johnfelstead

i dont think we are at the slagging off stage Amanda, dont read to much into it from that perspective. We are just disagreeing.

dsmith

If theres 2 lanes use 2 lanes and filter politley. Everyone wins

Using one just lane extends the queue and causes more congestion futher back.

Happens all the time on the local dual carriageway. Theres refrequently roadworks on a big bridge which immediately queues the traffuic back. Some "helpful" truck will always block one lane. The next junction before the bridge is critical - if the queue gets that far, the junction snarls up and it instantly causes far far more problems. If the know-it-all truck drivers/saxo-boy would not block 1 lane the queue 9 times out of 10 wouldnt get that far.

V Bad driving to ever block a lane purposefully. Its not up to you to decide the lane is not needed anymore.

Deamo

[Edited by dsmith - 10/18/2002 1:36:31 PM]

LG John

I think a lot of people really need to set out earlier! Despite queing correctly, etc I was still 20 mins early for my appointment. This gave me time to flick through a couple of my planning apps, listed to the radio and chill out a little before being seen. Think about it

johnfelstead

Go down the outside, round the roaundabout and off at the junction you require, they have to give way, it's the law.

[jk]And if you are in a real hurry, handbrake it as you enter the roundabout and take it in one big power slide[/jk]

LG John

I'm gonna get a truck....who'd mess with 30 tonnes of steal

chiark

Look at the inside lane of a motorway... With lorries not able to speed up and slow down as fast as the car dominated lanes, they move a lot more smoothly and are often making the best progress on the motorway. So much so that I always move to the inside lane now in traffic jams

Interesting thread this

dsmith

I should also add that the bridge in question (The Orwell Bridge - was in a yorkie Advert once) is 10 miles from Felixstowe - one the biggest container ports in europe - so there are more than a few trucks around

.

When i much younger a truck was trying to block both lanes by himself. I was in my MG Midget - which is actually narrower than a mini and waited till he wasnt looking then shot down the outside. He wasnt pleased

Deano

MATTeL

lol John... I use that roundabout trick quite often! Nothing wrong either I just got the lanes wrong and I do go all the way around the thing rather than chopping accross the lanes.

Of course I would never powerslide the car on a roundabout!

Blocking the lanes would be impeading the progress of other road users something that is against the rules according to the Highway Code.... just thought I would mention it.

ex-webby

I haven't read all of this thread (sorry) so may have missed the point. I agree 100% with john on this.

People who sit in the left hand lane, leaving the right hand lane free are causing traffic congestion which has a knock-on effect all the way back down the road.

Surely you should use both lanes (to keep the queue to a minimum) and then merge (orderly as john says) when you get to a comfortable distance from the merge.

I once did this and had a moron in a sainsbury's lorry pull right out and block both lanes. There was AT LEAST half a mile to go, and only a few people were using the right hand lane.. seemed BARMY to me.. what on earth was that bit of tarmac for? The queue would have been half as long if both lanes were filled. Why didn't they mark up the merge point a mile back down the road if you wasn't supposed to use that bit of the right hand lane?

So I (along with an ever building queue of traffic behind me) waited in frustration for 10 minutes while this sainsbury's lorry blocked the right hand lane and caused and even bigger queue.

All the best

Simon

Derek M

Well Done Saxo Boy

You did a good job and if I had of been in the que I would have have given you the thumbs up!!

I know exactly the type situation you are trying to explain. People should be more considerate and have merged earlier, rather than waiting until they are right up at the merge point.

When I am waiting in line like that and as the line progresses I make sure that I never leave a space big enough to let anyone in near the merge point. But what happens is when they know that I wont let them in, chances are the driver in front does let them in and that is annoying.

The people who think it is ok to do this are most probably the ones who do it regularly and get our backs up!

They aren’t breaking the law but it shows a lack of respect for others.

Dream Weaver

Sometimes think "ah you git", cos they have done it and I haven't but have to say life is far too short to start blocking people on the roads. I actually make a point of letting people like that in. You never know who you are blocking these days.

You stop someone from pulling in just cos they have put a few cars lengths on you. Next thing they jump out with a sewn off and blast you straight through your chest.

Not really worth it for 1 car length is it.

PS I *did* used to get angry about it but not anymore.

LG John

Bigger doesn't mean worse. In this situ the que would go a bit further up the road because of my actions but its miles back to the nearest major junction or lights so it wouldn't have had knock on effects.

Frankly I don't know why that section of road exists because it's pretty useless unless the traffic is flowing freely. The buses use it to undertake (as they should) to get to the stop at the bottom. I was very careful to watch out for any buses coming - none did. As much as I hate them this lane of the road really should be a greenway as with the rest of edinburgh.

Little Miss WRX

Probably one of the drivers of the company I used to work for then

LG John

He, he, my only defense is was it was 12 at night and I could see that I had the whole road to myself

Dream Weaver

There is one answer to why all this happens, and it has occurred to me more recently. There are just too many cars on the road in the UK now.

Even the (what used to be) quiet country lanes around here are getting busy at strange times. Cant even go for a blast any more.

LG John

Possible....yes

likely.....no!!

Carlos The Jackel

You have certainly hit a nerve with this one SB There are a lot of people on here claiming not to get angry at the wheel but can't control themselves behind a keyboard

TomM

Quote Derek M :

"When I am waiting in line like that and as the line progresses I make sure that I never leave a space big enough to let anyone in near the merge point. But what happens is when they know that I wont let them in, chances are the driver in front does let them in and that is annoying. "

??? - Iam lost here, so Derek, are we to sit in a single line of traffic stretching right back whilst the other lane remains empty?? - that is just rediculous!, and it will never happen!

Your aggravating a problem that wont go away, by not letting people in are you thinking "ha, they wont do that again"?? - dont be silly, your making it worse!. I have been in this situation lots of times on in both lanes and I always let people in, if you dont the next person will so why not?

As I said, I can see what SB was trying to do but as I also said, people have been stabbed for less!!. There isnt an overnight fix for bad driving stnadards in the UK, it certainly needs looking at but how??

This is a really good discussion as we are getting a very fair shared point of view.

Fullonloon

Don't see any problem with merging in turn, except some selfish drivers (who are mostly either women or taxi drivers) don't follow this rule.

Anyway, I think if there had been a police car and saw you were blocking the road in order to not let people in front of you then you are in the wrong. Obviously, someone doing such a stupid thing as to overtake on the pavement is obscene, but then you caused the situation...

If it had ben me behind you I would have been on the horn and it would have pissed me off. Wouldn't have mounted the pavement though

Little Miss WRX

I can't claim to not getting angry at the wheel. I have been told I am an aggressive driver, but I do have my mellow moments

I often have to walk to the docs else my blood pressure readings are sky high after driving there

LG John

I've just thought of another 'what would you do' :Fortunatly I head against the morning traffic on the bypass - ha ha suckers But have on occasion use the busy side. When you get on to the slip road you que to get onto the bypass and the traffic on the bypass is crawling or stopped. Once I get to the end of the white chevrons your not supposed to cross I indicate and usual get let in. A number of others don't move in hear but continue down the remaining 200m of the slip road right to the very end and then try to get in....thus skipping a large number of queing cars on the bypass. This also IMO is just bloody rude!!! Whatsmore, once the traffic gets beyond the point at the end of the sliproad the speed increases 3 fold....I wonder why that is

Carlos The Jackel

Right SB, Own up which happend then?

1. you just got out of the wrong side of your bed
2. your insurance renwal has arrived
3. your service is due
4. you need 4 new tyres
5. your girlfriend has dumped you
6. all 1-5 all on the same day

ProperCharlie

If I lived in Edinburgh i'd be asking for a rebate on my council tax, with the amount of time that Saxo spends on SN . I was going to reply to this thread on topic but by the time I got to the end of it I was too tired to remember what my original opinion was... Surely there must be an application for another out of town retail development that requires attention somewhere... just think of all the planning gain.

Charlie.

[Edited by ProperCharlie - 10/18/2002 1:58:26 PM]

LG John

Don't get me started on that one.....I've got a whole 10 page thread in me about taxi drivers

BTW I can honestly place my hand on my heart and say that if a traffic cop car had seen what I was doing - under the circumstances of this particular road - I do not believe they would have pulled me. And if they did it would probably just be an excuse to stick an emissions probe up the exhaust

[Edited by Saxo Boy - 10/18/2002 2:04:48 PM]

MATTeL

Blocking the lane is - impeding the progress of other road users.

This is contratary to what the Highway Codes tells us how to drive.

(I know I said this in the previous post but it has lost)

LG John

Carlos.....6 Seriously though I'm in a ok mood today

Mattel....heard you loud and clear thanks for enlightening me

Charlie....your right, just hope IT aren't watching today It's a friday, its a bit of a no-brainer and I have next week off. That gives me an idea, maybe I should tie a red cape to the back of the scoob and spend my week off trying to clear up bad british driving

ProperCharlie

The only reason I'm still here is that the rest of 'management' is on holiday - hence no-one to go to the pub with...

MikT

Hey SB.............i live in the south side of Embra too and know your roads and you're being selective with some of what you write.

Don't you remember that all the roadwords on the city bypass a few years back to LENGTHEN the slip roads were so that people were able to join the traffic at the speed its moving but people still insist on cutting over the chevrons (noted - you don't) and joining immediately after the chevrons ended?

Derek M

Quote TomM
"??? - Iam lost here, so Derek, are we to sit in a single line of traffic stretching right back whilst the other lane remains empty?? - that is just rediculous!, and it will never happen!"

I dont let those impatient arrogant drivers in at the last moment who are not considerate and dont wait like everyone else. I will however let people in further back were everyone else is mergeing.

No one should let them in!!!!

Would u let someone push in front of you at the checkout in a shop. NO!

So just cause they are in a car and they fell protected from others in their little bubble why should they get away with it !!

carl

But how are we to necessarily know at which point everyone else has decided to merge? The 'point at which everyone else is merging' has been randomly determined by one driver who's decided to merge at that point, and everyone else has followed like sheep. What gives that driver the right to determine the point at which everyone else should merge? My decision's no worse than his/hers.

Consider the following. Roadworks on M11 (not the current lot, the previous lot). Me tootling along the middle and overtaking lanes as necessary. Not even come up to the "Bishop's Stortford -- 1 mile" board yet. Rounding a bend there's a line of stationary cars in lane 1 queueing to get off the motorway. How am I supposed to merge with these? Wherever I try to chop into the queue (no mean feat when the other lanes are going 70 mph ) people will say "I'm not letting him in -- he should have waited like the rest of us"


[Edited by carl - 10/18/2002 2:23:04 PM]