Driving standards

[HeeleyBridge]

Perhaps the cyclist had a better perception of when it would be safe to pass/be passed than you did? Had he been driving a 40 ton truck would you have still performed your "this road belongs to me" manouvre?

 

"methinks the lady doth protest too much".

 

You action was driving without due care and attention at best, dangerous driving at worst.

[MJI]

Perhaps the cyclist had a better perception of when it would be safe to pass/be passed than you did? Had he been driving a 40 ton truck would you have still performed your "this road belongs to me" manouvre?

 

"methinks the lady doth protest too much".

 

You action was driving without due care and attention at best, dangerous driving at worst.

 

The road was clear as far as I could see and I am also higher up, just an arsey cyclist of which I see very very few (4 in a decade, and I have driven around 100,000 miles in that time).

 

And none of them were what was classed as lycra louts. OK I have NEVER seen or met a lycra lout, in fact I find they ride usually very well.

 

If I was a danger would I get friendly waves from the other lane users, would I know the names of some of the dogs?

 

This lane is a) my walking area, b.) back route from post office to work.

 

I just worked my way past an obstruction.

Edited March 22, 2016 by MJI

[alastairq]

The Highway code is quite specific about how much room one must give a 'vulnerable road user' when overtaking.  

 

Trouble is, when a driver views the likes of a cyclist as a nuisance and an inconvenience, then they cease to be bothered with the Highway Code.  [The application of which now seems to be, 'when it is convenient to spout about it?']

 

Living as I do on one of those dreaded County 'cycle routes', I often come across cyclists plodding away [usually as a group] in the centre of the carriageway.

 

I do exercise patience, and stay behind them 'for a reasonable period of time', during which I expect the cyclist to become aware of my presence.

 

If, after that reasonable period of time [ie, having a Daihatsu diesel engine throbbing noisily away behind one?].....nothing appears to change, I then give a short pip [blast?] on my horn, to bring my presence to the attention of the cyclist.

 

[sage so-called 'advanced' drive training suggests three types of horn blast, dependent on what the circumstances are]

 

Because I am not displaying anger or contempt, I usually find this leads to the cyclist moving to the left....a cheery wave, and I go past, not too quickly, so as not to make the cyclist feel threatened by my vehicle's size/cleanliness/etc!

 

If a cyclist seems to be arrogant, when I do overtake, I make sure my exhaust fumes leave them choking for a while......something one can do with an old-technology, proper diesel engine.

 

I really do think we have entered an age where the presence of cameras [front & rear] are fast becoming an essential add-on......from an evidential viewpoint.

 

How long will it be before BMWs have them fitted as standard?  

[Guest]

If a cyclist seems to be arrogant, when I do overtake, I make sure my exhaust fumes leave them choking for a while......something one can do with an old-technology, proper diesel engine.

A proponent of the punishment pass then?

It's laughable that people post this stuff while claiming what great a driver they are.

[alastairq]

 

 

t's laughable that people post this stuff while claiming what great a driver they are. 

  Who is claiming anything such, eh?

 

Maybe I should just shove the arrogant cyclist out of the way, eh?

 

{I'd get away with it too, round here!!]

 

 

My view to driving is simple.....I 'play the game' if others do.....I give them the benefit of the doubt....and I try to minimise the effect I have on other road users, driving what I happen to be driving.

 

However, sometimes I am tempted to pay less attention to that minimising...usually better in my view than an angry confrontation......something I, as a born confrontationalist can be very good at.

Edited March 22, 2016 by alastairq

[Butler Henderson]

Cyclists are permitted to ride two abreast provided traffic conditions are suitable. Now what happens when a pair of cyclists come upto a slower pair, you briefly get 4 abreast and you can bet all your money on that being the point at which a car comes upon them. No excuse for a pack of cyclists of more than two abreast unless the road is closed and its a cycle race.

[alastairq]

 

 

Cyclists are permitted to ride two abreast provided traffic conditions are suitable

 Not a 'permission' in legal terms....however, 'road' conditions also apply.....ie if the road is narrow. All a 'should-do' rather than a 'must-do' in the highway code.

 

Also, a 'should-do' is to keep aware of traffic behind.  This is part of the 'overtaking' rules in the Highway code....and motorists themselves are the most guilty of ignoring that advice.

[bbishop]

Car hits car - dead car.

 

Car hits cycle - dead cyclist.

 

Bill

[Horsetan]

.....I really do think we have entered an age where the presence of cameras [front & rear] are fast becoming an essential add-on......from an evidential viewpoint.

 

How long will it be before BMWs have them fitted as standard?  

Given that so-called "safer" car designs (thicker pillars, basically) make it harder to see out of cars and judge distances, etc., you're probably going to need cameras anyway.

[Butler Henderson]

A BMW drver excelled last week by complaining he had to use.........the brake pedal. Automation gone a bit too far but it probably explains some of the crazy driving seen day in day out by Brainless Moronic W*****s. Apparently some BMWs auto apply brakes but it is worked by cameras whuch easilly get fooled by the weather, no kid, if the lights on my Fiesta fail to auto come on when its foggy I think anyone could have told BMW that camera operated brakes a bit dopy. Their defence is that it is pointed out in the handbook.

Edited March 22, 2016 by Butler Henderson

[Kickstart]

:-o

 

...but going back to indicators, why are modern cars fitted with ones that are often so difficult to see?!  Either they're right next to the headlight/DRL, or they're almost impossible to see from other than head on in any kind of bright light, or... or... or... What's wrong with ones that are well positioned and easy to see from any angle as you approach a junction or negotiate a roundabout, not just as the car comes around the roundabout towards you...?

Many modern ones appear to be LED items, and a common problem with these seems to be very poor colour differentiation. Hence when they put the indicator in the middle of the brake light it is virtually impossible to see

 

All the best

 

Katy

[trisonic]

All of which proves the point, Rodney, that the World is full of plonkers.........

 

Best, Pete.

[MJI]

Many modern ones appear to be LED items, and a common problem with these seems to be very poor colour differentiation. Hence when they put the indicator in the middle of the brake light it is virtually impossible to see

 

All the best

 

Katy

 

Modern lights are terrible, they have been ruined in the name of style.

 

All I want are large units, reasonable brightness, and functions seperated, no light within light.

 

Oh and not flicker.

[Kickstart]

Oh and not flicker.

A lot of LED lights do flicker. Think it is done to try and increase their life expectancy. Very noticeable with the red man on pedestrian crossings

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Horsetan]

There is an element of rapid strobing in some banks or clusters of LEDs. This aims to save power by only lighting one bank at a time, whilst appearing to the human eye to be fully lit.

 

This also explains why it's so difficult to take a photo of LED tail lights at full power.

[MJI]

A lot of LED lights do flicker. Think it is done to try and increase their life expectancy. Very noticeable with the red man on pedestrian crossings

 

All the best

 

Katy

 

I have trouble sticking them to cars, the lights seem seperate.

 

My LED kitchen lights do not flicker

 

Worst is some Peugeot convertable, not many around, probably all written off by being whacked in the boot.

 

Flickery LED rear lights are dangerous

[MJI]

There is an element of rapid strobing in some banks or clusters of LEDs. This aims to save power by only lighting one bank at a time, whilst appearing to the human eye to be fully lit.

 

This also explains why it's so difficult to take a photo of LED tail lights at full power.

 

Some are not watchable they give you migranes

[Torn-on-the-platform]

I recently had the pleasure of being stuck behind at wide load that was unable to top 50mph on the 2 lane section of the southbound M18. This created long tailbacks, and I was quite fortunate to be relatively near the front of the queue. After the A1 junction, the M18 becomes three lane. To the credit of the wide load driver, he pulled over into the first and second lanes as soon as was safe and everyone formed an orderly queue in lane 3 to pass him. As the M18 climbs over the A1, the wide load dropped to 30mph and had not managed to pick up much speed by the time the road had widened up, so as you can imagine, a little more patience was required for the queue to make good progress past the obstruction.

 

Frustrating, but fair enough.

 

What wasn't fair enough was the BMW who trucked up lane 1 at a speed far greater than anyone else. I leave myself open to accusations of selfish driving here, but at this point the queue was moving at around 40mph and accelerating, and whilst I feel I am usually good at leaving an adequate gap behind the car in front, seeing someone with this arrogance and impatience will leave you tempted to close the gap. He presumably aimed for the gap infront of me as, despite closing up a bit, it was probably still the widest gap in the queue. This didn't stop him at all - with no signalling until after starting his maneuver,  he was forcing his way in front of me. Even at the relatively slow speed I was forced to brake to account for this, as he was clearly relying on my sense of self preservation to enable him to complete the move. He waved back in 'apology', an assumption I know, but it felt like a matter of course (It is my belief that if you have intentionally done something wrong, the apology will never be sincere). He had forced me to take action to avoid collision, by his own choice, not need, so I made a choice hand gesture back. He noticed and did a more sarcastic looking wave in reply. This gave an impression that this was the kind of move he was used to making with little regard to anyone else's safety.

 

The thing that angered me most was his willingness to risk other people's safety in order to queue jump. However, whilst I appreciate that there is always the arguement that you should 'use all the road space', in this context there had been some flagrant undertaking and the queue jumping itself was pretty outrageous even if there had been sufficient gap for him to fit in. If he had joined from the A1, he had certainly travelled far enough from the junction that this was not a valid excuse in my book.

 

As I pointed out earlier, I know that my closing of the gap makes me no angel, but I would imagine that most people would do the same in this situation. We Brits aren't particularly keen on selfish drivers and queue jumpers after all. His actions were exponentially worse than mine!

 

I know that incidents such as this aren't exactly rare, but this thread is as good a place as any to have a bit of a vent!

Edited March 24, 2016 by Torn-on-the-platform

[Horsetan]

One phenomenon I noticed in the 1990s which has fortunately died down a bit since then were drivers who seemed to adopt a deliberately awkward posture in the driving seat, whereby they would contort their upper body to lean into the centre line of their car. Not sure what the point of that was, but it must have led to long term muscular or even spinal distortion.

 

....willingness to risk other people's safety in order to queue jump. ...

Happens daily in London.

[CUTLER2579]

I watched an episode of Police Interceptors last night where the Essex  police were catching speeders at Lakeside shopping centre after the shops had closed. It is the place to show off your driving skills apparently. after being stopped and booked for speeding a spotty little jerk,who looked about 15 stated that he wasn't worried because he knew how to handle his car at such a high speed through his experience. Then the  officer gave him some friendly words of advice and then as an apparent after thought, asked how long the youngster had held a full licence.

 

Two and a half weeks came the reply.      

 

Goodness, I will need to find out who he was and get some advice as I have clearly got a lot to learn as in two months I will only have been driving 50 years and doing 70,000 miles a year for a large percentage of that time.  

[Guest]

Goodness, I will need to find out who he was and get some advice as I have clearly got a lot to learn as in two months I will only have been driving 50 years and doing 70,000 miles a year for a large percentage of that time.

Yeah, you aint played no GTA5 innit bruv.

[beast66606]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-35891756

Yeah, you aint played no GTA5 innit bruv.

 

That deer is more indestructible than the ones around here.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33521984

[Horsetan]

...That deer is more indestructible than the ones around here.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33521984

What they need now is to introduce an AI black Labrador into the game. Fenton sounds like a suitable name for it....

[JDW]

I watched an episode of Police Interceptors last night where the Essex  police were catching speeders at Lakeside shopping centre after the shops had closed. It is the place to show off your driving skills apparently. after being stopped and booked for speeding a spotty little jerk,who looked about 15 stated that he wasn't worried because he knew how to handle his car at such a high speed through his experience. Then the  officer gave him some friendly words of advice and then as an apparent after thought, asked how long the youngster had held a full licence.

 

Two and a half weeks came the reply.      

 

Goodness, I will need to find out who he was and get some advice as I have clearly got a lot to learn as in two months I will only have been driving 50 years and doing 70,000 miles a year for a large percentage of that time.  

 

Yeah, that always makes me chuckle (or frown) too, "I know what I'm doing, I can do handbrake turns...", well yes that's great you can catch the back end when it goes sideways in a car park, and you're expecting it because you've pulled the handbrake.  Like you Cutler, I drive a lot, and I'm sure you'd agree, its very different being able to do it when its unexpected, and being able to regain control when it happens - I'm still not quite sure how I managed to avid hitting anything the day the back end of my bus tried to overtake me on a patch of black ice one morning (ungritted dual carriageway plus cold brakes fresh from the depot), but I managed to pull it back in to line and stop facing the right way on the right side of the road, and only about 2 bus lengths the wrong side of the stop line.  Not something I'd want to do again in a hurry, but maybe if I'd practised handbrake turns in the local Asda in a Corsa I'd have been able to handle it much better, whadda ya think...?

[MJI]

Car control, well you learn by driving cars with good feedback.

 

Years ago I had a hot hatch, an old one, a neighbour in his early 20s was scared of it, he had a Nova, also a thinks he is an expert.

 

Now my hot hatch was quite quick (0-60 8 seconmds). What scared him was the fact it was short and the drive was at the back.

 

The silly little boy was scared of RWD, what is wrong with a small car with RWD?

 

It was brilliant fun and taught me a lot about car control. You could read the road so well. I learnt a lot at that time, and I had passed my car test about 10 years previously, 10 years full car and learnt a LOT then.

 

The only scary car I have driven was a hot Astra, much too much power for the chassis.