Driving standards

[MarkC]

another utter cock womble gets schooled driver is in a 26t rigid with a moffat attached

 

https://www.facebook.com/bungle666/videos/10212481621340415/?t=4

Excellent work - and, apropos of nothing, love the use of the word "brew" in the reporter's narrative too

[peanuts]

Excellent work - and, apropos of nothing, love the use of the word "brew" in the reporter's narrative too

my nephew proper northern lad

[ejstubbs]

Interesting driving dilemma seen this morning...

 

You're waiting at a set of traffic lights, on a box junction, entering a roundabout (This one, to be precise: https://goo.gl/maps/7NMWvaQztAL2). The lights change, traffic starts moving, but the lights on the next exit go red - so traffic stops. You, being the diligent law-abiding motorist, stop before entering the box, as your exit from it isn't clear - but you're already well past the solid white line and lights. The lights then change. As your exit clears, do you continue as you've already entered the junction, or wait for the next phase?

 

IMO once you're well beyond the stop line, as you would be in the case you describe, then the traffic light no longer applies.  This page from the Highway Code states: "RED means ‘Stop’. Wait behind the stop line on the carriageway" (my emphasis).  I believe that this means that if you have passed the stop line when the light was green you are therefore free to proceed in a manner that is safe in the circumstances.  (Which might, in this case, include giving way to traffic approaching from your right*, since it is a roundabout.)  Better that than sit around going nowhere for no reason, which is potentially both confusing for other drivers and could create an obstruction.

 

I was one blocked at a crossroads by a driver who stopped at the repeater light on the far side of the junction.  There was no white line in front of them - it was thirty feet behind them - and the road in front of them was completely clear.  They had entered the junction legally as there was no yellow box, but by misinterpreting the traffic light they completely blocked the junction for crossing traffic when their lights turned green.  They sat there looking confused, apologetic and making "what can I do?" gestures for the whole of our green phase.  It apparently never occurred to them that what they could do was get the heck out of everyone's way...

 

another utter cock womble gets schooled driver is in a 26t rigid with a moffat attached 

 

 https://www.facebook.com/bungle666/videos/10212481621340415/?t=4

 

I freely admit that I will very occasionally carefully pull out in to the opposite lane to pass a queue of traffic in order to access a road on the right.  But only ever from a main road where I want to turn in to a side road, and only ever where I can see far enough ahead to be sure that there is no traffic approaching in the other direction (and checking behind before pulling out, of course).

 

The driver in that video took a punt with absolutely no way of knowing what might be coming the other way.  No different to overtaking on a blind bend, just slower.

 

There is a T-junction near where I live which has a ~100m two-lane section on the approach.  The left hand lane has a left turn filter at the lights, drivers in the right hand lane can turn right when the main phase is green.  Fairly obviously, the left-turn lane runs faster then the right-turn one.  One morning the traffic was, unusually, backed up a good distance past the start of the two-lane section.  Drivers waiting to turn right (including me) queued as far over towards the white centre line as we could but there wasn't really anything we could do to allow people who wanted to turn left to get past.  Which must have been frustrating for them, but did not in any way justify driving along the footway to get past.  Of course it was illegal in itself, but in this case it was also on a blind left-hand bend, and they had no way of knowing whether any pedestrians might be coming the other way.

Edited July 31, 2018 by ejstubbs

[jbqfc]

had a Audi doing 60 in the left hand lane of the M23 tonight but every time the wife tried to overtake he put his foot down and went up to 75

so in the end we just had to sit behind him

[JDW]

IMO once you're well beyond the stop line, as you would be in the case you describe, then the traffic light no longer applies.  This page from the Highway Code states: "RED means ‘Stop’. Wait behind the stop line on the carriageway" (my emphasis).  I believe that this means that if you have passed the stop line when the light was green you are therefore free to proceed in a manner that is safe in the circumstances.  (Which might, in this case, include giving way to traffic approaching from your right*, since it is a roundabout.)  Better that than sit around going nowhere for no reason, which is potentially both confusing for other drivers and could create an obstruction.

 

I was one blocked at a crossroads by a driver who stopped at the repeater light on the far side of the junction.  There was no white line in front of them - it was thirty feet behind them - and the road in front of them was completely clear.  They had entered the junction legally as there was no yellow box, but by misinterpreting the traffic light they completely blocked the junction for crossing traffic when their lights turned green.  They sat there looking confused, apologetic and making "what can I do?" gestures for the whole of our green phase.  It apparently never occurred to them that what they could do was get the heck out of everyone's way...

 

Yes, that's generally right.  Once you have crossed the stop line, you are no longer under the control of that traffic light.  As you say, it is up to you to decide if it is safe to proceed or not, as you would in any other situation.

 

I've also come across people doing that, stopping across the middle of a junction because they are unable to read the road layout - worse still, turning left and then stopping as you say at the repeater light for traffic approaching from another side.  Thankfully the usual junction for this here is a dual carriageway, and I tend to just manoeuvre past them [i'm usually driving a bus, so sometimes easier said than done].  Scarily, more than once I've had them pull up alongside me at the next lights and insist I've gone through a red light...

Edited July 31, 2018 by JDW

[Horsetan]

…..I was one blocked at a crossroads by a driver who stopped at the repeater light on the far side of the junction.  There was no white line in front of them - it was thirty feet behind them - and the road in front of them was completely clear.  They had entered the junction legally as there was no yellow box, but by misinterpreting the traffic light they completely blocked the junction for crossing traffic when their lights turned green.  They sat there looking confused, apologetic and making "what can I do?" gestures for the whole of our green phase.  It apparently never occurred to them that what they could do was get the heck out of everyone's way...….

 

This occasionally happens at the T-junction outside my office.

 

I guess it's one of the reasons why countries such as France and Poland have done away with secondary traffic signals.

[Reorte]

I guess it's one of the reasons why countries such as France and Poland have done away with secondary traffic signals.

I do like the French approach of having a lower mounted set of miniature signals for vehicle at the front of the queue that won't be able to see the main signal.

[newbryford]

Ashland strikes again. The loco mirror catches the truck.

Edited August 8, 2018 by newbryford

[Steadfast]

And he runs through a stop sign! Exemplary driver there

 

Jo

Edited August 8, 2018 by Steadfast

[Nick C]

300 miles up and down the M3 and A31 this weekend, with a lot of traffic but fewer idiots than I expected - the worst was a caravan towed by someone who hadn't bothered to fit extended mirrors, and so had no idea what was behind him...

[Horsetan]

I do like the French approach of having a lower mounted set of miniature signals for vehicle at the front of the queue that won't be able to see the main signal.

They're only just starting to adopt the idea of repetiteurs here, but for cyclists only.

[62613]

Bit of belated news here; travelling along the M62 towards Huddersfield last Thursday and saw an Audi driver indicate to change lanes.

[peanuts]

Bit of belated news here; travelling along the M62 towards Huddersfield last Thursday and saw an Audi driver indicate to change lanes.

must of been i hire or courtesy car bro 

[Baby Deltic]

Audi? As Usual Doesn't Indicate?

[Andrew F]

On the western section of the M62, there can't be many cars that are not Audi.

[62613]

Audi? As Usual Doesn't Indicate?

No, he indicated; I was so surprised I nearly crashed. I had to draw the attention of SWMBO to it.

[Andrew F]

Audi? As Usual Doesn't Indicate?

 

Ah, I didn't get that at first. Maybe VAG introduced those strafing indicators to encourage owners to use them or was it for star bellied sneechness.

[kevinlms]

No, he indicated; I was so surprised I nearly crashed. I had to draw the attention of SWMBO to it.

Yes, they have one day a year where they use the indicators, to confuse everyone. Its a secret list, as to which day to use them.

[newbryford]

Yes, they have one day a year where they use the indicators, to confuse everyone. Its a secret list, as to which day to use them.

 

And don't forget to factor in if it's either a "use the left" or "use the right" indicator day...….

[Mark Saunders]

And don't forget to factor in if it's either a "use the left" or "use the right" indicator day...….

 

Most of the time they play "roundabout roulette" it a gamble as to which exit they will use and how many lanes they will cut in the process of getting there!

[stewartingram]

I didn't know that was this week that Aldi were selling indicators?

 

Stewart

 

Edit: oops that's not Audi !

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Having of necessity had to ride in several ambulances over the past month (elderly relatives in very poor health) it has come as a real eye opener just how stupidly so many drivers in all classes of vehicles 'act up' around them. Much worse than what I see behind the wheel of a private car. I would have hoped that of all vehicles on the road, even the worst lamebrain driver might realise that there's rather more than themselves 'getting there on time' (or whatever the motivation is) when it comes to an ambulance with its blue lights on.

[ejstubbs]

The other day I was queued in the right turn lane at some lights when an ambulance with blues & twos going approached from behind.  Both the cars at the front of their respective queues went through the red light, for no readily apparent reason since there were three or four vehicles queued behind both.  The car in the left turn lane was a driving school car, I think being driven by a learner with the instructor next to them - if so then I can only assume that the instructor advised the learner to break the law in that way, which is hardly a good lesson to be giving a novice.

 

The ambulance driver managed just fine without anyone's 'help', carefully going down the outside of both queues, going the wrong side of the Keep Left sign on the bollard in the throat of the junction, then cutting left across the front of both queues..  If the driver at the front of the queue in the right turn lane had just stayed put then they wouldn't have had to skedaddle out of the ambulance's way as it executed its impromptu left turn manoeuvre.  I didn't see what happened to the driver of the driving school car who turned left against the red light but I can only presume that they found themselves in the way of the ambulance just after the junction, making their manoeuvre not only illegal but actually unhelpful.

 

The scariest thing I've seen on Edinburgh's roads in recent months was a pedestrian who decided it was just fine to start crossing in front of a speeding fire engine with blue lights and all sorts of sirens and electronic wailing devices going like the clappers.  Looked like a real brown trouser moment for the driver of the fire engine.

 

Why do people get themselves in such a tither about letting emergency vehicles go about their business?

 

EDIT: Ambuchannel 112 is an interesting channel on YouTube where an ambulance driver in the Netherlands posts dashcam video of some of his callouts.  The videos include occasional captions (in English) explaining why some other drivers' actions were unhelpful, highlighting those who did the right thing, providing general useful advice about how to respond in the presence of emergency vehicles, and even guidance about providing first aid (such as CPR, and the FAST combination of symptoms by which to recognise a possible stroke).  He's also not afraid to show occasions when he has made a mistake - such as this one - or when a callout has gone a bit awry due to misleading or conflicting information being passed to the ambulance crew.

Edited August 13, 2018 by ejstubbs

[Andrew F]

People get into a tither because they think that a life is at stake in the ambulance and they really want to help. It is not pleasant if you're sat at a red light with an ambulance wailing and flashing behind you when you could just pull through the red and let it through. Waiting for the green light is the law still.

 

 A mate of mine heard the sirens of a fire engine, couldn't see it but pulled across the entrance of a small park to let it past so he thought, only for the fire engine to administer a t-bone to his Chevette. The fire engine was coming out of the park! 

[Titan]

One of the most epic life saving runs, was the liver run featured on Police Stop!  Stanstead airport to west London via the city centre in a V8 SD1 in under 30mins on a Friday Lunchtime..

 

If you don't want the build up the serious action starts about 8 mins. in.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap-pUaxDVsk