# Driving gripes....?



## woody67 (21 Sep 2007)

After many years of driving and doing thousands of miles yearly, I've developed a top 10 of driving gripes. For the purpose of this exercise, I shall only post my top 3 and would be interested if any forumers concur/disagree/or think I'm mad! :roll: 

3. Tractors and their drivers that decide to set off in convoy at 08.43 hrs.

2. Discourteous drivers when allowing them out of junctions etc

1. Drivers who do not use lights during inclement weather (mind you that's 53 weeks a year in Cumbria! :wink: ) NB - Some do use their sidelights which are as much use as a chocolate fireguard - I'm convinced they're either; 

A) Thinking they're saving money by not going to main beam, or 
B) Too lazy to move the switch up 1 notch!

I've deliberately not included dangerous driving such as speeding, tailgating etc, as I suspect this is a norm for my fellow sensible forum users. 

Mark


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## orangetlh (21 Sep 2007)

i agree with all those, but one thats fresh on my mind after this morning..... people who indicate left to pull up and then turn right ](*,) very very close shave...


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## DomValente (21 Sep 2007)

Not indicating on and when leaving roundabouts, not thanking you when you pull over to let them through on country roads(School runners :evil: :evil: )


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## Mike.C (21 Sep 2007)

My number one is other motorists who will not stop to let you pull out even though the lights are red and they have got to stop for them 10 or 20 feet further on. :evil: :evil: Or the same as above but they have got to stop at a roundabout :evil: :evil: :evil: 

(2) The idiots who stick in the outside lane on a motorway doing 50 or 60 mph, or even less. (IMHO going to slow on any road is just as bad as speeding)

(3) Drivers who ride in my boot.

(4) As Mark says discourteous drivers.

(5) Drivers who use main beams on a roads with no street lights and do not turn them down when a car is approaching from the other direction.

Cheers

Mike


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## Richard S (21 Sep 2007)

As a sufferer of occular migraine and having seemingly sensitive eyes my biggest gripe is the inconsiderate W****** who insist on driving in normal conditions with their front fog lamps on or in light drizzle with the rear fog lights on or both. You can add to this general ignorance / bad manners and the atrocious driving standards that prevail in this country. 

Richard


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## Paul Chapman (21 Sep 2007)

Drivers who continue to use hand-held mobile phones when driving.

Drivers who don't look in their mirrors or look over their shoulder before pulling out to overtake. 

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## woody67 (21 Sep 2007)

=D> =D> =D> =D> to all so far - I'll have to revise my list  but where do you stop, cosidering what Richard said?


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## ByronBlack (21 Sep 2007)

women who drive a massive 4x4 with one tiny child rattling around in the rear boot blocking up the whole road because she's too lazy to walk her fat rear-end 500 yards to the school!!!!

actually, i'll revise that:

All women drivers and All 4x4 drivers ;-)


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## Mike.C (21 Sep 2007)

Byron do you want to borrow my crash helmet :wink: 

Cheers

Mike


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## Lord Nibbo (21 Sep 2007)

Holiday makers who drive everywhere at 30 mph with a cue of traffic behind them. Most noticeable in these part from May to October, then everything is OK until easter. I bet they don't drive so slow where they live. :evil:


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## brianhabby (21 Sep 2007)

One of my favourite gripes is drivers who drive to the end of the slip road when joining a motorway and then come to a stop instead of adjusting their speed to that on the main road and then filtering - really dangerous. 

Brian


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## Hitch (21 Sep 2007)

The drivers of them van, the ones that have the speed cameras in the back


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## tim (21 Sep 2007)

Caravans - with underpowered cars or indeed with powerful enough cars.

People who think beeping their horn as they go round a blind country lane corner gives them invincibility and right of way.

Drivers who think indicators are give way signs.

The drivers who think the verge outside our house is a passing place. One day I will plant spikes or dig a pitfall trap......

Cheers

Tim


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## mailee (21 Sep 2007)

Ok I just have to add another here. Drivers who stop on the opposite side of the road at night to drop someone off and leave their headlights on blinding the driver coming the other way (me) :evil: Cyclists who think that they glow in the dark so use no lights! (more like a death wish) :twisted:


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## DomValente (22 Sep 2007)

Or the van driver who stopped in the middle of a busy road, got out, put his index finger in the air, to indicate he was going to make a quick drop off- pick up, ran across the pavement to Macdonalds and came out with a hamburger.
Do you wonder there's road rage. :evil: 

Dom


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## chill (22 Sep 2007)

people who sit in the middle or outside lane of the motor way when the inside lane is clear


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## PowerTool (22 Sep 2007)

All of the above :evil: 

But as an ex-HGV driver,particularly the (lack of) use of indicators - few things more infuriating than bring 40+ tonnes to a halt at a roundabout,then see the car you stopped for turn off at the exit just before you...

Andrew


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## RogerS (22 Sep 2007)

woody67":2h3hozi9 said:


> 3. Tractors and their drivers that decide to set off in convoy at 08.43 hrs.



I think this one might have been tongue in cheek, Mark, as I don't really agree with you on this one. It's that time of year. The A4103 has a regular stream of laden tractors and I'm quite happy to sit and potter behind them as I know that they'll pull in at the earliest opportunity.

Besides, I like my spuds and if they weren't harvesting them then what would I do? :lol: 

Mind you, it's the impatient sods who get up my nose. The ones who risk everyone elses life and limb as they frantically overtake in high risk situations. Damn glad I now drive 'Rufty-Tufty' as they'll bounce off me :twisted:


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## Mike.C (22 Sep 2007)

After all of the bad things that get up our nose's, Andrews post reminded of one good thing, and that is HGV drivers who in my case anyway always seem to stop their 40 ton monsters to let me out of a side turning.

Cheers

Mike


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## NeilO (22 Sep 2007)

People who seem to think Hazard warning lights are a license to park anywhere they feel like..
SAS brigade (School and Shopping), you know the kind....Dirty great 4x4 to do shopping at a local store (and I mean easily within walking distance,) or a 50 yd trip to school for one kiddie, then cant park the bloody thing anywhere near the pavement blocking everything..

The F**king Idiots that is willing to risk life and limb to overtake me, just to turn left/right twenty yards further down the road.

Shall I go on.....?


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## RogerS (22 Sep 2007)

People who believe in invisible cars. You know, the ones who pull out in front of you making you decelerate rather swiftish...even though there is no-one behind you (apart from the invisible car, of course)


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## scroller frank (22 Sep 2007)

I think this could go on forever !!!
but for my 2 peneth,-------------------
people who reverse from there driveways without a hope of knowing what there going to revese into, :evil: :evil: 
.
would it not have been easyer to have gone in backwards in the first place,? 
-------------Frank-----------


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## aisuru (22 Sep 2007)

the ones that annoy me the most are the tailgaters. now, i drive 'progressively' when the road and conditions allow, but in a 30 limit, in a built-up area, then it's 30 max. the tw*ts who sit up my tail trying to pressure me don't seem to follow the same rules as me though. what i do, therefore, is to sit at 25mph, all the way up to the roundabout/corner, then take it at 30. having a well sorted chassis and suspension on my Fiesta and decent cornering technique allows me to do this with ease, meanwhile the Vectra at the back, driven by a muppet, brakes, lumbers round the corner at a treacle pace, then tears back up behind me again, to make up the gap. only i'm driving at 25mph again, so they've only wasted their own petrol with their sharp acceleration. 

the other one that gets me is the dafties out on the back roads who drive at 40 in 60 limits, when the road and conditions allow for the full speed. fair enough, perhaps they have a genuine reason for going so slowly, but it's when you get into the wee towns and villages with the 30 limits, that they keep on going 40. they really need to get a grip. :evil: 

oh and the people who speed up and down my street. the 'Twenty's Plenty' signs are there for a reason. there are kids about, and parked cars up one side. there's no call for tearing up the road at 40.

and a _lot _more, now that i think about it... but i'll save them for a rant down the pub.


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## DomValente (22 Sep 2007)

scroller frank":2wye4016 said:


> I think this could go on forever !!!
> but for my 2 peneth,-------------------
> people who reverse from there driveways without a hope of knowing what there going to revese into, :evil: :evil:
> .
> ...



I think it's illegal to reverse out of a driveway, you're supposed to reverse in, not sure though.

Dom


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## Slim (22 Sep 2007)

DomValente":vx5hz3zw said:


> I think it's illegal to reverse out of a driveway, you're supposed to reverse in, not sure though.



I think your right Dom, I always thought it was illegal to reverse onto a highway.

Its tailgaters for me. I usualy slow down when someone drives too close.


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## Smudger (22 Sep 2007)

scroller frank":1wc2qqut said:


> I think this could go on forever !!!
> but for my 2 peneth,-------------------
> people who reverse from there driveways without a hope of knowing what there going to revese into, :evil: :evil:
> .
> ...



Nope. I live on quite a busy road. If I try to stop and reverse in I get hooted, abused and some numpty pulls up 2 feet behind me and stops me anyway...

What gets me is when I am indicating right to turn onto my driveway some cretin pulls across the drive and blocks me. Last week one did that, and when I looked at her (I might have technically _glared_ I suppose) she gave me the finger and shouted abuse. Not very effectively, because her windows were closed, but I can lipread.


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## Smudger (22 Sep 2007)

In fact I've just had a look, and if it is correct that it is illegal to back out of a driveway, within sight of where I am now there are 16+ illegally parked cars and 4 legally parked. (One is behind a hedge).


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## TonyW (22 Sep 2007)

DomValente":2n4s9tiw said:


> Or the van driver who stopped in the middle of a busy road, got out, put his index finger in the air, to indicate he was going to make a quick drop off- pick up, ran across the pavement to Macdonalds and came out with a hamburger.
> Do you wonder there's road rage. :evil:
> 
> Dom


Its the additives in the burger that cause the rage Dom


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## OPJ (22 Sep 2007)

There's often someone who parks directly _opposite_ our driveway, meaning I struggle to squeeze round and make an awkward left turn.

The one that gets me the most is where you're looking to go up a hill with cars parked on the other and yet the oncoming traffic seem to think it's _their_ right of way! Eventually though, one considerate driver, who has read and understood the Highway Code, comes along and flashes me to let me past. This is part of my twice-weekly drive home from college.  

Then there are the doctors in sports cars (my most recent example) who find 50mph too slow going _up_ a hill and so they end up overtaking not one but *TWO* cars infront of them, pushing 70mph.

And generally, whatever the speed limit, most drivers seem to think that the right-hand lane allows you to go as far over the limit as you like, just as long as you're ahead of the cars on your left.


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## OPJ (22 Sep 2007)

aisuru":14wgeo5d said:


> what i do, therefore, is to sit at 25mph...



I do the exact same thing. You should also try closing in on the centre of the road at the same time, just so there's less chance of them being able to easily overtake you and get away. I find it stunning how close some van and truck drivers can get doing 60mph on a dual carridgeway. Even when I have to slow down to 50 and then 30mph, I'm expecting a smash and to find myself shunted forwards, but they're still within breathing distance!!

I've only been driving for three years and this is what Britain's drivers have left me to resort to for the many, many years I have ahead of me! :twisted: :wink:


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## Jake (22 Sep 2007)

OPJ":1bqyx5jx said:


> I find it stunning how close some van and truck drivers can get doing 60mph on a dual carridgeway.



They are probably irritated that you are doing 60mph in a 70mph zone.


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## caretaker (22 Sep 2007)

I've got to add my bit.
How come motor bikes can over take on the left hand side, on chicanes, in the middle of two lanes, brake speed limits.


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## sawdust maker (22 Sep 2007)

Hi Mark

I'm going to be the one out of step. I have a gripe with your number 2 gripe. I take it you mean people who do not acknowledge your kindness in letting them out of a junction. People who when turning right into a road junction and let someone out of that junction out of the junction first are a major cause of accidents. What happens is the the person "being kind" pulls to the centre of the road and waves the car in the junction out. The vehicle behind the one being "kind" then overtakes on the inside and runs straight into the car coming out of the junction.


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## woody67 (22 Sep 2007)

No Sawdust - I agree with you! I mean discourteous drivers who don't give so much as a nod or a wink when for example you pull into the side of a narrow road to allow them passage! :evil:


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## shedhead (22 Sep 2007)

My main gripe is when stuck behind a slow driver, and even though i have indicator on to show that i am about to overtake, a driver in car behind me zooms past. They do not wait their turn and follow you past the slow car. There is a lot of this kind of driving today. People want to save seconds off their journey, but actions like this could end someones life. And it is usually the innocent driver that comes off the worst.


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## shedhead (22 Sep 2007)

Then there is my second main gripe. Bus drivers that think that when they are ready to pull out from bus stop it's their divine right to do so. This doesn't matter that you might be already more than half way up their lenght. No its up to you to give it the welly to get past them before they half you in two. :evil:


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## David.Spavin (23 Sep 2007)

DomValente":19idfouw said:


> scroller frank":19idfouw said:
> 
> 
> > I think this could go on forever !!!
> ...



The highway code states
177: Do not reverse from a side road into a main road. When using a driveway, reverse in and drive out if you can. 

It's not illegal (it does not say 'Must Not') just a recommendation


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## aisuru (23 Sep 2007)

if it was illegal to reverse onto any road, nobody would ever pass their driving test, as the 'reversing round a corner' is exactly that - reversing into a road. of course, it's only side roads that you reverse into, if it were a main road you're going against the flow of traffic, and then the boys in blue will have you.

also, about motorbikes - the instructors actually teach you to use the whole road, and the examiners are looking for you to do so on your test. after all, that's the point of a motorbike, to zip through traffic rather than sitting in a queue.

of course, some bikers take it too far. i was almost involved in an accident with one the other week dropping my mate off at Tesco. the guy on the bike was getting his knee down, flying round the roundabout. dressed in black, on a black bike at night, a headlight suddenly appeared from nowhere. i was moving onto the roundabout, and had to brake. i waved to apollogise, as he had the right of way, but he wasn't pleased. he was looking for me later, and approached my mate in Tesco saying he'd '****ing kill me' and so on. he'll kill himself though, if he keeps riding like he's at a racetrack all the time


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## greybeard (23 Sep 2007)

Oh dear oh dear!

What a rage-filled motley crew we are. Selfish, inconsiderate, proud of our appallingly poor driving technique, ignorant of the Highway Code....the list goes on and on.

Really chaps, it's one thing to let off steam when you've just had a very near miss (it was probably a forum member doing his 'defensive driving' thing), but to rant on like this,,,,tut tut, no good for the blood pressure you know.

Why do I say this? Easy, I happen know I'm the best driver in the world and probably the universe, and the best parker, and the best lane changer, etc etc - so all the rest out there are numpties.

And I really can't be bothered about numpties!

(I used to have an electronic 'zap' gun stuck on the top of the dashboard - I zapped millions! No, not millions, gazillions!! And the noise effects were so satisfying! that was one of the best value car accessories I've ever owned)


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## Nick W (23 Sep 2007)

I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned HGVs overtaking each other on two-lane dual carriageways, where, due to both being on their speed limiters, their speed differential is 0.00000001 mph.


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## Slim (23 Sep 2007)

Nick W":3qawm940 said:


> I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned HGVs overtaking each other on two-lane dual carriageways, where, due to both being on their speed limiters, their speed differential is 0.00000001 mph.



Doesn't bother me at all.


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## DomValente (23 Sep 2007)

My dad gave me one driving lesson, when it was over I stormed from the car, he calmly got out and said " just assume everyone else on the road is an silly person and you'll be okay".
A little cynical perhaps, but if you think about it.

Dom


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## Slim (23 Sep 2007)

DomValente":1zmb1o4m said:


> My dad gave me one driving lesson, when it was over I stormed from the car, he calmly got out and said " just assume everyone else on the road is an silly person and you'll be okay".
> A little cynical perhaps, but if you think about it.
> 
> Dom



Thats exactly what I was taught when doing my bike licence. It is excelent advice. It is the only way to survive on a bike. That and don't ride like a pratt. Once I was driving round the M60. I was in the middle lane and wanted to over take an HGV in front of me. I checked my mirrors and saw a bike a long way behind me, so I indicated that I was going to overtake. Luckily I checked my mirror again and saw the bike belting up on my outside. He was going faster than I have ever seen anything go on a motorway. He must have been doing 150mph. If I had pulled out, I would have killed him, no question about it. My life would have been ruined as I would have had his death on my conscience. People who drive at high speed are IMO stupidly selfish and unable to foresee any consequences to their actions. 

I have a mate who was banned for a year for drink driving and yet he just ignored it. He continued to drive uninsured and unlicensed for a whole year. I was struggling with my conscience/loyalties as to whether I should shop him in to the police. I didn't but I wish I had.


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## spadge (24 Sep 2007)

caretaker":1b8aofpb said:


> I've got to add my bit.
> How come motor bikes can over take on the left hand side, on chicanes, in the middle of two lanes, brake speed limits.



It's allowed as compensation for all the car drivers who regularly try to kill us :wink:

As a car driver who has to commute at rush hour it's all those w*nkers who don't know how to use bus lanes. Those who either ignor them and zoom up your inside or particularly those who cannot wait until the the buslane ends before they turn into it. This leads to all the other sheeplike drivers doing the same so you end up with the buslane full and the rest of the road empty. If you do ignor the sheep and drive as you should you have to push in at the end of the buslane :x

There feel better now.


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## keithhickson (24 Sep 2007)

I met him again this morning, the tw&t behind me in his pick-up with his roof lights on, headlights on full beam, front driving/fog lights on and his shades cos the rising sun was in his eyes 8) ...NOT


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## StevieB (24 Sep 2007)

Oooh, lorry drivers with the 0.0001mph speed differential - that used to drive me nuts on the M26 daily. 13 miles of jugganaut leapfrog :evil: :evil: Completely pointless because as soon as you reach the M20 junction everything stopped anyway!

Minor gripe - dullards that go down the hard shoulder when there is a queue of traffic due to an accident/roadworks etc and they cannot be bothered to wait. Got a corker once - M26 again, 10 miles of stationary traffic chav in mark III escort down the hard shoulder. Being on a motorbike I was filtering between lanes at roughly the same speed so tracked him for almost the full 10 miles, got the finger from him a couple of times as he seemed to think I was racing him etc. He managed to go round 2 broken down cars and a broken down motorbike and still used the hard shoulder - very dangerous in my opinion. When we reached the M25 junction he has to move back into the queue and sit with everyone else in the traffic. Since no plod was ever going to get him for it I decided to become Judge Dread, cruised past him stationary and 'accidently' took his wing mirror completely off with a slap of my glove - childish I know but boy did it feel good! Passed him a week or so later, wing mirror gaffer taped to the car sitting in a traffic queue - like to think my 'justice' worked but I doubt it!

My main gripe is SMIDSY's (sorry mate, I didnt see you). WRONG! I am not invisible, what you mean is 'sorry mate, I didnt look.' I was wearing a fluorescent jacket, silver helmet, headlight on and reflective flashes on my trousers. Stevie Wonder would have seen me coming! Still, it cost her insurance 3 grand for her not looking so perhaps next time she might :twisted: 

And calm......

Steve.


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## Nick W (24 Sep 2007)

As a mopedist (well someone has to do it) people who insist on overtaking when in a 30mph limit, seemingly just because I'm on a moped and doing 30.


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## herdsman (24 Sep 2007)

My main gripe is about drivers who insist on wearing sun glasses on days when the sun is not shining and then put their lights on because they can't see where they are going!


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## Taffy Turner (24 Sep 2007)

Women (or men for that matter) driving their husband's (wifes??) enormous Jag through the lanes around my way who can't reverse 10 yards to the nearest passing place, forcing me to reverse 3/4 of a mile so they can get past!! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: 

I once got into a hilarious situation where I was a the front of a convoy of half a dozen vehicles and we met a "non - reverser". There was no way we could all go back, so it was up to the lady in question. After 10 hilarious minutes of watching her reverse up the bank, into the ditch etc, I got out of my car and asked her if she needed any help - she got out of her car in tears and told (not asked) me to reverse it for her - which I accomplished in about 20 seconds. Which all led me to the question - if you can't reverse, why use this road in the first place????

Gary


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## Scrit (24 Sep 2007)

DomValente":nt0bua78 said:


> My dad gave me one driving lesson..... .....and said " just assume everyone else on the road is an silly person and you'll be okay".


My dad told me "It's not you you've got to worry about, it's all the _other_ idiots on the road.......". Is that even more cynical, or just plain truthful?

In addition to some of the other peeves mentioned I was reminded just this morning of another one of mine - idiots from towns who don't understand the imperative to stay on their side of the road on winding country roads (I live in a rural-ish area) _especially_ on the corners. This morning in the rain we nearly put no less than 3 of them in the field/through a wall - predictably (?) a BMW, an Audi and a Mercedes-Benz :roll: all of whom had to decide that a head-on collision with a 3.5 tonne Tranny Luton might just dent their no-claims as well as their pride and joy. They also seem to have bretheren who insist on driving so close to our tailgate that they are in serious danger of doing themselves a mischief - don't they understand that if I can't see them in my wing mirrors that they are so close that an emergency stop can seriously damage their motors? Not to mention the effect of 400kg of steel and alloy smashing down on their bonnet if they happen to unship the gat by hitting it......... (seen that once, nasty!)

Scrit


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## RogerS (24 Sep 2007)

Intriguingly I was reading the other day of a guy in court on a charge of careless driving IIRC..having overtaken two people 'quite irresponsibly'. 

Who initiated the prosecution? 
PC Plod? No. 
Traffic warden? No. 
Community 'I don't swim' Support Officer? No.

It was a member of Joe Public. Yes..I'm as surprised as you are. And, were one to dig deeper then maybe, just maybe, Joe Public rounded up a few other irate drivers as co-witnesses but you never know. There you go then. The next time you get nearly driven off the road...report them :twisted:


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## keithhickson (25 Sep 2007)

In the Met the form you need is/was a RTA (Road Traffic Act) 966 an allegation of reckless/careless driver. IMHO the more witnesses the stronger the case. They rarely proced with Police instagated prosecutions these days as it is usually 1 PC v ! Member of the Public (MOP). The more the merrier bearing in mind how many solicitors would like to make a name for themselves 8)


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## Sawdust (25 Sep 2007)

It's funny how different things annoy different people. Lorry drivers overtaking never bother me at all, they are just doing a job and I can soon get past anyway but what drives me nuts is rear fog lamps and people who put them on at the slightest hint of rain or fine mist and then leave them on even when someone is behind them.

My second pet hate are drivers who consider themselves too important to indicate - especially at roundabouts. It's not exactly difficult to do and makes such a difference to other people approaching the roundabout.

And finally, of course, pretty much everything that drivers of BMWs do :wink: 

Cheers
Mike


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## Fecn (25 Sep 2007)

Back when I did a lot of commuting, I used to drive a very nice Mercedes SL convertible, and what bothered me back then was that every white-van driver seemed to think it was an absolute necessity to overtake me even though I wasn't necessarily hanging around... It was like some special goal.. If I can overtake this sportscar, that means my van's faster and better.

I now drive a white van instead and what botheres me is every car driver who seems to think that they can cut in front of me and make me brake suddenly. The white van users who used to bug me don't feel compelled to overtake me now that I'm in the white-van club.

Mostly what bothers me is people who are trying to hard. Your car is a big mobile armchair.. Relax.. go with the flow.


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## aisuru (25 Sep 2007)

some tw*t in a BMW X5 nearly forced me off the road recently on a not-quite single track road, but not really wide enough for an X5 and a Fiesta at the same time. my main gripe at the time was that he's got an Off-roader and _I_ am the one who has to drive onto the grass verge? wasn't a happy camper that day.


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## woodbloke (26 Sep 2007)

Paul Chapman wrote:


> Drivers who continue to use hand-held mobile phones when driving.


This continues to be my main gripe at the moment as well....saw a little snippet in the Telegraph on holiday recently where HM Gov may consider a *custodial* sentence of up to to 14 years if it can be proved that death on the roads has been caused by the use of a hand held mobile - Rob


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## kafkaian (26 Sep 2007)

Travelling through large roundabouts where as you're about to turn off, the guy/gal at the preceding exit decides to almost ram you in the side or rear in anticipation of getting out quickly behind you. Sometimes they just cut you up regardless.


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