Are people right to be angry with me?
Discussion
Disclaimer: I am not an advanced driver, far from it, but I thought this was the best section to ask in.
I like to think of myself as a courteous driver, and in general don't have any problems with others on the road. However, one aspect of my driving seems to drive people into a rage, so am I right to be doing it or am I being a bit of a knob?
At the set of traffic lights pictured, and others like it, there's often a massive queue in the left hand lane, which is for straight on, but the right hand lane, which is for straight on then immediately right at the next junction, is usually clear. If so, I look at the vehicle at the front of the queue, and if I judge that I can safely out-accelerate it and pull in front without causing them to change speed, I'll take the right hand lane and cut in after the lights.
This usually provokes flashing, horn blasting, arm waving, etc etc, despite the fact that my actions haven't affected them in any way. I haven't caused them to change speed, or cut in too close, but I guess they see it as pushing in.
The way I see it, I'm preventing the queue backing up further and not acting dangerously or (I believe) illegally. I get as annoyed as anyone else when someone does the same move but misjudges it and causes me to swerve or brake harshly, but when someone does it safely when I'm sat in a queue it doesn't bother me at all.
Junction pictured for reference.
I like to think of myself as a courteous driver, and in general don't have any problems with others on the road. However, one aspect of my driving seems to drive people into a rage, so am I right to be doing it or am I being a bit of a knob?
At the set of traffic lights pictured, and others like it, there's often a massive queue in the left hand lane, which is for straight on, but the right hand lane, which is for straight on then immediately right at the next junction, is usually clear. If so, I look at the vehicle at the front of the queue, and if I judge that I can safely out-accelerate it and pull in front without causing them to change speed, I'll take the right hand lane and cut in after the lights.
This usually provokes flashing, horn blasting, arm waving, etc etc, despite the fact that my actions haven't affected them in any way. I haven't caused them to change speed, or cut in too close, but I guess they see it as pushing in.
The way I see it, I'm preventing the queue backing up further and not acting dangerously or (I believe) illegally. I get as annoyed as anyone else when someone does the same move but misjudges it and causes me to swerve or brake harshly, but when someone does it safely when I'm sat in a queue it doesn't bother me at all.
Junction pictured for reference.
Seems that opinion is divided 
In response to some comments, I don't ever indicate or give any sign of my intentions, so I never get people trying to race me. If anyone did, like others suggested, I'd simply stick to the lane I had chosen and merge back in after them, as we'd have left everyone else behind. To be honest, if it gained me a few seconds I wouldn't bother, but it actually can gain an enormous amount of time, especially if the queue is particularly long or the lights are on a quick sequence.
As far as judging it goes, it actually helps that I drive a relatively slow car, so, if the person at the front is in anything even average, I don't bother. More often than not though, the vehicle at the front is a van/people carrier/micra, perhaps due to the time of day I travel.
In response to some comments, I don't ever indicate or give any sign of my intentions, so I never get people trying to race me. If anyone did, like others suggested, I'd simply stick to the lane I had chosen and merge back in after them, as we'd have left everyone else behind. To be honest, if it gained me a few seconds I wouldn't bother, but it actually can gain an enormous amount of time, especially if the queue is particularly long or the lights are on a quick sequence.
As far as judging it goes, it actually helps that I drive a relatively slow car, so, if the person at the front is in anything even average, I don't bother. More often than not though, the vehicle at the front is a van/people carrier/micra, perhaps due to the time of day I travel.
blindswelledrat said:
I think this is quite a common dilemma.
OUt of interest Geekman, why do all the cars queue in the left hand lane?
There's usually a reason that this happens and that junction shows nothing
The reason, as far as I can see it, is that the only way to proceed straight on after the next set of lights (which is very soon after the junction) is to either do what I do or use the other lane, there is no system for traffic in the right hand lane to join the left hand lane at the next junction, poor design really. Was talking about it to my dad (who does the same thing, albeit in a considerably faster car) and apparently he rarely gets the reactions I get.OUt of interest Geekman, why do all the cars queue in the left hand lane?
There's usually a reason that this happens and that junction shows nothing
I suspect the real reason for their annoyance is that I look very young and my car looks decent (even though it's not
), so they expect me to drive like a knob, and see that move as proof they're right. My dad ( a 55 year old man in a stock-looking forester) isn't someone they'd expect to do anything like that, so they probably don't even notice him doing it.refoman2 said:
maybe if you just got on with driving rather than over-analysing everything you might actually just get where your going a bit quicker rather than pissing around with a should i/shouldnt i manouvre whilst us drivers who do just get on with sit behind you pulling our hair out wondering when the f
k your going to get on with it!
Wow, you bumped this thread just to say that? I do get on with my driving, I don't know where you get the idea that I piss around. I just posted this thread because I noticed the move seemed to be annoying some drivers and wanted to see what the general consensus was. There's probably several aspects of my driving you could criticize me for, but holding people up definitely isn't one of them.k your going to get on with it!WD39 said:
Dreadful driving habit.
And most other posters agreeing with you.
Deary deary me....
God knows how you found this thread - I posted it over two years ago! Were you searching the forum for threads where you could criticise people's driving or something? And most other posters agreeing with you.
Deary deary me....
For what it's worth, I still do the same move now, albeit in a much faster car. Still get the occasional angry reaction, but far less than I used to - perhaps, as one posted said, because it doesn't look as boy racer-ish as it did in my old car.
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