IainT

In over 15 years of driving I can honestly say I've never got tired of driving no matter what type of journey lay ahead until now.
I regularly drive about 160 -200 miles a day in the course of my work (not in my scooby, but that never bothered me) and always relish getting behind the wheel, call me crazy but I do.
Recently however I have had a few very nasty scares, mainly on the motorway when other drivers through lunatic driving have forced me off the road and onto the hard shoulder or other lane . Now, touch wood, I havent had a major accident yet (only 2 small non fault ones)but the law of averages arent really in my favour .
Even now at the weekends when I get to drive the scooby the experience is becoming tarnished. The amount of idiots that want to race you or tailgate seems to be increasing.
Only last night I overtook a car on a long clear straight and not particularly fast either and the car flashed me repeatedly as if I had no right to do so and proceeded to catch me up and attempt to overtake me (which I let him).
Now I am Mr placid and never seem to get road rage but its only a matter of time I think till it happens and that saddens me.
I have applied for a transfer at work now to limit my mileage and the scooby seems to sit on the path a little more at the weekends now.
It just seems to be the last 6 months have really changed traffic wise and the idiots on the roads (especially motorways) are increasing daily. You can try to be the best driver you can be, but its the other idiot that'll take you off the road and kill you.
A bit on the negative side I know but I wonder if I'm alone in my observations?

Iain

[This message has been edited by IainT (edited 01-07-2000).]

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Hi Iain,
I know what you mean, i have a company van, astra 2l di, and the amount of idiots that dont look what they are doing is amazing, i have to take more time to check because its pretty blind down the left hand side of the van but people still want to cut you up!!
Im not just blaming car drivers, trucks are pretty bad at it also, no indication and just pull out on you, had that last week in the scoob, i was passing this truck at about 80, he just didnt look and pulled out into the middle lane whilst i was still there!!!!!!!
Ive had 4 accidents in the last 3 years, 2 in company cars and 2 in my own (not the scoob thank god!!) i belive they are all non fault, but the insurance gives me 2 for and 2 against, and one of them is due to the slow reaction of the police!!!! 3 weeks to find a car, gave them the reg, colour, make and model...(vw golf gti mk2 8v, D614 RVU) and they said it was a ford escort!! yea right!! But the worst one was when i'd just picked up my new 306 gti, had it 2 hours and some complete git ran a red light!!
apart from causing 7.5k worth of damage!!!! worst thing was is that he was uninsured and disqualifed!!!! that didnt help my insurance one bit!!!!
Only 2 weeks ago, driving in a 40 zone, doing 40!!! some lads in a 1.1 ltr escort were right up the **** of the scoob!!
Its not just the idiots though, its the uninsured drivers that are the worst, it doesnt affect them, they just get 200 quid fine and 6 points and a slap on the wrist, what do we get, 50percent increase in insurance premiums and treated worse than the offender!!!

Tony

Kev

Hi Iain ...

If it's any consolation I have to agree 100%, in the last 6 months the amount of "near misses" I've seen has really amazed me ...
I commute on the dreaded M6 through to Birmingham ... it needs no more explaining than that really ... but we both used to be gobsmacked at the stupidity of drivers taking risks ie lane 1 to lane 3 with no indication or glance in the mirror hoping everyone can brake in time .... but now it's common place to see it 2 or 3 times each way.... young drivers as well as old, women and men and dare I say a few scoobs as well ... I can't summon the word to describe them really....
Today I had the wife n kids on board just cruising at 65mph down a d/c and a kid in an escort mk3 just pulled out of a junction into our path without using the slip road ...... he did'nt even regiter I was there untill I got along side him and made him know how "annoyed" I was ( I was really civilised 'cause the kids were with me , how I managed to get the scoob to the other lane and miss him I will never know .... but I now have a deep nail scratch in the passenger door handle where the wife grabed it ..... why do women do that ??

K

[This message has been edited by Kev (edited 01-07-2000).]

KenG

Kev, be thankful it was her left hand she grabbed something with!

I do 30K+ miles a year covering a fair chunk of the UK and in my opinion driving standards are certainly getting worse. If its wet the beggars drive in your boot. If its foggy they blast past at speeds that would worry most of us in clear weather. On sunny days they seem to be more interested in the scenery than other traffic. I am happy to get back home unscathed after a two hundred mile trip these days. Its a blasted war zone out there...

Ken

Mike Owen

and people wonder why I moved up to Scotland 10 years ago! Mind you, even up here it's going pear shaped. What used to be nice quiet roads, where I would take a fair bit of a "long way home", rather than use the motorways, are turning into busy roads! and some of the MAD things that people will do to pass me, are beyond belief. O'hum and what's it going to be like in another ten years time!

Enjoy it while you can folks....

AllanB

I've been driving now for about 13 years since is was 17 and am amazed at how so many people treat driving. In the wrong hands a car is lethal and so many people just don't take the time to indicate , look where they are going etc. I've only had 3 accidents 2 being rear ended whilst stopping at pedestrian crossing and once hitting a stationary car to avoid being hit head on by a car doing around 70 miles an hour down the road I used to live on !!

Scary thing is standards are dropping all the time and as a result people are getting less tolerant and more aggressive.

I can't stand the idiots that want to race you or drive without manners or using the two brain cells thay have. If they insist on tailgaiting I just then them pass or disappear into the distance. I don't want to be near these idiots to see them cause a fatal accident.

We've had about 10 people killed on one stretch of road about 500 yards long in Enfield and its going to get worse if driving habits don't change.

Not blowing anyones trumpet but its seems the enthuasiasts might drive a tad on the fast side but seem to drive with intelligence and respect and the other Scooby/ Evo/ Lotus/ etc drivers are alot safer and more aware of other drivers than some young mum on her way to the shops in her 1 litre shoe box.

Drive safely.. it really is a jungle out there !!

The Zohan

Hate to say it but i agree whole heartedly - Friday
I took me car to the garage - filled up and went to pull into the jet wash bay directly in front of me. looked around before i pulled off I noticed the large Jap 4x4 on my right just starting up, i move off towards the bay and the next thing i know the 4x4 is about a yard from my door. i put my hand up to say 'thanks' courteous to the last. the 4x4 owner sounds it's horn. I pulled into the bay and got out of my car to get a load of abuse from a large scruffy 40 (ish) woman who informed me that i was a c**t for cutting her up and she was going to fetch her husband and 'is mates from the site to sort me out. This did set a good exapmle for the three kids sat in the vehicle with her!
I thought about leaving the jet wash 'till later rather than get a kicking, descretion being the better part of valour - but no - i was not going to let this 'creature' stop me from doing what i want when i want. I was kind of glad to leave the garage in one piece though.

Sunday
Just off to visit the relations.
I am tailgated by an old chap in a Skoda (embarrasing enough) for about five miles through town - he is glued to my bumper - there is no way he would have stopped if i had braked hard. The traffic was constant so no real opportunities to put any distance between him and me without breaking the law and who would get busted - certainly not mister old Skoda driver!

It should not be like this.

I get more hastles from the midle age to older generation than from the younger element. I am not trying to be ageist that is just the way it is.



[This message has been edited by Paul Habgood (edited 03-07-2000).]

jbryant

Going back to AllanB's statement, a couple of months ago I was rear-ended by an old Ford Escort when I stopped at a traffic light that had turned red. His excuse - "Sorry mate - I thought you were going to jump the lights, mate."

Unbelievable...

Only this morning had to honk a driver for cutting across three marked lanes on a roundabout to take an exit, almost forcing me off the road. Then he has the gall to stop his van and get out looking for 'action.' Of course I just pull out and around him. What do I do to deserve this?

Cheers
Joolz

RichS

JBryant - Didn't you know that the lanes on a roundabout are only advisory , and are only for those not on supermarket trips or school runs!

Another example of total discourteous behaviour:
- when you're at speed (say 80) on the motorway and the safe distance you leave between yourself and the car in front is suddenly ocuppied by some headbanger who's swerved across three lanes to get there. - Right enough, it never seems to be an evo-type driver...

Rich

jbryant

Rich, I know the lanes on roundabouts are advisory, but that shouldn't make the whole thing a free-for-all (though it is). I would hope that most drivers (as I do) shift across a lane at each junction of the roundabout like nice sensible ( ) drivers.
Then when you get to the exit you desire, you are already on the left hand side and pull off the roundabout, as indicated(hmmm), without cutting up the rest of the traffic.

This obviously does not account for large empty roundabouts at 4am

Joolz

PS. And why do 'people-carriers' not get called 'person-carriers' as they've invariably just got one person in them?
PPS. Oh no I'm off on one again


[This message has been edited by jbryant (edited 03-07-2000).]

IainT

Thought I wasn't alone!
Advisory lanes or not I think theres been a steady decline in courtesy and a rapid rise in people (of all ages) to get out and look for 'action'.
I'm 6'5", Have a black belt and have worked on club doors for a few years and anybody who is willing to get out of a car to 'have a go' at a person they know nothing about is a couple of chips short of a butty!
I make it a rule never to get out regardless.
Take care out there
Cheers
Iain

KF

JBryant,
Let me guess. Two Bridges roundabout in Bracknell? Every b!00dy day.....
KF

merlin

I do a 130 miles commute every day, 80 miles on motorway & the rest on good twisty A roads. Back in May I was involved in a bad accident righting off my car, an old Golf.

Someone driving in the opposite direction in a school minibus was overtaking a HGV. The bend where he attempted his overtake was completely blind, double white lines, uphill & just for good measure it was raining. I turned into the corner to find my way blocked by the minibus & HGV. There was nowhere to go as the road is on the side of a steep hill. I braked as hard as I could with the wet surface & the fact that I was mid corner. I hit the main driving wheels behind the cab of the HGV at about 40mph. My car pivoted on the HGV driving wheels and ended up at 90 degrees to the direction of the road. The minibus was overtaking so slowly that he managed to stop before hitting the side of my car. Fortunately he had no kids on board at the time. I was taken to hospital in an ambulance on a board where I was diagnosed with a broken rib, whiplash, back & seat belt bruising. My car was a right off, the roof & sills having buckled.

The policeman who dealt with the accident recorded on his charging sheet for the minibus driver, dangerous driving & contravening the double white lines. This week I heard that the police & CPS have decided that there was a lack of evidence for dangerous driving, so the charge was downgraded to careless driving. I talked to the policeman that dealt with the incident & his reaction was 'how much evidence do they need?' As it was his first offense, the careless driving charge was changed to a 2 day retraining course...

On the bright side, I do get to buy a new car - so has anyone any advice on how to persuade the better half that a Scooby is a good idea.

Scutter

Merlin wrote:-
'has anyone any advice on how to persuade the better half that a Scooby is a good idea.'

Thats easy.

1. 4 doors. = Family Saloon. (or 5 door,dog as well)
2. 4 wheel drive = safe.
3. lipstick/nail varnish compartment on the top of the dashboard (my99/00). (well thats what is usually in mine after the missus has used it)
4. Nice colours = always a winner with the fairer sex ;-) (I've been listening to too many second hand car salesmen)
5. She'll always have an 'other half' with a big smile on his face.


Cheers, Ian

Denz

Perhaps all your storys are proof that the goverment should stop wasting our money on speed limits and Gatsos and send people on advanced driver training courses.

To think once a new driver has past his test he is legally allowed to jump on the M25 after never before going anywhere nere a motorway, it horifies me. Killing speed should NOT be number one priority but making everday drivers EXPERTS on motoring in general.