Examples of poor driving you have witnessed!

Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt

Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt

Well-Known Forumite
I was quite literally nearly killed yesterday.

I was on my motorbike as it was a nice dry day, came up Weston Bank and towards the bends by the County Showground to find some dumb woman on the wrong side of the road overtaking a cyclist on a blind bend and dip. I wasn't speeding and as I say the conditions were near perfect which in no small part saved my life. If it had been a wet road I'd be dead and she would be facing a man slaughter charge. My wife and 7 month old daughter would also have been made to piece their lives together without a husband and father.
I really wish that some drivers would think about what they are doing. I know that there are a fair few crazy motorbikers out there but on the whole I think their road awareness is far superior to those driving around in airbag laden metal cages, messing with their sat navs, stereos or mobile phones. All car drivers should have to take a motorbike test before they can set foot in a car, it improves your road awareness no end - I am a hugely more aware car driver now than I was before I started biking.
 
henryscat

henryscat

Well-Known Forumite
Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt said:
All car drivers should have to take a motorbike test before they can set foot in a car, it improves your road awareness no end - I am a hugely more aware car driver now than I was before I started biking.
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Friends who drive buses and HGVs say the same - since driving a large vehicle takes more awareness and thinking. One of my friends who was an appalling car driver is now a lot more aware since he took up bus driving.

Similarly, when I'm out in my (old) VW, it definitely requires more anticipation and thinking than driving a new car. It doesn't stop as quickly, acceleration is slow, and you cannot get away with being lazy with gears. You also have to anticipate the clowns who are seemingly oblivious to the characteristics of an old vehicle. I'm sure if everybody drove a car that old, they might be a bit more aware too.
 
AA Silencers

AA Silencers

Well-Known Forumite
I agree with Hcat. Modern cars are so encapsulating that the driver feels invincible. 30 MPH feels like a walking pace to a driver yet is potentially lethal to a pedestrian.
Try towing a trailer with a car on with a 20 year old transit. It takes 4 junctions along the motorway to get up to a steady speed only to be blocked in by a middle lane crawler who expects you to go to the outside lane to overtake, which would be illegal. Braking, accelerating and thinking times have to expand so far ahead.
I did do my bike test, spent one day on the road and thought 'sod this, I'm going to die'. It's got nothing to do with how good a rider or driver you are, it's the total unpredictability of the environment you're in.
 
Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt

Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt

Well-Known Forumite
AA Silencers said:
I agree with Hcat. Modern cars are so encapsulating that the driver feels invincible. 30 MPH feels like a walking pace to a driver yet is potentially lethal to a pedestrian.
Try towing a trailer with a car on with a 20 year old transit. It takes 4 junctions along the motorway to get up to a steady speed only to be blocked in by a middle lane crawler who expects you to go to the outside lane to overtake, which would be illegal. Braking, accelerating and thinking times have to expand so far ahead.
I did do my bike test, spent one day on the road and thought 'sod this, I'm going to die'. It's got nothing to do with how good a rider or driver you are, it's the total unpredictability of the environment you're in.
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I think in your last sentence re bike test you have made an interesting point. Now that I am a new parent with "responsibilities" I have thought should I knock biking on the head and then if anything the scary episode the other day just focused my mind. At the end of the day why should I feel that I have to give up something that I enjoy because others (namely thoughtless car drivers) are in effect forcing me to do so? If I do give up I feel that it should be my choice.
I'm pretty much undecided about what to do at this point.
 
AA Silencers

AA Silencers

Well-Known Forumite
Are you giving up for you or for your daughter? Other people may be forcing the decision but lots of parents give up lots of simple pleasures for the welfare of their kids. I still go racing but that's in a very controlled environment full of safety equipment and emergency service right on hand. Nothing like the road. Even then it's changed the way I race. I know some bikers with kids who get up a 4 am on sunny Sundays to go for a ride while the roads are quiet. Other who like to ride quickly who've switched to doing track days in a controlled environment. Life is precious and fragile, you have to enjoy every day of it because it could end in the blink of an eye. Only you know where your compromise lies. Good luck striking the balance!
 
gilbert grape

gilbert grape

Well-Known Forumite
Another example of twattishness this morning - A young lady in the car behind me felt it was ok to be texting, as far as from Newport Road to St Leonards Avenue and as I turned off she still seemed to put her foot down while still looking at her phone. In the same duration I got to the lights on Lichfield Road where theres been a few accidents and, as always, I gauged if it was safe to pull through the box junction. I did, as it was, only to be followed by her and three more cars - all parked in the zone!
 
Glam

Glam

Mad Cat Woman
I'd like give a mention to the plonker driving a black BMW 4x4 reg no - YE 60 FDY who sat on my arse from just before the bowl along the Milford road, all the way to Weeping Cross. I got the feeling he wanted me put me toe down n go a bit faster than the 50mph I were doing. No chance,I saw a deer killed along that road a while ago and it weren't nice as you can all imagine. If he'd av got any closer he'd av needed a condom.
 
henryscat

henryscat

Well-Known Forumite
Goes without saying they're beyond plonker if driving a BMW 4x4....

I was followed by a BMW the other night with driver using an iPad or other tablet type thing and when he'd fInished tapping on that the phone immediately got glued to his earhole...
 
flossietoo

flossietoo

Well-Known Forumite
I don't normally drive through Stafford. My habitual journey brings me into town via Doxey. Park at Wilkinsons, back out, scarcely a soul sees me. Last week, though, I had to drive to the other side. And nearly passed over to the other side. First, I am in the right hand lane at the lights onto the roundabout from Chell Road to where Attwoods used to be. Red light. I am stationery and at the front. Green light. I start to move forward, then a sixth sense tells me that the Range Rover moving towards me on the right, isn't going to stop. I brake. I am right. He passes his red light, wakes up, slams on the brake and skids to a halt exactly where I should have been.
Moments later, I am passing Asda when I hear an ambulance. The ambulance takes the right hand lane. I am going to Lichfield Road and take the left lane. Suddenly, without warning, idiot man in the middle pulled sharp across into my lane. No signal, no warning and of no use to the ambulance. By the time I got where I was going (B+Q - turns out it wasn't there) I just wanted to get home.
I'm already too frightened to drive on motorways. If I'm not careful my world will shrink even further.
 
Trumpet

Trumpet

Well-Known Forumite
henryscat said:
Goes without saying they're beyond plonker if driving a BMW 4x4....
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Plonker or successful person enjoying the fruits of his labours.
No fan of big 4x4's myself (used to run a couple of smaller ones) but don't have a problem with them either.
 
staffordjas

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
I always worry walking over the top of Queensville bridge,where someone has already been killed whilst on the pavement. Lots of drivers seem to be going straight on and then swerve around the bend the last minute, so I tend to watch each driver over that bit (Not that I would have that much chance to jump out of the way in time).

On Tuesday a lorry driver came over the bridge at quite a speed,no hands on the wheel , doing his paperwork. I assume he must have been steering with his knees. No wonder there's so many accidents!
 
shoes

shoes

Well-Known Forumite
flossietoo said:
I don't normally drive through Stafford. My habitual journey brings me into town via Doxey. Park at Wilkinsons, back out, scarcely a soul sees me. Last week, though, I had to drive to the other side. And nearly passed over to the other side. First, I am in the right hand lane at the lights onto the roundabout from Chell Road to where Attwoods used to be. Red light. I am stationery and at the front. Green light. I start to move forward, then a sixth sense tells me that the Range Rover moving towards me on the right, isn't going to stop. I brake. I am right. He passes his red light, wakes up, slams on the brake and skids to a halt exactly where I should have been.
Moments later, I am passing Asda when I hear an ambulance. The ambulance takes the right hand lane. I am going to Lichfield Road and take the left lane. Suddenly, without warning, idiot man in the middle pulled sharp across into my lane. No signal, no warning and of no use to the ambulance. By the time I got where I was going (B+Q - turns out it wasn't there) I just wanted to get home.
I'm already too frightened to drive on motorways. If I'm not careful my world will shrink even further.
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Good job you had that sixth sense! Side on collision with a range rover would have not been pretty (assuming you don't have a 4x4, that is). There really are some idiots on the road!

It comes across that you're quite a nervous driver - can I suggest perhaps doing the pass plus course? It won't make any difference to your insurance, and you can't fail it, however it may (or may not) help boost your confidence.
 
Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
shoes said:
It comes across that you're quite a nervous driver - can I suggest perhaps doing the pass plus course? It won't make any difference to your insurance, and you can't fail it, however it may (or may not) help boost your confidence.
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Perhaps you could take her for a little spin to settle her nerves..?

 
flossietoo

flossietoo

Well-Known Forumite
shoes said:
Good job you had that sixth sense! Side on collision with a range rover would have not been pretty (assuming you don't have a 4x4, that is). There really are some idiots on the road!

It comes across that you're quite a nervous driver - can I suggest perhaps doing the pass plus course? It won't make any difference to your insurance, and you can't fail it, however it may (or may not) help boost your confidence.
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Can anyone do pass plus? Not just teenagers?
If so, then you might be right, it could help. I passed my test at the fifth attempt, a long time ago. On that occasion, I donned my sensible driving shoes before putting the key in the ignition. Only to find that I had tied my feet together. I suspect the examiner was just glad to get out alive and didn't want me coming back.
Two accidents haven't helped. The first was when I had just started learning. It happened at Browning Street by the Four Crosses and swiftly backed traffic up all those roads. Ambulances, shouting, mayhem. The second was more recent and not my fault - I was in the car behind the collision. A motorcyclist was killed and I couldn't do anything to help him. I just looked at his face and thought of his family, having a perfectly normal day, then in a moment, changed forever.
I did wonder about doing the advanced driving thing to see if that helped my confidence but the helpless laughter that greeted my suggestion convinced me it wasn't one of my better ideas!
 
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