So are the driver's rubbish where you live?

[ramjet]

So our News is reporting that drivers are worse since getting back on the roads after such a long hiatus. Police are saying that accident numbers have increased. Drivers are out of practice.

That would have to be the biggest load of rubbish I have ever heard.

If drivers are bad now, it has nothing to do with them having been off the road due to Covid.

I am putting rubbish drivers right up there with the logic now that level crossings are dangerous, so our government is spending a small fortune on elevating the rail to get rid of crossings.

A crossing can not become dangerous. It is the same rail crossing as it was 30 years ago. It is people forgetting the rule that applies to crossings as well as intersections. You do not enter the intersection unless you can get across completely. Same thing for level crossings. I have seen times in Geelong where people have queued across intersections, the light changes and the cross traffic can't make their way due to a bunch of entitled halfwits that think they can do whatever they please. If the other traffic can't move. Tough.

Yes I know the traffic volume is more now than 30 years ago, but unless the road rules have changed, the rule still applies.

Police are scarce on our roads over here. Don't know why.

[Mark Blanchard]

I get pissed off with people not giving away at roundabouts.  Bloody dangerous if you ask me.  

[jep]

Not helped in Surrey by cyclists which seem to terrify most drivers, not least 'cos modern cars are so wide. Add to that, Highway agency tells drivers (inc on speed awareness courses) to give the peddlers a full cars width.

The result is more pollution from brake dust, tyre wear and acceleration. 

Justin

 

[Frickin_idiot]

I live with several people who are rubbish drivers as evidenced by my partners kerbed alloys.

My son who is a Police Officer,  he has owned five cars to date:

First Car  - reversing down a hill and scraped the car against a wall. Damaged the rear quarter - happened in the first two weeks of driving.

Second Car - Dented the front bumper when parking.

Third Car - Fell asleep whilst driving on the motorway, hit the central reservation and literally damaged every panel along the drivers side of the vehicle. He failed to pay for the vehicle repairs to this started to rust - badly. A few months later he decided that "it was too dangerous to go work, as the employer (not Police at the time) could not guarantee his safety to get home". He then proceeded to drive past his employer (by around 10 miles) to collect his girlfriend. He crashed on the way home and damaged the rear bumper.

Fourth Car - Reversing into a parking bay and hit the right rear corner of the vehicle. Required around £400's worth of repairs.

Fifth Car - Bought the car new, within three days he put a crease along the drivers rear quarter panel when he misjudged driving around a corner in a multi-storey car park. Three months later the vehicle has not been repaired as he cannot afford the repairs. In the meantime he has gone away for at least 4 weekends away, booked a foreign holiday for next year, had pretty much daily amazon delivered and had at least two meals out a week.

Go figure.

[Kimbers]

I had to go to the drive in COVID test centre today. You have to reverse park so they can see what you are doing etc. I spent most of my time there laughing at people parking across 2 bays, trying to reverse 3 to 4 times before giving up or even one honest lady who simply shook her head and drove off.

[Bibs]

This is in the Highway Code from Jan 29 next year

[Gjk]

Has the green cross code been updated to reflect this change, if it still even exists? I have a feeling that there will be more pedestrians involved in accidents because of the change. What if you are turning right, and have had to wait an absolute age for a gap in the oncoming traffic only to have to give up your chance to let a pedestrian cross.

Cyclists already just ride up the middle of the road around my way with complete disregard for “certain situations”. Very annoying when the local council spent thousands narrowing the road just to put a cycle lane on the pavement both sides!

[Gjk]

Also, if a vehicle is approaching the junction, will they now have to give way to the pedestrian as well?

As far as bad drivers are concerned. If I’m driving my daily car it is quite regular for people to pull out in front of you and make you brake but if I’m in the esprit people think twice before pulling out. I haven’t worked that one out yet!

[exeterjeep]

24 minutes ago, Bibs said:

This is in the Highway Code from Jan 29 next year

Likely to be more chance of pedestrians just not letting cars stop for them fast enough and some other driver just piles into the back of the poor sod in the car waiting for the walker to get across the road. Loads of opportunity for some more road rage. What about a pedestrian just running across the road in front of the car turning. As for bloody cyclists.

Perhaps our resident driving instructor should provide some advice @mayevora

[mg4lotus]

If you are turning right and there is a pedestrian in the road, definitely don't run them over, even if you have been waiting a long time.😁

Hasn't this been the rule on the continent. I know when I have been driving abroad, I have always had to give way to pedestrians crossing the road.

[Techyd]

Giving way to pedestrians can make sense in some situations but not in the one pictured above - that is just crazy dangerous!

This is basically allowing joggers to run out in the road without looking now and 'be in the right' about that - utterly crazy as far as I'm concerned!

[Gjk]

11 minutes ago, exeterjeep said:

Likely to be more chance of pedestrians just not letting cars stop for them fast enough and some other driver just piles into the back of the poor sod in the car waiting for the walker to get across the road. Loads of opportunity for some more road rage. What about a pedestrian just running across the road in front of the car turning. As for bloody cyclists.

Perhaps our resident driving instructor should provide some advice @mayevora

Yeah, I can see a lot of rear end shunts happening! And hey presto - insurance premiums will go up again!

Going back to bad drivers, if three car lengths between vehicles was maintained they might be less chance of an accident!

[andydclements]

1 hour ago, Bibs said:

This is in the Highway Code from Jan 29 next year

We now have some junctions where the road isn't continuous, so the side road stops, the path of the main road is continuous, drivers then have to cross that path to get onto the main road. Similar to the above in practice, but far more visible (at least if it's well lit, not soo in the dark).

[r3nault]

17 hours ago, Bibs said:

This is in the Highway Code from Jan 29 next year

This may not be a popular opinion, but the pedestrian rule makes sense. As shown above, the driver absolutely must be able to see the pedestrian on approach and should be looking where they are turning, whereas it’s dangerous to expect a pedestrian to have 270 degree awareness of cars coming from three angles at varying speeds. I agree there may be some rear enders as a result, but that is the fault of the inattentive driver who hits your backside, not the rule itself.

[Colin P]

Does anyone think that what happens in reality will change one iota?

Notwithstanding that 99.999% of drivers and pedestrians never look at the highway code once they have passed their test anyway, even if they did in reality it will only be relevant in apportioning blame in the event of an accident and in whatever situations the motorist would have always got the blame anyway.

[C8RKH]

21 hours ago, Frickin_idiot said:

I live with several people who are rubbish drivers as evidenced by my partners kerbed alloys.

My son who is a Police Officer,  he has owned five cars to date:

First Car  - reversing down a hill and scraped the car against a wall. Damaged the rear quarter - happened in the first two weeks of driving.

Second Car - Dented the front bumper when parking.

Third Car - Fell asleep whilst driving on the motorway, hit the central reservation and literally damaged every panel along the drivers side of the vehicle. He failed to pay for the vehicle repairs to this started to rust - badly. A few months later he decided that "it was too dangerous to go work, as the employer (not Police at the time) could not guarantee his safety to get home". He then proceeded to drive past his employer (by around 10 miles) to collect his girlfriend. He crashed on the way home and damaged the rear bumper.

Fourth Car - Reversing into a parking bay and hit the right rear corner of the vehicle. Required around £400's worth of repairs.

Fifth Car - Bought the car new, within three days he put a crease along the drivers rear quarter panel when he misjudged driving around a corner in a multi-storey car park. Three months later the vehicle has not been repaired as he cannot afford the repairs. In the meantime he has gone away for at least 4 weekends away, booked a foreign holiday for next year, had pretty much daily amazon delivered and had at least two meals out a week.

Go figure.

Jeez - if that was my son I'd have taken his car keys off him by now. Called him a useless twit (or similar), and done everything possible to make sure he never got behind the wheel again.

Please don't tell us that as a cop, he's in "traffic"!  

And yes, I have noticed how my own 27 year daughter complains she has no money, yet has no problem booking holidays, going for meals, days out, and using Amazon what feels like daily. It seems the younger generation are even screwed up than I could imagine. That's what happens when the system forces parenting to be soft I guess....

[C8RKH]

20 hours ago, Bibs said:

This is in the Highway Code from Jan 29 next year

Last I looked, the Highway Code was not law.  Yes, some aspects of the Highway Code have been separately legislated into law, but the HC itself is not law.

Oh, and I was taught years ago, that when turning into a junction, left or right, to always pay extra special attention as pedestrians that were crossing should be allowed to cross, so this is nothing new to me but you are correct Colin, that 99.9% of current motorists will not have a clue re this change (oh, and it also applies to cyclists turning into junctions too! - ha, fat chance of them changing).  The BIG thing for me, is that instead of quoting the HC, fookwit cyclists actually start complying with the rules of the road, the law, and the HC.  Things that particularly piss me off about cyclists (and before anyone says I hate cyclists, I raced until I was 27/28, I've done LeJoG on a bike, my daughter was a multiple Scottish champion on the track and my wife is a cyclist - so no I don't hate cyclists, but I do know many of them are entitled, selfish [email protected]):

1. Riding through red lights

2. Just breezing out of junctions without a car in the world

3. Riding on pavements

4. Not using perfectly good cycle lanes when they are provided

5. Not attempting to stop, or believing they do not need to stop, for pedestrians on zebra/pelican/light controlled crossings

6. Undertaking on the left vehicles then complaining when a passenger opens the door to get out (e.g. a taxi) or when the car then tries to turn left.  DON'T FOOKING UNDERTAKE!

[Elite 4.9]

What I have learned in many years on the road, is that 80 % of the people should be ridding the bus. They are mentally, mostly absent driving their car and are on auto. I call it route 350. Their bodies are present but their minds are on some other important matter and they really aren't paying attention. 

We had an accident, a while back, on a major two lane ( each side ) divided freeway, 70 mph limit. This happened on a long, very steep grade up hill stretch, maybe a good 5 miles and straight as an arrow so one can easily see for miles.

A gasoline double tanker was loaded and only able to make about 25-30 mph going up this hill and a full sized van ( same size as a full size pickup ) hit him in the rear starting the gas truck on fire, killing the van driver. So hot it burned for two days as the state police closed the road and just let it burn itself out.

Now this happened on a sunny day with nearly no traffic. I can imagine some ways this could be explained like a heart attack just at the wrong moment but this guy was doing 55 mph and had plenty of time to see and move over to pass this tanker.

This is easily explained by my route 350 scenario. His mind was so consumed by something he couldn't even watch where he was going.

And these are the conditions we have to drive our Lotus's in, can you believe it? LOL

atb,

Richard

[C8RKH]

3 minutes ago, Elite 4.9 said:

His mind was so consumed by something he couldn't even watch where he was going.

A strong suspicion would be he was on his phone. A stronger suspicion would be he was "texting" and not talking.  The number of people I see head down, driving a car, and so obviously reading/texting is scary. They gently drift around in the lane, some going out of their lane. It truly is frightening that people have no idea of the consequences of what they are doing.  I see (usually women) people in expensive Audi/BMW/Merc SUV's, they obviously have BT, Apple Carplay/Android Car etc, and yet they are driving around (usually with kids strapped into very expensive car seats as they want to keep them safe  ) holding on to their phones. Totally bonkers behaviour and just shows how dumb/misguided they truly are. Part of the problem is that cars are becoming lack lounges on wheels with big screens and lots of other distractions which, coupled with them getting bigger, is just making people feel like they are invincible!

[mayevora]

In my Professional capacity, I’m afraid this is a subject that Governments and Governing Bodies just won’t get serious about. Driving standards in the U.K. are pretty atrocious. This doesn’t just mean one category of road users but all of them - car drivers, lorry drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and more - all of them. When was the last time you went out for a drive, cycle or walk when you didn’t see poor standards? - it just doesn’t happen - never.  It’s the norm now so get used to it. Police haven’t got the manpower to enforce it and attitudes are largely ‘it’s not important’ and others do it so why shouldn’t I. 
Its always someone else’s fault and not the perpetrator. Personal responsibility behind the wheel or peddling has eroded to the point of no return unfortunately. 
As far a pedestrians go, weather they walk straight out in front of you or not, guess who will get the blame if you hit one? 
“they walked straight out in front of me without lookin” - Sorry you are driving too quickly, not fully aware of you surroundings and you should have been expecting it. 
I am not saying its right, but that’s the way it is.

I hear a lot and constantly read a lot of ‘they should have been taught properly before they passed’ type  comments - Well, they probably were, but standards slip, bad habits and laziness sets in. My own wife is a bloody awful driver but is the first to criticise other roads users. This is how I now view all roads users - bad and blaming others.

I have said it numerous times before and on this Forum that until retesting or at the very minimum reassessments come in as compulsory, roads standards will get worse. 
The only people to be afraid of a retest are the people who ‘should be’ afraid of a retest as they know their driving days would be over. 

 

p.s. Anyone been to India? 🤣 Think yourself lucky.

Merry Christmas 🎄😁🚙🏁

[C8RKH]

55 minutes ago, mayevora said:

Anyone been to India?

Yes. Their "system" works as it is based on, as far as i can work out, 2 things: vulnerability and the availability of health care.  So, everyone gives way to the lorries, then the buses, then the vans, then the cars, then mopeds/motorbikes, then cycles, then people!  I.e. the more vulnerable/exposed you are the more care YOU take. The more protected you think you are, the less you worry about others!

The best thing about India is when you are on a dual carriageway and you see four lanes of traffic in each direction    

[exeterjeep]

1 hour ago, mayevora said:

Anyone been to India? 🤣 Think yourself lucky.

Not been, my parents had many years ago, but they were not driving.

Seen Top Gear (I think) when they travelled there - absolute mayhem.  This was also covered in some other interviews I have seen.

Not driven in France but think they are a bit better?

[mayevora]

45 minutes ago, C8RKH said:

Their "system" works as it is based on, as far as i can work out, 

I’m not sure about ‘works’ but yes I know what you are saying.

I’ve taught many any Indian driver to get their U.K. license- all lovely but none of them particularly easy. When I’ve asked them in India, how they know if they will get to their desired destination - “If God wishes” has been the response on more than a few occasions. It’s apples and pears population size I know but I think the road death rate last time I looked was around 160000 per year in that Country compared with the U.K.s actually dropping 1500. But still too many.

[C8RKH]

22 minutes ago, mayevora said:

I’m not sure about ‘works’ but yes I know what you are saying.

Lol, yes I was probably being kind and yes, the "if god wills it" was used by a couple of my taxi drivers when they used to take me to our office, I made the mistake of asking a couple of times when we would arrive at the office. The reply each time was "if God wills it, about xx minutes...." lol.

[mayevora]

I have a funny feeling I wouldn’t get out at any junction or roundabout there - I’d be waiting for the next available gap that obviously would never actually materialise  😂