Fierce_LiNk Posted August 15, 2015 Posted August 15, 2015 Usually, I'm not one to get THAT pissed off when driving. But, yesterday took the absolute piss and it left me seething. We were driving to the airport from the place where we were staying in Spain and it happened to be a mostly pleasant drive. You get some awesome views of the mountains and the houses built alongside them, of the sea, of the terrain. It's beautiful. As it was boiling, we had the air conditioning turned right up and it was nice to actually feel something other than blistering heat for once. The roads there have a great sense of speed. As it's mainland Europe, we were on that kilometre time, so the roads range from 80 to 120 km. The road we happened to be on was indicated to be a 100km road. As we stuck to that speed, we couldn't help but notice that we were gaining on the traffic ahead of us. A bit strange, it almost came to a standstill despite there being literally NOTHING else around. No traffic lights, no built up areas, no merging roads. About five or six cars ahead of us, we noticed that everybody seemed to be queued up behind some idiot doing barely half what we were doing. Our speed dropped from 100km to around the 40km mark in an instant. Looking in our mirrors, we could see tons of cars behind us starting to form a queue. It was a single lane road, so we couldn't even overtake it. However, that didn't stop people from trying after what seemed like an eternity expecting this person to speed up. We must have passed half a dozen signposts which so clearly said that the speed should be two or three times more than what they were doing. Finally, people had had enough. One car decided to try and go around it and narrowly missed on-coming traffic. One car behind us almost collided with us as they decided to take an exit road, merely centimetres away from taking out our bumper and passenger side, obviously pissed off at the slowness of the traffic. Another decided to get real close to our backside, as if somehow we were at fault for the speed being so low. We eventually overtook it when the road appeared to be clear. We must have driven for about 10 minutes down the road without a single car behind us, obviously because that one was holding everyone up. Say what you want about speeders, but that was some of the most dangerous driving that I had seen. I will be amazed if not one person has collided with a car further down the line, expecting cars to be travelling at a certain speed and instead seeing that. Without an exaggeration, if this were a British road and the speed limit were 60, they must have been about 20-25mph. Plenty of opportunities to stop and pull over. There were hard shoulders to do so.
Shorty Posted August 15, 2015 Posted August 15, 2015 (edited) Car could've been in limp-home mode. edit: I was on mobile when I made this comment, it wasn't excusing, just explaining the possible cause. Their inability to let people pass means they still shouldn't have been on the road. Edited August 18, 2015 by Shorty
Fierce_LiNk Posted August 15, 2015 Author Posted August 15, 2015 Car could've been in limp-home mode. It could've been, but there were tons of opportunities to pull over to the hard shoulder and let everyone pass, or put the hazards on to let people know that there's a problem.
MoogleViper Posted August 15, 2015 Posted August 15, 2015 Completely agree. Driving that slowly can be just as dangerous as driving too quickly. Most people don't seem to realise this, but you can fail your driving test and even receive a penalty for driving too slowly. Car could've been in limp-home mode. Possibly, but you should still be able to achieve ~40mph in limp home mode. And if it happened to me I'd at least put my hazards on so people know they need to overtake when possible.
nightwolf Posted August 15, 2015 Posted August 15, 2015 I'm pretty sure in the UK there is something against slow drivers on roads such as motorways. Honestly, I have this sort of thing every day. In fact its become a joke with my housemate and boyfriend because every time they drive with me there is someone who decides to be a dick. To was pulling out of my estate, its my right of way and two people came pelting forward towards me causing me to stop. Another was a tractor driving at 20mph on a 70mph motorway. Go figure. Then there was also a moped who didn't understand how a roundabout worked and got confused when I braked with him right behind me. Eurgh. Cambridge is such a bad one for drivers and I'm comparing this to going round Birmingham, I've no idea why.
Dog-amoto Posted August 15, 2015 Posted August 15, 2015 I too am appalled by the standard of driving in this country. Take the other day for example, there were literally hundreds of idiots driving the wrong way on the M25.
Agent Gibbs Posted August 15, 2015 Posted August 15, 2015 I work for the Council traffic management dept for my sins, i do road safety schemes generated by accidents, so i can access all the accident statistics for our region in frankly graphic detail! you'd be surprised how many country road accidents occurred due to overtaking of slow moving vehicles. Not that there isn't a fair share of solitary idiots who are just speeding, but when it gets to rural roads they are usually overtaking something angrily and the slower driver is never implicated, the onus is always on the overtaking driver not paying attention and their lack of patience. poor drivers have become the bane of my existence unfortunately There is a minimum speed limit on Motorways, since i don't often have to look this up i may be wrong but i think its 45mph, so any vehicle that can't achieve it is illegally on the motorway Still you do get some amusing ones, had one where a kid on a go kart crashed into the back of a stationary police car, that was amusing in a dark way.
ReZourceman Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 I assume everyone else in a car is a complete and utter fucking spastic (which is mostly true anyway). Aylesbury is an absolute joke for drivers. I can drive a 4 hour round trip to Bristol, and not encounter anything, but the second I enter back into Aylesbury I have Billy fucking Bellends everywhere trying to ruin my shit.
MoogleViper Posted August 17, 2015 Posted August 17, 2015 I assume everyone else in a car is a complete and utter fucking spastic (which is mostly true anyway). Aylesbury is an absolute joke for drivers. I can drive a 4 hour round trip to Bristol, and not encounter anything, but the second I enter back into Aylesbury I have Billy fucking Bellends everywhere trying to ruin my shit. Worst place I've ever driven was Oxford. On my morning commute people would fuck up at every roundabout. Not even an xxaggeration, I don't think I ever drove in (minor) traffic in Oxford without somebody fucking up (usually at a roundabout, always outside laning a dual carriageway, often blocking junctions).
Charlie Posted August 18, 2015 Posted August 18, 2015 I assume everyone else in a car is a complete and utter fucking spastic (which is mostly true anyway). Aylesbury is an absolute joke for drivers. I can drive a 4 hour round trip to Bristol, and not encounter anything, but the second I enter back into Aylesbury I have Billy fucking Bellends everywhere trying to ruin my shit. I think that's actually a good rule to go by. So many people forget to turn their indicators off or don't turn them on you have no idea if the person is about to turn left into the junction you're coming out of or not. A lot of the time it's safer just to wait. And don't get me started on roundabouts. I spotted someone stop on the roundabout to let someone else onto it once!
MoogleViper Posted August 18, 2015 Posted August 18, 2015 I spotted someone stop on the roundabout to let someone else onto it once! That happened to me the other week. I was behind the person who stopped on the roundabout. Had to slam my brakes on.
Agent Gibbs Posted August 18, 2015 Posted August 18, 2015 I think that's actually a good rule to go by. So many people forget to turn their indicators off or don't turn them on you have no idea if the person is about to turn left into the junction you're coming out of or not. A lot of the time it's safer just to wait. And don't get me started on roundabouts. I spotted someone stop on the roundabout to let someone else onto it once! were they foreign by any chance? because one of the craziest rules i know of from european traffic rules is that your give way to those entering a roundabout! a lot of the roundabouts have a sign up if you don't have to give way, so maybe they are just a fucking idiot who doesn't know we aren't mad in this country and you give way to those on the roundabout already
Jonnas Posted August 18, 2015 Posted August 18, 2015 were they foreign by any chance? because one of the craziest rules i know of from european traffic rules is that your give way to those entering a roundabout!a lot of the roundabouts have a sign up if you don't have to give way, so maybe they are just a fucking idiot who doesn't know we aren't mad in this country and you give way to those on the roundabout already I've never seen such a rule anywhere. Which country was it? Then again, I had to brake in the middle of an empty roundabout once because some daredevil asshole decided to enter said roundabout in front of me without slowing down, maybe he expected priority for some bizarre reason. Closest I've been to an accident.
Agent Gibbs Posted August 18, 2015 Posted August 18, 2015 I've never seen such a rule anywhere. Which country was it? Then again, I had to brake in the middle of an empty roundabout once because some daredevil asshole decided to enter said roundabout in front of me without slowing down, maybe he expected priority for some bizarre reason. Closest I've been to an accident. Atleast in France, (possibly Germany too) - my other half is in the Army Reserves and had to drive to Germany, and the army force them to do a driving theory test on driving in Europe, where one question we persistently got wrong was one where it showed a roundabout and three vehicles, 2 entering one already on, and asked who gave way to whom - turned out that as the signs shown didn't have this little diamond, that the roundabout had to give way to one junction. Looking online i found this Roundabouts Vehicles on a roundabout ( sens giratoire or rond-point) usually have priority and not those entering it, who are faced with a ‘Give Way’ sign (‘ Cédez le passage’ or ‘ Vous n’avez pas la priorité’). While it used to be that drivers on the roundabout at times had to give way to vehicles entering the roundabout, this has slowly changed, and almost all roundabouts give priority to the vehicles on the roundabout. British drivers should note that traffic flows anti-clockwise round round*abouts and not clockwise. Source - https://www.justlanded.com/english/France/Articles/Travel-Leisure/Rules-of-the-road less common but it seems it did occur.... Wait more sources Greece too
jayseven Posted August 18, 2015 Posted August 18, 2015 The roundabout 'round the Arc de Triumph is famously one of those 'backwards' roundabouts, but it's certainly not the norm. I can't drive, but as a passenger who travels on bypasses a lot, I mostly just see idiots hogging the middle lane or fast lane. I get that they're intending to continue to travel faster than the car in the slower lane that is 400 yards ahead... but they are being selfish in that they don't move over to allow those who want to go FASTER to overtake them. My only other annoyance is cyclists who are in the middle of the road. Selfish behaviour is what annoys me.
Goafer Posted August 18, 2015 Posted August 18, 2015 My only other annoyance is cyclists who are in the middle of the road. Selfish behaviour is what annoys me. Not that I agree with it at all (I always keep well in when cycling on the road), but I've heard people say this is safer for the cyclist. If a cyclist is in the middle of the road, overtaking cars won't be tempted to squeeze past when it might not be suitable, and therefore have to treat the cyclist as a car and overtake when the oncoming lane is clear.
jayseven Posted August 18, 2015 Posted August 18, 2015 Yeah that makes sense in some suburban or rural places. Where I live the main roads are busier than the pavements - so a cyclist who is in the middle of the road is especially, obviously dickheadish as they could not only move more to the left but also use the pavement (which I know has other 'legal' ramifications, but when the pedestrian area is underused it's more sensible!). If we want to treat cyclist like they're cars then the cyclist needs to respect the minimum speed limit.
Jonnas Posted August 18, 2015 Posted August 18, 2015 Atleast in France, (possibly Germany too) - my other half is in the Army Reserves and had to drive to Germany, and the army force them to do a driving theory test on driving in Europe, where one question we persistently got wrong was one where it showed a roundabout and three vehicles, 2 entering one already on, and asked who gave way to whom - turned out that as the signs shown didn't have this little diamond, that the roundabout had to give way to one junction. Well, damn. In Portugal, vehicles entering a roundabout just lack priority, period. There are signs that confirm that you are entering a roundabout... but they also always put the top-down triangle, which I always thought was redundant, because the roundabout sign already makes you lose priority. Now I see that it's likely because of French drivers (of which we have a lot during the summer) who might not be otherwise aware that we always lose priority when entering one. Dammit, France.
Rummy Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 I have and I guess can be a somewhat dangerous driver, having had a few near misses, but I think I'm not the worst(my peers will inform you otherwise, though I tend to be worse with passengers which is annoyingly re-inforcing!). On the roundabout thing; someone didn't give way to me today and went ahead...also on to my turning. To his credit, he was rather quite respectful of the upcoming 20mph limit...both before and well beyond the 20mph zone. Home from work time. Annoying, and imo no conducive. Another time, about a month or two ago - I ended up behind the car that was coming from the right of me. As you would on a roundabout. Given I gave way to my right. I didn't stop or slow too much as it's open, but I didn't have to break or anything and actually transitioned in quite smoothly behind the car that came from my right. However, for him, I think it was a bit too smooth and he must have thought I was somehow actually gonna t-bone him on my entrance(despite not being close enough and he didn't have to swerve or owt) because for the next little stretch(and it took me a while to realise) he seemed to be having a really hard go at flipping me off and braking hard in front of me etc from inside his car. Honestly was so baffled how someone could be so annoyed at...someone giving way to them on a roundabout. I can't have not, as I was behind him, so I'm still a little confused to date. He was REALLY going for it in his car towards me though, I didn't even think it was at me at first because I just couldn't fathom how outraged someone could be over the road working as it should! I was very bad with a roundabout once though - there's a couple small ones(mini and not mini) I'm familiar with, and I half-foolishly get into the habit of hitting them hard knowing that whatever's at my right has to stop a bit more to see what's at their right etc. One time though someone else had a very similar idea about THEIR right, and was coming from my right. I was totally in the wrong, but fortunately fast enough they didn't hit me, despite them being fast too. Don't think I've hit any as hard since. There's a strange irony in I recall now on the same roundabout in my lessons on a mock test I got failed for my right not giving way to their right, and assuming they would have etc. Bloody roundabouts. Reminds me of what Charlie said as well - not relying on people/assuming they're a dickhead etc. - had a few close calls of my own from people not using/leaving signals on(and occasionally done the same myself, but usually to the same extent).
jayseven Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 I think there should be some codified horn notifications. One long honk for "you're being a dick", or two short honks for "hey you're speed's wrong"... I hear that in India the horn is used more as a kind of "hey i'm a vehicle and I'm here about to do some overtaking" type thing (because the road doesn't seem to have rules there).
Ashley Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 My only other annoyance is cyclists who are in the middle of the road. Selfish behaviour is what annoys me. There is no legal requirement for a cycle to be on the side of the road and it is indeed safer to be in the middle, particular . I try and stick to the edge because it's just politer but it's bloody annoying when some people expect you to be < 1cm away from the edge. Some people seem to forget the edge of a road tends to be less stable/flat. The amount of pot holes, cracks and gutters makes it a bumpy ride and could ultimately lead to ending up in traffic. Ultimately I've always said if people on the road started co-operating and stopped competing we'd all be happier and safer.
jayseven Posted August 19, 2015 Posted August 19, 2015 I totally agree. The only instances where I've been annoyed at cyclists are ones where there are no clear terrain issues, and where there are no parked cars to be concerned about (as cyclists should stay an open-door distance away to avoid being hit by stupid freshly-parked drivers), and no other ascertainable reasons for being plonk in the middle of the road. This has happened maybe twice in 7 years of passenger-seat driving, so it's barely an actual issue. And, again, I'm not talking about london-based travel or heavily urban situations - both instances occurred in smaller towns (which are busy due to this and that, preventing overtaking as the oncoming traffic is heavy)... so yeah it's highly situational. I am surprised that there is no legal requirement for the cyclist to not obstruct traffic. However I am also aware that this definition is kind of a blanket one and would be subject to a lot of subjective bullshit. I would actually like to add to my 'list' (and place it higher than my aforementioned annoyance at mid-lane cyclists) the stupidity of car drivers who do not treat cyclists like human beings. I guess I kind of assumed that everyone acted reasonably. But then, as mentioned already - my reasoning is based on being a passenger. And I'm pretty much always driven by the same person, so the dickheads who don't appreciate your efforts aren't the sorts of drivers I associate with!
Agent Gibbs Posted August 20, 2015 Posted August 20, 2015 The simple fact is that there are as many bad cyclist as motorists, In Leeds you get a sort of Ammeter pro cyclist who is in lycra who dress the part, but seem to be the equivalent of a BMW driver and obviously not a good cyclist who on a daily basis i see run read lights at dangerous junctions - in all honesty it is the same 5 or so cyclist i see on my commute who live 'near' me, running read light by cyclist or car is utterly moronic, but for a bike? why would you risk getting hit? Worse is most mornings i see this same cyclist on my commute who i've frequently seen run the red lights on a crossing near the Ibis hotel, i've seen him almost take out a few pedestrians - its people like that that really should be made to do some sort of proficiency test! Thankfully not all cyclists I wish there were more traffic cops who could stop the bad drivers/riders
Fierce_LiNk Posted August 26, 2015 Author Posted August 26, 2015 MOTORISTS have blasted a pair of drivers who held up traffic on a busy dual carriageway in Hampshire with their own rolling roadblock. Angry drivers have posted footage that shows a what appears to be a Volkswagen Golf and a Renault Trafic van being driven side by side along the A31 towards the M27 at a speed of around 30mph – well below the speed limit of 70mph. I've driven down this road before but haven't seen anything like. Would have raged hard.
Ashley Posted August 26, 2015 Posted August 26, 2015 So this was down the road from work: There is no legal requirement for a cycle to be on the side of the road and it is indeed safer to be in the middle, particular . As was this: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/25/man-pushes-cyclist-into-london-traffic-metropolitan-police And someone emailed the cycling mailing list today saying either they were attacked or someone they know was (only glanced at the email) by the canal by work. I'm just going to...give up? Or quit work, that's better But going back to another point. I don't know why some people skip the reds. I like having a break and catching my breath! Plus work will still be there thirty seconds later... What really annoys me is drivers that go through junctions when there's not enough space and then up blocking them once the lights change. My equivalent of jumping reds.
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