Annoying Driving Habits...

[AdamW]

Awww, but complaining about others' driving is what men do best. If you stick two men in a room together then within 5 minutes they will have discussed the journey there and at least two incidents on the way there.

I remembered another one that gets me

37) People who drive down a motorway sliproad and don't read the sign that shows exactly what the lanes will be doing. Then cut right in front of you because they didn't realise that the sliproad turned into another lane.

I disagree with the multi-storey comment. We have a multistorey carpark at work and despite driving up and down it everyday people have succeded in having "altercations" because they didn't stop and look on the way up or they went too fast on the way down.

I saw a proper wally on Friday: he was so upset that I pulled into the outside lane that he then accelerated up to my back bumper (no, I didn't misjudge it, he was travelling the same speed as me!) then started waving his arms and calling me rude names. So I waved my arms back. Anyway, after I finished my heinous practice of overtaking I pulled back in. He shot past in his bottom-of-the-range Merc and did the exact same thing to the next car! Now that was a stressed man. Probably saved 5 minutes on his journey but took 15 minutes off his life!

 

[pipme]

I have watched the Merc type, regularly, 6-45am-ish on the winding A46, overtaking HGV's across double continuous white lines .. using hand held mobile ... as mentioned before, did he realise just how many witnesses there was ? He feels he is just too important a person ... perhaps that is the statement the Merc is supposed to make .... oh yes 6 miles later at MoWay junc, he was two vehicles ahead .... He was a regular, not a one off !!
P

 

[mildmanneredjanitor]

I can't believe I forgot this one...

Should be at top of list!

1a. People that don't say thank you by means of a headlamp flash or hand gesture.

Manners cost nothing! And what really grips my excrement, is the snooty look you sometimes get after, say - letting someone through. Like you are something unsavoury on the bottom of their shoe!

Oh and all Volvo drivers!

Anyone disagree???

Even the manufacturers think so, that's why they wire up the headlamps to the ignition, so you have some chance of seeing them as they approach!

 

[mildmanneredjanitor]

Ok, just thought of one more...

Cabriolet drivers that don't put the roof down on a glorious hot day!!!

Air con maybe!!!

 

[AdamW]

Here here! My dad has a sweet MG TF for those lovely days. He reckons "who needs aircon with the roof off?".

And the roof only takes 10 seconds to get up and down, it's practically as quick and easy as one of those fancy electric hard-tops! So there is no excuse to have a convertible with the roof up on a nice day.

It is a very strange experience, because after years of sitting encapsulated in an airconditioned bubble, you don't expect to be able to hear the conversations of people standing on the pavement. And the noise given off by the tyres of other cars on the motorway is unbelievable!

A couple more:

38) When there are cars parked on one side of the road, people who bomb down towards you on the wrong side, expecting that you will grind your wheels against the kerb to let them through at some silly speed

38a) When driving down a road with cars parked on the other side and "pillow" speedhumps on yours, people who will come down your side of the road expecting you to knacker your suspension on one side just so they can get past. "Dammit moron, wait your turn!"

39) People who have "Baby on board" stickers who sit on my back bumper flashing their headlights, then scream past me at 90mph talking on their mobile. "What, so if you declare that you have passed on your rubbish DNA then I have to be careful around you and your demon spawn? Just cos I don't have a sticker doesn't mean there isn't a tot in my car too, dumbass!"

39a) Anyone who has a "baby on board" sticker... just a bit less.

 

[AdamW]

Not so much a habit as a one-off.

I was filling up a few weeks back, and whilst I was queueing to pay I thought "that man has a car identical to mine". There it was, same colour, same alloys... except... his had lower-profile tyres. When I looked more closely I realised that his tyre pressures were so dangerously low that the sidewalls weren't really supporting the car.

When he joined the queue behind me I thought "better point it out" and told him "'Ere mate, I think your tyres might need a bit of air". He couldn't care less. "Oh, well I'll get round to it". When I got out and back into my car I noticed that he had large amounts of crash damage (by the looks of it from several accidents!). I thought he would be doing his tyres (he had to drive past the compressor to get out) but instead he just drove past. Onto the road system. The road system that you and I drive on, and that in residential areas your children play on.

So, be on the look-out for this moron who is driving around in this death-trap. He probably has friends all over the country just the same. Whatsmore, he is polluting us all too as he is probably getting about 15mpg driving like that.

What's to worry about though, just so long as he doesn't have to waste 2 valuable minutes inflating his tyres then we should all be happy for him

 

[pipme]

Soft-tops, open, hard-top .... Swapping between helps to vary the normal sounds one associates with one's car ... The irritating sounds don't have time to become invasive .... Keeps the experience fresh ...... Enjoyable days !!

P

 

[waran]

I'm not sure if there are any other London cyclists out there but can I recommend that some of you just try getting on your bicycle to see how bad the driving is from the viewpoint of a vulnerable road user.
Despite having flourescent stickers, a bright jersey and no end of lights, the most common response from drivers is "sorry mate didn't see you!!" - more like didn't really look! There are so many people out there on their mobile phones, reading newspapers, changing CDs etc and whilst that's going on they are meandering all over the road into the space that I'm cycling in!
I've got to say that there are a lot of good drivers out there who respect the space that I'm riding in but the Taxis and Buses do act like they own the road.
Fundamentally drivers don't really appreciate how fast you can actually go on a bicycle and when you are going quite quickly it takes a lot longer to stop on a bike because our brakes arn't as good as a car.
o.k. rant over.

 

[securespark]

OK.

Two things that spring to mind.

The idiot who pulls up at a side road (usually on the left) up ahead of you. They watch you come closer, and closer still (you can count the seconds out loud) then at the last possible minute they decide to pull out.

Even worse, they don't have the courtesy, once in front of you, to get up to speed quickly. They look dumbly in their mirrors as you follow frustratedly behind...


Another is people who completely disregard the white line separating their side of the road from yours, even if you are approaching them rapidly!

In an incident a few years ago, I was on a B road approaching a stationary bus on the other side of the road. An old Audi dedided to overtake the bus without looking, forcing me up a very high kerb, knackering the suspension, wheel, shock, tyre and bearing in the process and also ripping off my door mirror.

Luckily (there is a god!!) there was a police car right behind who proceeded to stop and book him.

No licence, no insurance, no tax, no mot, absolutely nothing.

In another case, I was driving through Halifax to get to the Eureka! museum. There is quite a narrow road approaching the museum, with mini-r/abouts, and just after one of these, an artic trailer-lorry had stopped on the opposite side of the road to me.

Well, the first car looked, and pulled out to overtake the lorry, and did not put me in any danger. But the amazing thing was that EVERY car following her just went without looking, like a bunch of brain-dead lemmings, and there was I faced with oncoming traffic bearing down upon me. (Ooh Err!)

When I had the cheek to suggest that someone back up to let me through (there were people behind me, too) I got a faceful of expletives, even more so when I suggested that he was on the wrong side of the road and should have given way to oncoming traffic....

He went to get out and crack me one, and I really thought he was going to do it until the wagon driver got out in my defence. One polite kind word to him and it was like the parting of the seas....all the cars in front of me backed up, and I went on my way.

Mind you, I should have taken his reg, because when I got back to the car after visiting the museum, "TW@T" and "W@NKER" were scrached in big letters on the bonnet.

 

[AdamW]

I'm not sure if there are any other London cyclists out there but can I recommend that some of you just try getting on your bicycle to see how bad the driving is from the viewpoint of a vulnerable road user.

I had a nasty incident doing this once. I used to live north of Hyde Park, and studied south of Hyde Park. So, cycling down hill on Exhibition Road doing a nice 30mph and keeping up with the traffic. Then the car in front of me just stopped. No brake lights, no indicators, nothing. I braked but was probably going 15mph when I hit the back of it. After climbing off the roof (seriously!!! was lucky not to go all the way over and get run over) whilst screaming some expletives, the driver got out, said "I'll call you back" into his phone. He claimed it was my fault despite the fact that he was stopping to do a U-turn (no u-turns allowed), he had no brake lights, was not indicating, was on the phone etc. etc.

He pointed to the fact that my handlebars had smashed his rear lights and scratched his paintwork, and that on heading up the rear windscreen and onto the roof I had ripped off his minicab (yup) antenna, mobile antenna and radio aerial. Claimed that I had to pay for it. I told him to p*ss off, so he said "OK, I'll ring the police then." "No need", said I, and tried to flag down a police car heading the other way. Unfortunately, said car was on a blue-light and went past. But for those 10 seconds the mini-cab driver was distinctly uncomfortable and told me not to worry, we were equally to blame (HAH!).

I left it, as I was surprisingly without any injury, and I figured that a few hundred quid damage to his car and loss of earnings whilst he fixed the minicab equipment should teach him a lesson. I doubt it though. Oh, and my expensive mountain bike was also entirely without damage! But it got nicked the next day

 

[AdamW]

Simon, Eureka museum is great isn't it! I went there as a kid and had a cracking day out.

A shame that the idiot felt the need to ruin a family day out for you. You can be safe in the knowledge that his stressed temperament will give him a heart attack sooner or later, so you can have the last laugh on that one. At least he just did the bonnet and didn't do every panel (like some vindictive s*ds do).

Good to see your uninsured perp was taken down though! I hope you managed to reclaim the cost of repair from him. A mate of mine was T-boned in a hit and run by an uninsured driver, they caught him but he still had to claim on insurance and lost his NCB.

 

[pipme]

The idiot who pulls up at a side road (usually on the left) up ahead of you. They watch you come closer, and closer still (you can count the seconds out loud) then at the last possible minute they decide to pull out.

Even worse, they don't have the courtesy, once in front of you, to get up to speed quickly. They look dumbly in their mirrors as you follow frustratedly behind...

Of course you only fell for that once, old son !!

In another case, I was driving through Halifax to get to the Eureka! museum. There is quite a narrow road approaching the museum, with mini-r/abouts, and just after one of these, an artic trailer-lorry had stopped on the opposite side of the road to me.

Well, the first car looked, and pulled out to overtake the lorry, and did not put me in any danger. But the amazing thing was that EVERY car following her just went without looking, like a bunch of brain-dead lemmings, and there was I faced with oncoming traffic bearing down upon me. (Ooh Err!)

When I had the cheek to suggest that someone back up to let me through (there were people behind me, too) I got a faceful of expletives, even more so when I suggested that he was on the wrong side of the road and should have given way to oncoming traffic....

He went to get out and crack me one, and I really thought he was going to do it until the wagon driver got out in my defence. One polite kind word to him and it was like the parting of the seas....all the cars in front of me backed up, and I went on my way.

The 'sawn off christmas tree' is an excellent equaliser .... No put upon driver should be without one ... a freeby xmas present.

P

 

[securespark]

Pip - like it, I'll keep this years in the car.....

Adam

Have had run ins with uninsured drivers before, most notably two cases:

an 84 y o fella who had decided to cancel his insurance DD. He failed to give way, wrote off my motor then pi ss ed off.

The police caught up with him later. He claimed to have returned 30mins later but I had gone. No way! With the front end reduced to the metallic version of scrambled eggs, I wasn't going anywhere and besides, it took me 45 mins to take down everyones statements....

Betcha if he were a young lad, he would have been nailed for that. As it happened Mr 84 yo got away with no penalties whatsoever.

A bloke who (fair enough) skidded on ice but happened (most unfortunately) to scrape every panel down the n/s of the car. He gave me a false address. Went there, asked for his name. Little old dear answered door with HUGE rottweiller (bad part of M/cr!) Who? Not here, dear.

Went to police - they were most disinterested and didn't even want to persue it until I insisted. But they did and prosecuted him. In the eyes of the law, giving a false address is just as bad as not stopping at all.

But GMP gave me a shocking statistic - at any one time in South Manchester, there are 45 - 50% uninsured drivers.

Uninsured losses (ie those not covered by your policy) can be claimed back through the MIB (NO, not men in black!) Motor Insurer's Bureau.

You can apply to have losses refunded using this scheme as all motor insurers pay into a pot to help victims of uninsured drivers.

Bit of a scandal really, as WE end up paying for their stupidity.

 

[AdamW]

This is why it is a good idea to try and note down their number plate before you do anything else!

My little sister was sitting in a traffic queue on an M25 roundabout, some moron tried to create a new lane and scraped up the whole side of her car in a 4x4. She pointed to the side of the road, they both drove over. She got out to inspect the damage then he burned off. Unfortunately by the time it sank in it was too late and he was off up the sliproad into the traffic. Here is where men and women differ: a man would have probably jumped back into the car and chased him until the idiot either pulled over or had another accident. Not neccessarily the RIGHT thing to do, but I know this is what I would have done.

She didn't get the numberplate by the way, so that idiot got away with it and kept his NCB.

 

[securespark]

That's an awful story, but one I am familiar with.

BTW, I got both index numbers in the uninsured crashes, but in one case (the 84 yo) it was no good, because the car had not been reregsitered in his name....