scrappydoo

I was coming home from the rally earlier, driving slowly out of town onto the motorway, i drove down a slip lane, looked in my right mirror, not a soul in sight. So i thought i could join the motorway safely. Totally unknown to me there was a clio in my blind spot, matching me for speed all the way for about 10-15 secs. I had no idea he was there, untill i crossed halfway over the white line when i noticed a silver flash in my peripheral vision. I swerved like a maniac back over and the guy just managed to squeez through. It was so close, my scooby handled so well. He when past and shock his head, but somehow i didnt feel totally resposible for it. He shouldnt have stayed in my blind spot for such a long time. Normally i check using my mirrors and then a quick glance over the shoulder but not today and then it happens.TYPICAL!!

Scrappy

blaster

invest in a blind spot mirror - 4.99 from halfords - could save your life ...

real_welshboy

YOU SHOULD BE DRIVING A SCODA NOT A SCOOB GET A LIFE AND RESIT YOUR DRIVING TEST!!. IF YOU WOULD HAVE DONE THAT TO ME I WOULD HAVE SMASHED YOUR FACE IN!!!!!!!!!!!

stevie c

sorry mate,but how can you not feel totally responsible?!

of course you are,you were the one pulling onto a motorway,i know accidents happen and i have done it myself were i catch myself doing something silly,but i know when im in the wrong.

i have to agree with welsh boy,if someone done that to me i wouldnt be impressed!

steve

lpitt

He would have had no way of knowing he was in your blindspot!

I'm sure this is something we've all done at sometime (I've had a comple of interesting experiences joining the M3 from the M25 on the slip myself).

Just a suggestion, don't rely on the mirrors. Before joining the motorway, glance over your shoulder just to make sure...it could save you a fortune!

Laurence

MartinM

Hey Real...

Were you in the Sunny on the M4 last night, charging past me and then slowing down to 60 in front...

And when I cruised past at my constant 7x mph, you did it again ...

And when I went past again, you stood up out throught the sunroof and took a photo - or were you just frightening me with the flash (which it did for 2 seconds BTW)

bug-eyed wonder

This happened me once and i can definately say that it will not be repeated. Counted myself lucky and if the worse had happened unfortunately i'd have been 100% in the wrong.

blaster

as I said, 4.99 could save your life ..... go to halfords first thing tomorrow.

sasman

Have to disagree, Scrapy was he in the inside lane, if so why didn't he move over when he saw you joining the motorway. Also i always consider blind spots and prefer to speed rather than sit in it.

matt d

Both in the wrong IMO. Driving in someone's blind spot is bad driving, so is not noticing someone is there for 15 seconds!

SteveYeowart

Driving in someones blind spot is wrong!

HOW THE H**L IS HE SUPPOSED TO KNOW HE IS IN YOUR BLIND SPOT!!!

He was wrong as he didn't move over!

MAYBE HE HAD LOOKED OVER HIS SHOULDER AND THERE WAS SOMEONE THERE!!

I have to agree with others on here you are totally responsible for ensuring it is safe to join the motorway!!

Looks like I got out of wrong side of bed this morning, that and the fact someone did exactly this to me yesterday v.busy motorway no where for me to go so I started braking to let the guy in he then pulled out as if I wasn't there, then swerved back wehen he saw me!! (I feel it was my fault entirely!! YEAH RIGHT)

MichelleWRX1994

Okay fair enough he should have looked more often BUT I know not to sit on somebodies rear quarters as I always think to myself can he see me?

I would rather be visible and be able to see the driver in one of the mirrors..........

I think both drivers need to take responsibilty here, but we all make mistakes and I have made my fair share of them............the best thing is to move on and learn from them

Therefore hopefully becoming a more aware and responsive driver

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

We`ve all done it, or something very similar? A genuine mistake made worse by an unfortunate design problem present on most cars. You never mean to do these things, and it makes you think of how easy it is to find yourself in an embarrasing situation.
Welshboys reaction was way over the top. You must be in the running for the "Road Rage 2001 award" From your spoutings we all must assume you have never, ever made an error of any kind? My Hero!!
JohnD

PS Having said all that, I must admit that if it hppened to me I would not have posted it for all the world to see!

[Edited by JohnD - 11/25/2001 12:01:28 PM]

boomer

I drove a Frontera Sport for three years (don't laugh, and no, it wasn't continuously) and they don't have blind spots, they have blind continents

I got into the habit of always glancing over my shouder after that (indeed, you almost had to wind down the window and stick your head out in the Frontera).

Scrappy admits that he didn't do his "normal" glance, and the Clio should have anticipated a car joining the motorway (thus pull out and/or adjust speed accordingly). Scrappy (and we) are lucky that we have a BBS to discuss these things - i bet that there isn't a Nicolenet!!!

mb

[Edited by boomer - 11/25/2001 12:25:27 PM]

DavidBrown

Of course ScrappyDoo was in the wrong, but that doesn't mean the Clio guy would have been 100% blameless if they collided.

If someone is joining the motorway, I back off to let them in, or accelerate slightly to let them in behind, or move over to the 2nd lane..

It's 1) Courteous, and 2) Safer

You just have to think for other people sometimes in case they're being absent minded.

If the Clio had the space to let you in then he was a twa-t for being equally blind/ignorant to you.

sKunk

I have always performed the 'lifesaver' manouver where you quickly glance over your shoulder before pulling out. I suggest giving it a try

Trucker Ted

As the road was quiet the clio could have easily moved out and let you on.I know i appreciate this when driving the lorry,however i always check my blind spot because in a 60ft truck there is some big blind spots and if you dont, you'll kill somebody.

It,s easy to get complacent especially after a hard day and these little frights serve as a warning to keep us right.

scrappydoo

Well i didnt realise that i would get such a reaction. Some quite nasty, some nice. We are lucky we can dicuss things on this BBS. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, i believe i should have been alot more observant at the time, and if your following somone in the lane alonside you dont stay there you pull over to the next lane like sasman said. This guy just stayed there, and there werent any other cars on the road so he could have easily moved accross.
Like michelle said we all make mistakes, a slight lapse in concentration is all it takes and its over.
JohnD i do aggree Welshboys reaction was way over the top, totally uncalled for. Welshboy get lost you IDIOT!! People come on here to talk and exchange information in a friendly environment, untill TO$$ers like you come along and contribute smallminded abuse. Well lets just say if that had been you and you had reacted that way toward me you would have been the one stretched out on the tarmac. :-)
JohnD i have nothing to hide to the world. :-)

Now ive admitted resposibility, lets just all chill is it. I suppose the point i was trying to make was that it could happen to any of us in any form.When i set out in the morning i take it for granted and i think that i am immune from any sort of traffic accident. It could have been a nasty incident but it wasnt and you can bet that i wont be doing that again, no way!!

Thanks ALL
Scrappy

scrappydoo

Trucker ted, i fully agree with you. It does remind us how stupid we can be sometimes and driving a truck is alot worse.

Scrappy

coolchris

Its all down to give and take guys,if some body gives then maybee an incident could be avoided, it can get rather messy after a collision, yr insurance could go up, people change their stories etc, and yr scooby is hurt! mine never felt the same afterwards!even though the clio was not in the wrong he should have been thinking there is something wrong!I would have moved or paped my horn to let u now I was there, I appreciate motors giving me room to join the motorway, and I return the gesture, it takes two to tango.

paul w

Totally agree with you chris abit of give and take.

Scrappy,
The guy in the clio must have been a ****,sure it wasn't a beemer he was driving.

Would you sit there knowing the car on the slip road was obviously going to join the motorway and do nothing, he should have used his eyes abit and got well past you,moved over if he could have done or throttled off a bit.
Too many people are bad drivers and dont look ahead and help others.

paul w

Double post at exactly the same time straaaaaaaaaaaaaange.

[Edited by paul w - 11/25/2001 10:08:27 PM]

Reffro

I just read all this and thought of something similar that happened to me. I managed to do exactly the same thing, pulled onto the M6 at spaghetti junction, went along in the inside lane for a little bit. See a truck up ahead,indicated, looked in my mirrors, rear and wing mirrors, looked over my shoulder, nothing there, pulled out and damn near knocked a rozzer clean off his motorcycle. Just about **** my pants in surprise. To this day I don't understand how I didn't see him, the other surprise was the cop didn't even pull me in for a chat, he must have seen me do everything and gave me the benefit of the doubt. But to this day, I make sure I give a look over my shoulder before pulling out, hate to think about trying to remove a smeared biker off the M6. Accidents will happen, but it taught me a lesson I have never forgot.

sulli

Takes a bit of courage to admit you're in the wrong in the first place, and come on here and admit it, and secondly it appears that you have learnt from your mistake - the sign of a good driver - no one is a perfect driver, the best are those who realise they're in the wrong sometimes, and correct it.

I agree that the Clio driver, from how you have described it, also appears to have been discourteous, and maybe slightly reckless - he was maybe trying to illustrate to you that you should always look over your shoulder, and teach you a lesson and was maybe never in any danger of letting you hit him, or could have just been being a ****. Myself, I would've beeped the horn and let you know I was there if I thought you hadn't seen me.

Hoppy

The most dangerous way of joining traffic is to crawl along at 30mph, desperately looking for a gap in the traffic. Ten out of ten for observation. Zero for safe driving.

The safest way is to get up to full traffic speed, then look for a gap. Look in the mirror, AND over your shoulder.

Easily said, but I've had the odd scare, too.

I happen to disagree about those blind-spot stick-on mirrors from Halfords and the like. They're all cr@p and give you a false sense of security.

Richard.

catflap

there is no such thing as a blind spot.

You were never i biker i see.

Chick all mirrors, then you take a glance behind over your sholder to check your blind spot.

I think it should be mandatory for people who want to drive cars to learn to ride a bike, it givers you good spacial awairness and awairness of your suroundings.

MichelleWRX1994

I agree catflap, being on a bike is the most vunerable situation to be in............riding a few friends made me realise just how alert you really need to be and made me also more aware of bikes as a car driver........

On the topic of visibilty the Ford Puma has awful visibility I learnt to be way more vigilant with my shoulder checks in that, this has stuck with me now and with improved visibilty in the scoob I am now totally sure the road it is safe when I pull out in the scoob

Dream Weaver

But IMHO, there are too many motorway drivers, usually old women/chaps that sit there in the inside lane, with nothing coming up behind them, and they will NOT move over for anyone. This even happens when there is a group of you, say 5 cars, trying to join. They just point blank refuse to move.

Why cant they just pull over and allow people to join the motorway. [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] I am sure it has something about this in the highway code.

As a prime example, I was coming up the slip road near Burnley the other day, following a LR Discovery, and had another motor behind me. We all approached at 60mph, then I noticed a Fiat Panda doing 50mph-ish in the inside lane driven by an old bloke. I noticed him and adjusted my speed to allow me to fall in behind him. I also looked behind him over my shoulder to judge my routes onto the motorway - there was nothing coming in the other lanes behind the Panda.

I also realised that the LRD was about to join and hadn't noticed the Panda. The Panda saw the Land Rover but wouldnt budge. I says to the mrs, "they are going to collide" so hastily got away from them by joining quickly and going behind the Panda into the 3rd lane.

Sure enough at the last minute, Panda slams on, LRD swerves and they nearly collide.

Then to cap it all, Panda actually moves into middle lane when we all get past!!!!! Why could he not just move over in the first place [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img].

Rant over

DW

bumcrack

Your both crap!
End of story

juan

sounds fair. Anyone who doesn't look over their shoulder when joining a motorway is taking an awful lot for granted, including their life

[Edited by juan - 11/26/2001 12:19:01 PM]