Driving

[Marie81]

expat Wrote:

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> Marie81 wrote

> >as I slow down to stop them trying to overtake

> me

> and

> >I am not an unsafe driver

> In your opinion and if you drove like that you

> would fail the test.

expat: I am talking about when I am doing 30mph on a normal road and some idiot comes speeding up behind me doing much more than the speed limit attempting to overtake me, I enjoy winding them up even more by slowing down slightly or if they really p!ss me off I might speed up just as they go to overtake so they have to pull back....but that's only if they really annoy me. Obviously I didn't drive like this in my driving test or would have failed as you point out.

[felt-tip]

Marie81 - we all hate it when people speed up behind us but I'm of the opinion that if someone drives like that on a quiet residential street then there is a higher likelihood they are the kind of person who will drag me out of my car and beat the proverbial out of me if I start "toying" with them.

It's up to you whether you want to play games on the road with potentially psychotic drivers but my advice would be to calmly pull over and let them speed off to the next set of traffic lights.

[KidKruger]

Marie81, in terms of achieving longevity I think you could listen to felt-tip's advice.

Playing games with irate drivers could get you hurt by them and definitely hurt in a collision, also you can injure someone not involved in this behaviour i.e. a pedestrian or cyclist. Your proposed reactions sound defensive and ego-based, however the public roads are not a place for them, you really heed to understand this.

Also, what if the 'crazy' guy behind you is rushing to a hospital or to catch a flight, anything which you may not be aware of but are ready to make a rash judgement on. If it's just as easy to let him pass then do so, if he's an idiot let him be a lone idiot, not one of a pair.

Unless you have never rushed anywhere in a car or broken the speed limit you don't even have half a case with your views I'm afraid.

[womanofdulwich]

ditto- these poeple usually drive cars that they dont mind scrahching/ denting, and they would swerve and knock some one down rather than " give in" . DOnt tally with them.

[Marie81]

People I would never play with the other driver in this way if the road was busy with other cars, cyclists or pedestrians. The same way in which you can tell who is driving erratic because they are rushing to hospital (which having been in this circumstance myself on many ocasions is acceptable as long as you are not putting other drivers at risk) but if they are rushing for a flight, not my problem as they should have left earlier. When I have done this it has been because there is some young bloke in a crappy suped up car with baseline pumping usually chatting away on his mobile whilst swearing at me...well he can just sit back and wait until I turn off into whichever direction I am heading before passing me by.

To be honest I am a very laid back and calm person who doesn't get stressed in everyday situations but on the road I don't know what comes over me it's as though I just see red with these type of drivers who have no consideration for other road users. I am courteous and let people out at junctions and always pull over on narrow roads to let people pass and say thankyou but when others don't it just makes me snap. I guess I shouldn't rise to it, maybe that's something I should work on!

[Mick Mac]

Marie. At your age i dont think you should be driving at all.

Let the young people have the roads. Sit in your armchair by the window and watch the world go by.

[DJKillaQueen]

LOL Mac.

Marie whilst you are busy 'toying' with another driver, you are not paying attention to the road. That in itself should tell you it's not a good idea.

Personally, I ignore anything that's behind me (unless it's something I have to get out of the way for, like an emergency vehicle). Because if ever the day comes...and I hope it doesn't...where a child runs out in front of me, I want to be able to hit that brake the moment I see it.....not after I've hit them because I was focused on whether the driver behind me is getting too close or not.

If he crashes into me...it's HIS insurance that will pay....not mine.

[Marie81]

I know I should Mick Mac but being stuck in the care home 24hrs a day cruising around in my car is the only freedom I have. As long I still have sight in one eye due to cataracts I will continue to do so for some time yet!

[Pugwash]

I use trhe middle lane mainly for overtaking, I am a confident driver with 40 years experience and tend do do around 65 in the inside lane. The only time I use the middle lane for longer periods is when I know that the motorway divides ahead and it is usually safer to get in the correct lane some distance before the division. I then tend to increase my speed until the division is completed and then I make my way back to the inner lane.

I get very frustrated that when you are driving down Barry Road ( which I do on a daily basis), knowing the poor visability at the various junctions, that some prat decides that my 25 -30 mph is too slow and overtakes me, forcing 2 bendy 12s coming in opposite directions to brake suddenly and narrowly advoids crashing into other cars.

[JohnL]

DJKillaQueen Wrote:

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> LOL Mac.

>

> Marie whilst you are busy 'toying' with another

> driver, you are not paying attention to the road.

> That in itself should tell you it's not a good

> idea.

>

> Personally, I ignore anything that's behind me>

> (unless it's something I have to get out of the

> way for, like an emergency vehicle). Because if

> ever the day comes...and I hope it doesn't...where

> a child runs out in front of me, I want to be able

> to hit that brake the moment I see it.....not

> after I've hit them because I was focused on

> whether the driver behind me is getting too close

> or not.

>

> If he crashes into me...it's HIS insurance that

> will pay....not mine.

That seems to be how to drive in London - where there's

so much going on ahead of you, you have to leave behind

to the driver behind.

Outside London you can generally drive more 360 degrees.

[Twirly]

I have to admit, this thread has been a bit of an eye-opener. I didn?t think that anyone would actually admit to bad driving habits, yet people have admitted to doing things contrary to the highway code, and have justified themselves despite being told quite clearly that what they are doing is wrong and dangerous to themselves and others!

I have to admit to a slight bad habit myself with regard to middle-lane driving. When I do drive on the motorway, it always seems to be incredibly busy, and as a result I often end up about 70 in the middle lane whilst both overtaking the inside lane and keeping up with the rest of the traffic in the middle lane. Because I?m used to that, I do sometimes find myself in the middle lane when things have quietened down and there?s nothing on my left ? I suddenly realise I?m in the wrong place, and then I do move over.

Whilst I agree that drivers should be in the inside lane by default, if our speed limit is 70, how are people supposed to legally overtake? This has always bemused me. I do overtake, but sometimes I know that I'm breaking the legal speed limit when I do so.

Here?s a list of my bugbears:

People not indicating ? be it on a motorway or a 20mph street.

People not letting you out of side streets.

People pulling out of side streets and blocking one half of the road as they can?t get onto the side they want to get onto. In fact any pushing in behaviour on the roads drives me nuts.

Not being thanked when I let someone out. How much effort is it wave or give some acknowledgement.

Like DJKQ, I leave the 2nd gap between the next driver and myself, and often find other idiots who want to squeeze in, thus causing me to slow down.

Merging lanes where some clever clogs decide they will whiz to the front of the queue where everyone else has been merging for ages and try to squeeze in.

People doing silly speeds on the motorways (or anywhere, but motorways in particular) ? I don?t understand how more of them don?t get caught and lose their licence? And why do we even have cars on the roads that can do excessive speeds?

I'm sure there are more, anyone got any others?

[felt-tip]

being beeped from behind because I haven't sped away from the lights doing 0-60 in 3 seconds the moment the light goes amber.

[DJKillaQueen]

That happened to me today turning right...me on bicycle, bus behind with no room to overtake me in filter lane.....did he think I am superman or something?

[waynetta]

TAXI DRIVERS Remove the bulbs from your indicators in case you momentarily foget what you do for a living and inadvertantly signal.

[El Pibe]

Yaaay

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22784983

waynetta Wrote:

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> I will continue hogging the middle lane at 70mph.

> If someone wants to overtake or undertake they

> will be exceeding the speed limit and hopefully

> they will hey flashed and fined

[JohnL]

L1 is full of lorries - at least every few 100 meters when I drive on motorways.

you can move in after overtaking a lorry and out before the next lorry but

you tend to find you get trapped in with the lorries if you don't time it

perfectly then another large lorry trundles up behind and you're trapped between

two lorries until all the traffic in the middle lane passes - which can be a while.

This is not a fun way to drive.

Twirly Wrote:

> I have to admit to a slight bad habit myself with

> regard to middle-lane driving. When I do drive on

> the motorway, it always seems to be incredibly

> busy, and as a result I often end up about 70 in

> the middle lane whilst both overtaking the inside

> lane and keeping up with the rest of the traffic

> in the middle lane. Because I?m used to that, I do

> sometimes find myself in the middle lane when

> things have quietened down and there?s nothing on

> my left ? I suddenly realise I?m in the wrong

> place, and then I do move over.

>

[JohnL]

I think as in the bbc article linked that some people feel safer in the middle lane - I don't

think they're trying to enforce a speed limit. There's more perceived space until they run

off the road.

Narnia Wrote:

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> felt-tip Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > I think the problem is that middle lane hoggers

> > feel quite righteous about the fact they are

> > 'enforcing' the speed limit even though their

> > actions make motorways more dangerous and alot

> > more congested.

>

> I don't use motorways often but usually the inside

> lane is too slow and the outside lane is too fast.

> If there is a lack of traffic I'd always choose

> the inside lane as it feels safer.However to

> accuse people in the middle lane as being

> 'hoggers' suggests to me that you prefer to break

> the speed limit in the middle lane.Maybe there is

> less likelihood of you being caught as there is

> always some idiot going faster on the outside

> lane.