Most hated driving behaviour of other motorists?

m00nie

derrick wrote:

The 99% of people you refer to either don`t read/obey the highway code or really don`t give a toss.
However "flawed" it might be it is there for a reason and people like you are the ones who go through red lights, speed and generaly disregard the legalities of life because it does not suit your lifestyle.

LOL!!! how you can say someone who flashes headlights to let someone in is the same person who will jump a light or speed.. rofl..

italiastar

the "middle lane owners club"

IvanOpinion

MarkyMarkD wrote:

The relevant section of the highway code (http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/07.htm#90) does not state that you "MUST NOT" flash your headlights. It isn't illegal. Anything in the Highway Code which is the law is shown as "MUST" or "MUST NOT" and is cross-referenced to the relevant legislation.

I don't disagree with what you say, about people misinterpreting signals. But the fact remains that 99% of people know very well that someone flashing their headlights means "it's OK for you to proceed", and the Highway Code should reflect common understanding not some mythical idea of what is right.

If you believe anyone is going to be prosecuted for dangerous driving for acting on a flashing headlight signal to proceed, I believe you are deluded.

You are welcome to follow the (flawed) Highway Code, but you'll sit like an idiot waiting for people to proceed when they clearly intended (considerately) for you to do so, and annoy a great majority of other drivers by doing so.

Drawing red lights and speed limits into the equation is a red herring. Both of those relate to the LAW not the Highway Code which is merely advisory.

My emphasis - breaching advisory parts of the Highway Code is not, per se, a basis for prosecution.

I think assuming validity through absence could lead to trouble - like the old adage 'ignorance is not a defence'. We were always taught that a flash of the lights meant 'I am here' not 'You can go' however most people use a flash of the lights incorrectly.

Personally I will hold back to let someone through but I will never flash because I could be leaving myself open to a law suit. This has been tested in the courts already where a car acted on a signal from another and BOTH where held to be responsible, one for not proceeding with due care and attention and the other for giving a false/illegal signal.

Ivan

aeuerby

When I was learning to drive my instructor told me never to blindly pull out of a junction if flashed but to do my own checks and then pull out if it's safe.

So while putting this in to practise one day, a car flashed at me and because I didn't immediately pull out - I was doing my own checks - kept flashing me which I found as a learner quite off putting.

derrick

m00nie wrote:

LOL!!! how you can say someone who flashes headlights to let someone in is the same person who will jump a light or speed.. rofl..

I did not compare it directly you did that, looks like some other people agree with me, (above posts), including a driving instructor. If you think you are right why not ask the police or DoT or Driving Standards agency, I don`t need to as my answer is in the highway code. Discussion ended on my part.

andy88_2

1. People that get so panic-struck when police ambulances or fire engines with blue flashing lights on are behind that they stop in the most illogical place where it is almost impossible to safely overtake. I nearly got knocked over on the pavement in town a few years ago when there was an empty lay-by and 2 lanes just round the corner.

2. People that deliberately block fire engines on the way to an accident on the motorway - scum. I used to have a workshop next to a busy motorway junction. There was an accident on the eastbound carriageway about 1/2 mile beyond the on-slip road. Two fire engines came from the other direction, went round the junction, down the slip road. Because people were tailed back even on the hard shoulder and fed up with being stuck, nobody would let them in or past. One particular car blocked them on purpose 3 times by driving slowly alongside when he should have stopped. I haven't hit anybody for 40 years but I was tempted to run across both carriageways and do it. The half-mile took over 5 minutes.

3. In Germany a few months ago, there was an accident ahead that kept us stationary for half an hour. A BMW driver came down between the 2 lanes like the emergency vehicles do (no hard shoulder), but the other cars had not spread apart. He scraped against at least 4 other cars just behind me; everybody got arguing and trying to look at the damage in the dark. "Warum können Sie nicht warten wie jemand anders?" I asked. He took a swing at me and I ducked. Two people grabbed him and held him back. I was the front one of the cars in the 2nd lane but had stopped about 50m from the Police cars ahead; I pulled into the line of lorries. Ignoring people that wanted to get his insurance details, he got back in and carried on ahead and started blowing his horn. It was almost disappointing that this coincided with them starting to clear the road; I wish he'd had to stew a bit longer, and they'd arrest him, but he got away. Is that any way to behave when you're !!!!!! at 2 am?

Fran

I haven't got time to read all the thread but here are my hated driving behaviour things:-

Undercutters
Overcutters
Flashers
Non-flashers
Other people going too slow in front
Other people going up behind too close (5 stars for this one)
Lights from cars going the other way at night
One-lighted vehicles
Caravans
Lorrys
Flashy cars that I can't afford
Crappy cars that might break down in front of me
My car
People in car parks
In car spaces anywhere
Anyone in a vehicle getting in the way of where I'm going
Idiots that cause traffic jams
People who slow down to look at accidents on motorways and cause other accidents
Drivers on the M4 between the Severn Bridge and Cardiff area
Trucks
WHITE VAN DRIVERS (5 stars for this one too)
Other coloured van drivers
Motor cyclists who sail up traffic jams
Whoever caused the traffic jam
Inconsiderate drivers
Drivers who phone & drive
Drivers who wander across lanes
Drivers who overtake but then don't and drive alongside you
Drivers who hide in your blind spot
Those who don't indicate
Those who think that cos they've indicated they can do what they like
The way people go round roundabouts
People who charge up the 2nd lane when everyone else is sat in a queue waiting to go into one lane
People who won't let me in when I've done the above
Red car drivers
4 wheel drive drivers, whatever they do - it's usually wrong and they're bigger than me
Coaches going too fast
Coaches going too slow
Idiots driving too fast on country lanes (5 stars for this too)
People who won't pull out when they've got space to IN MY OPINION (which when I'm driving IS RIGHT)
Anyone who dares look at me while I'm trying to drive from another car
Back seat drivers
Aggressive drivers
Them that overtakes at great risk to get one car length ahead in traffic lights
People who just get throught the traffic lights but I have to stop

Thousands more, I'll add some later if I remember.

Remember when you're driving, you are always right and the others are always wrong.

daveboy

The list above is great and I'm sure others will agree that most apply to them if they think about it.

I just want to some up my most hated thing.....

Sunday afternoon drivers. I usually get stuck behind them every weekend.

Oh, one other. Women drivers. Useless, totally useless

alanobrien

Daytona_nev wrote:

Firstly, let me state that i'm in no way a perfect driver. ( nearly but not quite )

Dunno if its just me, but i've noticed in the past few months a huge increase in the number of people who either don't bother to indicate, or use it as an afterthought, as if its part of the manouvre itself.

Now i don't tailgate, but if a person in front indicated in due time, it would mean i could ease off the gas, allow the distance to increase, thus allowing more room & keeping a safe distance before he begins to slow for a turn.

I've noticed many drivers don't even bother, leaving you wondering why they've suddenly started braking as you approach the back of them.

Number 2 are those who find it necessary to put their rear fogs lights if...

A) there is particularly heavy rain
it was abit misty last week
C) The bathroom mirror was steamed up when they stepped out of the shower this morning.

If i had my way.... etc etc etc.

People who drive on the pavement to get around a car that is waiting to turn right.

I saw a lorry driver do this while on his mobile recently.
Scares the hell out of me, what are these people thinking ?

This happens often at a school close to us, its only a matter of time before some idiot hits a kid.

MarkyMarkD

I'm pretty bored of the flashing headlights debate too, derrick, but I've both flashed and BEEN flashed by police cars meaning exactly what everybody KNOWS it means.

The fact that driving instructors follow the Highway Code's duff advice, and have to teach their learners to do so, is scarcely surprising - the test is based on the Code and the learners will fail if trained otherwise. But as soon as people (apart from you, apparently) enter the real world, they realise that they should use their common sense and act on a sensible and considerate flashing of headlights once they have ALSO assessed that it is safe to proceed.

It is very clear from the other driver's behaviour whether they are slowing to let you proceed (having flashed) or speeding to arrogantly push through. I would always take care to see whether the person flashing is an inconsiderate person like yourself meaning "GET OUT OF MY WAY" or a normal person meaning "please proceed".

Your links to breaches of the law are completely inappropriate and irrelevant.