Attitudes of road users

[landmannnn]

*sigh*

As I said, there's a difference between being in a car others are more cautious of driving into (ie giving you 'default right of way'), and actually assuming you have said right of way and disregarding traffic laws and practices.

On my road the double-parked cars make it a single lane all the way down. If someone meets me half-way, they usually back off (except for that guy in the lifted Rangie) of their own accord. I don't agressively drive toward them, and I'm perfectly happy to back up, but most people seem to give me passage. That doesn't make me a 'warrior behind the wheel'.

Totally agree.

With adverts on TV like the Navara one - it gets respect, it's no wonder there is an anti 4x4 movement which isn't based on environmental issues. They may as well write 'warrior' down the side of it...

Or Outlaw, Invincible, Animal, Tomb Raider, Amazon, Defender etc so much nastier than nice Fiesta, Bravo, Amigo.

(rant mode on)

The anti's will be anti anything. They are both bigoted and prejudicist and have the kind of small lives where their only fulfilment is campaigning against anything the right newspaper says is bad. I live my life to my own standards, not those influenced by a small minority with a powerful lobby.

I pride myself that while I probably drive fairly robustly, I have driven more hundreds of thousands of miles than I care to count with no accidents or injurys.

(rant mode off)

[MissDriver]

There's adverts on the telly that I hate, you know the ones, 'drive this and people will **** themselves' or 'drive this and they think you're Yoda' etc.

But today I've driven the 110, the Escort and the 'Moggy' around the same round about on different errands with different results.

110. Transit van was thinking about pulling across me, thought again and stopped.

Escort. Some muppet in a Skoda carved me up as if I wasn't there. Pretended he hadn't seen me.

Moggy. Botched getting it into 1st (no syncro). Cars actually stopped on roundabout and waved me out with a smile.

The answer? A Series 2? Big enough to have presence but old enough to get a smile?

I'm still surprised you chose to go around the round-about...

[Simon Smith]

Another one lost it on Titsey hill this morning, demolished a telegraph pole.

Went over to Kingswood on the M25 this morning, had to queue for ages because of muppets stopping on the box junction on the roundabout.

[roguevogue]

I noticed a particularly annoying thing yesterday, I was driving east on the A303, dual carriageway section, 75 or there abouts with the cruise on. Quite happily in the middle lane overtaking a regular stream of cars and trucks so I did need to stay in middle lane. Had to change into lane 3 to over take lorries overtaking each other. No sooner do I pull out than the BMW driver appears flashing and waving. Having passed the lorry I pull back into the middle lane and BMW shoots off into the distance and pulls into the middle lane. A couple of miles further on and there in the middle lane doing 70 is the same BMW so of course I use lane 3 to overtake him, you guessed it, this makes him pull out behind me again for the same thing to happen two or three times all the way to the M3.

Now, I was doing a constant 75 with the cruise on in my(very dirty) 1995 Tdi Discovery, he was in his turbo fart-catcher 57 plate BMW. Is there some thing he needs to prove or was I doing something wrong?

[GBMUD]

The dual carriageway sections of the A303 only have two lanes. I expect you had crossed into the wrong carriageway and he was flashing a warning.

Chris

[roguevogue]

The dual carriageway sections of the A303 only have two lanes. I expect you had crossed into the wrong carriageway and he was flashing a warning.

Chris

You're quite right, it must have been on the M3 by the time I was really paying attention.

I know it's one of your pet hates when people stay unnecesarily in the middle lane so of course i'm very aware of it.

The question remains though why do people speed up when you pull infront then slow down when they have passed?

[GBMUD]

The question remains though why do people speed up when you pull infront then slow down when they have passed?

Special BMW shoes?

I saw my pet hate this morning, the driver who dawdles along in a 60 zone at 40mph and then, when he gets to a 30 zone in a village, continues at 40. Grrrr.

Chris

[Ryan]

It takes me a little while to get up to speed on the motorway near me, as where I get on there is an incline in both directions (my junction is in a bit of a dip). But, I usually pootle along at 60-65mph in the inside lane, quite happy to overtake a slightly slower lorry if necessary. The other day, there was a line of slow lorries grinding up the hill, and a line of slightly quicker lorries overtaking in the middle lane. I was going faster than any of these. Behind the lead lorry in the middle lane was a transit pick up. As I started to overtake in the outside lane, I could see this transit well in front of me - probably about 3 artic lengths in front. So I go past the lorries in the middle lane, and by the time I get to the transit, the lorry in front of him has reached the front of the slow moving lorries and pulls into the inside lane. I'm just about to go past the transit when he floors it. If he could go that much quicker, why didn't he overtake? He had loads, and I mean loads of space to get in front of me, but chose to wait until I was alongside...why?!?!

Edited to add:

I consider myself a fairly safe and considerate driver (maybe not when off-roading but that's a different thread ). I always try to let people out, and pull over in narrow places - mainly because they're not expecting it! It's bad enough that lots of people think Land Rover drivers are arrogant/selfish/dangerous etc, so I try not to add fuel to the fire. It does surprise me sometimes though when I see the Kamikaze attitude of some drivers coming towards me. It always reminds me of a favourite passage from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

Arthur Dent is currently laying on the ground in front of a bulldozer which wants to knock his house down. Mr Prosser the foreman says "Some factual information for you. Have you any idea how much damage that bulldozer would suffer if I just let it roll straight over you?" "How much?" said Arthur. "None at all" said Mr Prosser.

[David Sparkes]

It takes me a little while to get up to speed on the motorway near me, as where I get on there is an incline in both directions (my junction is in a bit of a dip).

I'd just about worked out that with an inclination in both directions the junction must be in a dip - but thank's for the confirmation <smile>.

I'm just about to go past the transit when he floors it. If he could go that much quicker, why didn't he overtake? He had loads, and I mean loads of space to get in front of me, but chose to wait until I was alongside...why?!?!

Because changing lanes is too difficult.

I'm serious, some people seem to find it difficult to change lanes without breaking into a sweat.

Sometimes disguised as "I'm relaxed, not in a hurry, so I'll just slow down and bide my time" or "I'm not a lane 3 racer".

He wasn't racing you, he was just getting back to his cruising speed.

I try to calm my temper by looking for the silver lining - if he (she) finds lane changing that difficult I'm glad they recognise their limitations and don't bother.

Mind you, it would be different if my vehicle was towing a trailer and I wanted them to move from lane 2 to lane 1.

Cheers

[Ryan]

Because changing lanes is too difficult.

I'm serious, some people seem to find it difficult to change lanes without breaking into a sweat.

Sometimes disguised as "I'm relaxed, not in a hurry, so I'll just slow down and bide my time" or "I'm not a lane 3 racer".

He wasn't racing you, he was just getting back to his cruising speed.

I try to calm my temper by looking for the silver lining - if he (she) finds lane changing that difficult I'm glad they recognise their limitations and don't bother.

Mind you, it would be different if my vehicle was towing a trailer and I wanted them to move from lane 2 to lane 1.

Cheers

He got into the middle lane ok...but I know what you mean.

I have noticed that some people will only flit between the inside and middle lane and won't go anywhere near the outside lane. Is this a hangup from from the old chestnut of "the outside lane is the fast lane" mantra? Actually, from my background, I should be referring to the lanes as one, two, three etc. There's nothing more frustrating when you're trying to sort out a lane closure warning sign when someone says they're in the middle lane....on a four lane stretch.

[Escape]

A few years ago, I had a slight mishap in Brussels with my GF's Daihatsu: 4 lanes, 5 cars wanting to get through at the same time and some nitwit coming closer and closer untill he hit the mirror. I couldn't evade him as I was already pressed against the curb.

Next day, same place, same situation, only this time with my 90. Some guy tries and squeeze in between, then sees the treesliders and drops bakc to a safe distance.

Strangely enough, it doesn't work as well with the Range Rover, even though it's considerably bigger. I once had a Clio drive itself total loss against my side: he wanted to overtake where there wasn't any room, and I wasn't about to give him way so he had to choose between pushing me aside or going head to head with a VW on the other lane.

And I regularly get cut off, even when towing a trailer, which really annoys me! Seriously, open road, no one behind me, yet some #### finds it necessary to reverse out of his driveway just in front of me, then spend all of a minute trying to locate first gear before driving off!

[110WestCape]

It's weird that people use their vehicles as weapons with no regard for the family of others. Thinking back to the poor chap who lost his kids (written about on this site a while ago). Not inferring that it was the case in that instance either ..... unfortunately people do not learn from examples that are provided through the misery of others.

[Guest diesel_jim]

It's weird that people use their vehicles as weapons with no regard for the family of others.

The driver of the other vehicle should be the one looking out for his family.

[ThreePointFive]

Totally agree.

Or Outlaw, Invincible, Animal, Tomb Raider, Amazon, Defender etc so much nastier than nice Fiesta, Bravo, Amigo.

(rant mode on)

The anti's will be anti anything. They are both bigoted and prejudicist and have the kind of small lives where their only fulfilment is campaigning against anything the right newspaper says is bad. I live my life to my own standards, not those influenced by a small minority with a powerful lobby.

I pride myself that while I probably drive fairly robustly, I have driven more hundreds of thousands of miles than I care to count with no accidents or injurys.

(rant mode off)

Yes, all those names (bar the two LR ones - Tomb Raider was just to identify it with the film and Defender is completely non-aggressive) are examples of the type of image some 'offroaders' seem to want, I just wonder what motives a person has for wanting anything like that written on their cars for the world to see.

You can rant about the antis, they are everything that you say and more, these people can never be told any other opinion than their own. However, I was not talking about that group of people who are still a minority, I was refering to normal people who are getting more and more fed up with the attitudes of people driving larger cars and 4x4s. It's hard to blame them when people on 4x4 forums say things about using their cars as crumple zones, for example. I was not purely using Retroanaconda and your own comments as the basis for the arguement, in fact they are very slight and I was not trying to single any one person out, but the might is right slogan is held by many, many other 4x4 drivers. To people who were not anti 4x4 to begin with, the driving habits of these people is earning us all a bad name, if we like it or not.

[Brookers]

Just to add to the stupid names some 4x4's are blessed? with, has anyone seen the new hilux with DH4 on the back? took me a while to figure it was referencing Die Hard 4! Now what image does that give?

Brookers

[Mark90]

Die Hard 4! Now what image does that give?

Balding bloke in a mucky white vest

[sparg]

Yes, all those names (bar the two LR ones - Tomb Raider was just to identify it with the film and Defender is completely non-aggressive) are examples of the type of image some 'offroaders' seem to want, I just wonder what motives a person has for wanting anything like that written on their cars for the world to see.

You can rant about the antis, they are everything that you say and more, these people can never be told any other opinion than their own. However, I was not talking about that group of people who are still a minority, I was refering to normal people who are getting more and more fed up with the attitudes of people driving larger cars and 4x4s. It's hard to blame them when people on 4x4 forums say things about using their cars as crumple zones, for example. I was not purely using Retroanaconda and your own comments as the basis for the arguement, in fact they are very slight and I was not trying to single any one person out, but the might is right slogan is held by many, many other 4x4 drivers. To people who were not anti 4x4 to begin with, the driving habits of these people is earning us all a bad name, if we like it or not.

I agree that many big 4x4 drivers are either a) bullies, or B) carelessly oblivious that they are accidentally bullying; tailgating seems to be the favourite thing. Group a) might be hard to re-educate, since it might be that people with bullying tendencies buy this kind of car for a reason. Group B) might be easier to get to, but people who just do drive too close to the car in front, even when the're no possibility of that car going any faster (in a busy stream of traffic, for instance) really don't know they're doing it - it's subconscious, and probably only an accident or serious simulator training would do the trick - or maybe some kind of feedback training, so they can see themselves as others see them.

To get to the bullies, they have to be made to know that they've been spotted, and that there are consequences. Some complicated allowance for speed, vehicle mass and proximity could be made, so that not only stopping distances, but consequences of collision, could affect penalties in law. In other words, maybe the police could have a bit of a drive to pick on larger vehicles that drive too close to smaller ones and give warnings.

[Chris123]

About 2 years ago I bought an Austin Maxi for £50, I found that to be one of the best cars around for bullies in their "shiny" 4x4s. I always laughed the way people in these big cars thought they could cut you up, force their way into your lane without indicating etc. And I just kept thinking "my car cost me £50, I think you'll care a lot more than I do if you actually hit it and scratch some of your plastic". Was a brilliant car if only for that reason.

One of my major bug bears when motorway driving is the way you can have a stream of about 20 cars in the right hand lane, all overtaking something about a mile away, and all doing about 73mph. Leaving lanes 1 & 2 completely empty. I think the only reason this happens is because people don't like being overtaken as you can do 73mph in any other of the lanes and not lose any time on your journey. The otherday I was a bit bad and undertook about 25 cars in one hit (lanes 1 & 2 were empty so I used lane 1), but this was purely so I could gently cruise along at a reasonable speed and not sit in a queue of traffic for no reason. - I also let everyone overtake me again as another hate of mine is people who undertake.

[ozzie1989]

I do quite a bit of driving, usually in a Combo works van. I see a lot of things going on, a lot that get on my nerves but a lot that I just laugh off and don't let it bother me, hence why I don't write about them. I had a cracker earlier this evening though...

Single lane, two way, national speed limit road. It's a road that comes off a roundabout, starts at 40mph and then goes into the (for me as I have a commercial hard top) 50mph. There was hardly anyone around, so I was in 5th doing about 45mph. The road, after about half a mile leads to a steep and windy mountain road for about a mile with various dips and bends to negotiate. As I pass a pub on my right where there is a central island a car comes flying up behind me (must have been doing about 70), as soon as we pass the island the person decides to overtake on a bit of a bend - he surely couldn't see past the Defender in his car.

I at this point had actually eased off a bit, to let him past and knowing there was a sharp bend coming up wondering if he would actually make it. Next thing I know the car pulls in front of me, slams it's brakes on and indicates left into a small hotel single-way entrance that's now about 100yds away. I brake instantly, skidding slightly (no ABS). Just as the car (still doing between 25 - 30) nearly looses it trying to brake and turn into the small junction, a car comes out of the junction meaning the car that overtook me has nowhere to go and no option but to brake even harder and skid to a stop - now I knew my defender couldn't stop in time so I swerved into the opposite carriageway (cars coming but a good 400yds away probably) and swerved back.

Without anti-roll bars I would have most definately lost it... and looking back I should have taken more time, swerved into the opposite carriageway and then gradually came back over - but I sort of panicked. The last I saw was the car that overtook me managing to stop in the middle of the road about an inch away from the car exiting the junction.

Why on earth did the car overtake 4-500 yards from the junction knowing full well he could stop a lot quicker than me! As the saying goes... They're out there!!!

[110WestCape]

I've often wondered how many people out there are on drugs when they drive ...... there simply is no rational explanation for their actions.

[jason110]

i must be honest, i do enjoy driving my 110, the high driving position means i get a good view of the road ahead. she has also got a few battle scars! so im guessing road users dont bully me in traffic

i also really enjoy cycling, but would never dream of it on roads today, it seems some road users think cyclists as targets and i take my hat off to the cyclist that do brave the roads today lol, i wouldnt!

[Ivan]

A number of years ago I had just taken my HGV1 Test (C+E). I was given a Foden truck towing an FH70 (155mm Howitzer artillery piece) to drive through a part of Guildford. The total length was over 60 feet with Gun and Tractor. I was driving down the road and came to parked traffic on my nearside. The road ahead was clear so I pulled out and proceeded to pass the vehicles. Halfway down a chap in a mini turned onto the road from a turning on my offside. He then stopped his car and started to gesticulate for me to back up and let him through. I wound down the drivers window and took one look behind me at the 60 feet of Gun and Tractor and indicated to him that he will have to back up and let me through. Needless to say he was not very happy with this and started swearing and make hand signals at me. When I came to pass him I looked down onto the mini (the Foden cab being above his roof height) and noticed his driverrs window was open and he was still gesticulating. So I just gave the engine a bit of a rev (Foden exhaust was directly in line with his window) and promptly filled the mini with black smoke.

Ivan

[gazelle]

Don't know if it just me, but I find a difference in attitude dependent on the amount of mud/dirt on the Defender: The dirtier it is the less hassle I get in London.

I suspect that the attitude of others to large vehicles depends on whether they think it is being used as a luxury "Chelsea Tractor" or a utility vehicle. The Defender style vehicle seems to get better treated if looks like it is needed for off road use.

What happens outside London/South East I couldn't comment, just my 2 pennys worth.

Martin

[jason110]

So I just gave the engine a bit of a rev (Foden exhaust was directly in line with his window) and promptly filled the mini with black smoke.

Ivan

brilliant

[defninety]

he wont do that again in a hurry!!