watching the other sets of lights to watch for amber then red, to prepare to pull away - astounded to see this moron pull hard away from our lights - still on red - as soon as he saw the converging lanes lights go Amber! .......proceed to next set of RED lights - we all stop again. Mr. Impatient in the Passat, then does the same again - pulls off through a RED light, as soon as the converging lane goes Amber - what a dickhead, sum total of time saved 0.5 seconds, sum total of risk huge. I frequently see other drivers at these lights shoot ambers (and sometimes reds) as the lights change against them at significant speed (as they come off a motorway) and always check nothing is coming even when my lights are on green.........just cant believe some people can be so stupid....

Then this morning, heavy rain, lots of deep standing water, people bowling along at breakneck speed....gotta get to work, gotta get to work........

Is it just me or are driving standards falling as cars get safer???

[Mr2Mike]

larrylamb11 said:

Is it just me or are driving standards falling as cars get safer???

It's not just you, and it's not just cars getting safer that do it (although a significant contributory factor I'm sure). Road congestion is increasing and people are just becomming more selfish, arrogant and impatient in general, and this is reflected in their driving.

[Streetcop]

Larrylamb.

That's exactly one of the reasons that motivated me...

I also like the use of the word 'suicidal impatience'..it perfectly describes the driving of some individuals...I used to use the word often during one way conversations with such people and your post has motivated me to reinstall the wording into my daily bollockings..>Thanks..

Street

[plotloss]

larrylamb11 said:

Is it just me or are driving standards falling as cars get safer???

I agree with the first part but dont think its a symptom of the second.

Mr and Mrs Joe Public have been brainwashed to the fact that 'Speed Kills' so by their own tiny craniumed logic think to themselves 'I'm not speeding ergo I am driving safely'.

The only true outcome of concentrating on one road safety matter is that all other factors fall of the scale so overall driving standards fall faster than a receptionists knickers at the christmas party...

[bryan35]

Hi BiB's,

here's a question for you.
If you (ie members of the public) were to have your own Video gear in your own car, (date and time stamped recording) with the quality that could positively identify vehicles reg no's and were to video true numpties doing numptyish things, how would that stand up?
ie, we all keep an eye on each other.

[Streetcop]

If you are willing to go along to court, in addition to such evidence, I don't think there'll be too many problems.

The 'offences' would have to be serious enough to warrant such investigation though..

Street

[bryan35]

This weekend,

Numpty overtaking, slowly, while approaching a hump back bridge,

Other numpty not using the slip road onto the 'quite busy' A1, but simply going straight into the inside lane, still in 1st gear, while on his mobile.

Prat overtaking on the A63 (single carriageway) on the other side of the double whites, confused as he now also has to procedd at the wrong side of the traffic island as there's nowhere else to go. (and people won't let him back in, dangerous - possily - but gets the point home)

[GiJoe]

I experienced similar outrageous risk taking this morning.

On the "death valley highway" between Dorchester and Yeovil. One Passat TDi and one Toyota Avensis. Overtook me on a blind hill and then overtook a lorry on a left hand bend across double white lines. Speeds were in excess of 70 (single lane) and visibility down to about 200 yards due to spray.

Certainly makes me want to install recording equipment to submit as evidence.

[Peter Ward]

plotloss said:

larrylamb11 said: Is it just me or are driving standards falling as cars get safer??? I agree with the first part but dont think its a symptom of the second. Mr and Mrs Joe Public have been brainwashed to the fact that 'Speed Kills' so by their own tiny craniumed logic think to themselves 'I'm not speeding ergo I am driving safely'.

In yesterday's Sunday Times Driving section there is an article on "The end of the white line". It refers to the removal of white lines, kerb edges and other things in Drachten, Holland. The aim is to make drivers think more about their driving.

article said:

The engineer was Hans Monderman and the solution was to get right of lights and erase the white lines. "If you treat drivers like zombies, they'll behave like zombies", explains Monderman. In other words, if motorists are taught to blindly follow instructions, they stop thinking for themselves, and accidents follow.... ...[with conventional traffic-calming systems]..."Speeds fell by about 10%, but as time passed road safety didn't improve".

Looks like the perfect diagnosis. "...stop thinking for themselves, accidents follow". Who has done more to stop drivers thinking for themselves? I submit it's Brunstrom, who thinks that only one regulation is required, and that's to obey speed limits to the letter.