Pet hates on the road

Use of mobiles whilst driving:
Is it just me? Nowadays there seems to be just as many idiots using mobiles on the move as before the ban - especially on motorways!

What annoys me most is these numptys can go out and spend £50,000 on a flash motor yet can't stretch to a hands-free kit. What's that all about?

Tom, you just said what it's all about......NUMPTEYS!!!!!!
I'm afraid it pee's ,me off too - as my wife will attest. It is one of my pet hates and I really just don't understand people sometimes. There are so many bluetooth options now, and almost all of them work well ( avoid the Parrot though!)

I got a really cheap solar powered one from Amazon a while back £14.95. It works REALLY well, even in a diesel van and even in our Summers . It is easy to set up and takes about 2 seconds to switch on/off...AAHHH, there we are, that's the problem!!! You have to remember to switch it on or off.

Oh, NO YOU DON'T....if you actually take a few seconds to read the manual,it can be set to switch on automatically when you come into range, set your phone to do the same and it is SO EASY IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.

What is really frustrating though is that the Police simply don't have the TIME to deal with them all, so many get ignored. The Police spend so much of their time now filling in forms and reports, that offences like this often get ignored simply because of the pressure they are under - well in this party of the woods, anyway. If they had enough resources and didn't have to spend up to 30% of their day filling in pointless forms.............

It was proven several years ago that using a mobile phone while driving is AS dangerous, if not MORE dangerous, than drink driving!!!!!
Even on bluetooth, I still keep it short because it DOES DISTRACT YOU.
rant over

Oh God, I feel a saga coming on:

Mobile phone users, why is it that they have to take every unimportant call about nothing and do it while driving, yet they can all afford expensive cars, afford expensive options, but not £10 for a hands free kit.
Idiots who don't know what those orange flashing things are on the corners of their cars, no, there not for when you turn the sound system up.
Last minute motorway leavers, they have a 1 mile warning marker of a slip road, a 1/2 mile warning marker, and three countdown markers; so why do they have to approach it at 100MPH in lane three then cut across all three lanes and onto the exit slip.
Space invaders, you know the sort; those who have to look at those they're talking too and close up on them; they take their eyes off the road for more than 10 seconds to look at a passenger, some do it for over 30 seconds, they wonder why they hit the kerb or cause an accident. I have a big enough gob to be able to talk to my passengers without taking my eyes off the road.

Middle lane hogs, I have checked every middle lane of every motorway and cannot find any rails in the middle lane.
Eco warriors and the elderly who insist on doing 40MPH on a motorway, if you wan't to do those speeds then FU*K OFF and do it on roads other than motorways because you are a danger.
The owl drivers, you know the sort, they can see in the dark and assume everyone can see them, turn your bloody lights on.
The electricity savers, you know the sort, those who seem to think cars have electric meters fitted so they only drive on sidelights and often with one out so you can't see them.
The brainless women (and some men) who actually switch their rear foglights on for fog, but don't turn them off when conditions improve, they blind everyone behind them and often they mask the vehicles brake lights. The bloody great orange light on the dash with a rear light stamped into it gives you a clue to them being switched on.

Inconsiderate drivers, if there are red traffic lights and people waiting at a junction then let them go, its easy, a little consideration goes a long way and makes driving less stressful for us all.
Pushbikes who think they own the road, they fly through red lights, whip onto the pavement and nearly run down pedestrians to get through red lights, fly out in front of you, and when you hit them they always blame the driver of the car; then they have to take no test, pay any MOT charges, tax, or carry insurance so you end up paying for damage they cause.

Thats just for starters.

Middle lane hoggers and inappropriate use of the horn.

"That’s just for starters."

Had a feeling you'd say that.

I concur, all of the above and more. I have to say, when driving in London I found the drivers far more considerate and courteous when it came to letting you out of a side road or when sitting in a queue would leave a gap for approaching cars turning right into an obvious entrance such as a fuel station or a supermarket car park - and that's without an actual road which should be even more obvious. Same goes for a roundabout. If the vehicles on the roundabout were stationary they would often leave a gap so you could get on and continue straight on. It all made perfect sense, for although the general driving was faster as folk would nip in to fill a gap, or drivers would suddenly turn in front of you, the overall standard was far superior. Yes the movements and actions were faster, but they were positive. They didn't hang about, they just got on with it. Rarely did you have to suddenly brake, because by the time you realised somebody had cut across your bow, they had been and gone.

Here in the Midlands it's altogether different. Drivers are slower, they are very negative - shall I go, shall I stay - they cannot seem to park to save their lives! My gut feeling is, I really don't think they are being taught correctly.

Now for some controversy! As I say, there seems to be a North/South divide when it comes to driving (in this case midlands/South) but in my experience since I have lived here, Asian drivers seem to be particularly bad. NO, not a racist comment before I'm jumped upon - FACT. Don't get me wrong, drivers of all skin tones are culpable, but Asians seem to be useless at leaving gaps in traffic (when you hoot to say 'what was the point in blocking that road or entrance, they really don't know what they have done wrong), moving left out of the middle lane, parking, and so many other things like young guys having mobiles welded to their ears whilst bombing along the M6 in their Toyotas. I probably notice it more as there is a higher percentage of Asians and motorways in the area, but the dreadful driving I see has me asking so often - do the Asian driving schools do anything different in the way they teach their pupils to let's say Chinese or Caribbean schools. Same is true of Polish driving schools, of which their must be some around. There has to be, as you can't lean driving properly unless you can speak the native language - so there must be Polish-speaking Instructors who can converse with non-English speakers. A sticky subject as nowadays one is branded a racist simply for mentioning races other than your own, but to me it's obvious - the standard of driving in different sections of society varies wildly from one to another.

Don't you just have the feeling that when you see terrible driving that not all of the East European/Asian/Caribbean/Far East drivers have been taught properly to old school UK standards, and that even worse, they have passed a driving test at all? This is borne out by these reality 'Cops On The Move' type programmes that frequent our screens every other hour. How many times have drivers with virtually no English been pulled, who it's transpired have had no licence whatsoever - in their country or ours!

As for 'middle lane hogs' as the old TV advert used to call them, I have only seen one permanent sign on the UK motorway network that actually says - KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING (that's at the start of the M1 leaving London just before Scratchwood) and just this Friday I saw a temporary overhanging lit information sign on the M54 that said exactly the same - KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING. Obvious really as the M54 is only a two lane motorway anyway.

More of these are needed I reckon, as like Assassin, I agree that folk sitting in the middle lane are a liability to themselves and all around. Don't they realise 40ft Scanias are not allowed in the overtaking lane (3rd lane) so have no choice but to drive up their rear ends flashing their lights and sounding their horn to intimidate the 40mph idiots (or whatever nationality they happen to be) to move over? No, of course they don't, almost certainly because they have never been taught otherwise! Grrrrr!!!! RANT OVER!

chally2 wrote:

Middle lane hoggers and inappropriate use of the horn.

I don't think tooting a young lady with nice legs and a mini-skirt is "inappropriate use of the horn" - it's highly appropriate I'd say.

Trouble is with the summer we've had so far, we're more likely to Nora Batty tights than anything else.

There are many more Tom, but with driving such a diverse range of vehicles you tend to see more of them, a standard HGV runs at 44 tonnes and when you cut one up suddenly they don't have the same braking capabilities as the average townmobile car which can stop on a sixpence, they need 10 times + the stopping distance, basic physics.

Start getting over 100 tonnes and that braking distance is considerably more, yet people still assume a truck has the same braking distance as their car because thats all they drive, and the reason I fit cameras to all our trucks. In every accident our trucks have been involved in the car driver blames the truck, but, the cameras have always told a different story, as do tachographs and on board diagnostic systems (OBD's) and these have proven the car drivers to always be at fault.
This is where OBD's on trucks excel, when a car driver claims a truck has driven into them the electronics tell a different story, when the ABS system is activated, and various trailer stabilisation systems are activated, and the anti-dive on the air syspension is activated, it shows only one thing; that the truck is on full braking, then the cameras give us the reason why and usually its because a driver has ignored all entry slip signs on a motorway and chopped a truck up to get off at the last second. Great when you interrogate electronics.

When I was in my teens having just past my test, myself and a lot of others used to be under the impression that lorries could brake faster than cars due to their air braking systems. Of course at no time did we think about the loads they were carrying, just that air brakes were the ultimate type of brake. Lorries even used to announce at the rear: "Caution - air brakes", so like many others I took this to be gospel.

In their day they were exceedingly good brakes, don't forget you're old enough to be talking about cable operated brakes and basic hydraulic brakes without any servo assistance. When air brakes came along people assumed many lorries still had cable/basic hydraulic brakes, and many drove accordingly, when air brakes were applied their superior braking ability surprised many people and caused many rear end collisions into the back of lorries, hence the warning signs.

Sure did catch people out, I remember.

Going back to driving, the taxi drivers in Kuala Lumpur are something else. They will filter on to major roads in front of anyone and anything, even with vehicles bearing down on them at speed, seemingly with no fear or thought for others at all. It's only when you realise how they do it, you become more relaxed as a passenger. They certainly are not foolhardy as you first think.

It won't come as any great shock to hear - they know exactly what they are doing. They have to or else they would all be driving wrecks (which they don't) and never get insurance ever again.

What they will do is have a look at what's coming, instantly weigh up the speed and distance, then pull out ... even though you or I wouldn't. How do they do it? Easy! When they look at oncoming traffic it is out of the corner of their eye, they don't even turn their head, so naturally the driver approaching (not to mention you as a passenger) think the taxi driver hasn't seen them at all. What is the reaction of the approaching motorist, they brake of course. If on the other hand the taxi driver doesn't think a vehicle can brake in time such as a truck, bus or motorbike, then they simply stay put. The more modern the car is that is approaching, the greater likelyhood of them pulling out.

Puts the fear of God in you at first, but again once you know their driving style, then you relax. Never been in a taxi accident in five visits to Malaysia, Laos and Thailand, so I suppose that says it all.

Tom Mc wrote:

When I was in my teens having just past my test, myself and a lot of others used to be under the impression that lorries could brake faster than cars due to their air braking systems. Of course at no time did we think about the loads they were carrying, just that air brakes were the ultimate type of brake. Lorries even used to announce at the rear: "Caution - air brakes", so like many others I took this to be gospel.

Was that before or after the Boar war.

"other things like young guys having mobiles welded to their ears whilst bombing along the M6 in their Toyotas."








and just WHAT is wrong with Toyotas?

maadmaan10 wrote:

"other things like young guys having mobiles welded to their ears whilst bombing along the M6 in their Toyotas."
and just WHAT is wrong with Toyotas?

I was thinking of Supras, then realised they were superceeded long ago. What is the modern equivilant, really don't know?

Be careful Maadmaan, our fleet of company cars are Toyotas, might have to get them to watch out for Tom and give him some hassle.

These?



I like the way it says in the background - ALWAYS A BETTER WAY. Not far wrong there, make you wanna heave!

Bus drivers who think they have the right to simply pull out from a bus stop without looking enrages me so much! and don't get me started on a majority of taxi drivers where I live, you aren't delivering a heart for transplant you're driving Ethel to the shops, so there's no need to do warp 12 everywhere and stick to my back bumper!