Passing oncoming traffic through 'tight' spaces

Passing oncoming traffic through 'tight' spaces

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Discussion

speedmachine

Original Poster:

366 posts

206 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
Not sure if it is just me but I've been noticing the following a lot recently. When driving on roads where there are cars parked on one side, usually on the other side to me and there is also an oncoming car, I normally gauge the width of the road and proceed if I think its wide enough for both cars to easily pass. The width available is probably enough for a bus and car to pass easily if each driver just positioned the car to the left.

However, I’m noticing that a lot of drivers wave angry gestures/flash the lights and generally appear to be annoyed! I don’t get it. Are a lot of people unable to judge the width of the road or their car that then need to drive right down the middle or more in my lane? (with the parked cars being on there side!). I also get this if the parked cars are on my side of the road even if the space easily wide enough. Also just add this is normally at slow speeds of 10-15mph!

Anyway I think that’s my first rant. Not a very good one, I know. Next time I’ll try to ad a few swear words smile

Zod

35,295 posts

257 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
They are terrified because they assume you are as appallingly deficient in spacial coordination as they are. The risk to you is that one of them will be such a spanner that he or she will panic and drive into you. (I do the same as you by the way, resulting in my wife saying "do you realise how close you are to the parked cars?" to which I answer, "absolutely")

Edited by Zod on Thursday 13th August 10:31

pilchardthecat

7,483 posts

178 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
What's worse is when you are following someone (usually a woman in a small car) and they wait for the oncoming traffic to pass, then swing out leaving a vast gap between their nearside and the parked car

Anyone would think they were driving a fking Chieftan tank not a Ford Focus

kambites

67,462 posts

220 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
Assume that everyone else on the roads is utterly inept and you'll do OK.

Assume that you are also utterly inept and you'll be a good driver. hehe

Kozy

3,169 posts

217 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
It's because everyone in a car is a complete moron unless they are on PH.


speedmachine

Original Poster:

366 posts

206 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
pilchardthecat said:
What's worse is when you are following someone (usually a woman in a small car) and they wait for the oncoming traffic to pass, then swing out leaving a vast gap between their nearside and the parked car

Anyone would think they were driving a fking Chieftan tank not a Ford Focus
Ah yes. This is annoying too!

Oh and just to add something completely unrelated Why the heck do pigeons just sit in the road when you approach them these days? If there is no one behind me I slow down/stop to give them a chance to fly. But instead, they just waddle off the road! Have they become too fat by eating peoples discarded kebabs in the towns!

Edited by speedmachine on Thursday 13th August 09:40

speedmachine

Original Poster:

366 posts

206 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
kambites said:
Assume that everyone else on the roads is utterly inept and you'll do OK.

Assume that you are also utterly inept and you'll be a good driver. hehe
I'm normally reminded how inept I am when I have to parallel park lol!

PascalBuyens

2,868 posts

281 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
LOL.... I get that a lot... Usually don't even slow that much down if I have to pass "in between" a parked car and one travelling in the opposite direction.

Just one advantage of having RHD cars here in Belgium I guess: I can very easily position the car up to a few inches of parked cars or the road side, so no one complaining anymore how close I am to the parked cars LOL smile (used to be different with the BMW before).

As for the huge gap some people leave (seems to only happen with smaller cars), if they do so (being a bit of a bad boy here I know) I sometimes can't resist and get a bit closer as to make them believe I'll pass them in the gap they leave (not that it has any effect at all...).

dirty boy

14,688 posts

208 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
dirty boy - "you could get a bus through there"

dirty girl - "i'm just being careful"

dirty boy - "for fecks sake, the gap doesn't get bigger because you're doing 5mph"

dirty girl - "DO YOU WANT TO DRIVE? huh! do you?"

dirty boy - "yes"


zakelwe

4,449 posts

197 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
I hate it when the cars on their side, they then give themselves about 6 foot gap and you end up in the gutter. It is mainly WOMEN who cannot judge the width of their car. That is why women are mainly the ones who crawl through width restrictions at 1mph makign corrections all the way through.

Increadibly it is now mainly women who drive those huge wide SUV's and MPV's too. They ought to have a test for women who drive SUV's, you either go through the width restriction at 30mph or you can't drive them.

Regards
Andy

lazyitus

19,926 posts

265 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
dirty boy said:
"for fecks sake, the gap doesn't get bigger because you're doing 5mph"
biglaugh

I like that.

Floor Tom

406 posts

184 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
The thing that really gets me is when I am following someone on an A or B road and a large vehicle comes in the other direction, but still completely on their side of the road, and numbnuts in front slows down. YOU STILL HAVE FULL USE OF YOUR SIDE OF THE ROAD FFS! Slowing down does not make your car smaller or the gap bigger.

Howard-

4,950 posts

201 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
I like to think that by driving normally through gaps that many people would regard as too small, I am causing people behind me to think to themselves "ooh, actually, he can fit through, so I'll follow!" therefore fractionally the lowering journey time for said person, thus minutely increasing our productivity, in order to boost our economy, albeit on a small scale cool

Edited by Howard- on Thursday 13th August 10:19

John D.

17,706 posts

208 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
I feel your pain.

I have to drive through (under) a narrow railway bridge every day on the way home from work (Cow Lane, Reading if anyone knows it).

There is easily space for two cars to pass, even a large van and a car. The amount of fukwits that either stop and giveway or insist on driving down the centre of road does my nut. If they do the latter when I'm approaching I just adopt the 'coming through' approach and don't slow down so they get the idea and move to the left - and low and behold we both make it through unscathed!

John D.

17,706 posts

208 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
speedmachine said:
Oh and just to add something completely unrelated Why the heck do pigeons just sit in the road when you approach them these days? If there is no one behind me I slow down/stop to give them a chance to fly. But instead, they just waddle off the road! Have they become too fat by eating peoples discarded kebabs in the towns!

Edited by speedmachine on Thursday 13th August 09:40
I've noticed the same! Seems to be particularly bad early in the morning. Do they have trouble waking up like us? hehe I drive to the station at 5:45 most mornings. Must admit that I was particularly grumpy and running late one morning and decided to teach a few a lesson whistle (I would'nt advise it, cleaning feathers and what I can only describe as Pigeon grease from the bonnet/windscreen wasn't worth it).

Flying rats. I hate them.

Menguin

3,762 posts

220 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
Kozy said:
It's because everyone in a car is a complete moron unless they are on PH.
That is correct.

J111

3,354 posts

214 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
speedmachine said:
Are a lot of people unable to judge the width of the road or their car
yes

kambites said:
Assume that everyone else on the roads is utterly inept and you'll do OK.
When I was learning my dad used to say "Assume that everyone else is drunk, stupid, or asleep."

stedale

1,124 posts

264 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
Slightly unrelated but this reminds of an occasion when arriving home I turned into my road to be greeted by a line of cars parked on the other side. I continued passed the row of cars and could see a Mondeo coming the other way. My line of thought was this:

1. Oh they'll stop before the parked cars to give way.

2. umm, maybe they'll stop by that car at the end that's up on the kerb

3. Oh god

4. st st st I'll drive on the pavement then

Following this I entered my home effing and blinding about what had happened to anyone who would listen, which included my wife and, to my surprise, the daughter of the woman who was driving the car. redface


blank

3,439 posts

187 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
pilchardthecat said:
What's worse is when you are following someone (usually a woman in a small car) and they wait for the oncoming traffic to pass, then swing out leaving a vast gap between their nearside and the parked car

Anyone would think they were driving a fking Chieftan tank not a Ford Focus
I'll always leave as big a gap as possible when there's no oncoming traffic.

More space for doors to be opened and not hit my car.
More time and better view to spot kids etc. emerging from between the cars.

Waugh-terfall

18,488 posts

199 months

Thursday 13th August 2009
quotequote all
It's these people who can't do spatial awareness that annoy me no end, when they spend ages trying to feed their tin car into the worlds largest space and either eventually give up or abandone the car diagonal in the space or something, especially in pillar spaces in multi-stories... Mirrors are useful for helping the guage width and seeing behind you and what does it take to re-poition it to increase its helpfull ness... Another one is people who 'over take' whilst you're trying to parrallell park Grrr!

On a side note, a friend took this picture on Monday because they couldn't believe how I managed not to hit my wingmirror...
The mirro was about 5mm from the pillar and my rear offside wheelarch was about an inch from the other pillar when I stopped. (One of them ran over and folded it in as I passed the pillar but I asked her to put it back as I coudld no longer see how close I was to the other pillar...)



Edited by Waugh-terfall on Thursday 13th August 16:50