The crazy 5am shift drivers
Discussion
Once or twice a month I'm on the road by 5.30 am and find the route I use, a single lane A road is often populated at this time of day by a very distinct type of driver.
They are invariably in small, fairly old hatchbacks, think Fiesta, 206, Astra.
They are always men.
They are driven like lunatics!
Clearly these people know the roads as there are blind bends, crests in the road and speed cameras that they defy as they push their cars to speeds I cannot get close to in the conditions (often dark and wet) in a decent Mercedes.
It's not just this road either but the 5.30 time definitely has a certain driving demographic who take no prisoners.
Anyone else noticed similar?
They are invariably in small, fairly old hatchbacks, think Fiesta, 206, Astra.
They are always men.
They are driven like lunatics!
Clearly these people know the roads as there are blind bends, crests in the road and speed cameras that they defy as they push their cars to speeds I cannot get close to in the conditions (often dark and wet) in a decent Mercedes.
It's not just this road either but the 5.30 time definitely has a certain driving demographic who take no prisoners.
Anyone else noticed similar?
Yep, just people earning a crust I suppose. Probably the same when I were a nipper.
Pet hate (only hate) taking the racing line around roundabouts. No particular feeling over this except when they do it on the roundabout and I am there, had a few near misses. When I have early starts it is usually on the road 4:30 to 5.
Pet hate (only hate) taking the racing line around roundabouts. No particular feeling over this except when they do it on the roundabout and I am there, had a few near misses. When I have early starts it is usually on the road 4:30 to 5.
I leave about 20mins after you. By and large, everyone about is really good. Sensible, courteous and yet nicely time-efficient. There are one or two regular commuters who drive far too slow but everyone seems to know those cars and perhaps half a dozen people overtake them every clear straight.
I find my drive in very pleasant. The drive home however is the opposite...
I find my drive in very pleasant. The drive home however is the opposite...
jamieduff1981 said:
I leave about 20mins after you. By and large, everyone about is really good. Sensible, courtious and yet nicely time-efficient. There are one or two regular commuters who drive far too slow but everyone seems to know those cars and perhaps half a dozen people overtake them every clear straight.
I find my drive in very pleasant. The drive home however is the opposite...
There is definitely a good amount of respect for other users at that time of day. I think its because most drivers have a real purpose, a deadline to hit so don't dawdle. In fact when I've needed to press on early there is almost a sixth sense from other road users who give you a decent wide berth on the basis that they are in the same position some days, almost like you clear the way for the late fella.I find my drive in very pleasant. The drive home however is the opposite...
On a motorway really early the same thing happens. People for whom driving is a big part of their lives and they indicate well, good lane discipline, look well ahead but keep a good speed often moving in convoy.
Of course it all changes during the day. Volume may decrease but so too does the quality of driver.
Absolutely!
I don't work in the same part of town any more but where I used to go had this naff staggered crossroads junction on a Z bend. It used to be a bend to cross under a railway embankment via a now removed bridge and another road joins/crosses at the bridge.
The whole area is way over capacity so queues build up rapidly. In the mornings though, drivers all let a car from each side road out, so that for every 3 that pass the junction, one came from each side road and one from the main. Everyone knows the queue is there and everyone knows that the other drivers came from different places and it's just nice.
Again, on the way home it all goes out the window and people turn in to utter d
heads trying to do anything to get one place further forward.
I use a dual carriageway home at the moment and typically I'll speed up to 70ish behind an underpowered hatchback in the r/h lane who isn't trying or even able to overtake anyone yet still won't move in to the cruising lane until they've reached their cruising speed. It's a very minor thing but it grates all the same.
I don't work in the same part of town any more but where I used to go had this naff staggered crossroads junction on a Z bend. It used to be a bend to cross under a railway embankment via a now removed bridge and another road joins/crosses at the bridge.
The whole area is way over capacity so queues build up rapidly. In the mornings though, drivers all let a car from each side road out, so that for every 3 that pass the junction, one came from each side road and one from the main. Everyone knows the queue is there and everyone knows that the other drivers came from different places and it's just nice.
Again, on the way home it all goes out the window and people turn in to utter d
heads trying to do anything to get one place further forward.I use a dual carriageway home at the moment and typically I'll speed up to 70ish behind an underpowered hatchback in the r/h lane who isn't trying or even able to overtake anyone yet still won't move in to the cruising lane until they've reached their cruising speed. It's a very minor thing but it grates all the same.
I am regularly on the road at 5am (oddly enough in an old small hatchback) and I find the worst drivers to be in works vans.
I have one that passes me in a 30 limit most days and will overtake whatever is in his way at double the limit and irrespective of conditions or wether he can see what is coming.
Totally agree with the roundabout thing, I have a three lane in to two with the third lane being for right turns off the roundabout and have been left lane and nearly wiped out several times by racing liners cutting into this lane as I am in it.
I have one that passes me in a 30 limit most days and will overtake whatever is in his way at double the limit and irrespective of conditions or wether he can see what is coming.
Totally agree with the roundabout thing, I have a three lane in to two with the third lane being for right turns off the roundabout and have been left lane and nearly wiped out several times by racing liners cutting into this lane as I am in it.
I'm on the road at that time every day, at work.. I find these type of drivers some of the worst.
They're the ones who don't look on slip roads and just expect everyone to disappear around them when they're entering a motorway or dc. They generally seem to drive at somewhere between 45 and 50 on said motorways and DC's and generally get in everyone's way and cause annoyance to most people around them.
But they don't give a st, as they have a mentality that they're the only ones on the road - when they're clearly not.
They're the ones who don't look on slip roads and just expect everyone to disappear around them when they're entering a motorway or dc. They generally seem to drive at somewhere between 45 and 50 on said motorways and DC's and generally get in everyone's way and cause annoyance to most people around them.
But they don't give a s
t, as they have a mentality that they're the only ones on the road - when they're clearly not.I used to be that driver, many moons ago! I worked for a short time in my early 20s at courier firm doing night shifts. The shift ended at 4 am I seem to recall and I would take the long way home on country roads at maximum attack as I was so awake and wired. My car at the time, a Fiesta 957cc!
torres del paine said:
I used to be that driver, many moons ago! I worked for a short time in my early 20s at courier firm doing night shifts. The shift ended at 4 am I seem to recall and I would take the long way home on country roads at maximum attack as I was so awake and wired. My car at the time, a Fiesta 957cc!
That's the one! Driven like you stole it and faster than a Lambrghini.I am either at work or travelling to work at around 5am and I do notice a different style of driving. It's either really competent drivers pressing on at a good speed with good respect for other drivers, or the complete opposite.
Like the chap in the vauxhall Carlton who overtook me at silly speed in a 30 mph limit, just as I was about to navigate one of those speed reducing chicanes.
Thankfully the idiots seem to be in short supply compared to the decent drivers. However it is funny to watch all sorts of old underpowered vehicles driven at vmax on country lanes!
Like the chap in the vauxhall Carlton who overtook me at silly speed in a 30 mph limit, just as I was about to navigate one of those speed reducing chicanes.
Thankfully the idiots seem to be in short supply compared to the decent drivers. However it is funny to watch all sorts of old underpowered vehicles driven at vmax on country lanes!
In Lincolnshire you will encounter "gangers vans" - minibuses stuffed with Eastern Europeans racing to their packhouse jobs at warp speed.
A great many of these workers have gone to an early grave after horrendous crashes, mostly caused by driver error, often head on smashes.
It is rumoured a combination of alcohol, recklessness and a driving test passed in Lithuania or similar is to blame.
A great many of these workers have gone to an early grave after horrendous crashes, mostly caused by driver error, often head on smashes.
It is rumoured a combination of alcohol, recklessness and a driving test passed in Lithuania or similar is to blame.
I'm a half-fiver.
I can get 30 miles on back roads in 30 minutes in the summer. (It takes me an hour and a half to get home.) No school runs, no paperboys etc out and about, so 30's become 40's, 40's become 50's, and NSL's become autobahns - I'll take that risk at that time of day. Easy overtakes, but then again there's minimal stuff to overtake. It's a great time of day to drive. Work by 6, 6.15 mean I can get out before 4 having done a full day, and I can be home in good time to see the people who are most important to me.
I can get 30 miles on back roads in 30 minutes in the summer. (It takes me an hour and a half to get home.) No school runs, no paperboys etc out and about, so 30's become 40's, 40's become 50's, and NSL's become autobahns - I'll take that risk at that time of day. Easy overtakes, but then again there's minimal stuff to overtake. It's a great time of day to drive. Work by 6, 6.15 mean I can get out before 4 having done a full day, and I can be home in good time to see the people who are most important to me.
I work shifts and sometimes my commute coincides with the shift start time at the Nissan factory. Driving at that time is like the wacky races, tailgating, bad overtakes and 99% of almost brand new notes and jukes driving with their front fogs on even if its clear. Sometimes i think poor driving must be part of the job specification.
OpulentBob said:
I'm a half-fiver.
I can get 30 miles on back roads in 30 minutes in the summer. (It takes me an hour and a half to get home.) No school runs, no paperboys etc out and about, so 30's become 40's, 40's become 50's, and NSL's become autobahns - I'll take that risk at that time of day. Easy overtakes, but then again there's minimal stuff to overtake. It's a great time of day to drive. Work by 6, 6.15 mean I can get out before 4 having done a full day, and I can be home in good time to see the people who are most important to me.
if your speeding hasn't caused you to crash and die before you get homeI can get 30 miles on back roads in 30 minutes in the summer. (It takes me an hour and a half to get home.) No school runs, no paperboys etc out and about, so 30's become 40's, 40's become 50's, and NSL's become autobahns - I'll take that risk at that time of day. Easy overtakes, but then again there's minimal stuff to overtake. It's a great time of day to drive. Work by 6, 6.15 mean I can get out before 4 having done a full day, and I can be home in good time to see the people who are most important to me.
Tired old Mondeos/Vectras etc. with either a reflective jacket on the driver or the parcel shelf, driven very poorly. Not necessarily fast but no courtesy or consistency. On my journey to work, if I go early, these invariably turn into junction leading to an industrial estate in Blandford.
I leave half an hour later at 06:00 and do 80 miles on the motorway.
Its usually a great time to drive
Everyone stays left, people are courteous and notice obstructions coming up, letting you in and out to complete manoeuvres etc
The last fortnight with school holidays, people off work have definitely made a difference.
At weekends I try to avoid motorways. The standard of driving plummets.
Its usually a great time to drive
Everyone stays left, people are courteous and notice obstructions coming up, letting you in and out to complete manoeuvres etc
The last fortnight with school holidays, people off work have definitely made a difference.
At weekends I try to avoid motorways. The standard of driving plummets.
ED209 said:
OpulentBob said:
I'm a half-fiver.
I can get 30 miles on back roads in 30 minutes in the summer. (It takes me an hour and a half to get home.) No school runs, no paperboys etc out and about, so 30's become 40's, 40's become 50's, and NSL's become autobahns - I'll take that risk at that time of day. Easy overtakes, but then again there's minimal stuff to overtake. It's a great time of day to drive. Work by 6, 6.15 mean I can get out before 4 having done a full day, and I can be home in good time to see the people who are most important to me.
if your speeding hasn't caused you to crash and die before you get homeI can get 30 miles on back roads in 30 minutes in the summer. (It takes me an hour and a half to get home.) No school runs, no paperboys etc out and about, so 30's become 40's, 40's become 50's, and NSL's become autobahns - I'll take that risk at that time of day. Easy overtakes, but then again there's minimal stuff to overtake. It's a great time of day to drive. Work by 6, 6.15 mean I can get out before 4 having done a full day, and I can be home in good time to see the people who are most important to me.
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