Ship of Fools: Inept drivers

Thread: Inept drivers Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

This is a spinoff from the the Hell thread about drivers who are gits. This is about perfectly pleasant people who don't know how to drive.

Some of this is regional. About twenty-five years ago I had occasion to drive through Pennsylvania frequently. I noticed many drivers stopping at the end of the highway on-ramp before they tried to merge. They just didn't get the concept of what the on-ramp was for. Then there were those who drove for miles in the passing lane at ten MPH below the speed limit.

Then there are the individual dangerous actions which are obviously done out of ignorance. Whenever I identify a driver of that type, I make sure to stay behind him and keep an eye on him. You can't tell what he's going to do next.

What are some of your experiences?

Moo

Posted by Offeiriad (# 14031) on :

When it's safe to get into this position, I am much more comfortable in front of them, keeping an eye on them from my mirror!

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

That I don't agree with. Behind them, with adequate space to take avoiding action if anything bad happens is where I prefer to be. If they are behind, I have no control over spacing, and I rely on their braking skills.

[ 27. October 2015, 11:54: Message edited by: Penny S ]

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

Mrs Sioni, our Designated Driver, makes judgement calls. Basically, if they are speed merchants, let them go; we'll see you in 20 minutes with a police car at the side of the road (surprisingly often). If they are ditherers then get past them and get a couple more vehicles between us and them asap.

She uses distinctly uncharitable language for those who slow to walking pace to go round corners.

[ 27. October 2015, 12:01: Message edited by: Sioni Sais ]

Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on :

I wish more would slow down. The number of them who don't realise that pedestrians crossing side roads have priority over traffic turning into the side road is quite frightening.

Posted by Stercus Tauri (# 16668) on :

Around Toronto it is unremarkable to make a right exit from the left hand (of three or more) lanes in busy highway traffic, or to join the traffic by swerving across from the ramp to the left lane (it is customary to drive on the right here). Out in the country, it is normal to pull out into the middle of the three lanes and slow down to well below the speed limit. I am usually happy for people to hurtle past me to become live bait for the next speed trap.

Curmudgeon alert: It's odd that the driving test is (in theory) more demanding than it was when I passed it, but the acceptable standard of driving seems worse, and there is little or no interest in driving skills and understanding how a motor vehicle behaves on the road. I blame it all on so many people driving automatics, which demand the same skill level as operating a washing machine.

I like driving, but as I get older my tolerance for other drivers is diminishing, so I hope I still have sufficient wits about me to give up my licence before our children file a petition to make it happen.

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Stercus Tauri:

Curmudgeon alert: It's odd that the driving test is (in theory) more demanding than it was when I passed it, but the acceptable standard of driving seems worse, and there is little or no interest in driving skills and understanding how a motor vehicle behaves on the road. I blame it all on so many people driving automatics, which demand the same skill level as operating a washing machine.

I like driving, but as I get older my tolerance for other drivers is diminishing, so I hope I still have sufficient wits about me to give up my licence before our children file a petition to make it happen.

My theory, as a middle-aged non-driver tending to grumpiness, is that the emphasis of driving lessons is to teach people to pass the driving test, rather than to teach them to drive.

Marking schemes for school and other exams have this same failing, which enables people who are good at exams and tests to qualify for all sorts of things despite limite ability and/or knowledge.

Posted by no prophet's flag is set so... (# 15560) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
I wish more would slow down. The number of them who don't realise that pedestrians crossing side roads have priority over traffic turning into the side road is quite frightening.

If I can touch a car as a ped or cyclist, and it's possible, I give it a good thump. Might as well share the fear. People are often in such a frightful hurry to get to the next light.

Posted by Adeodatus (# 4992) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
This is a spinoff from the the Hell thread about drivers who are gits. This is about perfectly pleasant people who don't know how to drive.

This must be the kind of driver an old friend of mine describes as "never had an accident; witnessed hundreds."

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :

Apparently my grandmother wouldn't drive after dark as she couldn't dip the headlights on her car. On the rare occasions she really had to, the passenger would have to do so for her - this was a half-timbered Mini Traveller with the dip switch on the floor.

Dad once followed her as she drove down a lane with two wheels on either side of the white line, and she was most put out when the reply to her saying for the thousandth time that she was sure her neighbour had never had a motorbike during the war was "well, you wouldn't have seen her for dust, anyway".

AG

Posted by Wild Organist (# 12631) on :

The thing that currently gets my goat in my home town is people who indicate what they are doing - turning right, left or on a roundabout - after they've started doing it. As a frequent pedestrian I have been nearly flattened more than once by these complete pillocks. Grrrrrr!
But the best place I've been a pedestrian in is Berlin. Pedestrians have priority over traffic turning into a side-road, and everyone observes this. (I hurry across anyway, just in case it's another Brit who doesn't know about this.)

[ 27. October 2015, 18:01: Message edited by: Wild Organist ]

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

Not inept drivers, but inept highway management. One of the two mainish roads out of the village has been closed for some work. The diversion has been set up with the traffic, including tradesmen's vans, going in opposite directions along a single track lane with very few anythings which can by any stretch of the imagination be called passing places.
I used my own route on the return leg.

Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :

Originally posted by Sandemaniac:

quote:
as she drove down a lane with two wheels on either side of the white line

A long time ago (he died in the 1970s) I had a great uncle who believed that driving straddling the white lines in the middle was the most fuel-efficient way to drive.

An equally long time ago, my grandmother's elderly next door neighbour had a weak right arm, following a stroke. If he passed someone he knew whilst driving, he took his left hand off the steering wheel in order to lift up his right hand and wave it.

My brother and I loved getting a lift from our grandmother's next door neighbour because the speedometer needle in his car rested at below zero. We used to watch, enthralled, for the point at which the speedometer reached zero. It could take some time. Both of us could cycle faster than Charlie could drive.

North East Quine, feeling the warm glow of nostalgia.

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
...I had a great uncle who believed that driving straddling the white lines in the middle was the most fuel-efficient way to drive.

My father used to complain about drivers who wanted to take their half of the road out of the middle.

Moo

Posted by Carex (# 9643) on :

Before I was allowed to drive a survey crew for the Forest Service I had to pass a special drivers' training, including tests for depth perception and colo(u)r blindness. Part of the class was about defensive driving, which could come in handy when one had to share a narrow road with logging trucks.

The next week after completing the class I met another vehicle coming around a blind curve in the middle of the road at a speed that would be safe only if one knew the road ahead was clear of oncoming traffic and wildlife. Just as I had learned in class, I put two wheels into the ditch to avoid a collision.

Perhaps that was supposed to be my final exam - the driver of the other vehicle was my defensive driving instructor.

Posted by Jane R (# 331) on :

NEQ:

quote:
I had a great uncle who believed that driving straddling the white lines in the middle was the most fuel-efficient way to drive.

...whereas I always thought it was a political statement.

Or, if it's the Bishop's car, a theological statement (all Anglicans believe they are middle-of-the-road).

Posted by Stercus Tauri (# 16668) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jane R:
NEQ:
quote:
I had a great uncle who believed that driving straddling the white lines in the middle was the most fuel-efficient way to drive.
...whereas I always thought it was a political statement.

Or, if it's the Bishop's car, a theological statement (all Anglicans believe they are middle-of-the-road).

Similarly, to quote Gerard Hoffnung's Advice to Foreign Tourists, "Ignore all Keep Left signs - they are merely political slogans".

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :

I am always annoyed by those drivers who pull into the lane next to a sem-trailer but who will not go further. They slow right down and seem unable to recognise that if they are already beside the semi, then there is space to keep on going.

Posted by cliffdweller (# 13338) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Moo:

Some of this is regional. About twenty-five years ago I had occasion to drive through Pennsylvania frequently. I noticed many drivers stopping at the end of the highway on-ramp before they tried to merge. They just didn't get the concept of what the on-ramp was for. Then there were those who drove for miles in the passing lane at ten MPH below the speed limit.

Continuing the segue of inept management/roadways: here in L.A. we have the notorious 110 fwy, which has the distinction of being one of the first freeways built on the west coast-- iow, the guinea pig they made all their mistakes on. One of those is that it has stop signs at the bottom of the onramps-- and then no merging/passing lane-- you go from 0 straight into traffic. The freeway, which follows an old oxcart trail, also has ridiculously narrow lanes and many sharp twists and turns. Offramps are almost as challenging since, with no merging lane, you have to suddenly turn sharply onto the onramp then brake hard to come to a stop in a few feet.

I think of it as a spiritual practice: you get to the bottom of the onramp and then have a bit of quiet time while you pray for an opening in the traffic. Then when you decide to make your move you have a more charismatic sort of experience, shouting "o God o God o God o God" as you gun it hoping desperately that your aging car will get up to speed before the traffic catches up to you. Finally, you practice holiness by gripping the steering wheel tightly as you focus on remaining on the not-so-straight and narrow.

Less heavenly: oldest child once had a horrible accident when someone new to the area, not expecting a stop sign at the bottom of the onramp, blew right through it and plowed into her.

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
A long time ago (he died in the 1970s) I had a great uncle who believed that driving straddling the white lines in the middle was the most fuel-efficient way to drive.

Perhaps he was just obeying the signs which say "Drivers use both lanes"?

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by cliffdweller:
I think of it as a spiritual practice: you get to the bottom of the onramp and then have a bit of quiet time while you pray for an opening in the traffic. Then when you decide to make your move you have a more charismatic sort of experience, shouting "o God o God o God o God" as you gun it hoping desperately that your aging car will get up to speed before the traffic catches up to you. Finally, you practice holiness by gripping the steering wheel tightly as you focus on remaining on the not-so-straight and narrow.

Wonderful. Thank you for this. [Big Grin]

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

quote:
Originally posted by cliffdweller:
Less heavenly: oldest child once had a horrible accident when someone new to the area, not expecting a stop sign at the bottom of the onramp, blew right through it and plowed into her.

A friend of mine had his car totalled in a similar way. He came down the ramp to find the main road totally stationary due to an accident further along. He had to stop; but the person behind didn't and hit him at 50 mph. Fortunately no-one was hurt.

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :

My home town is a retirement/vacation community. There are a lot of elderly drivers who have less than perfect driving skills.

One of my most memorable inept drivers that I interacted with was not elderly. He ran into the back of my car. (It's bright yellow, how do you miss that?) We got out of our cars to check for any damage, and exchange insurance information. The young man was very well dressed, and asked if he could leave, as he had no driver's license. I gave him the Mama Look ™, and said he absolutely couldn't leave. In spite of asking two more times, I didn't give my permission, and the cops took care of his lack of a license problem.

Daughter-Unit has explicit instructions to take my license and keys when I can't drive safely anymore!

Posted by Kittyville (# 16106) on :

With apologies to the various, no doubt highly competent at driver-instructing, NSW parents aboard, I have to wonder if some of the ineptitude I see on NSW roads isn't due to parents teaching their offspring to drive. In many cases, this just seems to result in the transmission of bad driving habits from one generation to the next. I also agree with Stercus Tauri about the effects of only driving automatic cars, although possibly, the point is true about most modern cars. My first car post-driving test was a Renault 4, which gave no assistance to the driver whatsoever. I certainly learnt to "really" drive pretty quickly!

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

I feel sorry for our local inept driver. He lives just over the road and cannot (as his wife has told us) get his car in and out of the driveway. His/her car is therefore parked in the road, although it is clear of most of the driveway so as to give him plenty of room for manoeuvre (and grab as much of it as possible).

When driving his wife has to tell him when the traffic lights change and a few years ago he had a small stroke. Not only did he not inform the DVLA (our driver licencing authority) but he was back behind the wheel in a fortnight because herself is a colossal snob who will not use public transport. I expect there are other poor drivers in the same situation.

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kittyville

My first car post-driving test was a Renault 4, which gave no assistance to the driver whatsoever. I certainly learnt to "really" drive pretty quickly! [/QB]

Kittyville, many teenagers here seem to have a couple of professional lessons, then parents and a few more professional lessons at the end to put finishing touches on.

I learnt to drive on a Renault R 4. When I went for test, the big police sergeant took one look in horror at the gear lever coming straight out of the dashboard. He had never seen one and said if I could drive that, I could drive anything. He did make me drive it before giving me my licence. Back in the days before Roads and Maritime Services testers!

Actually I could drive most vehicles. Mr L's uncle was a wholesale jeweller who usually had some vehicle for sale as well. He would often give me keys to the latest vehicle and tell me to drive it for a week or so and tell him if anything was wrong before he put it up for sale.

[ 28. October 2015, 19:58: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :

When I was in my twenties and a sixth former offered me a ride into town, I insisted on my next trip home that Dad teach me. The only result was that every time I went home in the holidays we'd drive slowly round and round the block practising changing gears.

So when I then spent time in a small country town I signed up for lessons with the local driving instructor. It was a flat area; the only place to learn a hill start was where the road crossed the railway embankment. And when it came to my test, the officer had me drive round the block and then said something like, 'Well, if Laurie D says you're ready for your licence I know you're okay.'

Apparently they've toughened up the test here; I've read of an increasing percentage of kids failing on their first or even second try, sometimes for quite trivial faults. There was also a TV programme about basic skills they were *not* taught – I remember that one was that they didn't know to brake *before* a bend but accelerate round it, but went round with their foot on the brake.

GG

Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
I feel sorry for our local inept driver. He lives just over the road and cannot (as his wife has told us) get his car in and out of the driveway. His/her car is therefore parked in the road, although it is clear of most of the driveway so as to give him plenty of room for manoeuvre (and grab as much of it as possible).

When driving his wife has to tell him when the traffic lights change and a few years ago he had a small stroke. Not only did he not inform the DVLA (our driver licencing authority) but he was back behind the wheel in a fortnight because herself is a colossal snob who will not use public transport. I expect there are other poor drivers in the same situation.

Can you not dob him in before he kills someone? Why does he need telling the traffic lights have changed? Can he not see, or does he not notice?

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

I don't know exactly where you live. But, if you indeed live in an urban area, taxis or minicabs might be a reasonable alternative.

After all, the "fixed" costs of running a car such as tax, insurance, parking, depreciation, servicing and maintenance soon mount up into four figures each year; if your friend keeps having to repair bumps and scrapes the costs will be higher still. The wife doesn't have to use buses (although she should!) - £1500 or £2000 p.a. will cover quite a lot of cab rides. (In our town, most journeys will cost £6-7 each way and parking for a couple of hours can cost £4.50).

I had a gentleman in my church who could never understand this. When he gave up driving he always used the bus to get into town because he had been raised to believe that taxis were "extravagant". He just wouldn't understand that a large chunk had been taken out of his annual budget simply by getting rid of his car.

[ 30. October 2015, 13:37: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]

Posted by crunt (# 1321) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
...I had a great uncle who believed that driving straddling the white lines in the middle was the most fuel-efficient way to drive.

My father used to complain about drivers who wanted to take their half of the road out of the middle.Moo

Just-pick-a-lane
Any-fucking-lane

My main passenger now mimics me perfectly as we come up behind one of the many drivers on the roads who can't commit to a particular lane.

Here's a picture of me getting an award for being a brilliant driver

Posted by marzipan (# 9442) on :

Many drivers where I live don't seem to understand the purpose of (a) stop lines and (b) red traffic lights.
We had one today who blatantly ran a red light because the pedestrian lights had turned green so the traffic light must have been on red for at least a couple of seconds before the car got to the line.
Often when the traffic is busy in town, you get cars that stop in the middle of a junction because there is queues back from the next light along, and so the traffic in the other direction can't move when their lights go green as the middle of the junction is full of vehicles... (Most of the major junctions here are yellow boxes to emphasise that you shouldn't enter if the exit's not clear but everyone seems to ignore them)

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:

She uses distinctly uncharitable language for those who slow to walking pace to go round corners.

I usually take corners with street traffic at 10-15 MPH in second gear without braking. I find that manual gearboxes last much longer than automatics. Both our Vectra snf my Focus have five- speeds.

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

I have just remembered another class of inept drivers--those who do not consider the nature of the specific road and terrain they propose to travel.

I have described one such driver in this post. At the time I only thought about my own inconvenience; now that I have had time to consider it, I suspect he kicked himself during the whole drive for letting himself in for something like that.

People look at a map, and if they see a road that goes where they want to, they take it for granted that that's the best route. In the mountains, it frequently isn't.

I once saw a tractor-trailer on a mountain road with lots of switchbacks. It was stopped. The rear of the trailer had not completely cleared a left-hand curve when the front of the cab needed to start turning into a right-hand curve. This episode was especially stupid because there were many warning signs on the road before it started up the mountain saying that it was unsuitable for tractor-trailers. I can't imagine how they got it out of there.

Another disaster took place on a very winding road that existed only for the sake of the houses along it. There were plenty of warning signs. A truck driver looked at a map and decided it would make a good shortcut. The truck tipped over and dumped more than a thousand gallons of embalming fluid. Some wells were polluted and some farm fields were contaminated.

One final accident. A truck was hauling a fully-loaded, double-decker cattle trailer. Naturally, it had a very high center of gravity. The driver took a sharp curve too fast, and the trailer went over. Many of the animals died immediately, and many others had to be put down because of their injuries.

I get very fed up with people who drive stupidly in the mountains.

Moo

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

I think there is a class of inept drivers who drive large lorries and vans down roads too narrow to pass them at peak hours.

One of my roads to work is just wide enough for 2 cars. Once a week, a lorry drives down it during the commute, causing chaos. Today - in a nightmare commute - there was a lorry coming along the road the other way. Extra chaos.

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

My sister lives in a house that was once a pub. Opposite it, for obvious reasons, is a footpath from the rest of the village. For some odd reason the Google and TomTom cartographers had the idea it was a lane, though it was barely wide enough for a wheelbarrow in places, with several tight bends between walls, and a bollard at the end.

One day she found a car had found its way down, and was now blocked by the bollard.

I'm not sure how it was extricated.

Posted by crunt (# 1321) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
though it was barely wide enough for a wheelbarrow in places

The city I used to live in, in Korea, was constantly upgrading and extending roads. One particular stretch was a nightmare until I discovered a nifty little shortcut along the side of the river. It was all good until everyone else discovered it, too. One time, fed up of being stuck in queues along the river bank, I took another road to cut through a tiny hamlet that lay between the river and the new roads. 'Tiny' extended to the width of the lanes as well as the size of the population, and at one point my wing mirrors were scraping the house walls as I squeezed through.
Lesson Learned.
If I was a real local, I would have known already, but at least I wasn't fooled by gps / sat' nav' just my own impatience. Unlike visiting tour bus drivers who often get caught out by a certain steep and windy road in my hometown

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

Those pix remind me of a coach trip I was on in the Julian Alps in Slovenia. I couldn't understand why the tour guide kept assuring us that we had a very good driver. Until it came to taking a large vehicle round 23 acute hairpins where at points the whole thing would have to be gently rocked, inches at a time, thousand foot drops inches from the wheels. The chap doesn't really belong on this thread since he was one of the most ept drivers I have ever seen.

[ 12. November 2015, 06:30: Message edited by: Firenze ]

Posted by Uncle Pete (# 10422) on :

That reminds me of the road up to Mysore. My friends would not drive through it at night, so we always stopped the previous day to gird our loins for the 27 hairpin turns up the road. I know I drove up it the first time with my eyes half closed and clutching my rosary. Subsequently, I kept my eyes open to better enjoy the scenery (which was gorgeous on one side) But the other side usually included broken down vehicles with the drivers squatted and facing their vehicles rather than looking out over the gorge.

Buses and taxis? 24/7. [Eek!]

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

Less terrifying but still hair-raising is the postal carrier who insists on taking his truck, at speed, the wrong way down my one-way street, because he can't be bothered to do it the right way and have to walk several feet to put mail in boxes. I've nearly hit him several times, when he pops up out of the entry-turned-exit like a suicidal gopher just as I'm turning into it. (no visibility, but there shouldn't have to be)

I've complained at the post office, but no results. And now the garbage trucks are starting to imitate him.

All this on a faked-up road built for horses, and so narrow that locals park on the sidewalk in order to let ambulances through.

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :

Time to rat them out to the local constabulary? A nice round of traffic citations would brighten up the day.

Posted by Arch Anglo Catholic (# 15181) on :

My late Great Uncle considered that third gear and upwards were ornamental only...

Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
Less terrifying but still hair-raising is the postal carrier who insists on taking his truck, at speed, the wrong way down my one-way street, because he can't be bothered to do it the right way and have to walk several feet to put mail in boxes. I've nearly hit him several times, when he pops up out of the entry-turned-exit like a suicidal gopher just as I'm turning into it. (no visibility, but there shouldn't have to be)

I've complained at the post office, but no results. And now the garbage trucks are starting to imitate him.

All this on a faked-up road built for horses, and so narrow that locals park on the sidewalk in order to let ambulances through.

Which is great until some poor sod tries to use the sidewalk for its intended purpose.

I like the Japanese approach - you want a car, you provide somewhere to park/garage it. Or so I'm told.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
People look at a map, and if they see a road that goes where they want to, they take it for granted that that's the best route. In the mountains, it frequently isn't.

Not really. They switch on the sat nav and follow it unthinkingly. Roads which are no better than farm tracks in the Yorkshire Dales have the same problem with our truckers.

Don't let that put you off, The mountain rescue guys would be happy for the practice. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Dal Segno (# 14673) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:

quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
A long time ago (he died in the 1970s) I had a great uncle who believed that driving straddling the white lines in the middle was the most fuel-efficient way to drive.
Perhaps he was just obeying the signs which say "Drivers use both lanes"?

No, he's obeying the instruction on his drivers license application form: "tear along dotted line"

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

Problem is, this area was built as cottages belonging to a nearby hotel that burned down in '26, and the preferred method of transport was probably walking. The old train station is just down the street, and no longer in operation [Waterworks]

.

As for why we park on the sidewalks--95% of us prefer to suffer with muddy feet if we can just be sure the paramedics can reach us when we need them. (The remaining woman gets pleasure by calling the traffic cops on all of us, who go apologetically about ticketing everybody while assuring us in the same breath that they totally understand WHY we're parking this way, but they can't avoid doing their job once someone has officially reported it... I'm not at all sure she (our helpful fink) would be happy if we suddenly all became law-abiding parkers, as it would mean a) no more fun calling the cops on us, and b) she would not be able to get her car to her own driveway--what stops ambulances stops everybody else as well.)

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :

Many of Sydney's older suburbs in inner west have roads like this. A friend lived in such a street in Erskineville for some years. After seeing a fire engine take out five cars as it tore through, they made sure they parked in their tiny backyard, accessible from a lane.

Posted by Fr Weber (# 13472) on :

In general, any driver who doesn't realize that his merge/lane change is his problem.

And if you know you need to make a right turn off the street you're on, why would you be cruising along in the left lane until OH MY GOD THAT'S MY STREET?

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Lothlorien:
Many of Sydney's older suburbs in inner west have roads like this. A friend lived in such a street in Erskineville for some years. After seeing a fire engine take out five cars as it tore through, they made sure they parked in their tiny backyard, accessible from a lane.

Love.It.

(Did I mention we're trying to get permission to put a parking place in our backyard?)

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

Inappropriate speed causes accidents: while everyone automatically thinks this only applies to lame-brained teenaged speed merchants, it is true also of elderly ladies pootling along a motorway in the middle lane at a stately 35mph.

And would someone please tell the same elderly ladies that if they are turning right (third exit or more) at a roundabout the left-hand lane on the slip road is not a good choice.

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Those pix remind me of a coach trip I was on in the Julian Alps in Slovenia. I couldn't understand why the tour guide kept assuring us that we had a very good driver. Until it came to taking a large vehicle round 23 acute hairpins where at points the whole thing would have to be gently rocked, inches at a time, thousand foot drops inches from the wheels. The chap doesn't really belong on this thread since he was one of the most ept drivers I have ever seen.

And you were sitting there at the back, just waiting for your chance to say your line...

Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
Problem is, this area was built as cottages belonging to a nearby hotel that burned down in '26, and the preferred method of transport was probably walking. The old train station is just down the street, and no longer in operation .

As for why we park on the sidewalks--95% of us prefer to suffer with muddy feet if we can just be sure the paramedics can reach us when we need them. (The remaining woman gets pleasure by calling the traffic cops on all of us, who go apologetically about ticketing everybody while assuring us in the same breath that they totally understand WHY we're parking this way, but they can't avoid doing their job once someone has officially reported it... I'm not at all sure she (our helpful fink) would be happy if we suddenly all became law-abiding parkers, as it would mean a) no more fun calling the cops on us, and b) she would not be able to get her car to her own driveway--what stops ambulances stops everybody else as well.)

Around here the problem is not muddy feet, but having to walk in the road and risk being run over.

Personally I think that car owners have a responsibility to park their vehicle such that it causes inconvenience to neither pedestrians nor the emergency services.

If this means parking half a mile away and walking from there, then so be it.

[ 13. November 2015, 10:26: Message edited by: Karl: Liberal Backslider ]

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :

quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:
And would someone please tell the same elderly ladies that if they are turning right (third exit or more) at a roundabout the left-hand lane on the slip road is not a good choice.

Except, for some reason, on the A34-M40 junction north of Oxford, where the road is laid out in exactly that way. I have no idea why, but it winds people in the middle lane up no end.

AG

Wot no sig?

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

I once had a friend who was a Minister in a small country town. Shortly after he had arrived, he was driving down the main street when a lady cyclist suddenly shot across the road and turned right into a lane, giving no warning.

My friend recognised the lady as one of his new flock, so on the Sunday challenged her about her dangerous behaviour. "Oh", she replied, "but everyone knows I turn right on Thursdays!" [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Amorya (# 2652) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Fr Weber:
In general, any driver who doesn't realize that his merge/lane change is his problem.

I was taught in my driving lessons that if you're driving down a motorway and you see someone indicating to join the motorway, you should move over one lane if it's possible to do so, in order to let them on.

Of course, if it's not possible to do so, it's another matter.

Posted by Ricardus (# 8757) on :

Yes, so was I.

Also there are enough places where people change lanes at the last moment as a consequence of inept lane markings - I can think of a few junctions where one or more lanes go somewhere specific, but the only clue to this is an arrow on the tarmac that is hidden underneath everyone's cars in the sort of conditions that make lane changes awkward.

Posted by Patdys (# 9397) on :

The concerning thing for me on a recent trip was how everybody drove on the wrong side of the road...

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

Today was the day that the inept gathered in one place. Mostly little old ladies looking for parking spots, who did not notice that someone was trying to manoeuvre out, or had pulled out of the way of that someone so drove past into the blocked way. The climax was in the supermarket car park where, for some crazy reason, someone drove the wrong way towards the stream moving towards the one way exit, on the wrong side.

Posted by Patdys (# 9397) on :

Sorry, that was me.

Posted by Ricardus (# 8757) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
The climax was in the supermarket car park where, for some crazy reason, someone drove the wrong way towards the stream moving towards the one way exit, on the wrong side.

I'll confess to driving the wrong way round a car park yesterday because some git had scratched the NO off the NO ENTRY sign ...

(Fortunately there was no one else about to post about it here.)

Posted by no prophet's flag is set so... (# 15560) on :

Annoying Samaritans are inept drivers.

Car-driving human yields right of way to cyclist when said right of way should not be yielded. This Annoying Samaritan does not please the cyclist, was waiting for his turn, but rather angers other motorized humans who direct their anger at the cyclist. Which causes danger to said cyclist.

Posted by crunt (# 1321) on :

quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
Annoying Samaritans are inept drivers.

Car-driving human yields right of way to cyclist when said right of way should not be yielded.

I recently came across the 'rule' - "If you have the right of way TAKE IT". To be honest, I hadn't really thought about it before, but if it is not applied it leads to a lot of dithering at intersections. If you give way when you shouldn't (as no prophet's etc. points out) it causes more trouble than it's worth.

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

And at roundabouts. Bus drivers are the worst at this, often stopping when on the roundabout to let other buses onto the roundabout. Bad enough in normal circumstances, but I've seen it on roundabouts that have traffic lights, so it backs up traffic horribly.

I sometimes wonder if bus drivers are trained to bugger up the normal flow of traffic.

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Arch Anglo Catholic:
My late Great Uncle considered that third gear and upwards were ornamental only...

A much loved and respected member of our congregation (a paediatrician, she operated in the jungles of Vietnam in wartime) never learned to love the motor engine. I went with her to a lecture once and had to hold my tongue as she raced up the hill in bottom gear.
Stopped by a cop who'd observed her erratic driving on the way to the airport one day, she was asked when she had last drunk alcohol. She thought carefully and replied '1952'.

GG

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :

quote:
Originally posted by crunt:

quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
though it was barely wide enough for a wheelbarrow in places
The city I used to live in, in Korea, was constantly upgrading and extending roads. One particular stretch was a nightmare until I discovered a nifty little shortcut along the side of the river. It was all good until everyone else discovered it, too. One time, fed up of being stuck in queues along the river bank, I took another road to cut through a tiny hamlet that lay between the river and the new roads. 'Tiny' extended to the width of the lanes as well as the size of the population, and at one point my wing mirrors were scraping the house walls as I squeezed through.
Lesson Learned.
If I was a real local, I would have known already, but at least I wasn't fooled by gps / sat' nav' just my own impatience. Unlike visiting tour bus drivers who often get caught out by a certain steep and windy road in my hometown

Ah, Devon Street! Not the first time a bus has been caught. I wonder how often it happens. Why can't they read the warnings?

Posted by basso (# 4228) on :

I grew up on a steep but not winding road. Only one lane, and the only exit was at the bottom of the hill. Houses on each side of the road had a drive. A couple of doors down on the other side of the street lived a schoolteacher and his family.

His wife wanted driving lessons, and he asked a driving teacher from the school to come by and provide some lessons. Said teacher got into a jam getting the car out of our neighbor's drive and managed to turn the car turtle in the middle of our road.

That was the most spectacular failure, but many times I've run down the road to bounce on some unprepared person's bumper to get them enough traction to get off the road.

This was in the early sixties, and the neighbor wasn't the only one who needed driving lessons. My mother had never got a driving license - her mostly urban life hadn't needed it. When she landed in the suburbs with three kids, she broke down and learned to drive.

She didn't get her license, though. In those days the California test required a demonstration of parallel parking skill, and Mom wasn't having any of that nonsense.

Finally the law caught up with her. She got a ticket. She went to court and fought the ticket and won. I think she was so well-prepared that she caught every one off guard. She drew diagrams and everything.

The judge dismissed the ticket and everything was fine until the bailiff coughed and said, "Your honor, there's still the matter of driving without a license."

Hizzoner just said "Mrs. M, go get your license."

She did, and drove for the rest of her life.

Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :

quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
Annoying Samaritans are inept drivers.

When I was learning to drive my dad told me that the two types of drivers to avoid at all costs were nuns and men wearing caps.

Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on :

Point of Order - there is no Right of Way. There is priority, but you should always be willing to yield your priority if doing so will avoid an accident.

A Right of Way does exist in English Law, but it's a completely different thing. It's the right, for example, I have to walk across the fields to the hospital in our village.

Posted by Ricardus (# 8757) on :

I can think of a few junctions where at peak periods it would be impossible for anyone to get out if people on the main road didn't filter. Plus a few roads where it's impossible to turn in until the person waiting to turn out has ignored priority rules and done so.

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

I have been inept this morning. I have been parking my car in a nearby carpark since the footpath in from of my drive is being relaid. I tried to dash out and move it before the workmen turned up and blocked access to the carpark with their big grab lorry, but didn't quite make it. On of the men kindly moved their other lorry from where it was blocking me, which meant I didn't reverse quite as sharply as I would if he had stayed where he was, which meant that I scraped my bumper on the small digger bucket which lay on the ground close by where I couldn't see it. I had seen it when going to my car. I had forgotten it, while avoiding their tamping machine, which I could see.

It is a bit more damage than polishing and one of those scratch pens will deal with. I'll need some touch up paint - but the car is non-metallic white, so not too tricky.

Gar.

Posted by no prophet's flag is set so... (# 15560) on :

Inept road design may help drivers be inept. Crossing as a pedestrian at a low frequency of use crosswalk this morning nearly had me stopped so northbound car could hit me because southbound car did not appear to be stopping. The inept is that this cross walk requires an illegal crossing of railway tracks - signed "No Trespassing" with various threats - but they built a crosswalk anyway for the adjacent road that only us illegals use. Without which it is a "you can't get there from here". Crazy!

Posted by Tukai (# 12960) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jane R:
NEQ:
quote:
I had a great uncle who believed that driving straddling the white lines in the middle was the most fuel-efficient way to drive.
...whereas I always thought it was a political statement.

Or, if it's the Bishop's car, a theological statement (all Anglicans believe they are middle-of-the-road).

QUOTES FILE!

[ 21. November 2015, 00:26: Message edited by: Tukai ]

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

I was reminded yesterday of another kind of inept driver--the one planning to go straight or turn left who pulls as far forward as possible when the light is red. This prevents the drivers in the next lane who can legally turn right on red from being able to see whether there are cars coming. [Mad]

Moo

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

And then you try to edge forward. And then they edge forward. I hate that, too.

Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
And then you try to edge forward. And then they edge forward. I hate that, too.

They all seem to drive big tall cars, too, to better block any chance of you being able to see. I haven't yet worked out what goes though their heads when they do that - I assume they're inept, and not just arseholes.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Yeah, it seems like the bigger/ taller the car, the more assertive they are about pulling forward. I don't necessarily think they are deliberately blocking the view, but it is like some little "SOMEONE IS SLIGHTLY AHEAD OF YOU" indicator goes off in the car, whether or not it directly effects their path.

Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :

There is a point on the anticlockwise South Circular road in South London where the road has to jink left under a railway bridge. At the same place, two lanes which have come through two sets of traffic lights very close to each other reduce to one. This requires some care on the part of drivers, though often the ones in the outer lane will try to impose their wills on the inner lane.

Last night, I was, in the inside lane, behind a Smart car, one of those little ones slightly larger than a invalid scooter as we drew away from the lights.

When, suddenly, with no signal, the little car pulled left at an angle to the kerb and stopped. (There is a little nook at the spot which isn't in line with the carriageway.) I slammed on the brakes (also pulling in to get out of the traffic, having no alternative, and without any time to check what was behind me. Fortunately, the outer car, which had been going to pull in behind me (thank goodness) was also able to stop without impact. I was stuck behind a car whose actions I could not predict, while the rest began to move past, slowly.

As suddenly again, and with no signal, the Smart car moved off and tore up the road, forcing its way into the stream, and I lost touch with it. Like the train at Adlestrop, no-one got out, no-one got in the car.

Seriously inept on a fairly busy road.

[ 29. November 2015, 17:01: Message edited by: Penny S ]

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