Do you ever 'self-police' the roads?
Discussion
I do, when the occasion presents itself.
Example
Heavy commute motorway traffic, we've 4 lanes of traffic about 2 miles long. Left 2 lanes go North, right 2 lanes go east. The left lanes move a lot slower, so you get lots of people going right hand lane all the way, 2ish miles and then cut in at the last minute. Quite dangerously at times, nipping into tiny gaps.
It's got to the point the left lanes are driving nose to tail to stop these people, but they still cut in anyway, aggressively at times.
So I self police.
I leave a very attractive gap, inviting them to cut in in a safe manner. But I drop a gear and sit bang in the optimum power band, ready to 'speed match' them. As they are about to pass me and take the big gap, I speed up. They soon realise I'm not letting them in and their plan is foiled.
They end up going down several miles of motorway which ends at a big roundabout which is always log jammed. They have to negotiate that, drive all the way back to the start of the 4 lane motorway and start all over again. Minimum 15 mins extra journey time, in their efforts to save I minute. Nice to serve some justice to others sometimes.
Anyone else self police on the road?
Edit.
After a lot of posts, and in line with popular opinion, this isn't clever at all. I'll not be doing this in future
Example
Heavy commute motorway traffic, we've 4 lanes of traffic about 2 miles long. Left 2 lanes go North, right 2 lanes go east. The left lanes move a lot slower, so you get lots of people going right hand lane all the way, 2ish miles and then cut in at the last minute. Quite dangerously at times, nipping into tiny gaps.
It's got to the point the left lanes are driving nose to tail to stop these people, but they still cut in anyway, aggressively at times.
So I self police.
I leave a very attractive gap, inviting them to cut in in a safe manner. But I drop a gear and sit bang in the optimum power band, ready to 'speed match' them. As they are about to pass me and take the big gap, I speed up. They soon realise I'm not letting them in and their plan is foiled.
They end up going down several miles of motorway which ends at a big roundabout which is always log jammed. They have to negotiate that, drive all the way back to the start of the 4 lane motorway and start all over again. Minimum 15 mins extra journey time, in their efforts to save I minute. Nice to serve some justice to others sometimes.
Anyone else self police on the road?
Edit.
After a lot of posts, and in line with popular opinion, this isn't clever at all. I'll not be doing this in future
Edited by soupdragon1 on Tuesday 22 May 18:29
Edited by soupdragon1 on Tuesday 22 May 22:12
Prinny said:
Logic says that this must be a regular occurence, and so if you’re leaving this nice big gap, why don’t I pull alongside, pretend to go for it, so you accelerate, and then simply slot in behind you?
Or do people who do that not register in your thought process as they’re now behind you, and so aren’t pushing in, in front of you? Which makes it OK?
f
kwittery of this sort (from either viewpoint) makes me so glad I don’t have a daily commute any more.
Yes, that absolutely happens on this road. If the person behind doesn't close the gap they brake and take it. I don't brake to stop that, as that's taking it too far. As I mentioned in op, it's all nose to tail to try and stop these people but they still try it on.Or do people who do that not register in your thought process as they’re now behind you, and so aren’t pushing in, in front of you? Which makes it OK?
f
kwittery of this sort (from either viewpoint) makes me so glad I don’t have a daily commute any more.jeremyh1 said:
What happens if you try to police the roads and somebody comes at you with a sharp left hook or a lovely upper cut !
What you going to do then ? Take him out with your own combinations or complain to the policeman when you in the ambulance that you like going around provoking aggressive people and its wrong that they had a crack at you
Come on wake up !
But he's just been sent down the wrong motorway, not like he can do anything from there.What you going to do then ? Take him out with your own combinations or complain to the policeman when you in the ambulance that you like going around provoking aggressive people and its wrong that they had a crack at you
Come on wake up !
Pica-Pica said:
Idiot or troll
Neither. Although I would be prepared to accept that's it the wrong thing to do. Maybe I should do nothing and just let them so it. It's an epidemic and dangerous manoeuvres are regular. It's my way of trying to foil them. Being sent down the wrong motorway will make them think twice is where I'm coming from.I'm not a dick though, I do it for (What I think) is the right reason. As I say, quite happy to accept it's the wrong thing to do, but as per usual, were straight out of the blocks with insults on what is supposed to be a discussion forum.
I always make a conscious effort to have reasonable discussions on forums and try my best to not throw insults around.
Hasn't been a great start to the thread though I have to say!
Nickbrapp said:
I bet you’re the sort of fool that blocks merge in turns aswell because you think it’s pushing in, when it’s clear it reduces traffic jams and travel times for everyone
Do you have a dash cam?
No, on the contrary. I'll self police that too if I can. Turn about and if someone in front doesn't comply then I'll let 2 cars in to get back to where we should be. Honestly. People know the unwritten rules of the road, merge in turn and not deliberately cutting in the queue jump are well known rules.Do you have a dash cam?
FlabbyMidgets said:
I was on a dual carriageway last week. Traffic in lane 1, lane 2 flowing free. Megane came down lane 2 to behind me and tried slotting in. Corsa behind me was triggered, accelerating to close the gap and stop this megane joining. I left a gap and waved him in front of me. Corsa was enraged, hands going etc.
Anyway, why be a nob, just let them in. Also is it half term?
Its a valid point and at least it somewhat resembles a discussion. My view, rightly or wrongly, is that by encouraging serial queue jumpers like on this stretch of road, when the gap isn't there, they force a gap which can be quite dangerous. I do see your overall point though, let them in, nobody gets hurt, life goes on. But if people like you don't let them in, they are potentially going to cause an accident. Anyway, why be a nob, just let them in. Also is it half term?
FlabbyMidgets said:
I understand for some it may be frustrating to have someone get in front of you, delaying your journey by a little etc, encouraging others to follow et Al. However it is impossible imo to stop this from happening. Some people will always try and get in front when a chance arises.
By actively stopping them like you describe is creating a situation for little reward. The person you are blocking could potentially be a loon (see the case where the elderly man was stabbed after a minor accident). If the person does keep going it may result in an accident, a claim on your name and increased insurance.
I don't see how it can be worth the risk, just let them in, I'm not saying you need to leave a massive gap but just don't actively block. It's not going to end well one day.
Can you see where I'm coming from?
I do and thanks for your sensible post and not insulting me. On reflection, I have to admit, you're right and if I do accelerate and he takes the gap behind , he could torture me the whole way home. It's a fair point. I think I'll stop doing it.By actively stopping them like you describe is creating a situation for little reward. The person you are blocking could potentially be a loon (see the case where the elderly man was stabbed after a minor accident). If the person does keep going it may result in an accident, a claim on your name and increased insurance.
I don't see how it can be worth the risk, just let them in, I'm not saying you need to leave a massive gap but just don't actively block. It's not going to end well one day.
Can you see where I'm coming from?
It's a shame I've been insulted so many times, my somewhat misguided viewpoint is a bit of a silly thing to do, I'm man enough to take that one on the chin
Peace folks
Triumph Man said:
soupdragon1 said:
Stella Tortoise said:
Righto:
tt
t
t
the irony of your posts just made me smile Remind me. Who's childish again?
.If I completely disregarded what others were saying then maybe I do deserve to be called an xyz, I guess that might be a fair assessment then.
standards said:
Whilst I understand your frustration at the bad planning, errors or whatever of others, I certainly don’t do as you describe.
Son 2. Not keen to do as he was told, by ADI or anyone else, was identified as a candidate for a young drivers workshop before being caught doing anything wrong. The chap who presented (met him since in RoSPA stuff) had 3 types of attitude:
Child: takes silly risks to show off etc.;
Parent: takes it upon themself to be the driving parent and teach others what is right/wrong by their lights;
Adult: does not take silly risks or try to parent others. Gets on with own driving life allowing others to do what they do.
He was advocating the last one to those mostly in the first category. You can work out where your post would put you...!
We had a training thing in work not that long ago which was similar to this so yeah, I recognise what you mean here. I know where I sit....but tomorrow I'll change that Son 2. Not keen to do as he was told, by ADI or anyone else, was identified as a candidate for a young drivers workshop before being caught doing anything wrong. The chap who presented (met him since in RoSPA stuff) had 3 types of attitude:
Child: takes silly risks to show off etc.;
Parent: takes it upon themself to be the driving parent and teach others what is right/wrong by their lights;
Adult: does not take silly risks or try to parent others. Gets on with own driving life allowing others to do what they do.
He was advocating the last one to those mostly in the first category. You can work out where your post would put you...!
280E said:
I'd say the OP has dropped a bit of a Clanger, here
Yeah, bit of a facepalm here but to be fair, valid points raised which on hindsight, make better sense than my own. But it wasn't a troll post, I've been doing this for a while now. Not the smartest thing I've ever done mind!
I've edited my original post at the end to confirm that's it's not very clever, and I won't be doing that anymore.
You probably won't be alarmed to know that this isn't the only bit of self-policing I've been doing though
This example is a bit of policing I learnt from someone else. I was in a queue at the railway station, gates down, train coming. Takes ages, because the train is crawling in and gates come down when train is half a mile away. Always creates long queues both sides.
So gates go up, traffic starts to move from both sides. Guy in front just stops, and starts letting in people turning to their right (our left) and it's not just a car, multiple cars. What the bloody he'll makes you a self appointed mobile traffic light I'm saying to myself. I'm all for letting people in, but once our queue had moved away, they were all getting across no problem at all.
Several months later, same queue. Traffic starts moving and off we all go, both directions free to move off. I get as far as the railway tracks and the traffic comes to a standstill. Great. Same thing in both directions. My queue wants to turn right but the other queue is blocking. The other queue has cars waiting to turn right, but can't get past our queue. Gridlock.
Cars are now trying to reverse to create room, but it's a domino effect...until the back of the queue reverses, nobody else really can. I watch this all playing out for a couple of minutes, but then the track lights start flashing, then the gates come down.....and I'm still on the tracks. Holy st, I'm in diffs here!
I beep the horn and thankfully, because it's a station with an attended barrier, he puts the barrier back up. I still have nowhere to go, I just find a gap in the centre of the road between 2 cars.
Thinking how it all played out, I can now see why that guy decided to self-police the situation. It's not obvious, there is about 100 yards between both right turns either side of the railway and due to the hump at the railway, you can't see that far either. You're just guessing that there is 'potential' to a gridlock like i found myself in.
It would always take 1 person like him, but whos to know which side of the road to do it on? That guy done it anyway, I realised his logic and after my experience, I think he's doing the right thing. But of course, other side of the argument is that he could be holding up traffic unnecessarily and who is he to decide what way the traffic should flow?
Anyways, that's why I created the thread. Sometimes it's maybe best to 'force' other road users to follow you're way of thinking, even if it's not your position to do so? There is bound to be lots of scenarios where you can 'force' others to follow your lead as it's the right thing to do. My 1st example was very bad, yes, not a good start, but maybe this example is better?
You probably won't be alarmed to know that this isn't the only bit of self-policing I've been doing though
This example is a bit of policing I learnt from someone else. I was in a queue at the railway station, gates down, train coming. Takes ages, because the train is crawling in and gates come down when train is half a mile away. Always creates long queues both sides.
So gates go up, traffic starts to move from both sides. Guy in front just stops, and starts letting in people turning to their right (our left) and it's not just a car, multiple cars. What the bloody he'll makes you a self appointed mobile traffic light I'm saying to myself. I'm all for letting people in, but once our queue had moved away, they were all getting across no problem at all.
Several months later, same queue. Traffic starts moving and off we all go, both directions free to move off. I get as far as the railway tracks and the traffic comes to a standstill. Great. Same thing in both directions. My queue wants to turn right but the other queue is blocking. The other queue has cars waiting to turn right, but can't get past our queue. Gridlock.
Cars are now trying to reverse to create room, but it's a domino effect...until the back of the queue reverses, nobody else really can. I watch this all playing out for a couple of minutes, but then the track lights start flashing, then the gates come down.....and I'm still on the tracks. Holy s
t, I'm in diffs here!I beep the horn and thankfully, because it's a station with an attended barrier, he puts the barrier back up. I still have nowhere to go, I just find a gap in the centre of the road between 2 cars.
Thinking how it all played out, I can now see why that guy decided to self-police the situation. It's not obvious, there is about 100 yards between both right turns either side of the railway and due to the hump at the railway, you can't see that far either. You're just guessing that there is 'potential' to a gridlock like i found myself in.
It would always take 1 person like him, but whos to know which side of the road to do it on? That guy done it anyway, I realised his logic and after my experience, I think he's doing the right thing. But of course, other side of the argument is that he could be holding up traffic unnecessarily and who is he to decide what way the traffic should flow?
Anyways, that's why I created the thread. Sometimes it's maybe best to 'force' other road users to follow you're way of thinking, even if it's not your position to do so? There is bound to be lots of scenarios where you can 'force' others to follow your lead as it's the right thing to do. My 1st example was very bad, yes, not a good start, but maybe this example is better?
Blakewater said:
The problem is, when a queue stretches for miles in one lane up to a junction it can extend beyond the first signs telling you which lane you need. You can't see the road markings for the traffic covering them. People passing a queue and then trying to move in might seem like queue jumpers to those who use the stretch of road everyday and know they need to get in the correct lane a long way back. They might in fact be people unfamiliar with the road and the quirks of where the traffic builds up locally trying to get into the correct lane at the earliest point. If going a different way because they're in the incorrect lane is obviously going to take a long detour they'll be keen to correct their error.
Very good point.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff