tiggers

Driving in this country is getting beyond a joke.

Picture the scene this morning. It's mid morning and I'm travelling down the motorway when the signs appear - two lanes are coming down to one for the usual temporary roadworks (barrier fettling, drain testing, lamp post polishing or whatever). For once the traffic isn't at a complete standstill on the inside lane, it's running at around 20 mph (Wow!) so I'm cruising down the outside lane at around 25mph, indicator on waiting for a gap.

Then I see one and I start to pull in, but no the gap is suddenly closed by a quick burst of acceleration from the car that had been leaving the gap. No worries, I carry on cruising down the outside lane and repeat this scenario twice more both times with the gap being closed. By now I'm approaching the 200yds to go marker so I slow down to the same speed as the traffic on the inside lane - I look across to the inside lane and the car next to me moves within 3mm of the car in front, the driver is starting dead ahead - eye contact must not be made.

Then I see the SUV/4x4 thing in front of this car has left a gap so I think 'Ah! he's seen me', great, so I accelerate into it, but my thinking is wrong. Realising he's been caught napping he goes ballistic, comes past me on the hard shoulder and when he's three quarters past swerves back towards me. Bear in mind we're now at the cones. It's him or the cones so I whack the cones. The woman behind goes ballistic and starts flashing her lights, sounding her horn and if I wasn't completely distracted by several other major events in life I am sure I would have lost it completely.

As it is I am just bewildered by the whole thing - how can something as simple as merging two lanes into one produce this sort of sequence of events. Of course I realise I must be part way to blame, but I just don't get the attitude of other road users these days. Such a contrast to driving in the US or most of Europe where on the whole people are much more courteous.

As an aside when we emerged from the roadworks I decided that I was not for passing the 4x4 as frankly I didn't want him playing any more of his games and anyway I was leaving the motorway soon. I soon realised that he thought I was following him the silly b**tard so I backed right off and sat in the inside lane until my exit.

Honestly I give up, I really do.

tiggers.

P.S. Looking forward to trying to polish 'cone scuff' out of the car's bumper this weekend.

RJMS

iTrader: (2)

Just about typical of the average British Driver - including some on SN see http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=382169

Pbr

I've come to the conclusion that drivers in this country just don't like people getting in front of them, whether it be in merging traffic or on the open road. How else to explain people speeding up when you move to overtake them, or the deliberate closing of gaps in slow moving traffic, as above?

mj

It's the self proclaimed knights of the road that get on my tit ends - wagon drivers that see it as thier duty to spread themselves onto the closing lane - thus causing more carnage

Jap2Scrap

Wnakers.. See it every day Tiggers.

If I'm in the inside lane it always amuses me to sit stationary letting everyone filter in front of me while all the gap-closers behind me get really wound up!

ChrisB

That made me chuckle

tiggers

Yeah, well I've got to inject a little humour into the situation as otherwise I'd never stay sane

tiggers.

Ted Maul

the general 'rule' for this is you slide into a gap, the guy behind you slides in behind the guy you've just pulled infront of, and so on and so on. people go ape when this beutiful apttern isn't upheld

fatherpierre

It's the very British queue mentality. They think you're jumping the queue and lose it.

I particularly love the way the people who are doing their upmost to stop you getting in simply refuse to make eye contact!

InvisibleMan

a queue is a queue for a reason. Get in the correct lane at the correct time & wait your turn like everyone else selfish ****s.
im at a back of a queue coming off a motorway we're still all doing 70, some tw@t pulls in front of me so i have to break hard - its one fcukin car you pr1ck - i get it everyday - LEARN Get in lane BEFORE the chevrons!

this happened to my wife the other day some **** cuts in at the white markings where theres stones & debris - the car now has a cracked windscreen - if it was me & not in the company car - the @ssholes going to know about it!

InvisibleMan

& before anyones say ha there you go typical response - what do you expect. oh and the reasons why....i saw someone do this with a lorry (also happens a lot) off a motorway junction - the car soon felt it as the lorry sideswiped it & sent it spinning. what a shame i have no sympathy for the car driver...

SiPie

Sat watching the traffic from high up in the Excelsior Hotel in Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago and was amazed at how it all just flowed (almost seemlessly) with 2 very busy (almost standstill) lanes merging effortlessly, with hardly a toot of a horn.

Even in New Zealand, there are signs from motorway slip lanes that say Merge like a zip and it sure seemed to work.

However, this country

tiggers

See, told you it was my fault

Suresh

Totally agree with the original poster.

The "correct time" to get in lane is about 20 yards before the two lanes merge into one if traffic is crawling along. Over here in Holland when traffic merges from two lanes into a single lane, one car from each lane goes at a time. Totally civilised and completely reasonable.

Suresh

fatherpierre

I personally drive right up as close to the bollards as I can before pulling in .

InvisibleMan

wasnt a directed at you (though i have a point - esp after your also 'typical' response) it annoys people so why do it. Others managed to get in the queue before you so why couldnt you?

David_Dickson

Idiotic British mentality. People would rather risk an accident than have someone get ahead of them, whether its merging like above, overtaking on the open road (how many times have you gone to pass someone for them to speed up and try to prevent you passing?) or any other situation where they might have someone get infront of them.

I just dont get it.

tiggers

Sigh! Read the post - I think it explains it in plain enough English.

And I did say in my post that I was obviously partly to blame.

Jeez, what more do you want? No wonder driving here is so f**ked up!

tiggers.

ajm

Not saying a word....

tiggers

Cheers ajm - didn't think it would take you too long to, er... 'contribute'

Dracoro

The queuing mentality is daft. When at a supermarket I get caught in a queue and the next line goes quick. I just think 'darn, I got the wrong queue/line'. The people in that queue were a better judge of queues than me this time. Oh well. I don't, however, go over and say 'Oi! I was waiting over there longer than you' blah blah blah. It really doesn't matter does it.

Use whatever lane but get in (or wait) before the chevrons/bollards etc.

Don't 'barge' in. Just merge in.

Let people merge in. Life's too short. People who get stressed out about it are only doing themselves harm.

Simple.

ajm

Well.... I've got to muck-in with the common folk now my SN+ has expired!

Diablo

Up here (in Scotland) they've started using "merge in turn" signage so even the dumbest of drivers get the idea.

Tiggers, you have my sympathy and the only thing I think you can be blamed for is assuming your fellow man was going to act in a decent manner.

The only reason some of the queues are so long is that people don't use all of the available lanes.

Is it any wonder people get killed in road rage incidents.

Its just another example of the arsehole british mentality.

D

tiggers

<------ Ahem!

Diablo

tiggers

Cheers D, My only thought really was that maybe I should have stopped and waited for someone to let me in, but to be honest that shouldn't be necessary really.

tiggers.

Diablo

No it shouldn't, but that assumes a degree of intelligence above that held (apparently) by 99% of the british motoring public (and newly delegated Scoobynet plebs ))

InvisibleMan

im talking in general not exactly about the above. queuing is a british way but also puts in some order in the chaos, maybe in a more multicultural society where the europeans here dont queue so to use it seems rude. yeah ok makes sence as european way & british way doesnt work and causes more chaos ill do it your way i wont queue, ill go straight to the front of the airport line to check in or do the same in a supermarket.

as said above dont barge in, merge in. and when i say queuing im often talking about dense traffic at 70mph. when im coming off a motorway at 70 its always too slow for someone so they just have to get in front even if they gain by 1 car - its pathetic

davegtt

this is why we get tailbacks when traffic approaches single lane filtering. if in general the whole of the traffic slowed down WELL in advance then none of this would happen, it happened to me yesterday morning. pulled into the left lane in advance. before I knew it I had a string of cars come flying past to get as close to the front of the queue as possible. if they'd all slowed down to a reasonable speed and pulled in there and then people would be willing to let them into the queue. I certainly dont mnid, instead you see all the cars go flying past. slam their brakes on when they approach the front of the queue cause no-one will let them in (I know I dont ) I usually look over and give a dissapointed shake of the head

some people have no road discipline