Bad Drivers

stephen77

Altarf wrote: »

Don't be ridiculous.

If your daft definition was correct, then the police could charge every lorry driver with careless driving, if they drove within the speed limit, yet didn't pull over every mile or so to let traffic past.

Are you really suggesting that?

In the same way they pull over everyone driving at 79mph on the motorway.

Unless the police were right behind the lorry, they would not be able to get to the lorry driver as they would be stuck in the same queue.;)
Plus on main roads its not easy for a artic to pull over to let other cars past.

I have been stuck behind tractors. Not sure if a tractor driver has been stopped by the police for driving to slow. In theory they should. Or at least avoid driving down major main roads during rush hour etc

hugheskevi

To add a few things in from my experiences of driving and cycling in London (I'd expect to see/experience all of these during in a normal week of about 100 miles on the road):

1. Drivers who approach traffic lights in the wrong lane, then hold up a long line of traffic who could have gone through a green light as they sit indicating to try to get into a lane of traffic where the lights are red. A variant on this are those that approach in the wrong lane, then unpredictably proceed in a direction not allowed from the lane in which they were in.
2. Drivers who block road entrances or yellow box junctions whilst queueing for no reason whatsoever, causing hold ups
3. Drivers who decide to block bus lanes when turning left into a main road where traffic is stopped, forcing buses to stop and cyclists to have to slow significantly to get round them. A variant on this is the significant number of drivers who pull out about 2 foot into the road, forcing vehicles (and especially cyclists) to pull out to go around them as they wait for a gap to enter the road.
4. Drivers who cannot manage the simple task of forming one or two nice straight lines in lengthy traffic jams. It should be simple for motorcyclists and cyclists to filter down the left or right, but some drivers insist on weaving, changing lanes or taking road positions out of sync with the rest of traffic for no legitimate reason other than to try and nudge one car in front in the line. Most frustrating is when there are two vehicles battling over a merge into single file, and they insist on blocking the road for users who could otherwise proceed.
5. Drivers who insist on overtaking cyclists, and immediately braking and pulling left - either as they approach speed bumps or the back of a traffic queue.
6. Drivers who occupy the cyclist boxes in rush hour - there can routinely be 25-50 cyclists stopped at traffic lights, and the box will accommodate most of them. But if two or three drivers take the box, there will be cyclists everywhere making for a very untidy and slow getaway for everyone
7. Drivers who think they are skilled enough to execute a pass at speed with about 1 foot of clearance or less, despite many drivers haven proven they are not competent to avoid stationary vehicles in supermarket car-parks.
8. Cyclists who ride the wrong way into on-coming traffic. Especially the idiot who decided to ride the wrong way down the bus lane on Vauxhall Bridge at 9am recently - inches away from a head on collision:mad:
9. Cyclists and drivers who ignore red lights or zebra crossings and impede pedestrians or vehicles in any way (I'm relaxed about cyclists who go through red lights after slowing, waiting until a point where way is completely clear and then proceeding safely [usually pedestrian green lights, where there are few if any pedestrians] - against the law admittedly, but far greater sins will be routinely perpetrated).
10. Cyclists who don't use lights or reflective gear at dusk or night
11. Cyclists who ride along the pavement at speed (I'm relaxed about cyclists sometimes going on pavement if there is space, eg, in very heavy traffic, but if they do, pedestrians have absolute priority and the cyclist's speed should be very low)
12. Cyclists who weave unpredictably all over the road, often whilst chatting on a mobile phone. Usually teenagers.
13. Pedestrians who walk into cycle lanes or into the road without looking. Or even worse, look, and walk out in your way anyhow.
14. Bus drivers who leave their right indicator on when at a stop, regardless of whether they intend to pull out or not. A variant of this are bus drivers that pull out, then pull back in to pick up a late passenger, infuriating if you have stopped/slowed to let them out and are then stuck behind them waiting.
15. Bus drivers who think the correct way to pull into a stop is to partially overtake a cyclist, then pull left across them cutting them off and forcing them to stop/significantly reduce speed and go around the back of the bus.

Always found HGV drivers very good, black cab drivers are very competent too, although they sometimes push things on overtaking and giving way a bit, which I think fine for experienced cyclists/drivers but may well worry the less experienced. Minicab drivers just the same as regular car drivers - mostly fine, some cretins.

And finally, most annoying of all was the selfish animal in the passenger seat of a car that was driving in front of me today who dangled a chocolate wrapper from the window and then discarded it out on to a urban road. I am a very relaxed cyclist and driver and happily tolerate insane acts of driving, but loathe deliberate littering like that :mad:

stephen77

Frugal mike is not looking daft in the slightest.

fionajbanana

About two thirds of a mile from me, there is a crossroad. The lanes are clearly marked with pristine road markings and two of the directions, there are road signs.

Yet so many drivers ignore this. I have saw SEVEN cars going straight ahead in a left turn only lane!

One of these days, there will be a very nasty road accident which will gridlock half of the suburb.

I try to avoid this crossroad and sometimes I drive through a housing estate.

frugal_mike

hugheskevi wrote: »

Drivers who block road entrances or yellow box junctions whilst queueing for no reason whatsoever, causing hold ups

Yes, I was going to post that one myself. It's annoying when drivers don't think of others.

Renya

Drivers with those really bright blue headlights annoy me, especially when there's two extra lights at the bottom. What's the point of them?

These are the ones I'm talking about:

somethingcorporate

what about people that leave 3-4-5+ plus gaps in a queue of traffic? They grind my gears making queues twice as long as they need to be without a good reason!

Jamie_Carter

Fishingtime wrote: »

I do know the speed limit for the vehicle I drive.

Sorry, it sounded like you were asking.

Norman_Castle

Renya wrote: »

Drivers with those really bright blue headlights annoy me, especially when there's two extra lights at the bottom. What's the point of them?

These are the ones I'm talking about:

Definition of driver: Lives at home with parents, car is their only toy, thinks they are a car modifier after changing bulbs.

stephen77

somethingcorporate wrote: »

what about people that leave 3-4-5+ plus gaps in a queue of traffic? They grind my gears making queues twice as long as they need to be without a good reason!

Or when they leave a massive gap in front of a turning and they just sit there. The turning your wanting to go down.

If I am front and see traffic lights ahead on red and a car is wanting to turn left behind me, I may pull over right to the right hand line to give them space to turn left.