Strange driving annoyances
Discussion
I drive from Suffolk to Sussex and back one day a week. At the moment a lot of people do seem to be driving as if they haven’t done it for a while and have slightly forgotten how. Indeed there has been a delay of some sort, caused by an accident, or a vehicle fire every single time I’ve gone down there since June. I am not the world’s best driver, I know that, because nobody is at their best all the time, every day. However, I like to think I’m tolerant with folks who make mistakes, if I hoot I try to make it a gentle poop rather than a massive beeeeeeeep but some people are incredibly rude.
I genuinely think that not using our imaginations when we drive, not actually accepting that we all stuff up and being gentle with people, is probably one of the biggest causes of accidents. Particular bug bears of mine are:
1. You are about to pull into the gap between two cars in the overtaking lane on a fairly full but flowing motorway. It’s not a brilliant gap, it’s about 40ft but it’s the biggest gap there’s going to be. You double check, blind spots etc, indicate, and as you begin to pull out the man driving the car 40ft back rams it into third and floors the accelerator to try and close up, even though he’s going to have to brake hard because he and the car in front of him where doing the same speed originally and the car in front still is. Then, if he doesn’t have the legs and you’ve pulled in there anyway, he hoots at you for ‘cutting him up’ when if he’d carried on at the same speed as the car in front of him, you’d have integrated very easily without causing either of them any bother.
2. The thou shalt not pass brigade, who sit in the middle lane at 60mph but who get the hump if you go past them at 70. So you accelerate a bit, and you you think, I should have got past this car by now, and look down and realise you’re going way faster than you thought so you slow down and pull in behind them, at which point they go back to doing 60mph.
3. People who see you coming up behind them and worry that you’re going to ‘stitch them up’ behind the lorry that’s 300 yards away. But you’re doing 70 and they’re doing 58 so they can stay where they are because, by the time they get to the lorry they’re going to be a distant memory in your rear view mirror. But they don’t understand that, so they pull out and you have to follow them at 58 miles an hour for ages while they creep past the lorry doing 57, which is fine but quite annoying.
4. Unnecessary rudeness. Some of the stuff I see, I mean, seriously? If someone happens to be sitting on the verge next to in a fatally broken down car what kind of cockwomble slows down to hoot and swear at them for obstructing the traffic … in a vehicle that’s not actually mobile. Why of course, I thought this was a great place to stop and make a phone call. Yes, I have seen this. Or impatient people, like the man who absolutely lost his biscuits with me the other day because it took me that tiny bit longer to press the button on the key fob and then press the button on the dash to start my car when the traffic restarted after an accident. We’d been sitting at a standstill, engines off, for 20 mins. He leant on the hooter so I felt that, since his behaviour would fluster many people, I would factor that into the time I took to move off, so I gave the lorry ahead of me a 300 yard start. Once we were moving, nutter man piled past, swerved across in front of me and went into the slow lane ahead of the thing I was overtaking. He came past me again in some roadworks. He pulled alongside and started yelling and shaking his fist and I just burst out laughing because he looked like a cross between Ralph the Dog or Animal out of the Muppets. And of course that made him really, really angry and spurred him to even greater heights of frothy-mouthed rage until he was waving his arms and yelling at me like some bats
t crazy lunatic. I kept saying, ‘Calm down love,’ or pointing to my ears and saying ‘it’s no good, sweetie, I can’t hear you.’ I just hope he managed to get himself home without haemorrhaging something.
I genuinely think that not using our imaginations when we drive, not actually accepting that we all stuff up and being gentle with people, is probably one of the biggest causes of accidents. Particular bug bears of mine are:
1. You are about to pull into the gap between two cars in the overtaking lane on a fairly full but flowing motorway. It’s not a brilliant gap, it’s about 40ft but it’s the biggest gap there’s going to be. You double check, blind spots etc, indicate, and as you begin to pull out the man driving the car 40ft back rams it into third and floors the accelerator to try and close up, even though he’s going to have to brake hard because he and the car in front of him where doing the same speed originally and the car in front still is. Then, if he doesn’t have the legs and you’ve pulled in there anyway, he hoots at you for ‘cutting him up’ when if he’d carried on at the same speed as the car in front of him, you’d have integrated very easily without causing either of them any bother.
2. The thou shalt not pass brigade, who sit in the middle lane at 60mph but who get the hump if you go past them at 70. So you accelerate a bit, and you you think, I should have got past this car by now, and look down and realise you’re going way faster than you thought so you slow down and pull in behind them, at which point they go back to doing 60mph.
3. People who see you coming up behind them and worry that you’re going to ‘stitch them up’ behind the lorry that’s 300 yards away. But you’re doing 70 and they’re doing 58 so they can stay where they are because, by the time they get to the lorry they’re going to be a distant memory in your rear view mirror. But they don’t understand that, so they pull out and you have to follow them at 58 miles an hour for ages while they creep past the lorry doing 57, which is fine but quite annoying.
4. Unnecessary rudeness. Some of the stuff I see, I mean, seriously? If someone happens to be sitting on the verge next to in a fatally broken down car what kind of cockwomble slows down to hoot and swear at them for obstructing the traffic … in a vehicle that’s not actually mobile. Why of course, I thought this was a great place to stop and make a phone call. Yes, I have seen this. Or impatient people, like the man who absolutely lost his biscuits with me the other day because it took me that tiny bit longer to press the button on the key fob and then press the button on the dash to start my car when the traffic restarted after an accident. We’d been sitting at a standstill, engines off, for 20 mins. He leant on the hooter so I felt that, since his behaviour would fluster many people, I would factor that into the time I took to move off, so I gave the lorry ahead of me a 300 yard start. Once we were moving, nutter man piled past, swerved across in front of me and went into the slow lane ahead of the thing I was overtaking. He came past me again in some roadworks. He pulled alongside and started yelling and shaking his fist and I just burst out laughing because he looked like a cross between Ralph the Dog or Animal out of the Muppets. And of course that made him really, really angry and spurred him to even greater heights of frothy-mouthed rage until he was waving his arms and yelling at me like some bats
t crazy lunatic. I kept saying, ‘Calm down love,’ or pointing to my ears and saying ‘it’s no good, sweetie, I can’t hear you.’ I just hope he managed to get himself home without haemorrhaging something.Edited by scary on Tuesday 7th December 14:36
HustleRussell said:
Annoying me lately is people waiting to join a road from a side road etc, you slow and give them a signal to let them out, but for some reason they aren't in fact ready to go. Sometimes they are inexplicably staring the other way at the car coming from the other direction which is miles away. I have seen people position their cars on petrol station forecourt exits which appears very much that they are intending to leave but they're just sat there doing something else, phone etc. Or they're just generally incredibly slow and ponderous, and they don't go thinking the gap isn't big enough when it very certainly is by the standards of 99% of people.
My driving instructor told me never to slow down to let another vehicle out unless it is crawling, stop start traffic. This may have been advice for the test, but if not, a top tip.Deranged Rover said:
Have you ever sat behind someone in a queue caused by an accident, in the dark and rain, for FORTY FIVE minutes whilst the gormless arsehat in front of you sits with their footbrake on? I have and i ended up with a headache, so yes it does, you rude plonker.
This is a modern motoring menace. Not all cars have 'auto brake', so most are sitting at lights or other hold ups with their foot on the brake pedal blinding the vehicle behind. I would have thought that it would be nice to have a rest from the foot pedals.cmvtec said:
paulrockliffe said:
cmvtec said:
There's a roundabout near me that this happens on frequently. It's part of the South Shields one way system, but for a huge distance before it, people don't use the LH lane. It did used to be a bus lane, but hasn't been for ages now. After the roundabout it merges into one (very wide) single direction lane. If you DARE take the left lane at the roundabout, the local fannies love to stop you merging.
I can imagine where you mean almost exactly. I don't go South Shields very often, but I know it's plethora of roundabouts.It's a pain sometimes, although they're slowly being eradicated in favour of lights.
The A194 coming into Sheids tries to out do Milton Keynes for roundabout density, but they’re the type of roundabouts where the entry angles encourage lazy drivers to drift across both lanes of the roundabout forgetting that other drivers are alongside them at the same time. The poor French-like cambering on some of them soon revealed how crap the tyres on my recently bought Passat were, as they happily allowed it to understeer.
stogbandard said:
cmvtec said:
paulrockliffe said:
cmvtec said:
There's a roundabout near me that this happens on frequently. It's part of the South Shields one way system, but for a huge distance before it, people don't use the LH lane. It did used to be a bus lane, but hasn't been for ages now. After the roundabout it merges into one (very wide) single direction lane. If you DARE take the left lane at the roundabout, the local fannies love to stop you merging.
I can imagine where you mean almost exactly. I don't go South Shields very often, but I know it's plethora of roundabouts.It's a pain sometimes, although they're slowly being eradicated in favour of lights.
The A194 coming into Sheids tries to out do Milton Keynes for roundabout density, but they’re the type of roundabouts where the entry angles encourage lazy drivers to drift across both lanes of the roundabout forgetting that other drivers are alongside them at the same time. The poor French-like cambering on some of them soon revealed how crap the tyres on my recently bought Passat were, as they happily allowed it to understeer.
FiF said:
Thing is though, some years ago on an annual re-assessment drive I let someone out of a side turning when we were in a 10mph camel train of traffic and they weren't going to get out in ages. Didn't stop, even close, to it but saw what was happening ahead and just gradually increased the gap to make space for them to merge into the queue, which they did. Got a bking for that in the debrief, basis being if we then had to go somewhere in a hurry it was just one more in front. You accept the comment but privately thought it a bit off.
Do you not ever think that the people involved in that sort of thing (spending their leisure time assessing others) tend to be a little peculiar?king for that in the debrief, basis being if we then had to go somewhere in a hurry it was just one more in front. You accept the comment but privately thought it a bit off.stogbandard said:
stogbandard said:
cmvtec said:
paulrockliffe said:
cmvtec said:
There's a roundabout near me that this happens on frequently. It's part of the South Shields one way system, but for a huge distance before it, people don't use the LH lane. It did used to be a bus lane, but hasn't been for ages now. After the roundabout it merges into one (very wide) single direction lane. If you DARE take the left lane at the roundabout, the local fannies love to stop you merging.
I can imagine where you mean almost exactly. I don't go South Shields very often, but I know it's plethora of roundabouts.It's a pain sometimes, although they're slowly being eradicated in favour of lights.
The A194 coming into Sheids tries to out do Milton Keynes for roundabout density, but they’re the type of roundabouts where the entry angles encourage lazy drivers to drift across both lanes of the roundabout forgetting that other drivers are alongside them at the same time. The poor French-like cambering on some of them soon revealed how crap the tyres on my recently bought Passat were, as they happily allowed it to understeer.
I fell victim to the A194 roundabout just after Tesco and McDonalds a couple of years ago, the side of my Jag ended up stoved in for the unreasonable decision to go ahead in the RH lane, when the person to my left wanted to turn right.
The one after the Port of Tyne entrance is particularly off-camber, as the railings at the side of the road attest.
Edited by cmvtec on Wednesday 8th December 09:07
otolith said:
FiF said:
Thing is though, some years ago on an annual re-assessment drive I let someone out of a side turning when we were in a 10mph camel train of traffic and they weren't going to get out in ages. Didn't stop, even close, to it but saw what was happening ahead and just gradually increased the gap to make space for them to merge into the queue, which they did. Got a bking for that in the debrief, basis being if we then had to go somewhere in a hurry it was just one more in front. You accept the comment but privately thought it a bit off.
Do you not ever think that the people involved in that sort of thing (spending their leisure time assessing others) tend to be a little peculiar?king for that in the debrief, basis being if we then had to go somewhere in a hurry it was just one more in front. You accept the comment but privately thought it a bit off.FiF said:
otolith said:
FiF said:
Thing is though, some years ago on an annual re-assessment drive I let someone out of a side turning when we were in a 10mph camel train of traffic and they weren't going to get out in ages. Didn't stop, even close, to it but saw what was happening ahead and just gradually increased the gap to make space for them to merge into the queue, which they did. Got a bking for that in the debrief, basis being if we then had to go somewhere in a hurry it was just one more in front. You accept the comment but privately thought it a bit off.
Do you not ever think that the people involved in that sort of thing (spending their leisure time assessing others) tend to be a little peculiar?king for that in the debrief, basis being if we then had to go somewhere in a hurry it was just one more in front. You accept the comment but privately thought it a bit off.Another annoyance is uber eats/ just eat etc drivers with the way they drive like assholes then just dump thier car illegally anywhere outside restaurants - despite there usually being a car park available. The behaviour then extends to being rude once inside, barging thier way to the front and expecting to be seen to immediately despite others waiting. Then of course dumping thier large delivery bag on the counter meaning no room for regular customers.
Almost as bad as private hire drivers.
Almost as bad as private hire drivers.
Psycho Warren said:
Another annoyance is uber eats/ just eat etc drivers with the way they drive like assholes then just dump thier car illegally anywhere outside restaurants - despite there usually being a car park available. The behaviour then extends to being rude once inside, barging thier way to the front and expecting to be seen to immediately despite others waiting. Then of course dumping thier large delivery bag on the counter meaning no room for regular customers.
Almost as bad as private hire drivers.
They are probably liable to having their pay docked if they deliver late or something like that.Almost as bad as private hire drivers.
This sort of incentivisation causes people to drive like dicks.
Tipper lorries steaming around being a particularly unsafe example.
Shouldn’t be legal to penalise/ incentivise people who’s main job is to drive on the same roads as us IMHO.
FiF said:
otolith said:
FiF said:
Thing is though, some years ago on an annual re-assessment drive I let someone out of a side turning when we were in a 10mph camel train of traffic and they weren't going to get out in ages. Didn't stop, even close, to it but saw what was happening ahead and just gradually increased the gap to make space for them to merge into the queue, which they did. Got a bking for that in the debrief, basis being if we then had to go somewhere in a hurry it was just one more in front. You accept the comment but privately thought it a bit off.
Do you not ever think that the people involved in that sort of thing (spending their leisure time assessing others) tend to be a little peculiar?king for that in the debrief, basis being if we then had to go somewhere in a hurry it was just one more in front. You accept the comment but privately thought it a bit off.Drivers who, for reasons that are entirely mysterious, refuse to wear sunglasses. The amount of people I see, men mostly, without sunglasses in bright conditions beggars belief. Lots of them appear to be suffering discomfort, evidenced by gurning expressions and screwed up eyes; many also go to ludicrous lengths to attempt to dodge the dazzle, such as sitting in ridiculous positions to move their faces out of the light, looking through the side windows rather than straight ahead and shielding their eyes with their hands. Just buy some dark glasses!
HJG said:
willmagrath said:
Not indicating at mini roundabouts. Its just incredibly arrogrant. It means you have to slow down to a crawl to see which way they're going.
I'm at the point now where I just go, and if they get annoyed with me, who cares?! I didmt know where they wanted to go!!!!
Rant over. Have a nice evening
More annoying are those who indicate right to go straight on at a mini roundabout (there is no exit on the right from their direction of travel). Who does this benefit? The person coming from their left likely cannot see their right indicator anyway and the person coming straight towards them may assume they are performing a U turn on the roundabout and unnecessarily come to a stop. The latter is usually judged by the vehicle's positioning but is still annoying. I'm at the point now where I just go, and if they get annoyed with me, who cares?! I didmt know where they wanted to go!!!!
Rant over. Have a nice evening
Bonus points if they don’t even indicate when doing it, so they cut right across the car coming the other way, that entered at the same time or just before.
[and no, I am not talking about a standard RAB giveway scenario, I am talking about people who don’t actually AROUND the mini roundabout).
To all car manufacturers Except Saab ( RIP)and Volvo
WTJF can you not connect your rear lights to your running lights. it isn't a new idea Volvo have had it for 30 years BUT what it does do is at least when it is dark and the average knobjockey drives off with his dash lit up and a glow in front of him doesn't think to check.
I had one the other night where luckily he stopped and i pointed out ..No rear lights. he looked at me as though i was speaking Martian, and spent a minute or to explaining it. found his light switch to turn on his rears and told him DO NOT touch that again.. It isn't an isolated problem either so i place blame 50/50
rant over
WTJF can you not connect your rear lights to your running lights. it isn't a new idea Volvo have had it for 30 years BUT what it does do is at least when it is dark and the average knobjockey drives off with his dash lit up and a glow in front of him doesn't think to check.
I had one the other night where luckily he stopped and i pointed out ..No rear lights. he looked at me as though i was speaking Martian, and spent a minute or to explaining it. found his light switch to turn on his rears and told him DO NOT touch that again.. It isn't an isolated problem either so i place blame 50/50
rant over
Edited by silverfoxcc on Wednesday 8th December 12:10
Missy Charm said:
Drivers who, for reasons that are entirely mysterious, refuse to wear sunglasses. The amount of people I see, men mostly, without sunglasses in bright conditions beggars belief. Lots of them appear to be suffering discomfort, evidenced by gurning expressions and screwed up eyes; many also go to ludicrous lengths to attempt to dodge the dazzle, such as sitting in ridiculous positions to move their faces out of the light, looking through the side windows rather than straight ahead and shielding their eyes with their hands. Just buy some dark glasses!
TBH, I think you should look where you're going and for potential hazards, rather than at the expressions on other drivers' faces.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff