Maverick Drivers

[migrator]

Rather than continuing with the inter-camp bickering that is appearing I have emailed my local police traffic department for a 'definitive' answer to this problem. I have advised them that I will be publishing the response here.

[dodgyken]

Originally Posted by wimorrison

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

Over exaggerated!!! And going a little off topic but here goes.

In Switzerland the fines are staggered. A small infringement incurs a small fine - my lowest has been 20CHF (about £12 @ current rates), I have had a few 40CHF (£25) and a couple at 60CHF (£37).

However after then they do rise quite rapidly - my wife in her younger days was hit for 400CHF for speeding on the motorway - although I don't what speed she was doing.

The big fines - including linked to salary and forfeit of the car (even when leased!!!) only happens on extreme cases of speeding (one was 180kmh in a 60kmh zone) - and even then is considered a "Punishment of last resort" where the person has been persistent in their offending.

The same happens on public transport with fare-dodgers - if you are caught more than once in a year then the fine rises progressively.

The Belgians also police their motorways quite tightly for speeding - and process tickets VERY quickly - often with the police arriving at 7am with your court summons.

France is an interesting case - the limit is 130kmh - and fines effectively kick in over 140kmh. However you are unlikely to be pulled if you are going under 145kmh. Over that you run a higher risk - especially on roads leading to ferries - where they hide behind the crest of one hill and get you on the way done. Upto 170kmh they can fine you - but they aren't allowed to take your licence - over that speed the statutory penalty is the removal of your licence - which is then posted back to your home address. Fixed cameras in France are always announced by signs - so pay attention. If you drive through Strasbourg the ring-road cameras are triggered at around 96kmph - just 6kmh over the posted limit.

[GMad]

Originally Posted by tt82

Gets ready to duck

My dad is a HGV driver and he does this, i also occasionly do it myself. If people filtered into the correct lanes as soon as they see the signs then traffic flow would be smoother, instead some idiot drives right upto the front and cuts in front of someone and makes them brake to avoid a collision. The effect of this is that 10-15 cars back traffic comes to a complete stop. Instead of everyone reducing their speed on the approach to the roadworks we have the scenario where you have to come to a complete stop before accelerating upto the stated temporary speed limit again.

Those who ignore/fail to see the signs and carry on till they are at the cones are the people who show the generally poor driving ability and inmpatient selfish driving attitudes that infest this country. I will never let these people in the queue at the cones if they arrive at the same time as me.


I would also like to point out these are most likely the same people who cut across 3 lanes of traffic to take the slip road off the motorway after passing the 100 yd marker or travel to the end of the slip road before forcing a way on the motorway when traffic is slow moving or stationary instead of puling onto the motorway at the earliest available opportunity.

I'm all for making progress when possible but the above is just a selfish, ignorant attitude.

No need to duck. You're bang on the money there and you've got my vote..

[pdrvolvo]

Originally Posted by GMad

No need to duck. You're bang on the money there and you've got my vote..

quite right.as far as i,m concerned its queue jumping plain and simple.

[gillberry]

Maybe I'm wrong in my views but when I used to drive in birmingham you used every bit of road and traffic flowed freely . Applying the same logic to the scenario in this thread to my mind both lanes should be full until the point of merging whre it happens on a 1/1 basis .
Now if the suggestion is that I'm wrong and I should sit on the inside lane and leave the outside lane clear at what point do you keep the outside lane clear until bearing in mind that the traffic approching from behind has to go somewhere . As has been said in earlier posts once you have seen the merge lanes sign you should be looking to move into one but as the idea is to keep traffic moving why can't both lanes be used up to say 800yds before merging , if everyone moved to the 1 lane as soon as they saw the sign then you would have to keep moving the sign further away from the merging point to make sure that people see the sign and move over straight away or you could just make the whole section of road into one lane for the duration of the cones presence .
I know this sounds stupid but we all have slightly different views but the whole issue seem to be the lack of courtesy in todays driving , people seem to be getting more & more selfish in their driving . How many times recently has someone thanked you for letting them pull out ? How many times have you thanked someone for letting you pull out ?

[davew]

I dont think people are saying merge way in advance, and leave the outside lane empty for 800 yards or so, by all means use the outside lane to merge safely but give your self plently of time to find a gap before you run out of road.

The main offenders are the ones who decide the car in front has now merged and I now have 50 meters left where I can floor it gain an extra 7 car places and barge my way in when I run out of road.

[gillberry]

Originally Posted by davew

I dont think people are saying merge way in advance, and leave the outside lane empty for 800 yards or so, by all means use the outside lane to merge safely but give your self plently of time to find a gap before you run out of road.

The main offenders are the ones who decide the car in front has now merged and I now have 50 meters left where I can floor it gain an extra 7 car places and barge my way in when I run out of road.

This is what I agree with but alot of the posts on here seem to be saying as soon as you see the sign you should merge or they will just block both lanes to stop you having the choice . Doesn't this make them as selfish as the ones who race up to the cones and force their way in . My point was more aimed at the lack of courtesy on todays roads which leads to occurances such as this thread .

[gillberry]

Just a quick note my posts were more aimed at the lack of courtesy on the roads and how this is creating the problems we now face . If people wren't so selfish on the roads then more sensible driving would occur which would allow for freer flowing traffic , you will always get the idiots but why add to it ?

[Robbijay]

Originally Posted by gillberry

Just a quick note my posts were more aimed at the lack of courtesy on the roads and how this is creating the problems we now face . If people wren't so selfish on the roads then more sensible driving would occur which would allow for freer flowing traffic , you will always get the idiots but why add to it ?

the only thing is, everyone thinks everyone else is the idiot. I think the guy doing 45 in a 60 thins morning was an idiot. He probably though I was an idiot as I dropped it in third and blasted past him out of a bend.

[S40_Paul]

We have a similar instance of this on my commute to work if someone would clarify.

Coming off a junction of the motorway leads onto a dual carriageway both sides, this leads to a roundabout with 4 exit's (4th being back the way you came)

Now, on a morning this is horrendously jammed but only on the inside lane, I have seen and done this myself by continuing down the outside lane to the roundabout, waiting my turn to go for the 2nd exit and indicating and pulling in where space provided.

Now on this road there are no merging sides, no road markings saying I have to be in the inside lane to go straight over, or the right hand lane is only for right hand turns. Thus is it technically right to be able to go down the outside lane, passing 20 or so cars then pulling off roundabout to 2nd exit, or should I stick in inside lane and simply wait my turn? Again there are no markings/signs etc that say otherwise.