This has probably been done to death, but here goes anyway:

Apart from the usual idiots who a) don't indicate b) have their rear fog lights on when its dark and c) have their front fogs and only their side lights on...

I was Coming home tonight, near Hampton Court. Picked up the A309 as usual. Come to the traffic lights and pull up alongside a Police Ford Transit. Lights go green, being sensible, so I'm keeping it under 50 (it's a 40 limit). Look in my mirror to find matey boy in the Police transit up my exhaust pipe.

I pull over and let him go (he's doing at least 60 (and no he didn't have his lights or sirens on, he just put his foot down)). What gets me is this is the exact same spot of road where I got done for doing 60 about a year ago.

Don't think it sets a great example and it doesn't half pi$$ me off

I feel better now - feel free to add your own rants.

Chris

 

Iwasn't going to bother with a new post for this, but as you've mentioned it:
I was involved in the most appaling driving "situation" I have ever been in last Saturday.
I was on the A12 London bound near Colchester doing about 90 in the outside lane and steadily making my way past the middle lane traffic; roads not crowded and conditions pleasant.
I am suddenly aware of a BMW trying to inspect my turbo through the tailpipe. 1st thought as usual is "idiot" so I squeeze the throttle and take it to 100 to get some distance.
Still up my jacksie, I was not prepared to go any faster and was still pasing traffic so I thought I'd wait until the inside lane was clear enough for me to get out of this clowns way without me having to brake into a gap.
Suddenly the guy is at my nearside and as he is quickly catching the car in front, he just cuts me off. I had to brake real hard and swerve to avoid collision (the consequences at 90-100 are unthinkable).
Instinctively I give him the Oscar Plus's and vent off some startled expletives.
I then get the slowing down treatment, bating me to overtake.
I can here Richard Grimes like Obewan Kenobe saying "deep breaths Neil, let him go" and as I sit behind at about 50, a guy in a Golf GTi pulls alongside him and starts having a go at him on my behalf! (the Golf had previously been following me so I guess he's harassed him as well).
Having now merged in with some traffic I try to forget the incident but later I catch him up as he is sitting on the inside lane. It's clear on the outside, he's doing about 50 and I think lets just get past him and away. I drop to 3rd, massive rush of power as I surge past him then massive brakes as he pulls fully into my lane! I mean the margins here were so tight you wouldn't believe. I had 2 wheels on the grass of the central reservation and didn't think I was going to make it. Imean this guy was just waiting for me to go and appeared quite prepared to smash up his car. I'm convinced it was only the stability and braking of the Scoob that stopped a collision or spin.
Our "friend" then slews hard left across 3 lanes and off down the sliproad. My girlfriend, the Golf driver and me all watch in astonishment as he and HIS 2 KIDS!!!, who are no older than 9 or 10; eyes bulging in fear, dissapear at speed toward the roundabout.
Golf driver eventually breaks off with an incredulous look and a friendly wave.

I have thought this through many times and can think of no way I could have upset this to$$er, who I can only assume was on drugs or something.
I actually thought for the 1st time ever, "do I want the sort of attention the Scoob brings? Should I sell it and get a Metro?".
I don't think however, that that would solve the problem of idiots like him....

Neil.

 

Makes mine seem very tame Neil - but there do appear to be an increasing number of idiots who are prepared to risk everything on the roads. What you describe is verging on the criminally insane (especially with kids in the back). Its one of those times when you really want a policeman around.

[This message has been edited by Chris L (edited 04-07-2000).]

 

No kidding. You know the amazing thing is that in the heat of the situation, neither me or my girlfriend got his number! It just seemed to be the last thing on my mind at the time.
It would be nice to think that one of those traffic monitoring camera's might have caught something.

 

Monster drivers, like Alistair Stewart!

 

I take it that this was a 318i.
Seems to happen a lot with me (and have had much the same experience with idiot wife in car also screaming across at me (Err hello, who's undertaking who here? Scream at your husband please). I never get grief from 328's, M3's etc.

Kids don't come into it as anything other than ballast to these prats... Scares me witless.

Equation:
The lower the BMW model, the faster it apparently goes
The lower the model, lower the driver IQ.

Apologies to any sensible Beemer drivers out there but then again I'm sure you've noticed this also.
Joolz

 

Neil, if you're based in Colchester keep your eyes peeled for The Berverly Hill Billies in their clapped-out blue camper van. They tried to run me off the road last year when I had the *nerve* to overtake them on the slip road onto the A12 at the Ave of Rememberance.
They were in the left hand lane, I was in the right, and as I went past them, dad decided he'd just get ready to join traffic and pulled out; I figured he was going to do it, so gave it a bit of horn just to warn him I was there. Well, how dare I?
The reaction was just amazing. They pulled RIGHT in front of me, so I had to brake hard and pull left, dump it into third and pull alongside them. Son was at the back window, giving it the Coulthard hello and then as I drew alongside the passenger door, Mrs Clampett was doing it, too!
Classy. Very classy.
Naturally, I gave them a cheery wave and hit the A12, only to be 'pursued' by this family of tramps all the way to Witham. They were cutting people up and barging their way through traffic to get to me, it was amazing. At one point, knowing the driver was an old prat and his son a kid, I considered pulling into a lay-by and giving them a slap, but then I thought about, oh, the police and kept going. I parked on the fly-over at Witham and stood by the driver's door, giving them the same hearty salute they'd originally given me, as they belched and farted their way past.
So be warned: blue camper van built about 1863, top speed, 15mph…

 

LOL
Still chuckling....

Ro

 

JBryant.

This was actually a 5 series estate and although it was a left hooker I did manage to notice that it had an English number plate.
It carried a fair bit of speed at the top end mind, and I suspect it may be an unbadged M5 or suchlike?
Regardless the guy was a pr1ck and I pity the kids more than anything.

Neil.

 

Volvo drivers who wait at a junction until your 20 or so yards from them then pull out in front of you.......then drive up the road at half the speed limit..........(where there is no way to pass them !!)

Plus all and sundry who don't want us in the common market ......
But Bloody well drive on the Right / Middle /Outside lanes on Dual carriageways /motorways at well below the speed limit ,
SO what do you do ,politely wait for them to move (2 bleedin' miles later nader,zip,zilch),

So you UNDERTAKE them , Out comes Pc Stern trooper who promptly does YOU for driving without due care (who's doing consideration Then !) 10 points + fine do not pass go do not collect £200 . [ hasn't happened BUT could !! ] I do think that the police have a lot on their plate and i do actually support them . BUUUUUUTTTTTT do the other pratt's first , they are causing me do break the law ,I wouldn't if they didn't.....S I M P L E. eh.

m

 

On the motorway, the last-minute left turners. You know how it it, 1 mile warning, move to the middle lane, 1/2 mile warning, move to the left lane, 3/10ths start indicating, 2/10ths, 1/10th, pull left nice and safely. The last minute turners? Straight down the outside at 95 until the 1/10th sign, then hard left if space, if not slow to a crawl holding up everybody behind.

Grrrrrr.

 

Rider



Night

p.s. so funny Im almost tempted to go to Colchester and try and find them!

 

Chris L has a point about plod & their ritual abuse of power. I've got all respect for the police etc BUT when it comes to speeding (flashing gatsos - does a NIP get issued? Nah - police business), failure to obey traffic signs, driving in a bus lane etc etc whilst NOT under blue lights, in addition to blue lights to aid getting to the head of the cue (then stop for traffic lights with them switched off & carry on a leisurely pace), I get very annoyed, but who do you complain to. Take the number & report it to the local station but that'll get a "Oh he was on Police business" (What? With no blue light or siren?) & do you want to take up their valuable criminal catching time (& have your card marked by Special Branch as an anarchist)?

I would get nicked for all the above if I did it in front of a copper

Hey! I'm just a taxpayer

 

The people who use a roundabout as a device for overtaking you.

Example: main single lane road approaching r'bout. Three exits off r'bout and three lanes, on approach, to filter the traffic. Left lane for first exit, middle lane for straight on, right lane for....well you know.

Approach r'bout in middle lane intending to go straight on. Woman in large 4wd pulls up on my right hand side but signalling LEFT. Roundabout clears and I pull off. She does and then revs the knackers out of it on my inside, still signalling left. As the exit road we are both intending to use has only room for one vehicle, one of us has to yield.

As I am in my wife's Ford Ka, I cannot pull ahead and she cuts right across me, sending me up the kerb onto the grass verge.

I see this happen on a weekly basis whilst commuting. The only time it never happens to me is when I'm in the Scoob. The majority of people KNOW it's pointless so don't try and the rest get the drift very shortly after.

blubs

 

Neil/Rider,

The A12 seems to be the place for assasination attempts.

To cut a long story short, a white mazda 323 estate H££% JDP slewed across me 4 times (from the inside twice) All the time the driver was gesticulating wildly. All because he hit his brakes when I flashed to get past him. I wasn't close, so I went around the inside.

I was going to put him on a plane to Tashkent, but that's another story.

What really annoys me is when a beemer/vectra 2.5 v6 (ooohhh nice car, Tw*t.) tries to climb into your boot, so you move over and you're now approaching a slower moving vehicle in your lane. After flying up your anus as fast as they can, then hammering on their brakes a foot off your bumper, they now decide to take the next 30miles to reach 100 again, and crawl past you at +1mph, causing you to slow down unecessarily.

The only alternative would to be to floor it and put yourself in the outside lane ahead of them again. (But that's too dangerous...)

 

I've noticed recently too that the Police are tending to disregard speed limits when clearly there is no indication to speed.

There is short stretch of motorway near my home which has an unfortunately low 50 mph speed limit. The last part of this motorway before it becomes a single-carriageway A road is a fairly steep incline (for m-way). I enjoy this stretch particularly because in the scoob, I can continue to accelerate all the way up the hill, whilst other cars look like they're going backwards.

A few weeks ago, I joined this road at the bottom of the hill ready to let rip. Just as I was about to pull out, a trafic police BMW 5-series (new one with blue lights off) cruised past at around 60 and then rocketed up the hill at about 80+. I thought he was on the chase. He then pulled off at the next slip-road and he headed for built-up area now at normal speed.

So much for setting a good example.

D.

 

What do you reckon guys, is it the car?
Now I know I've got a WRC rear spoiler and some people may say it's asking for attention, but since I was a kid I've always appreciated a nice car (I even have some admiration for the EvoVI for God's sake!) and have never felt jealousy toward someone in a nicer car than mine. A touch of envy now and then, but only in the "I'm having one of those when I win the pools" way.
I admit the odd yuppie/Porsche combination back in the 80's caused me to think "snobby pr@tt" once in a while, but I would never think of trying to kill the guy for it (I mean driving a Porsche is punishment enough in my book ).
Do you think the cossie boys had/have the same trouble in the 80's?

Neil.

 

Neil

I reckon the cossie boys had exactly the same problem. The envy thing is crazy. I was talking to one of the guys at the Sunday meet (sorry can't remember your name) who had a fantastic 22B. He said he can't leave the car anywhere, which is really sad. My boss, who has a rather nice 911 Carrera 4 Cab has been told by the dealer not to the leave the roof down when he parks it "because people spit in them"

If you go to the States, its a completely different attitude. Rather than "that blokes got a nice car, lets 'key it'", most people think "I want one of those". You get respect not envy.

Not a good reflection on our country.

 

The incident that happened to you has been around a long time as it happened to me around 10 yrs ago in some little village in kent, driving along some to$$er in a susuki jeep went past me because I was driving slowley, and started doing the same - slowing down, speeding up etc. This really pissed me off as I was driving slow because I had my new puppy in the back.

Anyway being young I just sat back and followed him, he got wind of it but could not get away, eventually he stopped and got a slap for his troubles!

Today I hope I would have the sense simply to pull over and let them get on with putting their own lives at risk.

I must point out that I have done over 19K miles in a year in my scoob and have never had anyone try anything with me. Perhaps because I look

..R

 

The thing that annoys me the absolute most is when you have a dual carriageway that then merges into a single lane.....i.e. A303 towards Exeter/Somerset.

I travel down there quite often (parents in law) and the amount of tossers who continue to drive down the outside lane, while the rest of us have pulled in in plenty of time and have to wait it out!

Last Sunday, I got very very annoyed....traffic was Sh1te and I had pulled in early and had been waiting for about 15 mins..trudging forwards slowly, as I was very close to the end of the merge, I moved out slightly to prevent any other nobby's from passing......The Vectra behind me did the same....amazing how it was all calm and tranquil from that point forwards!!

Probably illegal but satisfying nevertheless!!

Jim

 

Jim...but maybe peeps should use both lanes and merge one by one from each side when the road eventually narrows? Don't know if the highway code or advanced driving manuals deal with this.

We seem to have 'early pulling over problems' where I live - what do I do if there's 400 yds of queued traffic on the left hand side and an empty right hand lane? I go *slowly* down the right hand lane (ie non-aggressively) and usually find a slot to get into. If someone defends the space in front of them agressively, then don't bother with them..there'll be another. Some people are happy to let a Scoob in front 'cos they can have a good look at it - but, OK, some are the complete opoosite. A friendly wave to the car that's let you in helps to keep it all civilised as well

 

Bright Kar.

I think you'll find ChrisL said not A GOOD reflection of our country, which in essence means he's agreeing with you.
Incidentally, I drove a Healey 3000 for a while and on one occasion I left it, hood down, for 2 minutes while I went to a cashpoint. On my return there was a huge blob of bubble gum on the drivers seat. I checked everytime after that.

Neil.

 

Thanks Neil

You saw it before me that is exactly what I meant. Bkar has got a point though, the yob culture isn't just a London thing - it does appear to be spreading.

I like most people on this BBs am a car nut. I choose to drive a Subaru because it's a great car. I can also appreciate other cars (one day I would love to own a Ferrari (I keep deaming)). I don't see a nice car and think 'to$$er' - I want the CAR!!

As I said before - the envy thing is really sad.

[This message has been edited by Chris L (edited 06-07-2000).]

 

ChrisL,

What do you mean "no reflection on our country". It bloody well is. It's reflection of the same yob culture that is giving football a bad name. And isnt anything to do with age either. You get ar$eholes of all ages. The number of 40's / 50's year old blokes that try to stop you overtaking (this was before I had the scoob) is ridiculus.

Dont think you need to go to traditional yob counties either. I live in Dorset and they really wind me up. They had an attitude that they own whatever lane they are driving on and if you need to go into that lane, they wont let you in however long you have been indicating to go into their lane. I actually prefer driving around London or Birmingham as it doesnt seem to be a crime there to change lane. (London drivers are mad but cooooool IMO )

Saying all that I drove like a real ar$ehole today. oh hum.....

bkar

 

MartinM,
Roadcraft (Ch10) has it as "Merging with other traffic requires judgement and courtesy. A sensible policy is for vehicles from each lane to merge alternately. These situations have great potential for unnecessary conflict and therefore unnecessary accidents (KF: when are accidents necessary?). Allow adequate gaps and do not close up tightly to prevent other vehicles merging. Drivers in the closed lanes should avoid causing provocation by overtaking long queues of traffic waiting in open lanes."
KF.

 

Martin and KF,

I totally agree with you, if everyone let in one car and no more then it would work fine. But unfortunately, people don't, they either close up and don't let you in or the opposite, they let 2 or 3 in....so what happens?? There is a huge queue.....I don't mind letting people in, but sometimes you can see that some are simply trying it on..... Case in point a large Van on Sunday comes screaming down the outside lane, with no intention of pulling in or even indicating hoping that someone will let him in.

It is these that annoy me, because they have no courtesy for others... (And yes, you could say I was not being courteous by not letting people past) They can see there is a large queue, but make no attempt to try and pull in...hence annoying the rest of us who are trying to abide by the law.

Jim

 

Oops.
Here we are, all intending to practice what we preach and, well, I admit it. I drove like tw*t the other day and thoroughly enjoyed it.
One of my neighbours had been round, petitioning for the police to enforce the speed limit where I live (very fast B road with our little 30mph zone in the middle of it near the A120 and A12).
So I'd signed the petition, having lost a handful of cats to it over the years and seen three accidents in the last fortnight. It's a road I drive very carefully, since there are so many blind corners, cyclists and gypsy kids!
And then the other night I was coming home along the A120 towards Harwich when this Integrale (nice looking one as well) invited me to chase it. Who was I to refuse? I tried, I honestly, honestly tried.
And so when we hit the end of a dual carriageway section and I had to move onto the chevrons to pass this lumbering Land Rover, I thought nothing of it. I was going…quite quickly, admittedly, but I still got annoyed when the Land Rover honked its horn at me.
"F'off!" I thought. After all, I hadn't made them change course, direction or speed, just gone past them a bit quick.
And then I realised who was driving the Land Rover: Mr & Mrs Petition!
Ahem. Not proud. But human.

 

I'm the same actually - roadworks on the M20 a week or so ago, and instead of pulling in early and queueing up like everyone else, I roared down the outside lane, and pulled in just before the end, saving myself about 600yds of queueing. Not proud, but god did it save me a lot of time!

 

I hate silly little RS drivers posting on this BB...

lol

 

The old merge at roadworks is a thorny problem. I'm a great believer in merge by turn (i.e. one from each lane) but that only works when everybody knows it. I think that this is one of the few driving situations dealt with better in other countries. Any comment by our overseas friends?

I think its a good argument for compulsary ongoing training (say 1 day every 2 years) to cover all the stuff you don't learn in your test and to keep up to date.

However I think the only way to quickly solve our merge problems is to have traffic lights on merge.

Maf

PS I'm Colchester 2! Blue 98MY