My number one dislike is being tailgated.
It very rarely happens on lightly trafficked roads as I make satisfactory progress when conditions allow and the NSL is in play. But at 40/50mph in a steady stream of traffic with some numpty riding my rear bumper...
Secondly mimsers. NSL, steady 40/45, or less, long queue of traffic, both car and HGV, probably don’t look in their rear view and never pull over. And they maintain that speed through the 30 mph limit. Especially, as luck would have it, when there is no mobile speed camera in attendance.
Thirdly. The lazy idle beggars who park outside the row of 3 fast food takeaways in Settle, half on the pavement, half on the zigzags of the pelican crossing. A large empty car park is literally 20 metres across the road. Always young people, and if you ask if it’s too far to walk, rather than looking sheepish, you receive a tirade of foul mouthed abuse.
One of these days I may report them..with a photo..
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Driving school cars. I live within a couple of miles of a test centre and I guess the instructors take the learners out on 'known' test routes. It seems they also use the road past my door for first time drivers - you'll see them slowly pass several times within a few minutes.
Yes, I know everyone has to learn, but I did on a motorbike, in a car park, early on Sunday mornings. By the time I got behind the wheel of a car I had some ability.
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People who get annoyed. Stay calm out there:-)
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>>It seems they also use the road past my door for first time drivers
Reminds of when I took my driving test c1973 - I did an emergency stop using the foot brake AND the handbrake!!
Geezer comes running out of his owse complaining about the noise and said "I'll call the police"
I am the police, said the examiner :)
I did past the test - even though I had made 2 cock ups due to noyves!
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>> . It seems they
>> also use the road past my door for first time drivers - you'll see them
>> slowly pass several times within a few minutes.
>>
>>
>>
So how experienced should drivers be before they pass your door?
If you live by the side of a road you'll get traffic passing. You should be thankful your road is quiet enough for novice drivers rather than one where HGVs are thundering past day and night.
Last edited by: Robin O'Reliant on Fri 2 Jun 23 at 14:57
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It’s not as bad as living by a car park where motorcyclists ride sound early on Sunday mornings.
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People (usually women) parked up with the engine idling while they chat away on the phone or wait while their partner does the shopping. Usually an SUV is involved. I mean, why not turn the damn thing off, enjoy the silence and save some money?!?
Oh, and stop polluting the neighbourhood in the mean time, not that that concerns that type of person.
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>>So how experienced should drivers be before they pass your door?
I gave my kids their first driving experiences in a large, remote car park (with them being licensed and insured), before passing them on to a driving instructor.
>>It’s not as bad as living by a car park where motorcyclists ride sound early on Sunday >>mornings.
In an industrial unit car park, with no residences nearby. Ask a certain mod, who also did their RAC/ACU training.
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Polish drivers - parking, driving, roundabouts, car parks, lane discipline, anything and everything related.
Desperate to be in front, desperate to drive closer, desperate to drive faster. Desperate.
The Polish equation: 4 wheels = half IQ.
Mantra: I'm crap and I want you all to know it.
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Having driven the length of the M6/M74 yesterday I'll go for people who can't keep left. Not just the second/centre lane but third and even 4th!!
Had my limiter set at 77 and the number I encountered must run into dozens. I gave up veering all the way over to properly overtake and just overhauled them on their left - while wide awake to possibility of them finally surrendering their place in the 'fast' lane.
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>> Having driven the length of the M6/M74 yesterday I'll go for people who can't keep
>> left. Not just the second/centre lane but third and even 4th!!
Aye go with that.
On the way back from Dorset I followed some mimser, - Not tailgating him - in the inevitable Kia at 43 miles an hour, when the road went to two lanes he moved right and floored it to 50 miles an hour. He was utterly incandescent with rage when I slid 3.3 tonnes and 11 metres of Beemer and Basecamp up his inside at 63 MPH. Much flashing of his lights, horn button thumping, gesticulating went on.
Funnily, when you are towing a van, truck drivers suddenly become very courteous and helpful to you.
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>> >> Having driven the length of the M6/M74 yesterday I'll go for people who can't
>> keep
>> >> left. Not just the second/centre lane but third and even 4th!!
>>
>> Aye go with that.
The M40 oft seems awash with right hand lane hoggers, even when it's quiet. It's so annoying.
There's a 1.7 mile stretch of dual carriageway near me. It's the last bit of dual carriageway for about 15 miles to home so it's nice to get past the odd HGV or mimser on it.
There are regularly idiots who join it and instantly keep right because they want the 3rd exit on the roundabout at the end and travel the whole length of the road at 40 mph.
They are so inconsiderate.
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>>The M40 oft seems awash with right hand lane hoggers
It's any road with two or more lanes.
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>>Funnily, when you are towing a van, truck drivers suddenly become very courteous and >>helpful to you.
I noticed that when I used to tow, makes you more courteous to them. If I was on single lane road and had two or more cars behind, I'd pull through a layby to let them pass. Don't know if they ever appreciated it.
I wish driving instructors would tell pupils to turn left at the next junction if there's two or more cars behind. Got stuck yesterday behind a learner crawling along. I counted twenty of us behind!
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On my recent drive to Cornwall and back I discovered a new phenomena for me.
Doing my usual overtaking on cruise control and then pulling in once safely past the car knowing you are going faster. Several times the car I overtook then pulled out into the lane I had just came from.
Took me a while to realise that they were possibly on adaptive cruise control and their car was automatically reducing speed cos I had moved in front even though I was travelling faster? Does that happen?
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Adaptive cruise control allows you to set different distances to the vehicle in front. These can be longer than the two second gap so even if you pass them and move in at a safe distance you could enter their adaptive space. Their car would reduce speed until the set gap was restored.
I am not sure why they’d move out unless (cruise control or not) they feel you had encroached on their space and they wanted to have clear road ahead of them until you have moved further up the road.
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If you did that today , you’d probably end up with a parking ticket for not adhering to the landowners terms and conditions….very few car parks you can do it in now
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>> Secondly mimsers. NSL, steady 40/45, or less, long queue of traffic, both car and HGV,
>> probably don’t look in their rear view and never pull over.
The same can be said about cyclists. Crawling along, creating a huge tailback of vehicles behind them at rush hour. Plenty of opportunities to pull over in field entrances and the like.
And equally as annoying, motorists afraid to overtake cyclists, or slow down when on the rare occasion the cyclist is on a cycle path running parallel with the road and not even holding anyone up.
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>..or slow down when on the rare occasion the cyclist is on a cycle path running parallel with the
>road and not even holding anyone up.
The driving test in Texas would really P-off you and Bathtub.
If you're driving past someone walking on a sidewalk with their back to you you'll get marks deducted if you don't slow down and give a toot 'To make them aware that you are approaching'. Even if there is the usual grass strip between road and sidewalk. Same with gardeners mowing front lawns if they're anywhere near the sidewalk.
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>> If you're driving past someone walking on a sidewalk with their back to you you'll
>> get marks deducted if you don't slow down and give a toot 'To make them
>> aware that you are approaching'. Even if there is the usual grass strip between road
>> and sidewalk. Same with gardeners mowing front lawns if they're anywhere near the sidewalk.
I thought in Texas you had to shoot them lest they fall in the road.
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>I thought in Texas you had to shoot them lest they fall in the road.
Only allowed once you've passed the test.
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>> >> Secondly mimsers. NSL, steady 40/45, or less, long queue of traffic, both car and
>> HGV,
>> >> probably don’t look in their rear view and never pull over.
>>
>> The same can be said about cyclists. Crawling along, creating a huge tailback of vehicles
>> behind them at rush hour. Plenty of opportunities to pull over in field entrances and
>> the like.
I don't find cyclists annoying. They are going about their day and are easy to pass. It would be immensely frustrating and exhausting for a cyclist to try and get out of the way every time a car appeared. You only have to pass the cyclist once.
>>
>> And equally as annoying, motorists afraid to overtake cyclists,
I have rarely seen that, because I probably am one who uses an abundance of caution around cycles. More common to see drivers overtaking dangerously and then cutting close to the cycle in the face of oncoming traffic.
I like to knock on where I can, and traffic running at 40 in a NSL on a good road is a little frustrating. But when there are only a couple of cars ahead, and the second is so close to the first that they can't easily be overtaken, I blame the one behind. Same with caravans - it's the berk following a few feet behind the caravan who is causing the rolling road block.
The biggest danger, once you have accepted that only you are able to do anything about your own chances of a collision, is of course impatience. The objective should be not to get annoyed.
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Whilst self-rated expert drivers swear and curse at the "mimser" in front and overtake aggressively they should perhaps please bear in mind that there may be a good reason why the guy in front is driving slower that they might like.
Having drive around forty miles, partly on dual carriageways on a space saver tire at less that fifty mph I can tell you it was not a pleasant expereience due entirely to the agressive behaviour of other drivers.
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Reality - only folk who drive at your desired speed (+/- 3mph) who are driving sensibly.
- at 3-10mph below they are understandably frustrating
- at 10+mph below they are dangerous incompetents who should be stripped of their licence
- at 3-10mph above they are a danger to other road users
- at 10+mph above are almost certain to perish (along with others) in a devastating collision
Driving behaviours change as we age. At 18 every corner was a wheel squealing challenge on cross ply tyres. Today my style has moderated - eg: no longer 95mph, now (50 years on) 65-70mph on clear motorways.
I accept there are those with a high or non-existent risk threshold - I now drive to create space and deliberately avoid the lunacy of others. The younger ones will grow old as I did and moderate behaviours (if they live long enough), older are too set in their ways to change.
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Yip. And how many of us have said to our kids when they passed their test that they now needed to learn to drive and until they built up confidence, to take things easily and safely and make sure they return home safe.
That mimser could well be an 18 year old who passed their test the day before.
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Do 18y olds who’ve just passed their test mimse ?
Certainly not in my part of the world. Or Bradford & Keighley.
My experience is that it’s almost always the elderly who mimse and cause tailbacks
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If they feel more confidant at driving at a modest speed perhaps it is a minor inconvenience we can live with.
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Indeed so.
Unfortunately the problem is exacerbated when folks behind the mimser don’t have the confidence to overtake thus causing a 40mph convoy in a NSL.
My local A65 being a case in point.
I go with the flow…listen to tunes, although IF the road ahead of the mimser is clear I overtake rapidly. Best not to spend too much time on t’other side of road.
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By far, the greatest number of mimsers I encounter aren't doing it because of a lack of confidence. It's because they're either texting or in their own little world totally oblivious of other road users.
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Mimsers ...........
- never get stressed - other frustrated road users are out of sight behind them
- can easily anticipate - good view ahead, never get close to the car in front
- slower speed safer if reduced judgement, slow reactions, failing eyesight
- usually (but not always) retired so journey time is largely irrelevant
- save petrol and tyres paid from a possibly meagre pension
- are unconcerned what others think of them (a sort of quiet arrogance or self belief)
- rarely text whilst driving - they have only just mastered making a call
Last edited by: Terry on Sun 4 Jun 23 at 21:26
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>> Yip. And how many of us have said to our kids when they passed their
>> test that they now needed to learn to drive and until they built up confidence,
>> to take things easily and safely and make sure they return home safe.
And we all know that kids don't take a blind bit of notice of what we say.
>> That mimser could well be an 18 year old who passed their test the day
>> before.
Unlikely. 18 year olds who have just passed tests dont mimse.
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Why does it matter why someone is driving slower than you might like? Inexperience, age, caution, mechanical problems, the reason doesn’t matter. Getting annoyed is never the answer. Actually calling them “mimsers” doesn’t help with your attitude to other road users much either.
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Maybe I'm classed a mimser these days - I set my adaptive cruise control to just over 50 mph.
The world and it's wife overtake me, if I get a lorry up my posterior, I'll slow down to let 'im pass.
I've got 'all the time in the world' these days, and enjoy my driving.
20 odd years ago I got 'done' for doing 98 not a million miles from where I'm enjoying a cup of Darjeeling now :)
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>> The biggest danger, once you have accepted that only you are able to do anything
>> about your own chances of a collision, is of course impatience. The objective should be
>> not to get annoyed.
>>
+1 Manatee
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Absolutely agree with the above. I try very hard not be annoyed by anything or anyone on the roads, whatever method of propulsion I or they happen to be using at the time. Anger is rarely productive or useful.
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>> +1 Manatee
>>
+1 from me too.
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Where do I start
1) on a motorway ,and the outside lane is being shut down ,everyone is filtering in and you’ll get cars zooming up the outside forcing their way in and then in the 50 zone , drive thru it at 40 and continue to do so , once the other side off the roadworks
2) people doing similar when there’s an accident . I was on the m25 last week and a van for no reason pulled into the outside lane , possibly to see an accident on the other side . He continued doing 20-30 even beyond the accident . Have these people never seen an accident before .
3 people who don’t know how to use a roundabout . LH lane is always left only , right hand lane is always right , yes I know it depends in how many roads there are .
4) signage’s on motorways for 5 miles saying to oh ,Despite nothing happening ,then it comes to the end ,and you realise someone’s forgotten to turn off the warning lights
There’s probably plenty more , but it’s a start
Oh and `Volvo drivers
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Junctions with filter lanes where the only indication that it is a filter lane is painted on the tarmac of the lanes.
Which of course you can’t see cos you are sitting in queuing stationary traffic. And then everyone gets mad at you when you need to switch lanes.
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Talking of "painted on the tarmac", I had cause to drive to SW London yesterday and on many many roads the white lines and other road markings were barely visible, if at all. Most of the time they aren't needed but I nearly went across a couple of mini-roundabouts without slowing because of it (yes yes, I know there will be a street sign too).
They manage to make the 20mph clear enough though (which I suppose is a Good Thing)!!
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>> Where do I start
>> 1) on a motorway ,and the outside lane is being shut down ,everyone is filtering
>> in and you’ll get cars zooming up the outside forcing their way in and then
>> in the 50 zone , drive thru it at 40 and continue to do so
>> , once the other side off the roadworks
I do wish we, the uk drivers could learn to "zip" or merge in turn at the narrowing. If we all did it, there would be no "blockers" causing "forcers". As for lorry drivers who block two lanes because there is a merge 3/4 of a mile ahead, they should be dragged out of their cabs and hung from the nearest street lamp as a warning to others who might be tempted.
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>> I do wish we, the uk drivers could learn to "zip" or merge in turn
>> at the narrowing. If we all did it, there would be no "blockers" causing "forcers".
>> As for lorry drivers who block two lanes because there is a merge 3/4 of
>> a mile ahead, they should be dragged out of their cabs and hung from the
>> nearest street lamp as a warning to others who might be tempted.
>>
Happy to help.
It’s hard to have sympathy when HGV drivers complain about their working conditions when you see them doing this on a routine basis, especially being stupid enough to do it in a liveried vehicle.
Don’t block lane 2 as you approach roadworks, b***** use it. No one is going to block 40 tonnes of HGV from merging.
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>> 3 people who don’t know how to use a roundabout . LH lane is always
>> left only , right hand lane is always right
goo.gl/maps/Tm6KtrJF3DqNDkSC8
I use the RH lane to take the first exit, as per the signage!
goo.gl/maps/vtSHgkzafdaqKC1eA
I'll usually take the third of the four lanes to exit the A1 onto the A421 and then use the LH lane of the two on the roundabout, leaving the numpties to exit onto the outside lane of the dual carriageway and be undertaken.
There's no hard rule, it all depends on signage1
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Road works on a motorway. As you crawl through them, the longer the better, count how many workers you see and how many of those are actually doing something productive, as opposed to sitting in the cab of their digger/lorry, on the phone to someone, walking somewhere, watching someone else doing something or having a chinwag with each other. It always amazes me how they get jobs done at all. And I wonder how these jobs are costed...
I used to think maybe I just went through at a quiet moment but there seems to be a pattern... :-)
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>> I used to think maybe I just went through at a quiet moment but there
>> seems to be a pattern... :-)
Returning from Scotland on Wednesday we travelled the length of the M74/M6 where there are multiple sets of long term works.
At one point, I think northern end of M6 but may have been north of the border, there were signs explaining that you won't see many workers during the day as most of the stuff is done at night.
That was very visibly so a few years ago when the M1 J16-19 was being converted to all lane running.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Fri 16 Jun 23 at 10:43
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The one that goes beyond an annoyance is the drivers ignoring the red X telling them of a lane closure.
On Wednesday the M6 was closed for a period around Corley services while an incident/collision was dealt with. It re-opened after around 40 mins but of course the residual queuing was taking a while to clear.
As we approached the Bedworth turn speed the restriction gradually reduced to 40. There was ample warning of a collision and the outside lane being closed ahead.
The red X was then in place over 3-4 consecutive overhead displays. Most of us moved into the remaining open lanes. Several dozen cars and vans steamed by at speed only pulling over at the last minute even though stopped cars in the outside lane were clearly visible as was the Highways Officer's 4*4 parked behind them. The officers were standing between the reservation barriers energetically signalling for the berks to move out.
Hopefully there were active cameras and they'll all get NIPs.
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People tend not believe until they can see. Probably goes for alot of things besides motoring!
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"you won't see many workers during the day as most of the stuff is done at night." yes, I get that, so when there are people there in the daytime seems their jobs aren't so onerous.
I feel I've noticed it's similar with many street works but maybe I'm only registering those which fit my perception...
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>> I used to think maybe I just went through at a quiet moment but there
>> seems to be a pattern... :-)
My pet hate is the Loooooooooooooooooooooooong semi permanent road narrowing/"temporary" speed limits (and subsequent jams) on the M20 Maidstone to Ashford. Nothing there for 99.9% of the time because its barriered off for operation stack. Another Johnson/Mogg legacy
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> people who don’t know how to use a roundabout . LH lane is always
> left only , right hand lane is always right
Section 7 of the BAHC states:
i)...
ii) When approaching a roundabout you should always use the lane with the shortest queue.
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Motoring annoyances - bathtub tom
