Driving standards

[AncientMariner]

 

This report includes a dashcam clip of a car crossing an unbroken white line to overtake.

 

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/road-cops-amazed-dangerous-overtaking-4530816

 

The car being overtaken and recording the incident was an unmarked police vehicle!

 

John

[PhilJ W]

59 minutes ago, AncientMariner said:

 

This report includes a dashcam clip of a car crossing an unbroken white line to overtake.

 

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/road-cops-amazed-dangerous-overtaking-4530816

 

The car being overtaken and recording the incident was an unmarked police vehicle!

 

John

I like the appropriate sound track.

[62613]

A couple of days ago, twice within about five minutes, I nearly had the front of the car taken off by other drivers turning right cutting the corner at 'T' junctions. In both cases, I  was ten to twenty yards short of the give way markings, and not moving particularly fast. On both occasions the turning vehicles had to make evasive manoeuvres. Have people forgotten how to right - turn into a minor road?

 

[96701]

16 minutes ago, 62613 said:

A couple of days ago, twice within about five minutes, I nearly had the front of the car taken off by other drivers turning right cutting the corner at 'T' junctions. In both cases, I  was ten to twenty yards short of the give way markings, and not moving particularly fast. On both occasions the turning vehicles had to make evasive manoeuvres. Have people forgotten how to right - turn into a minor road?

 

Yes. It happens often round here.

[caradoc]

And at the top of my road too; Most traffic turns left out of it, and therefore right into it, but not all ! The number of people who don't bother to take the RH turn properly, assuming that anything coming out will be turning left, is ridiculous. Just lazy driving, which one day will cause an accident. 

[ejstubbs]

Cutting corners turning right in to side roads is endemic round here, too.

 

3 hours ago, caradoc said:

The number of people who don't bother to take the RH turn properly, assuming that anything coming out will be turning left

 

It doesn't matter which way the oncoming driver is intending to turn if the idiot who is too lazy to turn their steering wheel properly basically treats the rounded kerb on their offside as the apex of their corner, resulting in them entering the side street completely on the wrong side of the road, as I see happening multiple times pretty much every day at the T-junction near our house.

 

For me, being too lazy to turn the steering wheel just a wee bit further (including unnecessary and pointless drifting back and forth across the marked centre line - not "taking the line", just CBA to concentrate on their road positioning) is right up there with being too lazy to use indicators.  You have been granted the privilege of using a motor vehicle which allows you to save huge amounts of effort and (in theory, though not always in practice) time on your journeys, and you can't even be bothered to expend the minimal exertion required to flick an indicator stalk, or to turn a power-assisted steering wheel a few more degrees?  Sorry, time to hand your licence back IMO.

[raymw]

Selfish, greedy people go unpunished, that is the way it has been going for quite a few years. It starts in schools, and in parenting before that. No point in having rules or laws, if misdemeanours go unpunished, is now the majority viewpoint. So, instead of whinging, what is the rational answer? 

[PhilJ W]

The biggest bugbear hereabouts at T junctions is people not moving to the centre of the road when turning right. Some even stop close to the left hand kerb.  

[Joseph_Pestell]

40 minutes ago, raymw said:

Selfish, greedy people go unpunished, that is the way it has been going for quite a few years. It starts in schools, and in parenting before that. No point in having rules or laws, if misdemeanours go unpunished, is now the majority viewpoint. So, instead of whinging, what is the rational answer? 

 

Going by the USA, an assault rifle.

[stewartingram]

Quite a few years ago, when BMW drivers usually had Fords, I had a theory, Bear with me.

I worked at Police HQ, fitting radios into Police cars. I have always personally driven BMC/Rover cars. Driving the Ford cars that the Police used was quite a revelation to me in how they handled. 

The gearing on my cars meant that I was used to turning the wheel, both hands, and moving my hands round the wheel. The Escorts were geared such that you could turn the wheel, (not necessarily one-handed in those days as no power steering, and the fwd Escorts were heavy in the early days) enough to do most manoeuvres without a shift of hands round the wheel. In other word, the road wheels turned at an angle quicker.

This lead naturally to many drivers (as Fords were very popular then) being "lazy" with the wheel, and not steering correctly such as in the T-junction move mentioned above.

My job was , for the Police, mainly with Escort and Transit, along with Rover SD1 & Land Rovers. I also handled private cars for the Fire Service Officers who bought their own cars for work use, many makes. I always found that all Fords were geared such, but not all other makes (there were exceptions).

Anyone else noticed this?

 

Stewart

[PhilJ W]

I went on holiday to Malta many years ago and while I was out there I hired a Japanese mini car. My own car at the time was a Nissan Prairie. When I got home the first time I got back into my car I nearly drove it into the wall opposite my drive because it took twice as many turns of the wheel to steer as the mini.

[ejstubbs]

6 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

The biggest bugbear hereabouts at T junctions is people not moving to the centre of the road when turning right. Some even stop close to the left hand kerb.

 

Then there are those who drift towards the centre of the road and then turn out to be turning left* - use of indicators optional (or at least they seem to think so).  It's all the same issue: too flamin' lazy to drive their vehicle with due courtesy and consideration towards other road users.

 

* You can learn to spot them after a while: observation and anticipation being the best defence against people who drive as if they're sat on the sofa at home after a heavy lunch and barely able to lift a finger.

Edited September 20, 2020 by ejstubbs

[PatB]

Cutting T-junction is standard practice here too. Obviously, the driver of the correctly positioned vehicle emerging from the side road is regarded as responsible for any near miss or collision. 

 

My current bete noir is, when travelling on a dual lane road, usually at speed limit and correctly placed in the left lane (often on the cruise control so I know my speed is pretty consistent) having another vehicle come up in the RH lane as if to pass, but then slow down to my speed, precisely positioned in my blind spot (I'm usually in a van). Which isn't too bad in itself, given that I try to maintain situational awareness so I know they're there. The problem arises when I want to move right to overtake a slower vehicle or to turn right into a side road. I'll lift off the throttle well in advance and let my speed drift down so they can pull ahead of me without any action on their part and I can move over behind them. Nine times out of ten they'll decide to slow too, at exactly that point, as if they're judging their speed by keeping station on me, rather than driving independently. By the time I've registered it's another one, there's not enough distance left for me to safely accelerate again and move ahead of them so we're stuck in some sort of snail race. In extreme cases I've ended up down to 20-30 kmh before the offending driver has woken up to the fact that their marker is no longer doing traffic speed. 

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Many times when turning right correctly at a T junction, ie, at 90 degrees and directly into the correct lane, I've been undertaken by a divvy doing the corner cutting version.

 

Mike.

[Pete the Elaner]

6 hours ago, PatB said:

 

My current bete noir is, when travelling on a dual lane road, usually at speed limit and correctly placed in the left lane (often on the cruise control so I know my speed is pretty consistent) having another vehicle come up in the RH lane as if to pass, but then slow down to my speed, precisely positioned in my blind spot (I'm usually in a van). Which isn't too bad in itself, given that I try to maintain situational awareness so I know they're there. The problem arises when I want to move right to overtake a slower vehicle or to turn right into a side road. I'll lift off the throttle well in advance and let my speed drift down so they can pull ahead of me without any action on their part and I can move over behind them. Nine times out of ten they'll decide to slow too, at exactly that point, as if they're judging their speed by keeping station on me, rather than driving independently. By the time I've registered it's another one, there's not enough distance left for me to safely accelerate again and move ahead of them so we're stuck in some sort of snail race. In extreme cases I've ended up down to 20-30 kmh before the offending driver has woken up to the fact that their marker is no longer doing traffic speed. 

 

It is a bit thoughtless to not realise you are in a blind spot but it seems to be very common.

Dealing with it requires thinking a little earlier, but putting your indicator on early sometimes seems to prompt them to do something. 

If they don't respond then you could either choose to stay blocked in, back off to let them past, or change down, change lanes & make a gap as quickly as possible....whatever seems most appropriate.

[ejstubbs]

6 hours ago, PatB said:

...as if they're judging their speed by keeping station on me, rather than driving independently. By the time I've registered it's another one, there's not enough distance left for me to safely accelerate again and move ahead of them so we're stuck in some sort of snail race. In extreme cases I've ended up down to 20-30 kmh before the offending driver has woken up to the fact that their marker is no longer doing traffic speed. 

 

Ah yes, the dreaded box-er-inners: I sit there willing them to go past, and wondering what exactly is going through their minds.  Now you mention it, I think this may be another aspect of the behaviour I mentioned in this post earlier this year: 

 

[PaulCheffus]

Hi

 

Around here we have an extra lane up the hills to allow you to overtake slow moving vehicles on a road marked as the national speed limit. You’ll often get someone who has been doing 40 - 45mph then move over into that lane instead of keeping left even though there is nothing to overtake and then drop their speed as they are going up a hill.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[Pacific231G]

On 05/08/2015 at 10:01, PhilJ W said:

I agree an 'old banger' is useful if you do a lot of car commuting. Before I retired I used to have a succession of such vehicles, best of which was a Suzuki jeep with hefty bull bars, no one ever cut me up when driving that.

Good job you never collided with any pedestrians, cyclists or motor cyclists then.

https://www.roughtrax4x4.com/blog/why-is-it-illegal-to-sell-bull-bars/

 

Note: Just noticed the date of Phil's post. Oh well!

Edited September 21, 2020 by Pacific231G

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, PaulCheffus said:

Hi

 

Around here we have an extra lane up the hills to allow you to overtake slow moving vehicles on a road marked as the national speed limit. You’ll often get someone who has been doing 40 - 45mph then move over into that lane instead of keeping left even though there is nothing to overtake and then drop their speed as they are going up a hill.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

On the A38 there a few places like that and it’s usually the opposite with overtakes thinking the extra lane means you have to break the limit by a figure of two!
 

Thankfully during the peak seasons there is often sitting at the top facing the Fangios a police speed enforcement van, oh the instant gratification the law abiders in the left hand lane get upon seeing the sudden stream of brake lights all coming on far too late  

[Pacific231G]

23 hours ago, AncientMariner said:

 

This report includes a dashcam clip of a car crossing an unbroken white line to overtake.

 

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/road-cops-amazed-dangerous-overtaking-4530816

 

The car being overtaken and recording the incident was an unmarked police vehicle!

 

John

Great to see this idiot getting such swift comeuppance. I rather doubt the headline though. Traffic police are very unlkely to be "amazed" by any sort of bad driving.

[TheQ]

47 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

Good job you never collided with any pedestrians, cyclists or motor cyclists then.

https://www.roughtrax4x4.com/blog/why-is-it-illegal-to-sell-bull-bars/

 

Note: Just noticed the date of Phil's post. Oh well!

Makes a big difference on a modern "soft" fronted 4X4. Not on an old Vehicle like mine, with a 1/4 inch thick galvanised steel bumper connected directly to the chassis of 1.5 tons of square fronted landrover.

[298]

10 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

Great to see this idiot getting such swift comeuppance. I rather doubt the headline though. Traffic police are very unlkely to be "amazed" by any sort of bad driving.

 

That's the problem tho, not enough Traffic Police. 

 

One popular trick around here is to be in the wrong lane at traffic lights and move off as soon as they turn to red/amber, cutting in front of other traffic. It's usually done by German hatchbacks, either with tinted numberplates (!) or those silly raised plastic letters. 

[PhilJ W]

54 minutes ago, Pacific231G said:

Good job you never collided with any pedestrians, cyclists or motor cyclists then.

https://www.roughtrax4x4.com/blog/why-is-it-illegal-to-sell-bull-bars/

 

Note: Just noticed the date of Phil's post. Oh well!

I had the Suzuki about 25 years ago and it was old even then, a 1983 registration. It was fitted with the bull bars from new. Incidentally it is still on the DLVA register but has been Sorned since just after I sold it. There are dozens of them still on the register but none currently on the road.

[Nick C]

On 20/09/2020 at 09:45, boxbrownie said:

Or he could have been in a lane moving faster than the left lane, whatever it just shows the absolute stupidity of people.

 

Of course the driver should be prosecuted for carrying an unbelted passenger, that’s a given hopefully.

 

I believe that as long as the passenger is over 18 years old, the responsibility is entirely theirs, not the driver's.

 

1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

On the A38 there a few places like that and it’s usually the opposite with overtakes thinking the extra lane means you have to break the limit by a figure of two!
 

Thankfully during the peak seasons there is often sitting at the top facing the Fangios a police speed enforcement van, oh the instant gratification the law abiders in the left hand lane get upon seeing the sudden stream of brake lights all coming on far too late  

 

There is one on the A303 near Wincanton with a speed camera halfway up. On on occasion, coming downhill, I saw the aftermath of a vehicle hitting said camera (the vehicle had gone, it was just the skidmarks and damage left) - despite it being behind a length of armco. I still have no idea how they managed it...

[boxbrownie]

2 hours ago, Nick C said:

 

I believe that as long as the passenger is over 18 years old, the responsibility is entirely theirs, not the driver's.

 

Quite right, but the age is 14 years, let’s hope the passenger was older than that!