What Driving Habit REALLY Gets To You?

[Chazchuzzlewitt]

this isn't really a driving habit but hanz's post reminded me of it- there's a part of the A303 in somerset where there's a very steep hill and it has an overtaking lane on the up direction- where they've put a speed camera half-way up! so if you're putting on a bit more speed than what's normally legal to safely overtake someone you get flashed. Talk about obvious money-making...

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

I was reminded of one of my pet peevs today....people that can't drive at a constant speed! On a 60 limit road and the numpty in front of you keeps varying between 45 and 65 for no apparant reason. Means you have to turn the cruise off and sit 100's yds behind him so you don't have to keep hitting the brakes.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

They have a 2 lane overtaking sections on this road, where the road will turn into a two lane and go back into one. But when theres a 15mph HGV in the left hand lane, and Mr Smart Arse Argos/Somerfield/Asda lorry has decided to overtake him in the right. They are both almost travelling at the same speed and you can't get past! That is another thing that really annoys me. By the time you have chance to overtake the lane has almost ended.

oh yes, forgot that one. I use the A34 a lot up from Winchester to Newbury and you get a LOT of lorries coming up from portsmouth that will drive next to each other (dual carriage way) pretending to overtake for about 5 miles!!!! Both will be doing 55-60 mph on the 70mph road and you can literally see a queue of about 100 cars behind them. They then get all upset when you pull in front of them and drive at 35 mph for 10 miles...shame.

 

[Balal]

O speed camera reminded me of info that people are selling on ebay....aaaand yes! i was curious sooooooooooo I bought the info as well .... I didnt get a chance to read it, but if anyone is interested to read it, I can upload the pdf file here and perhaps someone can summerise the findings for others to use ...

 

[Hanz]

this isn't really a driving habit but hanz's post reminded me of it- there's a part of the A303 in somerset where there's a very steep hill and it has an overtaking lane on the up direction- where they've put a speed camera half-way up! so if you're putting on a bit more speed than what's normally legal to safely overtake someone you get flashed. Talk about obvious money-making...

Yes! I went past that on Sunday coming back from Goodwood. Didn't get chance to overtake because of that bastard camera!

 

[Blobcat]

I was under the impression that roundabouts are built to keep traffic flowing. I must be wrong watching people trying to negotiate them.

On an aside there are almost no roundabouts in the US and very very few in Canada. The Canadians have placed one just by the Peace Bridge at Niagara Falls. I think they put it there just to confuse the American drivers comming over the border.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

I remember them adding a new roundabout, or "traffic circle" in Towson (Baltimore, Maryland - East Coast USA). People would actually drive down there at the weekends and park up to watch cars crash into each other. If you think Brits are bad at roundabouts you should watch the yanks. Hysterical..

 

[Fandango]

Comradeship.... Im sure HGV and commercial drivers take great pride in banding together to keep us PKW drivers in our place

for those uninitiated in all things German:
PKW = Personenkraftwagen = Passenger Vehicle

 

[psmart]

for those uninitiated in all things German:
PKW = Personenkraftwagen = Passenger Vehicle

Ooops! Im turning more German everyday.... at least I can support a football team which wins something

Driving a motorhome, which is legally allowed to go the same speeds as a car, I get quite peeved when 'p-brain', who I overtake because he was going slow, decides to overtake me, then slow down! This whole episode generally lasts several times, until I get fed up and start going faster than everything else on the motorway just to get away from 'p-brain'. 5.75 tonnes at speeds approaching the triple digits... not big or clever, but whats a trucker to do?

 

[television]

I was reminded of one of my pet peevs today....people that can't drive at a constant speed! On a 60 limit road and the numpty in front of you keeps varying between 45 and 65 for no apparant reason. Means you have to turn the cruise off and sit 100's yds behind him so you don't have to keep hitting the brakes.

You need Distronic on your next car young man. I will let you know how mine goes if I ever get around to reading the 51 page instruction book on it.

malcolm

ps, Yes that 303 I use alot, why do people drop down to 40 on the single carragway bits.

malcolm

 

[turnipsock]

I'm getting some good ideas here.

Pity you couldn't put acid in the washer liquid

I had considered removing my headlight wipers and washers and finding a new use for them. I thought I could load the washers (which point forward anyway) with some sort of dart tipped with some quick acting poison. It would be the last time somebody attempts to cross in front of me when the green man is flashing.


I was going to mention to the slow overtaking manouver as well. The A9 is a fast A road with bits of dual carrageway to allow overtaking. It is also the main road through the highlands so has a large volume of caravans.

There is a bit of dual carrageway, just north of Perth, that is about two miles long. If you are heading south, it is quite a steep climb. You can guess what happens, a lorry pulls out to pass our slow moving romany friend and is still passing him when the road goes back to single carrageway!

 

[turnipsock]

Coming of the slip road from the M73 to the A8, the road surface is the super grippy stuff that it is impossible to skid on. It is a good idea here as the slip road is quite short and you could be traveling quite fast coming from the motorway.

Just to make sure you know how fast you are going, they have painted some really slippy yellow lines across the road at intervals. I could swear that lines get closer together the further down the slip road you go, making it more slippy the further you go.

 

[television]

Coming of the slip road from the M73 to the A8, the road surface is the super grippy stuff that it is impossible to skid on. It is a good idea here as the slip road is quite short and you could be traveling quite fast coming from the motorway.

Just to make sure you know how fast you are going, they have painted some really slippy yellow lines across the road at intervals. I could swear that lines get closer together the further down the slip road you go, making it more slippy the further you go.

That's why its called a slip road

Malcolm

 

[Donk]

Current annoyance is people who blatantly drive far to close to the back of me especially on Motorways and built up areas irrespective of what lane or traffic limited speed I am travelling at. How the hell they think they will stop in time if I do an emergency brake without slamming into the back of me is beyond me. It jars me off all the more when these people are very often the sole cause of traffic jams when they have run into the back of other vehicles. It seems a lot worse since I have been driving this Merc, most irritating. Jugglynuts / Lorries / Large vans are the worst offenders. I mean, what do they do with the extra 45 seconds reduced journey time they achive by doing this, donate it to charity or something? Retards tbh.

/rant off

 

[television]

Current annoyance is people who blatantly drive far to close to the back of me especially on Motorways and built up areas irrespective of what lane or traffic limited speed I am travelling at. How the hell they think they will stop in time if I do an emergency brake without slamming into the back of me is beyond me. It jars me off all the more when these people are very often the sole cause of traffic jams when they have run into the back of other vehicles. It seems a lot worse since I have been driving this Merc, most irritating. Jugglynuts / Lorries / Large vans are the worst offenders. I mean, what do they do with the extra 45 seconds reduced journey time they achive by doing this, donate it to charity or something? Retards tbh.

/rant off

I feel the same as you on this one, maybe they think that they are better than most, its almost as bad as when you leave a good distance from the car in front and someone dives in almost taking off your bumper, filling the gap.

malcolm

 

[turnipsock]

People that drive to close are just asking for trouble. Their cars will overheat for one. For two they have little room to manouver. If they position themselves up your rear, though not in the biblical sense, they can't move so why not let half a dozen people cut in infront while you look at your radio?

 

[44418]

The Pom

The Pom,
I have just moved to Sydney, Australia ,its like the wacky races,very few give way,everyone undertakes,speed limits are a joke.
They do have some good habits,but I cant think of one at the moment.

 

[3146bj]

Current annoyance is people who blatantly drive far to close to the back of me especially on Motorways and built up areas irrespective of what lane or traffic limited speed I am travelling at. How the hell they think they will stop in time if I do an emergency brake without slamming into the back of me is beyond me. It jars me off all the more when these people are very often the sole cause of traffic jams when they have run into the back of other vehicles. It seems a lot worse since I have been driving this Merc, most irritating.

/rant off

They don't seem to do it too often to the Merc. It's worse when I'm driving the Disco and they get so close I can only see their roof in the mirror. What chance do they have of seeing what's going on ahead?

A couple of other little annoyances:
- the cyclist you just passed catches up at a red light and sits in front of you, the lights go green and he wobbles all over the road as he tries to take off and you can't get past the 10kph git.
- A***n women driving Hondas who would be unsafe driving their water buffaloes back in wherever, dropping off their kids in the "No Stopping" zone outside school.

 

[3146bj]

The Pom,
I have just moved to Sydney, Australia ,its like the wacky races,very few give way,everyone undertakes,speed limits are a joke.
They do have some good habits,but I cant think of one at the moment.

If you think Sydney's bad come down to Melbourne. Victorian drivers make Sydney_siders look good.

 

[psmart]

... one bad habit is picking your nose and chewing it, in full view in your rear view mirror, especially when your in a traffic jam, as you feel damn hungry