Maverick Drivers

[Rich 264]

Put simply, which is more likely to cause the accident:

D*ck head car drivers zooming down the outside and forcing their way in at the last minute for absolutely no good reason? (you won't get there any quicker - except to casualty)

HGV driver blocking the lane to prevent said d*ckhead or more usually d*ck heads (as soon as one does it some other pr*ck has to copy them) from doing the above?

HGV drivers clock up more miles in a year than some people do in a lifetime, and every day they witness (and have to avoid) such stupid behaviours. They also see often on a daily basis (most of my own driving is on the M6 blackspot between 16 & 23) the consequences. So it is understandable that when they see an opportunity TO PREVENT A DANGEROUS SITUATION DEVELOPING IN THE FIRST PLACE (it's called anticipation!) they take it.

I have done this myself, and I have also deliberately blocked or "straddled" lanes at roundabouts and such like, to prevent stupid pig ignorant car drivers from moving into dangerous positions around my vehicle, for example BLIND SPOTS. When you first start driving large goods vehicles, it is shocking to realise just how stupid and thoughtless so many drivers of smaller vehicles are in respect of blind spots and the extra space that is sometimes required to negotiate r'bouts, junctions etc. They also seem completely blind to the meaning of things called indicators, as if we use them just for decoration and are not really signalling our intention to turn left/right?

There is also a perception amongst many car drivers, that just because they are in a smaller faster vehicle, that goods vehicles should automatically give way to them.

It is particularly irritating when in traffic, the tendency for cars & bikes to try to squeeze around your vehicle, thereby moving in & out of blind spots and in such close proximity. Just plain stupid.

A HGV driver has enough to watch out for, not only the road ahead and planning movement onto round abouts etc, but having to watch all around the vehicle as well, not so easy when you are driving something that large. Even with the new euro mirrors there are still significant blind spots, and it is necessary to mentally "track" the movement of vehicles coming from behind, as they will disappear into a blind spot in the second it takes to look from the left to the right mirror for example. This is in addition to having to keep track of every thing happening in front of you! The newer '6-pack' euro mirrors are so bloody big that they actually create blind spots to the left & right of your forward vision, particularly on roundabouts and bends.

Rant over, was going to rip one over Audi drivers, but I'll save that for another day!

[dodgyken]

Sod the lot of you.

If it goes into 1 lane in 400m - then I will continue travel 400m up the clear lane until it becomes 1 lane. And why not?

There are 2 lanes for a reason - you are not obliged to leave one empty for 400m are you? There is nothing that says you have to wait in a single line is there?

Delays are caused by people entering a single line too soon - making the 1-by-1 lane merging even more difficult because everyone then has the "I have let 1 car in already" hat on and doesn't want to let another in.

Enjoy the queuing.

[davew]

Originally Posted by dodgyken

Sod the lot of you.

If it goes into 1 lane in 400m - then I will continue travel 400m up the clear lane until it becomes 1 lane. And why not?

There are 2 lanes for a reason - you are not obliged to leave one empty for 400m are you? There is nothing that says you have to wait in a single line is there?

Delays are caused by people entering a single line too soon - making the 1-by-1 lane merging even more difficult because everyone then has the "I have let 1 car in already" hat on and doesn't want to let another in.

Enjoy the queuing.

It is not polite, and it is selfish and dangerous.

If everyone had already let one person infront, then there wouldnt be a problem, the traffic would neatly merge and maintain a pace.

Its only when people ignore the merge in turn rule speed up the oustside and wait until the last minute to force their way in that problems start.

Its attutudes like yours that make the roads a more dangerous and frustrating place to be.

I remember when I first started driving, if I indicated to change lanes someone would flash and let you in, we would exchange a wave and carry on happily on our way. Now if you indicate people just see it as a warning to close right up becuase I might get in front of them.

The attitude on the roads these days stink. Everyone is out for themselves and sod everyone else.

The volume of traffic is not the issue that causes the conjestion, its the selfish sod you all attitude that makes driving an increasingly frustating thing to do.

[wimorrison]

The replies to my original post have been rather interesting as we have 2 polarised camps - camp A are the drivers who do the blocking of the lanes and think that it correct and camp B who recall the days of considerate motoring.

I am firmly in camp B - I do not 'zoom' down the outside lane 'til the last possible minute, but neither do I pull into the single lane immediately the warning signs appear. In the case of my local roadworks these signs are almost 2 miles before the lane closures. I prefer to drive along and when I see a sensible gap that I can fit into without causing aggrevation to the driver I am moving in front of, I move over.

My objection is that these drivers who decide unilaterally that they will block the road mean that traffic jams are considerably longer than required because of their selfishness and achieve nothing other than frustrating the drivers behind.

I did notice a new activity last night - the cars in front of the HGVs decided that they would pull out and use the empty lane - all 1 mile of it before the lane closure which meant that the self-imposed driving regulators gained nothing!!

[v70x]

why do people think one flash of indicator and move to close up distamces and then not accelerate is a good idea esp when lane 3 is moving at above the speed limit which it does on the m40 m11 m4 most of the time. being more common.

[tt82]

Originally Posted by wimorrison

The replies to my original post have been rather interesting as we have 2 polarised camps - camp A are the drivers who do the blocking of the lanes and think that it correct and camp B who recall the days of considerate motoring.

I am firmly in camp B - I do not 'zoom' down the outside lane 'til the last possible minute, but neither do I pull into the single lane immediately the warning signs appear. In the case of my local roadworks these signs are almost 2 miles before the lane closures. I prefer to drive along and when I see a sensible gap that I can fit into without causing aggrevation to the driver I am moving in front of, I move over.

My objection is that these drivers who decide unilaterally that they will block the road mean that traffic jams are considerably longer than required because of their selfishness and achieve nothing other than frustrating the drivers behind.

I did notice a new activity last night - the cars in front of the HGVs decided that they would pull out and use the empty lane - all 1 mile of it before the lane closure which meant that the self-imposed driving regulators gained nothing!!

I have no objection to people using the lane to be closed off whilst traffic is moving freely to slot appropriately into into the unclosed lanes, the scenario im talking about is when the 800 yd marker starts and traffic is at a crawl/stop. At this time motorist have had enough warning to slow and filter into the queing traffic, to carry onto the cones is just selfish.

Anyone approaching the cones and trying to push infront of me will be given 3 options - Stop, drive into the cones or drive into me.

[dodgyken]

Originally Posted by davew

It is not polite, and it is selfish and dangerous.

And is insisting that everyone stay behind you polite? Is it selfish? Is defining how everyone else should drive by your standards selfish?
Is creating a longer (in length) queue sensible? Could it be dangerous?

If everyone had already let one person infront, then there wouldnt be a problem, the traffic would neatly merge and maintain a pace.

Its only when people ignore the merge in turn rule speed up the oustside and wait until the last minute to force their way in that problems start.

Correct - that is what SHOULD be done - but the problem is two fold - firstly the attitude of getting over as soon as possible causes a longer than necessary queue - and secondly everyone approaches the restriction too quickly and fail to think ahead.

Its attutudes like yours that make the roads a more dangerous and frustrating place to be.

I remember when I first started driving, if I indicated to change lanes someone would flash and let you in, we would exchange a wave and carry on happily on our way. Now if you indicate people just see it as a warning to close right up becuase I might get in front of them.

And its attitudes like yours which encourages people to "zoom" down the outside - although in reality if you are sitting in a long queue and someone comes past at a mere 25mph it can appear like "zooming"

The attitude on the roads these days stink. Everyone is out for themselves and sod everyone else.

The volume of traffic is not the issue that causes the conjestion, its the selfish sod you all attitude that makes driving an increasingly frustating thing to do.

There is no doubt that people don't look as far ahead as they should, and relay on a "accelerate/brake" style of driving - something I don't employ by the way - but queuing longer than is required is just crazy. Remarkably across Europe they roll all the way up to the restriction and merge 1-by-1 - the result is a shorter queue.

Damn those crazy Europeans with their whacky liberal ideas.

In terms of problems on UK roads - queuing is the least of your worries. Instead deal with the widespread incompetence of lane discipline - and then get back to me on what is polite, selfish or dangerous.

[dodgyken]

Originally Posted by tt82

I have no objection to people using the lane to be closed off whilst traffic is moving freely to slot appropriately into into the unclosed lanes, the scenario im talking about is when the 800 yd marker starts and traffic is at a crawl/stop. At this time motorist have had enough warning to slow and filter into the queing traffic, to carry onto the cones is just selfish.

Anyone approaching the cones and trying to push infront of me will be given 3 options - Stop, drive into the cones or drive into me.

So a single line of 800yds is better than 2 lines of 400yds - any reason why? If EVERYONE feeds in 1-by-1 then it would make no difference. So why enforce one over then other?

[greenwod]

On Europe we have autobahn (motorways with no speed limit)

[wimorrison]

Originally Posted by greenwod

On Europe we have autobahn (motorways with no speed limit)

I also remember those days when I could fly down an autobahn in Germany without fear of reprisals - regrettably a lot, if not most, of autobahn is now restricted.

(In some other countries I would never speed as fines are linked to your salary! - becoming very popular, thankfully not here .... yet)

I also am aware of the very considerate attitude in Germany, Netherlands, France and Denmark where you use all the road right up to the restriction and where people filter in one by one - the British belief in regulation of driving habits by the biggest does not exist and people instead rely upon politeness, consideration and how their law states you should drive.