Dangerous Driving - Would you get out of their car?
Discussion
Many of us here probably know someone who's driving is awful or who takes way to many risks, and does everything we can to avoid being in their car. My question here is more about getting into someone's car for a lift if you need it, or for a taxi or for whatever reason and it suddenly became obvious that they were a dangerous driver rather than just a s
t one, would you get out of the car and make alternative arrangements. What would be your red line?
- Jumping red lights?
- Failing to yield?
- Inappropriate speed (I'm not talking speeding here as sometimes it is actually technically safe to do more than the speed limit even if not right, more blatantly too fast for the road i.e sharp bends at high speed or driving through a city centre with loads of zebra crossings too fast to stop?)
- Beeping their horn at other drivers for no reason?
- Changing lanes without looking?
- Complete lack of general observations?
- Doing u-turns on busy roads (i.e dual carriageways)
- Failing to indicate?
- Taking phone calls on a handheld? Eating their lunch? Doing their make-up?
- You suspect they are drunk on drugs or otherwise mentally incompetent to drive?
t one, would you get out of the car and make alternative arrangements. What would be your red line?- Jumping red lights?
- Failing to yield?
- Inappropriate speed (I'm not talking speeding here as sometimes it is actually technically safe to do more than the speed limit even if not right, more blatantly too fast for the road i.e sharp bends at high speed or driving through a city centre with loads of zebra crossings too fast to stop?)
- Beeping their horn at other drivers for no reason?
- Changing lanes without looking?
- Complete lack of general observations?
- Doing u-turns on busy roads (i.e dual carriageways)
- Failing to indicate?
- Taking phone calls on a handheld? Eating their lunch? Doing their make-up?
- You suspect they are drunk on drugs or otherwise mentally incompetent to drive?
Mexman said:
All of the things I come across every day in my job as a car salesman.
I like to live dangerously.
I suppose in a way you're getting paid for that risk though much like a driving instructor only you don't have dual controls.I like to live dangerously.
I'm thinking more on a non-work related level, i.e a friend or family member giving you a lift somewhere or a taxi. I'm asking because I almost got out of a taxi the other day after about the fourth occasion he slammed on the brakes as if there was an unexpected obstacle as the car in front stopped to give way on the roundabout and then proceeded to tailgate the driver of the car when he was doing an appropriate speed for what was a very busy road with pedestrians and parked cars, even if it wasn't the limit. I've also known other people tell me they've considered getting out of taxis where they are using handheld phones.
I would and I have.
Many years ago jumped in a taxi from home to head into town for a few drinks with friends. Taxi driver pulled out onto a dual carriageway and proceeded to drive down the dual carriageway at 65 with the inside tyres rubbing and bouncing off the kerb. It was blatently obvious what was happening and he just appeared to be oblivious to it. This went on for nearly 2 miles. I didn't feel safe at all so end of dual carriageway is a petrol station, asked him to pull in there saying I was drawing some money out to pay him. I just walked away and rang another taxi.
No way I'm risking my safety with a terrible driver.
Many years ago jumped in a taxi from home to head into town for a few drinks with friends. Taxi driver pulled out onto a dual carriageway and proceeded to drive down the dual carriageway at 65 with the inside tyres rubbing and bouncing off the kerb. It was blatently obvious what was happening and he just appeared to be oblivious to it. This went on for nearly 2 miles. I didn't feel safe at all so end of dual carriageway is a petrol station, asked him to pull in there saying I was drawing some money out to pay him. I just walked away and rang another taxi.
No way I'm risking my safety with a terrible driver.
Got one friend who I avoid, normally end up driving myself and I will admit his antics are fairly amusing when watched from behind at an 50-100m or so distance, not so much in his passenger seat.
Funnily enough I have an uncle who refuses to get in the car with me driving, or either of my cousins, or his brother... The guy has some screws loose. He is the type that does 30 through NSLs, what's worse is he acknowledges its a 60 limit, but and I quote "the limits only that high for people in emergencies, there is no reason for anyone to go that fast normally". The fact that I drive lorries for a living appears to terrify him so at least I get some amusement from that.
Funnily enough I have an uncle who refuses to get in the car with me driving, or either of my cousins, or his brother... The guy has some screws loose. He is the type that does 30 through NSLs, what's worse is he acknowledges its a 60 limit, but and I quote "the limits only that high for people in emergencies, there is no reason for anyone to go that fast normally". The fact that I drive lorries for a living appears to terrify him so at least I get some amusement from that.
sim16v said:
So what about totally incompetent drivers?
The doddery old relative, the friend with bad eyesight.
The bus driver who is about to have a heart attack?
The doddery old relative can probably drive okay with a few gentle reminders depending on temperament, the bus driver who's about to have a heart attack might be an issue. The eyesight one depends on how bad there eyesight is, the government tend to refuse a license to people with really bad eyesight, although that said you're friend would have to notify them of that.The doddery old relative, the friend with bad eyesight.
The bus driver who is about to have a heart attack?
Not getting out of a car, but I declined a lift and to get into a car back in '98 when I was at college. I'd gone into town with the girlfriend and after club kicking out time we were figuring out whether to get a taxi or walk. We bumped into another guy and his girlfriend that we knew from college who offered us a lift as he lived nearby. Something felt a bit off as he seemed quite "hyper" so we decided to refuse the lift.
Probably a good idea we didn't get it the car, as he wasn't at college on Monday. Turns out he'd crashed his mums Polo (on the Pirbright Bends for anyone local) on the way home that Friday. Police / Ambulance had to attend and although it appeared to be his own crap driving / speeding that caused the crash, Paramedics said he was also under the influence of LSD at the time.
Probably a good idea we didn't get it the car, as he wasn't at college on Monday. Turns out he'd crashed his mums Polo (on the Pirbright Bends for anyone local) on the way home that Friday. Police / Ambulance had to attend and although it appeared to be his own crap driving / speeding that caused the crash, Paramedics said he was also under the influence of LSD at the time.
I can't say I've ever been in a car and been frightened by the driving, though I've been with one or two that have made me feel uncomfortable about their driving. If I did feel seriously alarmed I think I would get out and make other travel arrangements.
It's not unknown for somebody to deliberately drive in a certain way in order to put the wind up their passenger(s), but to me that's a ridiculous thing to do: it's not a joke.
It's not unknown for somebody to deliberately drive in a certain way in order to put the wind up their passenger(s), but to me that's a ridiculous thing to do: it's not a joke.
sim16v said:
So what about totally incompetent drivers?
The doddery old relative, the friend with bad eyesight.
The bus driver who is about to have a heart attack?
My dad is the worst driver I know, so I can relate to this thread.The doddery old relative, the friend with bad eyesight.
The bus driver who is about to have a heart attack?
He's the one that drives straight across lanes on roundabouts, gets too close to people, and generally just becomes an aggressive idiot when he's behind the wheel of a car.
Sorry Dad.
He's 69 now so not going to change.
So my answer to the OP's question, I don't get in the car with him.
I tried to talk to him about it, he did make an effort, but he's just too old to change I reckon.
p1esk said:
I can't say I've ever been in a car and been frightened by the driving, though I've been with one or two that have made me feel uncomfortable about their driving. If I did feel seriously alarmed I think I would get out and make other travel arrangements.
It's not unknown for somebody to deliberately drive in a certain way in order to put the wind up their passenger(s), but to me that's a ridiculous thing to do: it's not a joke.
It's an extremely arrogant thing to do as well. Anyone who thinks they have enough control of their car that they can take risks with other people's safety just to try and frighten them is asking for a crash. People only get frightened by things that are dodgy and things that are dodgy cause accidents. Impress your passengers by being a good driver for crying out loud, not a wombat.It's not unknown for somebody to deliberately drive in a certain way in order to put the wind up their passenger(s), but to me that's a ridiculous thing to do: it's not a joke.
I wasn’t really in a position to dive out on the M4, but here’s a rundown of the antics of my 77 year old taxi driver who brought me back from Heathrow on Friday:
1x nearly into the back of an HGV
1x nearly rear ended then undertook to avoid
1x pursuing person who objected to blocking lane 3 flashing lights furiously
739x steering correction
1x wrong side of road causing oncoming driver to dive into verge
1x taking call on mobile non-handsfree
We may be having words with the taxi firm tomorrow.
1x nearly into the back of an HGV
1x nearly rear ended then undertook to avoid
1x pursuing person who objected to blocking lane 3 flashing lights furiously
739x steering correction
1x wrong side of road causing oncoming driver to dive into verge
1x taking call on mobile non-handsfree
We may be having words with the taxi firm tomorrow.
revvingit said:
p1esk said:
I can't say I've ever been in a car and been frightened by the driving, though I've been with one or two that have made me feel uncomfortable about their driving. If I did feel seriously alarmed I think I would get out and make other travel arrangements.
It's not unknown for somebody to deliberately drive in a certain way in order to put the wind up their passenger(s), but to me that's a ridiculous thing to do: it's not a joke.
It's an extremely arrogant thing to do as well. Anyone who thinks they have enough control of their car that they can take risks with other people's safety just to try and frighten them is asking for a crash. People only get frightened by things that are dodgy and things that are dodgy cause accidents. Impress your passengers by being a good driver for crying out loud, not a wombat.It's not unknown for somebody to deliberately drive in a certain way in order to put the wind up their passenger(s), but to me that's a ridiculous thing to do: it's not a joke.
Depends on the level of danger. Short answer, yes. Longer answer below.
Years ago. Got out of a colleague’s car on a 150 mile journey when we got off the motorways. Total wker overtaking very dangerously and erratic with absolutely no skill or judgement demonstrated in a st box Saab turbo. Never seen anything like it. We weren’t even late. I would imagine he is dead by now.
Got out of a black cab in London. Thought the driver was pissed after some weavy near miss experiences in a residential area and then heading along a 4 lane road directly facing oncoming traffic in the outer of their 2 lanes for no apparent reason other than he could not keep to his side of the road (The Highway if you know it).
Years ago. Got out of a colleague’s car on a 150 mile journey when we got off the motorways. Total w
ker overtaking very dangerously and erratic with absolutely no skill or judgement demonstrated in a st box Saab turbo. Never seen anything like it. We weren’t even late. I would imagine he is dead by now.Got out of a black cab in London. Thought the driver was pissed after some weavy near miss experiences in a residential area and then heading along a 4 lane road directly facing oncoming traffic in the outer of their 2 lanes for no apparent reason other than he could not keep to his side of the road (The Highway if you know it).
p1esk said:
I've had quite a few people compliment me on having provided a smooth and comfortable ride, and some remarked that I have an extremely relaxed driving style. All such comments are nice to hear. I can't be getting it too badly wrong after all.
How are those two activities related?Bert
BertBert said:
p1esk said:
I've had quite a few people compliment me on having provided a smooth and comfortable ride, and some remarked that I have an extremely relaxed driving style. All such comments are nice to hear. I can't be getting it too badly wrong after all.
How are those two activities related?Bert
Meanwhile, back to the theme of the thread, I'll take a trip down memory lane:
In July 1961 I went to the British GP at Aintree with a friend (Dave, from York) and two of his other friends in a 3.4 Jaguar saloon.
It was a miserable wet day, it rained a good deal of the time, and it was raining as we left the circuit and joined the A580 heading east towards Manchester. In those days the A580 was a single carriageway road with two lanes in each direction, but I expect it's a dual carriageway now, probably has been for many years.
Anyhow we caught up with a Triumph TR3 in lane 2 as it was making a slowish overtake of a car in lane 1. Not wishing to delay our progress, Dave moved over into the opposing lane 2 (there was no traffic in the westbound lanes) and booted the Jaguar past the Triumph, and on our way. Our speed went up to about 115 mph and it was still raining! Was I frightened? No. I'd travelled with him on a few occasions and I knew what his driving was like, and it never bothered me. In fact that sort of thing was not out of the ordinary for people who had what were then regarded as powerful cars in those pre-NSL days.
One would probably be considered ripe for the loony bin if one were to drive like that now, but that was a very different era, and I know which one I prefer.
When I was about 19 I used to car share with a guy who lived locally to me, just alternate driving to the office.
He was probably the worst driver I have been in the car with. Completely inconsistent and yet we took exactly the same route every single day, probably only about 7 miles each way but yet his driving made zero sense. Would go in the correct lane on a roundabout one day, then a different one the next which resulted him him being beeped and cutting people up. He's pull out on people, put himself in bad positions on various junctions etc.
Every day there was a narrow miss and the only way I was ok with it was that I'd tell myself that it was only a 30mph zone so any impact would be minimal. Fortunately this only went on for about 5 months but if it had been motorway driving, I'd certainly have reconsidered as he was utterly awful.
If it was someone driving deliberately recklessly, I'd certainly reconsider whether I'd be in the car at all.
He was probably the worst driver I have been in the car with. Completely inconsistent and yet we took exactly the same route every single day, probably only about 7 miles each way but yet his driving made zero sense. Would go in the correct lane on a roundabout one day, then a different one the next which resulted him him being beeped and cutting people up. He's pull out on people, put himself in bad positions on various junctions etc.
Every day there was a narrow miss and the only way I was ok with it was that I'd tell myself that it was only a 30mph zone so any impact would be minimal. Fortunately this only went on for about 5 months but if it had been motorway driving, I'd certainly have reconsidered as he was utterly awful.
If it was someone driving deliberately recklessly, I'd certainly reconsider whether I'd be in the car at all.
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