TR5tar Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 (edited) Yesterday, as I left a slip road to join a dual carriageway behind a lorry, I witnessed the most idiotic driving I've seen in a long time. With my indicators on, I check in my mirror that the fast lane is clear and move straight across. In my o/s wing mirror, I see another car exiting the slip road close behind me, and we both move into the fast lane at the same time. However, car behind then puts his foot down hard and overtakes me when I've already entered the fast lane. And so, we have three abreast on dual carriage way with me in the middle between the idiot and the lorry. Is it just me? Cheers, Darren Edited May 3, 2018 by TR5tar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerguzzi Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 Hello Darren I have these sorts of problems I put down to my car being bright Orange so Invisible in all they Grey and Silver cars on the road now! Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TR5tar Posted May 2, 2018 Author Share Posted May 2, 2018 (edited) Yes, I can see how that might be the case Roger, it doesn't stand out much does it! What I should have said is that thankfully I wasn't in the TR when this happened. No, I was in my Land Rover Discovery, so I suppose I ought to be impressed that the idiot wanted to tangle with me. If I hadn't been looking carefully in my wing mirror I could have easily ran him into the central barrier. Cheers, Darren Edited May 2, 2018 by TR5tar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 No its not just you. That manoeuvre is normal now, especially for AUDI drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulAA Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 28 minutes ago, Scooter said: No its not just you. That manoeuvre is normal now, especially for AUDI drivers. Hey! That's an insult - we Audi drivers would have been out of the slip road and in front of the lorry on the inside, clipping the verge if necessary. The dangerous manoeuvre Darren described is very much BMW territory. Darren, if you were in the Landie, you could safely have given the wheel a twitch to the right and pissed on the idiot's party big time. You need to watch more of those Russian dashcam videos to learn the technique... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 I'm afraid new Audi drivers are now the same standard as old BMW ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TR5tar Posted May 2, 2018 Author Share Posted May 2, 2018 I've got "Rock Slider" bars on the side of the Land Rover, which makes twitching in those sort of situations very tempting. I've had to learn to be the master of self control ... something that is not typically in my nature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 1 hour ago, RedRooster said: I'm afraid new Audi drivers are now the same standard as old BMW ones. As an old(er) Audi driver (with an old Audi) I have to agree. Going to be a big problem come replacement time (which looms ever larger) NIck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulAA Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 1 hour ago, Nick Jones said: As an old(er) Audi driver (with an old Audi) I have to agree. Going to be a big problem come replacement time (which looms ever larger) NIck Traitor! We four-ringers need to keep together and ensure that the vague generalisations are pointed at other Teutonic marques! On the other hand... as an older driver of a newer Audi, I'm struggling to disagree. Over-privileged 20somethings... at their age, I was still trying to keep a third-hand Montego on the road. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 My 19 year old green daughter bought an Audi A3 which she promptly bent arguing with a truck. I told her what AUDI stands for… she's still sulking with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 Got into Audis in the early 90s (with a 90, oddly enough) because, being unfashionable and perceived as expensive to run/fix, you could buy alot of car for not much money. Had the current one nearly 15 years..... It's 21 years old and showing some signs of wear @ 310k. Would still have no qualms about crossing Europe in it. The post 2000 Audis don't really do it for me. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulAA Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 In Polish, a 'lunatic' is a sleepwalker, somebody transfixed by the moon. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkshire_spam Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 18 hours ago, PaulAA said: In Polish, a 'lunatic' is a sleepwalker, somebody transfixed by the moon. Paul Same etymology as the English then, somebody who stares at and is transfixed by the moon. I have to drive around the outskirts of Bradford every working day, it's an odd journey when at least 3 people don't do something dangerously stupid in an attempt to kill themselves and me. If I got angry about it I'd have died of an aneurysm, sadly it's just everyday life these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 Just spent 10 minutes queuing at a roundabout on the A303 near home. It's Friday before a bank holiday so the home counties lemmings are flocking to Devon and Cornwall to throw themselves in the sea. This particular roundabout requires west-bound traffic to merge from 2 lanes into one while negotiating it (more design genius from Highways - they should get an office dog and raise the average IQ). Consequently west bound queue approaching the roundabout can be anything up to a mile long and includes the roundbout itself. The queue I was in wanted to cross this queue and was only 7 or 8 cars long when I joined it, but as no-one was interested in letting us across just in case they lost a few more seconds, it wasn't moving much...... we love the lemmings...... Nick Edit - I should know better than to venture out on a Friday afternoon, especially bank holiday weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TR5tar Posted May 4, 2018 Author Share Posted May 4, 2018 21 hours ago, PaulAA said: In Polish, a 'lunatic' is a sleepwalker, somebody transfixed by the moon. Paul I think this bloke was sleep driving Paul and probably trying to find the moon, despite it being lunchtime. 2 hours ago, yorkshire_spam said: Same etymology as the English then, somebody who stares at and is transfixed by the moon. I have to drive around the outskirts of Bradford every working day, it's an odd journey when at least 3 people don't do something dangerously stupid in an attempt to kill themselves and me. If I got angry about it I'd have died of an aneurysm, sadly it's just everyday life these days. You're clearly a better person than me Yorkshire, as for a few seconds I had a bit of red mist. Thankfully by the time I'd caught up with him, good sense had returned. Since starting to work from home 12 years ago and not driving regularly in rush hour traffic I have noticed a deterioration in how people behave on the roads. There have always been lunatics, but there seems to be far more now. 1 hour ago, Nick Jones said: Just spent 10 minutes queuing at a roundabout on the A303 near home. It's Friday before a bank holiday so the home counties lemmings are flocking to Devon and Cornwall to throw themselves in the sea. This particular roundabout requires west-bound traffic to merge from 2 lanes into one while negotiating it (more design genius from Highways - they should get an office dog and raise the average IQ). Consequently west bound queue approaching the roundabout can be anything up to a mile long and includes the roundbout itself. The queue I was in wanted to cross this queue and was only 7 or 8 cars long when I joined it, but as no-one was interested in letting us across just in case they lost a few more seconds, it wasn't moving much...... we love the lemmings...... Nick Edit - I should know better than to venture out on a Friday afternoon, especially bank holiday weekend! Friday afternoons before a bank holiday does seem to bring them out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlejim Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 Rather sad to read the above posts. During our 2 year posting in the UK ('76,'77) I was astounded at how good/kind the UK drivers were compared to Oz, especially Canberra. Just before leaving I had to drive the Merc down to the London docks from Brize Norton, which involved crossing some huge roundabout with about 6 lanes round it (sorry can't remember where). When I got to it I thought it would take about a week to get a break in the traffic, but all the drivers on our right stopped and let us in! All lanes!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkshire_spam Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 15 hours ago, TR5tar said: You're clearly a better person than me Yorkshire, as for a few seconds I had a bit of red mist. Thankfully by the time I'd caught up with him, good sense had returned. Since starting to work from home 12 years ago and not driving regularly in rush hour traffic I have noticed a deterioration in how people behave on the roads. There have always been lunatics, but there seems to be far more now. No, not a better person, just sadly over-exposed to driving lunacy, every single day I see people driving dangerously on my way to work and on my way home. (And I'm not talking about driving inconsiderately... dangerously!) I tried reporting stuff I see, but the police don't have the time or resources to do anything at all.... which just made me more annoyed! I had to let go or have a heart attack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 59 minutes ago, littlejim said: during our 2 year posting in the UK ('76,'77) I was astounded at how good/kind the UK drivers were compared to Oz, especially Canberra. 1977 is a very long time ago Jim........ This island is very overcrowded now, especially the roads and over-crowding stress is known to cause behavioural problems in many species.... Add in a background grumpiness caused by a crappy climate and crappier politics and it's just as well there aren't too many guns around...... I know it causes problems with me (Orangs esp. susceptible?) so try to avoid places with large numbers of people. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TR5tar Posted May 5, 2018 Author Share Posted May 5, 2018 (edited) It might not be terribly PC to say this, but I wonder how many drivers we have on the roads who have passed their test in different countries, where the standards might be somewhat different to those expected in the UK. Just a thought. Darren Edited May 5, 2018 by TR5tar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 About 35 million cars on the road now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 Oh, and UK population? Officially only 65 million. Major chains and utilities were using a figure in the mid 80 millions a decade ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 1 hour ago, TR5tar said: It might not be terribly PC to say this, but I wonder how many drivers we have on the roads who have passed their test in different countries, where the standards might be somewhat different to those expected in the UK. Just a thought. Darren Probably plenty of those, but not sure they are the biggest problem. The nearly blind, the senile and the drug addled represent a significant hazard. Oh and the replacement of traffic police patrols with speed camera vans means they don't get detected until they actually hit something hard enough to stop them. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulAA Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 I doubt the problem in the UK is the 'foreign' drivers, most of whom will be busy focusing on keeping on the correct side of the road, no? Having said that, I have to confess that (as a bilingual driver - both LHD and RHD) I find returning to drive in the UK difficult. The majority of people seem to behave well, making a stark contrast with the odd few who behave atrociously. The problem is behaving appropriately. Over here, the general standard is poorer - much less forgiving and showing a general contempt for the law, which is inconsistently and - seemingly - arbitrarily applied. I sense how aggressive my driving style has become as a result and how much concentration it demands to drive in a civilised manner. Queue-jumping over here is common fare and defensive driving is therefore to drive excessively close to the vehicle in front. Traversing cities is (if you'll forgive the pun) a story of the quick and the dead. There is a joke that the shortest measurable period of time known to man is nanosecond between red turning to amber at a light-controlled junction in Warsaw and the guy behind sounding his horn. I experience as much aggression as I do curiosity when I'm driving the TR, with frequent instances of people overtaking solely for the sake of doing so, then slowing down or intentionally cutting in so close that savage braking is unavoidable. M'ways have a notional limit of 140kmh (83mph), but I am frequently overtaken whilst cruising at 170kph (in the Audi rather than the TR...). Speed cameras are, by law, signposted (!), so are only of value in catching the truly stupid and the inattentive. Phone-use and texting whilst driving are illegal but almost never enforced. In my wholly unrepresentative straw poll, conducted in the twelve-minute walk from home to the office, I see a disproportionate number of women in SUVs negotiating one particularly complicated junction yabbering into a phone glued to the side of their face and either a paper coffee cup or cigarette occupying the other hand. Things are improving, though. I drove from Warsaw to Berlin in the late 90s and experienced my baptism when I crested a hill to be faced by a horse and cart being overtaken by a Fiat 126, itself being overtaken by an articulated truck, being overtaken by an ancient MB W123. Panic-stricken, I squeezed onto the grass verge, but by the time I had gather sense to verbalise my horror and indignation, the ensemble had disappeared in a cloud of dust towards the horizon. Only the horse and cart plodded on, oblivious to the pile up they were nearly part of. Heaven only knows what will happen when we reach the car density you have in the UK... Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 IMO, the rot set in with the introduction of Start on Monday, Guaranteed Pass on Friday or your money back driving tuition. It used to be your age plus 5 was the number of weeks lessons you needed to get a pass. And weeks of repetition and variety allowed the lessons to sunk in. Now? Round and around the test route Monday to Thursday like hamsters on a wheel and take your test Friday. You can teach a performing chimp to drive using that system and sure it enough, it delivers lots of first time passes - and drivers with no road experience. See my daughter who passed at midday, and wiped out her car by 7pm. She's still a terrible driver years later. People are taught to pass a test now, not how to drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRNigel Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 My daughter passed her test recently and I was amazed that they are taught to stay in 1st gear at traffic lights with clutch depressed, allow the steering wheel to slip through their hands when straightening up and no reversing round corners or 3 point turns. Being a London cabbie I will teach her to do U turns in the most inappropriate places instead of driving round the block or finding a roundabout. Cheers Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpg.ae4760f63cd140a9e2a61ce8a787293c.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now