Bad driving - confessions here!
Discussion
eltax91 said:
bus_ter said:
eltax91 said:
Very ashamed of myself but i brake tested some chap who was on his mobile phone. I was intending to give him a short, sharp shock but he over reacted and swerved left. He ended up at the top of a six foot embankment and rolled down the embankment onto the car infront of me, writing both of them off. 
Good job.I hope stayed afterwards as an eye witness to describe how he was busy talking on his phone at the time and paying no attention to the road as he swerved past you causing an accident...
Don't particularly want to be the innocent party caught up in somebody's retribution...Saw a nasty one on the north circ a year or so ago. Old duffer in outside lane doing 35 or so, traffic very heavy so undertaking not possible. I was about 30 feet back in the inside lane. Wide boy inches away from the back of the old guy, weaving, flashing, horning, shouting, you name it, for several minutes. He finally manages to get past, cuts right back in in front of the guy and literally stands on the brakes, smoke pouring off the tyres, to a standstill (busy 50mph DC). I don't know how the old guy stopped in time... Was the old guy an idiot? Yes. Was the nutter reasonable in his responses? Erm....
Anyway, back on topic
Plenty of stupid things (down to inexperience, tiredness, tailgating
, etc.). Experience & IAM has sorted me out now though, mostly Two specific instances - dragged the side of my first car down a gatepost (in my shock, to disengage myself I just backed up and ripped more trim off (rather than putting some lock on and swinging away
)). Going round the back of my flats in my old car to the garage, undisturbed snow. Tried to get the back end out, carried too much speed through & understeered towards wall, hit the brakes, ABS chattered and I went straight on some more 
grabbed handbrake and stopped 2 inches from brick wall thanks to a ridge of snow built under tyres!Edited by NiceCupOfTea on Friday 25th May 21:49
I once rear ended another car when I was 17 because I was too busy looking at a girl wearing a short skirt. 
Again, when I was 17 I was driving along some roads at High Beach, near Epping with two mates in the car. Needless to say, I was giving it some pasty when I failed to notice a give way sign as I approached a crossroads. The reason I failed to notice said sign was because someone had already hit it earlier in the day. Panicking, I slammed on the anchors but over-estimated my car's stopping ability and skidded right across the crossroads (luckily there was nothing coming) and ended up in the hedge with two wheels off the ground.
Then a couple of years ago I was parked in a car park near York, walking back to the car we'd noticed an impressively large tree at the other end of the car park. Started the engine, engaged reverse and BANG! Yep, I'd managed to reverse into the only tree there. Maybe it just wasn't quite big enough to see in the mirror.
Again, when I was 17 I was driving along some roads at High Beach, near Epping with two mates in the car. Needless to say, I was giving it some pasty when I failed to notice a give way sign as I approached a crossroads. The reason I failed to notice said sign was because someone had already hit it earlier in the day. Panicking, I slammed on the anchors but over-estimated my car's stopping ability and skidded right across the crossroads (luckily there was nothing coming) and ended up in the hedge with two wheels off the ground.
Then a couple of years ago I was parked in a car park near York, walking back to the car we'd noticed an impressively large tree at the other end of the car park. Started the engine, engaged reverse and BANG!
Yep, I'd managed to reverse into the only tree there. Maybe it just wasn't quite big enough to see in the mirror.I'm a pretty rubbish driver at the moment and have made several mistakes, I think that the vast majority of them being due to thew fact that I'm permanantly tired due to stuggling with my sleep. So at the moment I try not to drive much as well as within my reduced abilities.
Frustrating when vehicular stuff is the main thing I live for, and when I want to do my direct access next year (which I won't be doing if I can't sort my sleep out).
Frustrating when vehicular stuff is the main thing I live for, and when I want to do my direct access next year (which I won't be doing if I can't sort my sleep out).
Edited by Matthew-TMM on Saturday 26th May 12:22
Waiting to turn right at a 4-way mini roundabout, a police van was waiting to do the same at the position opposite me. A gap in traffic coming from my right appeared so I moved off, allowing the police van to move off as well. Except he couldn't go round me offside to offside, because for no apparent reason I drove straight over the mini roundabout. 
He let me pass, then changed direction to come and have a quick word with me. No harm done, put it down to not having driven for a couple of weeks and not thinking the car had the turning circle to make it round fully - paid more attention since. 
6 days after passing my test my ego got the better of me after a long day of generally driving about not completely t
ttish, but being a bit over enthusiastic in my dads car.
Thankfully it was a relatively slow accident - 20mph round an off-camber 1/3 gradient downhill S-bend, on a cold Scottish February evening in a valley subject to not the nicest of microclimates. Slowest point of the evening and I still managed to get a FWD barge to slide to the right, then to the left, then keep tankslapping until it interfaced with a hedge and a high kerb. Total-loss against me in my first year of driving - potential insurers love me.
It might have been a Vectra (
), it might have been a 2 litre turbo-derv (any other "shame" smilies?), but it for a new driver it was great fun and quite impressive compared to some of the stuff my mates borrowed to go to school in 
.
Been trying to improve my driving ever since that, IAM and Roadcraft books etc, as soon as I can afford to I'll be joining up as well.
He let me pass, then changed direction to come and have a quick word with me. No harm done, put it down to not having driven for a couple of weeks and not thinking the car had the turning circle to make it round fully - paid more attention since. 6 days after passing my test my ego got the better of me after a long day of generally driving about not completely t
ttish, but being a bit over enthusiastic in my dads car. Thankfully it was a relatively slow accident - 20mph round an off-camber 1/3 gradient downhill S-bend, on a cold Scottish February evening in a valley subject to not the nicest of microclimates. Slowest point of the evening and I still managed to get a FWD barge to slide to the right, then to the left, then keep tankslapping until it interfaced with a hedge and a high kerb
. Total-loss against me in my first year of driving - potential insurers love me.It might have been a Vectra (
), it might have been a 2 litre turbo-derv (any other "shame" smilies?), but it for a new driver it was great fun and quite impressive compared to some of the stuff my mates borrowed to go to school in .Been trying to improve my driving ever since that, IAM and Roadcraft books etc, as soon as I can afford to I'll be joining up as well.
New Years Day 1997 - coming back through the Purbecks in Dorset at about 8am, thick fog, I wasn't concentrating, forgot about the bend in the road coming up until too late, braked hard, locked up, skidded on the ice, up the bank, launched through the fence and into a portaloo in the field. Broken ankle, portaloo and R5 GTS.
I got my corners a bit mixed up once and went into a corner that's a bit dodgy at 60 in the dry at 80 in the wet. My rear tyres were older than the front ones so the car just span instantly, yet was quite happy to still follow the corner, just while spinning. Unfortunately there was an RS Turbo coming the other way, and that was the end of my first Golf GTI. The silver lining came when I replaced it with a GTi 16v.
Which I then crashed into a hedge at 60mph trying to overtake a Ferrari that I was sure was waving me past.......
Don't really have a good record with Golf GTI's to be honest.....
Which I then crashed into a hedge at 60mph trying to overtake a Ferrari that I was sure was waving me past.......
Don't really have a good record with Golf GTI's to be honest.....
Back in 1995, had passed my driving test 2 weeks previously. Sudden downpour of rain after a long, hot dry spell...
Sharp right hander, turned steering wheel only to discover terminal understeer. Jumped hard on brakes, front wheels locked solid as the car slid straight into a telegraph pole located on the outside of the corner.
Sharp right hander, turned steering wheel only to discover terminal understeer. Jumped hard on brakes, front wheels locked solid as the car slid straight into a telegraph pole located on the outside of the corner.
Had relatively recently passed my test and thought I was abit of a pro. Driving my dads company A8 cars going through traffic light intersection, light went amber with one car in front of me which I though would go through and which I was going to follow through (itself a crap habit to get into) so I accelerated. Instead the car in front breaked sharply! I braked hard also and steered toward the right hand land becuase thought wasnt going to stop in time. Unfortunately didnt count on the build up of loose material between lanes. Ended up sideways about 2cm from the back bumper of the car in front and breathing rather rapidly! Was never going to be life threatening but shook me as a new driver up quite alot. Was also just bloody embarrassing! (look at the silly kid who can't control the big posh car).
Got the blues & two`s years ago in my teens from the police who were going in the other direction...decided to pretend I hadn`t seen them & continued on my way throwing random lefts & rights to lose them,turned down a dead end so had to park it up & tell me mum & her sister to `get down`....
Yes, yes, holy thread revival, but I searched at least.
There's lots of finger pointing on here, but I thought it might be interesting to see who'd admit to their own crap driving.
I believed that I was perfect however, if the last couple of weeks are anything to go by, I'm a flipping awful driver, and I'm paying for my sins.
So, country bumpkin (me) has to drive into London. I've done it twice before at night but on these occasions it was rush hour; it is absolute chaos and Sat Nav never takes me in the same way. So, number 1, I get a parking fine. There is a whole road that has no restrictions for parking, and on this road is a church. I find a space by the church and assume I'm all good for a few hours but, clearly I wasn't paying attention as the bay of 5 spaces I've just parked in are the only ones with a 1hr parking restriction in the whole damn road. There was a sign, which I didn't see (I just assumed) so bang to rights and fine received.
Sencond trip, in the stress of rush hour I fail to see a no right turn sign and, yep, turn right. This is clearly a favourite for Hammersmith council because they've put a camera right on it so, it must be a money maker. There's no reason not to turn right, it's safe and doesn't impede traffic. Bang to rights and fine received.
Third, and hopefully final offence will be a yellow box. I come across these rarely but they're like a rash in London. I stop before the box as the way wasn't clear. The car at the other end finally moves away and creates a space however, as I start to pull up behind they roll back a bit to allow a scooter in between them and the car in front who just arrived and wishes to turn across them to the pavement. This means that although the space was there for me, it was now 3/4 space and I believe my back wheels were in the box for around 20sec. I await a fine, as I saw a cctv camera nearly on a lamppost. The lights were green for the whole event so if I'm lucky...nah, I won't be.
I seriously need A) to up my game, B) have better luck, C) avoid London in a car.
FFS. What an idiot.
There's lots of finger pointing on here, but I thought it might be interesting to see who'd admit to their own crap driving.
I believed that I was perfect however, if the last couple of weeks are anything to go by, I'm a flipping awful driver, and I'm paying for my sins.
So, country bumpkin (me) has to drive into London. I've done it twice before at night but on these occasions it was rush hour; it is absolute chaos and Sat Nav never takes me in the same way. So, number 1, I get a parking fine. There is a whole road that has no restrictions for parking, and on this road is a church. I find a space by the church and assume I'm all good for a few hours but, clearly I wasn't paying attention as the bay of 5 spaces I've just parked in are the only ones with a 1hr parking restriction in the whole damn road. There was a sign, which I didn't see (I just assumed) so bang to rights and fine received.
Sencond trip, in the stress of rush hour I fail to see a no right turn sign and, yep, turn right. This is clearly a favourite for Hammersmith council because they've put a camera right on it so, it must be a money maker. There's no reason not to turn right, it's safe and doesn't impede traffic. Bang to rights and fine received.
Third, and hopefully final offence will be a yellow box. I come across these rarely but they're like a rash in London. I stop before the box as the way wasn't clear. The car at the other end finally moves away and creates a space however, as I start to pull up behind they roll back a bit to allow a scooter in between them and the car in front who just arrived and wishes to turn across them to the pavement. This means that although the space was there for me, it was now 3/4 space and I believe my back wheels were in the box for around 20sec. I await a fine, as I saw a cctv camera nearly on a lamppost. The lights were green for the whole event so if I'm lucky...nah, I won't be.
I seriously need A) to up my game, B) have better luck, C) avoid London in a car.
FFS. What an idiot.
Where do I start?
While in Scotland over the summer, I was on the A75 behind a long qeue of traffic all stuck behind a slow HGV. The road opens up to two lanes and one by one the cars start to overtake the HGV. Being an idiot and not knowing the road very well (at all) I start my overtake as the road is starting to merge back into one lane.
To cut a short story short, I complete my overtake, but go over the hatched and then double white lines doing so. Luckily for me the other side of the road was clear. The HGV driver was not happy and was flashing away on his lights. Suprised he saw it to be honest, they're normally on their phones looking for fresh meat on grinder aren't they? Anyway a few weeks later I got a NIP from the Scottish borders finest. Lesson learnt from my stupidity and lack of better judgement.
While in Scotland over the summer, I was on the A75 behind a long qeue of traffic all stuck behind a slow HGV. The road opens up to two lanes and one by one the cars start to overtake the HGV. Being an idiot and not knowing the road very well (at all) I start my overtake as the road is starting to merge back into one lane.
To cut a short story short, I complete my overtake, but go over the hatched and then double white lines doing so. Luckily for me the other side of the road was clear. The HGV driver was not happy and was flashing away on his lights. Suprised he saw it to be honest, they're normally on their phones looking for fresh meat on grinder aren't they? Anyway a few weeks later I got a NIP from the Scottish borders finest. Lesson learnt from my stupidity and lack of better judgement.
Mostly small things, but the ones that stand out are:
Driving from York to Shipley on a frosty night in a Maestro 1.6L in 1990, I wasn't paying attention and braked late and very hard for a red light on the Leeds Ring Road. There was no other traffic and the result was a 360 degree spin that ended with me on the stop line, facign in the right direction. I drove home rather more carefully.
On the last of many laps over two days on a BMW Driver Training course on the Nordschleife, I put a wheel on the grass at Metzgesfeld and hit the Armco sideways at speed, having first gone sideways up a bank. The car, an M3 belonging to BMW was badly bent. Somehow three other cars crashed too. I must have collected one as I went off and that must have caused a chain reaction. The instructor, who had been encouraging use to drive faster and letting us all get to close got into trouble.
Anyone who knows the car park at Waitrose John Barnes on Finchley Road will know that it is tight. I had always scoffed at the paint on the pillars and wall corners, wondering how crap some drivers must be. The first weekend after we took delivery of our first X5 a few years ago, I took it into that car park and drove around in my usual nonchalant way, knowing exactly the size of each gap and when and how much to steer, until at the kink by the lifts I turned and felt the corner of the pillar scrape along the rear nearside passenger door. That's the one I feel worst about, despite the fact that it was just easily repaired surface damage.
Driving from York to Shipley on a frosty night in a Maestro 1.6L in 1990, I wasn't paying attention and braked late and very hard for a red light on the Leeds Ring Road. There was no other traffic and the result was a 360 degree spin that ended with me on the stop line, facign in the right direction. I drove home rather more carefully.
On the last of many laps over two days on a BMW Driver Training course on the Nordschleife, I put a wheel on the grass at Metzgesfeld and hit the Armco sideways at speed, having first gone sideways up a bank. The car, an M3 belonging to BMW was badly bent. Somehow three other cars crashed too. I must have collected one as I went off and that must have caused a chain reaction. The instructor, who had been encouraging use to drive faster and letting us all get to close got into trouble.
Anyone who knows the car park at Waitrose John Barnes on Finchley Road will know that it is tight. I had always scoffed at the paint on the pillars and wall corners, wondering how crap some drivers must be. The first weekend after we took delivery of our first X5 a few years ago, I took it into that car park and drove around in my usual nonchalant way, knowing exactly the size of each gap and when and how much to steer, until at the kink by the lifts I turned and felt the corner of the pillar scrape along the rear nearside passenger door. That's the one I feel worst about, despite the fact that it was just easily repaired surface damage.
Berrow Beach, Brean.
Too many years ago to admit, but my modified Mk1 Cortina GT was about 10 years old. Quite a regular trip of an evening, after Tiffany's had closed, was a quick race to Berrow Beach, where you could race up and down on the sand, before collecting a bunch of driftwood for a bonfire. The final stretch of lane, leading straight on to the beach was completely unlit and it was quite good fun to turn off your lights as you approached the exit on to the beach, especially if your passengers didn't no the road. A few seconds later, you could turn the lights back on to illuminate a wide expanse of deserted beach to play on.
Until, one day! Switched off the lights and accelerated hard along the last few meters of lane, big splash, and rapid deceleration, it must have been a spring tide.
Turn on lights, to see waves coming towards me and feel water around my feet. Getting home again was a whole new story.
Too many years ago to admit, but my modified Mk1 Cortina GT was about 10 years old. Quite a regular trip of an evening, after Tiffany's had closed, was a quick race to Berrow Beach, where you could race up and down on the sand, before collecting a bunch of driftwood for a bonfire. The final stretch of lane, leading straight on to the beach was completely unlit and it was quite good fun to turn off your lights as you approached the exit on to the beach, especially if your passengers didn't no the road. A few seconds later, you could turn the lights back on to illuminate a wide expanse of deserted beach to play on.
Until, one day! Switched off the lights and accelerated hard along the last few meters of lane, big splash, and rapid deceleration, it must have been a spring tide.
Turn on lights, to see waves coming towards me and feel water around my feet. Getting home again was a whole new story.
edx said:
I have been known to stop at green traffic lights, much to the amusement of & piss taking by the missus. No idea why I do it, usually when I'm tired and kinda on auto - pilot....Scary.
Blimey a 10 year quotewhen I was 18-19 almost 40 years ago
I was in the centre lane of a 3 lane road in a town centre, in front of me was a white luton van, to either side 2 articulated trucks waiting at the lightsI was daydreaming when I started to get the feeling I was rolling backwards, I've got my foot hard on the brake but i'm still rolling backwards so I pull the handbrake as hard as I can but I'm still rolling back so I start screaming like a girl
Then the back of both trailers clear and i'm sat in the middle lane in a stationary car screaming my head off with a pedestrian looking at me like i'm nuts
I also did a fast reverse turn to impress some girls only I misjudged the width of the drive I was reversing into and backed into a telegraph pole
Edited by wack on Monday 6th November 17:32
When I had only just started driving (must have been about 6 months) I had a remapped 1.9 TDI Golf
Fastest car in the world
I tried to follow another car on an overtake past an artic lorry.
Needless to say I didn't make it as there was another car coming up.
Luckily I was able to brake in time and get behind the lorry.
Probably the closest / most stupid thing I have done.
Luckily now through age and wisdom I am a generally much safer driver.
Occasionally I get the wrong lane or make a boo-boo but we are only human. :-)
Fastest car in the world
I tried to follow another car on an overtake past an artic lorry.
Needless to say I didn't make it as there was another car coming up.
Luckily I was able to brake in time and get behind the lorry.
Probably the closest / most stupid thing I have done.
Luckily now through age and wisdom I am a generally much safer driver.
Occasionally I get the wrong lane or make a boo-boo but we are only human. :-)
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