Cars you really want to get out of
Discussion
I'm normally the driver when I'm in a car so being a passenger is always a bit unusual anyway. But I've been in some cars before where I just want to get out the moment I'm in. I think the worst thing is a smelly car, like farmers cars, if you ever happen to get into one of those. Also not much of a fan of cars where the driver has to clear a space for you because their car is such a mess inside.
Mr Tidy said:
Near-death experiences in foreign taxis spring to mind - as soon as we got to our destination I couldn't wait to get out!
In Malta the roads undulate quite a lot, not broken surfaces but just rolling hills up and down. Driven at speed by a local taxi driver.. yes, I remember that. Any car where the driver thinks it normal/acceptable to have the ventilation fan set to zero and windows closed.....so much so that the windows steamy/greasy......I can't stand it. Funnily enough it tends to be completely clueless drivers, who also have no general awareness.
Or as mentioned above, longer journeys as a passenger where the driver thinks the middle or outside lane are theirs to own.....regardless of speed.
Or as mentioned above, longer journeys as a passenger where the driver thinks the middle or outside lane are theirs to own.....regardless of speed.
MattyD803 said:
Any car where the driver thinks it normal/acceptable to have the ventilation fan set to zero and windows closed.....so much so that the windows steamy/greasy......I can't stand it. Funnily enough it tends to be completely clueless drivers, who also have no general awareness.
Or as mentioned above, longer journeys as a passenger where the driver thinks the middle or outside lane are theirs to own.....regardless of speed.
This, if someone's screen is filthy on the inside and they have no intention of cleaning it, take their licence Or as mentioned above, longer journeys as a passenger where the driver thinks the middle or outside lane are theirs to own.....regardless of speed.
Mr Tidy said:
Near-death experiences in foreign taxis spring to mind - as soon as we got to our destination I couldn't wait to get out!
+1 an early morning high-speed run out of Vladivostok airport on deserted roads, following 2 overnight flights with no sleep, was not an experience I want to repeat, especially considering the general approach taken to mechanical upkeep of vehicles there. It's not uncommon to see cars driving about with both bumpers entirely absent.Most other occasions I've wanted to escape ASAP have involved prototype vehicles. One with the heaters stuck on full, set at 22degC, on a really hot sunny day (eventually found the fuse to the blower unit and yanked that out), another where the adaptive dampers had a fault and the car was bouncing at a frequency that made me feel quite ill within a few minutes. And one where the seat back was stuck down almost flat (think psychiatrist chair), it's surprising how hard it is to drive something even at modest speeds when you're literally hanging onto the steering wheel. Very quickly parked that one and refused to do anything more until the seat was sorted. New found respect for people punting Edwardian stuff around racetracks that day.
Back in the late 80's and we had use of my Dads friends "James Bond" style villa on the Algarve. We got a taxi from the airport and the old N25 was a fast road with shops along it - step out of the shop and you're on the road. The taxi driver was driving very fast - 120km/h past shops where people were alarmed by the force of the wind created as he passed them. I mentioned it to my friends in the back, looked at the taxi driver and he took it as approval of his driving prowess and sped up to 160km/h. I really thought someone would step into the road and become a giant bug splat.
A friend of mine drives along with himself positioned in the middle of the road. I don't mean the car, I mean himself. So as we're going along, I'm uncomfortably close to the kerbs, bushes and all that, constantly hitting grids and detritus in the gutters. How he manages to turn left and not ruin his wheels on every single journey is a mystery to me! All I can think from the minute I get in his car is "MOVE RIGHT" to the point I'm nearly grabbing the steering wheel.
RazerSauber said:
A friend of mine drives along with himself positioned in the middle of the road. I don't mean the car, I mean himself. So as we're going along, I'm uncomfortably close to the kerbs, bushes and all that, constantly hitting grids and detritus in the gutters. How he manages to turn left and not ruin his wheels on every single journey is a mystery to me! All I can think from the minute I get in his car is "MOVE RIGHT" to the point I'm nearly grabbing the steering wheel.
Does he come from Dorset by any chance? I've noticed whenever I've been down there, a surprising number drive around there with the left hand wheels pretty much in the ditch.Having said that, I find it worse when in a car with some who drives with their right hand wheels on the centre line of the road. Eventually they will meet someone doing the same thing in the opposite direction and have a crash.
What I find most uncomfortable though is being in a car with someone who has no clue how to use a gearbox. Not so much the taxi driver use of the highest gear in which the car doesn't stall, but people who do things like driving through a 30 limit in 3rd, and then change into a higher gear before accelerating at the end of the limit. Presumably because someone told them you use 3rd gear in town and top gear for going faster on NSL roads....
Mr Tidy said:
Near-death experiences in foreign taxis spring to mind - as soon as we got to our destination I couldn't wait to get out!
The worst for me was a taxi from Kiev to the middle of nowhere, 4 hours in the snow with an absolute lunatic. I used to have to close my eyes and try and focus on whatever music I had.
Passenger lap of the 'ring in atrocious weather with a mate who fancied himself a talented racing driver (he was not a race driver and his talent was questionable). That was not fun.
I do think being a passenger there is harder than driving though (unless it's with one of the pros in a ring taxi I guess).
I do think being a passenger there is harder than driving though (unless it's with one of the pros in a ring taxi I guess).
New York yellow taxi, it was so knackered with probably zero vertical damping but also the body moving left/right inline with the axles on a straight road so you felt like you were bouncing around the centre line of the cab.
Might have been an astronaught training taxi or something but definitely glad to get out of that one before my breakfast escaped.
Might have been an astronaught training taxi or something but definitely glad to get out of that one before my breakfast escaped.
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