Driving Standards and Driving Gamblers

[Short Grain]

I think most of us agree that driving standards have been falling for a number of years but what about instances of drivers gambling at roundabouts, junctions etc.
The other day approaching a roundabout, to exit at the 2nd junction, I have a clear view of the 1st junction to my left and can see an SUV approaching. As I come onto the R/A the other driver is looking directly at me, eye contact was made albeit briefly. He is still on the road leading up to his junction but puts his foot down to try and beat me onto the R/A! By this time he is looking directly ahead, ignoring me as I have to brake, fairly hard, to prevent us colliding. I would have hit his drivers door, well just underneath given his height, had I not braked and hit my cars horn, while he blithely carries on around to the 3rd exit. Why? All he had to do was lift his right foot a little, slowed slightly, and he would have merged directly behind me as there was no traffic following me! He wouldn't have even had to stop ffs!
When I was a kid we had adverts on Ambler Gamblers and standards seemed to be better then, although that may be my rose tinted glasses! I sometimes wish we could mount lasers to the front of our cars to take some of these idiots off the road
There was another incident recently with a stupid girl speeding and weaving across lanes approaching the same R/A from the opposite road but I've probably bored you all enough by now!

[CraigyMc]

Short Grain said:

I think most of us agree that driving standards have been falling for a number of years but what about instances of drivers gambling at roundabouts, junctions etc.
The other day approaching a roundabout, to exit at the 2nd junction, I have a clear view of the 1st junction to my left and can see an SUV approaching. As I come onto the R/A the other driver is looking directly at me, eye contact was made albeit briefly. He is still on the road leading up to his junction but puts his foot down to try and beat me onto the R/A! By this time he is looking directly ahead, ignoring me as I have to brake, fairly hard, to prevent us colliding. I would have hit his drivers door, well just underneath given his height, had I not braked and hit my cars horn, while he blithely carries on around to the 3rd exit. Why? All he had to do was lift his right foot a little, slowed slightly, and he would have merged directly behind me as there was no traffic following me! He wouldn't have even had to stop ffs!
When I was a kid we had adverts on Ambler Gamblers and standards seemed to be better then, although that may be my rose tinted glasses! I sometimes wish we could mount lasers to the front of our cars to take some of these idiots off the road
There was another incident recently with a stupid girl speeding and weaving across lanes approaching the same R/A from the opposite road but I've probably bored you all enough by now!

Spend 10 minutes driving around Milton Keynes. You'll fill a book with people "timing" their roundabout traverses.

[DodgyGeezer]

Short Grain said:

I think most of us agree that driving standards have been falling for a number of years but what about instances of drivers gambling at roundabouts, junctions etc.
The other day approaching a roundabout, to exit at the 2nd junction, I have a clear view of the 1st junction to my left and can see an SUV approaching. As I come onto the R/A the other driver is looking directly at me, eye contact was made albeit briefly. He is still on the road leading up to his junction but puts his foot down to try and beat me onto the R/A! By this time he is looking directly ahead, ignoring me as I have to brake, fairly hard, to prevent us colliding. I would have hit his drivers door, well just underneath given his height, had I not braked and hit my cars horn, while he blithely carries on around to the 3rd exit. Why? All he had to do was lift his right foot a little, slowed slightly, and he would have merged directly behind me as there was no traffic following me! He wouldn't have even had to stop ffs!
When I was a kid we had adverts on Ambler Gamblers and standards seemed to be better then, although that may be my rose tinted glasses! I sometimes wish we could mount lasers to the front of our cars to take some of these idiots off the road
There was another incident recently with a stupid girl speeding and weaving across lanes approaching the same R/A from the opposite road but I've probably bored you all enough by now!

sadly we now seem to be in the situation where selfishness rules. Had you mistimed your braking it'd have been your fault for not giving way to him as he's, obviously, more important than you

[anonymous-user]

I thought it was cyclists that were the problem, now you're telling me it's motorists?

This is all very confusing.

[CraigyMc]

ScotHill said:

I thought it was cyclists that were the problem, now you're telling me it's motorists?

This is all very confusing.

The problem is other people. It's always other people.

[Countdown]

Short Grain said:

I think most of us agree that driving standards have been falling for a number of years but what about instances of drivers gambling at roundabouts, junctions etc.
The other day approaching a roundabout, to exit at the 2nd junction, I have a clear view of the 1st junction to my left and can see an SUV approaching. As I come onto the R/A the other driver is looking directly at me, eye contact was made albeit briefly. He is still on the road leading up to his junction but puts his foot down to try and beat me onto the R/A! By this time he is looking directly ahead, ignoring me as I have to brake, fairly hard, to prevent us colliding. I would have hit his drivers door, well just underneath given his height, had I not braked and hit my cars horn, while he blithely carries on around to the 3rd exit. Why? All he had to do was lift his right foot a little, slowed slightly, and he would have merged directly behind me as there was no traffic following me! He wouldn't have even had to stop ffs!
When I was a kid we had adverts on Ambler Gamblers and standards seemed to be better then, although that may be my rose tinted glasses! I sometimes wish we could mount lasers to the front of our cars to take some of these idiots off the road
There was another incident recently with a stupid girl speeding and weaving across lanes approaching the same R/A from the opposite road but I've probably bored you all enough by now!

He sounds like a prick. It's something that happens so regularly (along with people driving through red lights) that I assume a worst case scenario on approach.

[Glosphil]

Yesterday I followed an expensive 71-reg Mercedes for 15 miles. Never used the indicators & chopped across clearly marked lanes on 4 roundabouts. I lost count of the number of horn blasts & headlight flashes attracted.
The driver must have realised his/her 'driving' was inconveniencing & annoying other drivers but either didn't care or had no idea he/her was doing anything wrong. Driver sat so low in seat & hidden by head restraint I couldn't see if man or woman.
Also drove at 35 in 50 limit for half the time I was following (too much oncoming traffic to allow me to overtake).

[Short Grain]

Countdown said:

He sounds like a prick. It's something that happens so regularly (along with people driving through red lights) that I assume a worst case scenario on approach.

It was the eye contact and still going for it that really annoyed me, the Prick!

[donkmeister]

Short Grain said:

Countdown said:

He sounds like a prick. It's something that happens so regularly (along with people driving through red lights) that I assume a worst case scenario on approach.

It was the eye contact and still going for it that really annoyed me, the Prick!

I frequently use a big A-road DC roundabout where it's not unusual to be on the roundabout and to see someone approaching at 50-60mph with no signs of slowing. So, you lift off to make sure that they'll pass in front rather than T-boning you.
Sometimes they pass in front and you wonder if they would have smashed into you, but more commonly they do a last ditch brake-stamp and give you daggers because presumably they were hoping to pass behind you.
It's a good demonstration of how rushing can actually slow you down; if they'd been coasting down to 20-30mph, they'd have neatly entered the roundabout behind me without stopping. Now they're waiting at 0mph until the next gap opens up.

[Lexington59]

That's where anticipation and driving defensively help, no point in getting bent out of shape about it, it's not a race.

[motco]

Short Grain said:

Countdown said:

He sounds like a prick. It's something that happens so regularly (along with people driving through red lights) that I assume a worst case scenario on approach.

It was the eye contact and still going for it that really annoyed me, the Prick!

A London black cab driver told me never to make eye contact. If you do make eye contact then the other driver knows you've seen them.

[PF62]

motco said:

A London black cab driver told me never to make eye contact. If you do make eye contact then the other driver knows you've seen them.

I always applied this to Black Cab drivers in London when I was cycling or a pedestrian.

If the Black Cab driver saw you make eye contact then they knew you would give way first even if you had the right of way.

However if you avoided eye contact then they would (reluctantly) give way first as they didn’t want to fk up their cab.

[Aretnap]

CraigyMc said:

ScotHill said:

I thought it was cyclists that were the problem, now you're telling me it's motorists?

This is all very confusing.

The problem is other people. It's always other people.

And new stuff. Everything was better in the good old days when we didn't have any of this bloody new stuff. Driving standards, general behaviour, my knees, my eyesight, my sex life - you name it. All ruined because of new stuff.

[jondude]

Lexington59 said:

That's where anticipation and driving defensively help, no point in getting bent out of shape about it, it's not a race.

Agree, if I were you OP I'd be patting myself on the back for ensuring through your reading of the situation that no collision occurred. Life is about learning how to deal with idiots and one of the first lessons of motoring is knowing if you keep wanting to fight and rant at those who make errors, you WILL die of blood pressure issues.

Also, worthwhile looking inwards as there can be no doubt we all have been the 'idiot' too, just hopefully not much. I ticked up half a million miles on motorbikes, no accidents despite two years of London courier riding....still did not stop me one day totally missing a crossroads junction and me to this day being indebted to the driver with the right to cross my lane doing as you did, reading something was up and holding back.

Set off on journeys early, take it easy and enjoy the mess.

[Tommo87]

Aretnap said:

CraigyMc said:

ScotHill said:

I thought it was cyclists that were the problem, now you're telling me it's motorists?

This is all very confusing.

The problem is other people. It's always other people.

And new stuff. Everything was better in the good old days when we didn't have any of this bloody new stuff. Driving standards, general behaviour, my knees, my eyesight, my sex life - you name it. All ruined because of new stuff.

I’m sure there were less centre of the universe whiners in the old days.

[TurboHatchback]

I don't really agree with this notion that driving standards are falling or that it's better in other countries. Go abroad and drive around a bit and suddenly you'll think that actually it's not so bad here. I think that the ever-increasing density of traffic and our increasing experience with age just makes it seem that way, for all the knobheads and incompetents you see out and about there are thousands of others who don't even register because they are driving in a totally adequate and unremarkable way. I do caveat this opinion with the fact that I live in a well to do semi-rural part of the country, visiting more 'vibrant' urban areas can be another story.

Also the way you drive yourself will make a dramatic difference to your encounters with others. People simply do not expect others to be travelling at an atypical speed or to perform unusual maneuvers. Chill out, go with the flow, assume that everyone else hasn't seen you and mostly you'll see the incidents happening to other people.

[Red9zero]

PF62 said:

motco said:

A London black cab driver told me never to make eye contact. If you do make eye contact then the other driver knows you've seen them.

I always applied this to Black Cab drivers in London when I was cycling or a pedestrian.

If the Black Cab driver saw you make eye contact then they knew you would give way first even if you had the right of way.

However if you avoided eye contact then they would (reluctantly) give way first as they didn’t want to fk up their cab.

I was told black cab drivers can't work if their cab is dented when I first started driving in London. This was more recently confirmed by the late lamented Frank 7.

[Super Sonic]

Lexington59 said:

That's where anticipation and driving defensively help, no point in getting bent out of shape about it, it's not a race.

Like
Also, don't take it personally.

[Plus8]

I have been watching a few YouTube dash cam videos entitled “idiot drivers” or similar and it is apparent, particularly with the uk ones, how, with a bit of common sense and defensive driving, many of the situations could be avoided. Quite often you can hear the driver swearing or making adverse comments about the “perpetrator”, when all it needed was a little bit of consideration from himself/herself to avoid the developing hazard manifesting in front of them. It seems like many people are quick to judge other road users poor or aggressive driving, when they themselves are behaving in a similar manner.

[runnerbean 14]

PF62 said:

I always applied this to Black Cab drivers in London when I was cycling or a pedestrian.

If the Black Cab driver saw you make eye contact then they knew you would give way first even if you had the right of way.

However if you avoided eye contact then they would (reluctantly) give way first as they didn’t want to fk up their cab.

In 1973 I was pushed off the road in the Hyde Park Underpass (two lanes each way in those happy days) by a Black Cab driver called Solly Bluestone, from whom I claimed the cost of my repairs. He demurred so we ended up in a mag's court. On giving evidence Solly stated that 'he thought everyone knew' that the rule of the road was that everything in front of a notional line at right angles to the direction of travel and through their front doorhandles was their own responsibility. Everything behind that line was someone else's problem. Black Cab drivers are still applying the same principle - perhaps they pass it on to newbie cab drivers in their little green cafes over cups of strong tea. P.S. I won and Solly coughed up.

Edited by runnerbean 14 on Wednesday 23 February 21:28