What was your last driving mistake
Discussion
As humans, mistakes are inevitable. Often these get hidden in a blind fury at what the other person did so we ignore our own stupidity. So, what was the last mistake you made when driving, and how should you have handled it?
My most recent one was trying stop some t
t pulling in front of me long after the lane merge had occurred (he had driven past the 2->1 lane merge over hatchings, and kept driving in the middle of the road). I should have just chilled and kept going at a steady speed whilst keeping a safe distance from the car in front, but instead I accelerated to close the gap in front of me and then slowed to try to force him to wait for the car behind me to go past him too. Which was a super dick move on my part.
In thinking about this thread, it's made me wonder about all the mistakes I make that I'm not aware of. Any ideas for how you can spot your own mistakes (in the absence of blaring horns/flashing lights)?
My most recent one was trying stop some t
t pulling in front of me long after the lane merge had occurred (he had driven past the 2->1 lane merge over hatchings, and kept driving in the middle of the road). I should have just chilled and kept going at a steady speed whilst keeping a safe distance from the car in front, but instead I accelerated to close the gap in front of me and then slowed to try to force him to wait for the car behind me to go past him too. Which was a super dick move on my part.In thinking about this thread, it's made me wonder about all the mistakes I make that I'm not aware of. Any ideas for how you can spot your own mistakes (in the absence of blaring horns/flashing lights)?
Long frustrating day trying to help a friend get his car fixed, decided to take the long way home to try and cheer myself up. Came across a road I had been down a few times before, and I know it's a fun road, but it had been a fair old passage of time since the last time I had traversed it,
Road starts with a very tight left hander - and I simply went in too quick, was well into the corner, realised I was carrying too much speed and subsequently st me self.
Luckily, no oncoming traffic, so I could straighten the wheel and just get on the brake to get slowed down. Well over the centre line by the time I'd got down to the appropriate speed, and felt like an utter.
A fun drive very quickly tuned into a trundle home feeling very annoyed with myself, and a great reminder about how much respect you need to give the road regardless of how many miles you do a year or how much experience you've got behind a wheel. A momentary lapse in concentration and a lucky break re-confirmed the need to always be respectful of conditions, road quality and the inherent weakness in my own judgement when I'm not feeling the top of my driving game.
Sobering.
Road starts with a very tight left hander - and I simply went in too quick, was well into the corner, realised I was carrying too much speed and subsequently s
t me self. Luckily, no oncoming traffic, so I could straighten the wheel and just get on the brake to get slowed down. Well over the centre line by the time I'd got down to the appropriate speed, and felt like an utter
.A fun drive very quickly tuned into a trundle home feeling very annoyed with myself, and a great reminder about how much respect you need to give the road regardless of how many miles you do a year or how much experience you've got behind a wheel. A momentary lapse in concentration and a lucky break re-confirmed the need to always be respectful of conditions, road quality and the inherent weakness in my own judgement when I'm not feeling the top of my driving game.
Sobering.
The other day:
Was my fault completely I was driving too fast for the conditions and I was rushing
On back lanes towards Brid fin my golf gti I was making very swift progress and it was icy I rounded a bend and hit ice my arms crossed as the wheels turned and I was heading for a brief 2 seconds towards a hedge at around 60-80mph
Not good!
I lifted the car and it’s diff gripped and I rode it out
I was up against it time wise and had customers giving silly deadlines and calling asking where I was sat nav put me at 10 mins late even though I’d set off early!
It’s the first time in 17yrs and well over a million miles That I didn’t feel in control for a couple of seconds (I usually can get a car to play and kind of dance as I’m throwing it around but this was different) and I had a weird feeling in my chest it felt like my heart had dropped or like something had been dumped in my chest by my heart I felt weird rly weird!
Slowed down and got there 5 mins late in the end I could have been a lot later if I had have crashed and I started thinking about what my wife and kids would do or feel if I had croaked it!
I went back out to Brid today on a call averaged 44mpg in the car so it’s st me up a little tbh
Was my fault completely I was driving too fast for the conditions and I was rushing
On back lanes towards Brid fin my golf gti I was making very swift progress and it was icy I rounded a bend and hit ice my arms crossed as the wheels turned and I was heading for a brief 2 seconds towards a hedge at around 60-80mph
Not good!
I lifted the car and it’s diff gripped and I rode it out
I was up against it time wise and had customers giving silly deadlines and calling asking where I was sat nav put me at 10 mins late even though I’d set off early!
It’s the first time in 17yrs and well over a million miles That I didn’t feel in control for a couple of seconds (I usually can get a car to play and kind of dance as I’m throwing it around but this was different) and I had a weird feeling in my chest it felt like my heart had dropped or like something had been dumped in my chest by my heart I felt weird rly weird!
Slowed down and got there 5 mins late in the end I could have been a lot later if I had have crashed and I started thinking about what my wife and kids would do or feel if I had croaked it!
I went back out to Brid today on a call averaged 44mpg in the car so it’s s
t me up a little tbhTook my old car into the field in the snow thinking no worries it will drive fine like it did last year. Forgot I used the winter tyres all sumer and they didnt do much good.
Had to get my mum to come tow me out in a blizzard, upon leaving the snow built up and caught something causing the car to piss some greenish yellow liquid/oil (not coolant).
Luckily have 2 spares cars for that one but with all the snow and ice still about (north scotland atleast half a foot of snow) I just dont want to fix it yet.
Had to get my mum to come tow me out in a blizzard, upon leaving the snow built up and caught something causing the car to piss some greenish yellow liquid/oil (not coolant).
Luckily have 2 spares cars for that one but with all the snow and ice still about (north scotland atleast half a foot of snow) I just dont want to fix it yet.
Earlier on whilst in a bad mood I had to give way to cars coming the other way, once they had passed I gave it full beans down the road and then rounded a corner to find that there were two police officers crossing the road and I was doing ever so slightly more than the speed limit ...
Not getting new tyres on the van last week before the snow and not sorting my tired suspension. Passed an mot no problem but its noticable how ste it has gotten to drive. Free time and weather have gotten the better of me recently.
Even tiny throttle applications under 20 mph and i was drifting sideways, fun when its intentional, not when you are 70 miles from home trying to get home for visitors coming. Getting overtaken by countless fwd small cars not having a bit of bother was pathetic.
Actual vehicle handling mistakes, theres a quiet wee backroad i use regularly in the car with a cracking wee jump on it, you can get about a foot easily but the last time i must have hit it slightly askew as on landing it got a bit of a pendulum on and took a good few yards to settle down.
te it has gotten to drive. Free time and weather have gotten the better of me recently.Even tiny throttle applications under 20 mph and i was drifting sideways, fun when its intentional, not when you are 70 miles from home trying to get home for visitors coming. Getting overtaken by countless fwd small cars not having a bit of bother was pathetic.
Actual vehicle handling mistakes, theres a quiet wee backroad i use regularly in the car with a cracking wee jump on it, you can get about a foot easily but the last time i must have hit it slightly askew as on landing it got a bit of a pendulum on and took a good few yards to settle down.
Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Sunday 21st January 10:52
I'd been working out the country for some time, got back and went to pick up my friend, pulled out and drove off normally, around a blind right hander.
Mate just cooly says "what are you doing"
Me: "what do you mean"
Mate: "your on the wrong side of the road"
Couldn't quite believe what I just did.
Mate just cooly says "what are you doing"
Me: "what do you mean"
Mate: "your on the wrong side of the road"
Couldn't quite believe what I just did.
ghost83 said:
The other day:
Was my fault completely I was driving too fast for the conditions and I was rushing
On back lanes towards Brid fin my golf gti I was making very swift progress and it was icy I rounded a bend and hit ice my arms crossed as the wheels turned and I was heading for a brief 2 seconds towards a hedge at around 60-80mph
Not good!
I lifted the car and it’s diff gripped and I rode it out
I was up against it time wise and had customers giving silly deadlines and calling asking where I was sat nav put me at 10 mins late even though I’d set off early!
It’s the first time in 17yrs and well over a million miles That I didn’t feel in control for a couple of seconds (I usually can get a car to play and kind of dance as I’m throwing it around but this was different) and I had a weird feeling in my chest it felt like my heart had dropped or like something had been dumped in my chest by my heart I felt weird rly weird!
Slowed down and got there 5 mins late in the end I could have been a lot later if I had have crashed and I started thinking about what my wife and kids would do or feel if I had croaked it!
I went back out to Brid today on a call averaged 44mpg in the car so it’s st me up a little tbh
So, you’ve averaged over 160 miles / day, every single day without fail for the last 17 years??????Was my fault completely I was driving too fast for the conditions and I was rushing
On back lanes towards Brid fin my golf gti I was making very swift progress and it was icy I rounded a bend and hit ice my arms crossed as the wheels turned and I was heading for a brief 2 seconds towards a hedge at around 60-80mph
Not good!
I lifted the car and it’s diff gripped and I rode it out
I was up against it time wise and had customers giving silly deadlines and calling asking where I was sat nav put me at 10 mins late even though I’d set off early!
It’s the first time in 17yrs and well over a million miles That I didn’t feel in control for a couple of seconds (I usually can get a car to play and kind of dance as I’m throwing it around but this was different) and I had a weird feeling in my chest it felt like my heart had dropped or like something had been dumped in my chest by my heart I felt weird rly weird!
Slowed down and got there 5 mins late in the end I could have been a lot later if I had have crashed and I started thinking about what my wife and kids would do or feel if I had croaked it!
I went back out to Brid today on a call averaged 44mpg in the car so it’s s
t me up a little tbhWith that sort of experience, combined with getting a car dancing and having the presence of mind to “lift off and let the diff grip” while going sideways on a country lane, you really should apply to the Ford WRC team.
Or perhaps the reality (as per most people) was “you s
t one, stomped on the brakes and somehow didn’t go through the hedge backwards”...Edited by schmalex on Sunday 21st January 11:38
Frosty morning just before Christmas - Taking the missus to work. Leaving our village is a downhill and then an uphill stretch on the main road - I know its always icy there, but for some reason wasnt properly paying attention - Car ahead has stopped to turn right and a car coming the opposite way had stopped to let him across and I get that sinking feeling of realisation. I use all of the brakes and the ABS kicks in and I slide onto the opposite side of the road and come to a stop alongside the car turning right by some saving grace.
I was SO embarrassed. I've never been so happy for ABS in my life. All I could think of afterwards was the amount of cars I have had that would have made that situation worse.
I was SO embarrassed. I've never been so happy for ABS in my life. All I could think of afterwards was the amount of cars I have had that would have made that situation worse.
A couple of weeks ago on a dual-carriageway behind a Mitsubishi Outlander hogging the outside lane at about 60. A car came tearing up behind me and sat right up my arse (it was dark so couldn't tell what the car was). The lane-hogger in the Mitsubishi eventually moved over. I very stupidly floored it to about 110 putting a decent gap between me and the tailgater.
Then my heart sank as the blue lights started flashing, although a split second later they turned them off! I sheepishly eased it down to 70 and the car caught up and followed me. Was behind me for a while and at the next roundabout he went in the right-hand lane. As the vehicle pulled up beside it turned out to be a Volvo paramedic first response vehicle!
Got lucky that time, but will definitely think twice next time I try it on with a pair of headlights behind me!
Then my heart sank as the blue lights started flashing, although a split second later they turned them off! I sheepishly eased it down to 70 and the car caught up and followed me. Was behind me for a while and at the next roundabout he went in the right-hand lane. As the vehicle pulled up beside it turned out to be a Volvo paramedic first response vehicle!
Got lucky that time, but will definitely think twice next time I try it on with a pair of headlights behind me!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff