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Why do we let bad drivers push in? (moaning thread)
snork
Posts: 1,464 Forum Member
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Ok, I don't drive, but as a passenger I find the following scenarios really, really irritating.
When there is a traffic jam on the motorway, people who can't be be bothered to wait drive up the hard shoulder. Then they push in further up the que.
Another one, the outside lane of motorway is closing so everyone gets into the slow and middle lanes, well apart from the tool who drives at break-neck speed to the end of the closing lane and then aggressively pushes in.
Why do we let them in?
Is anyone going to admit to driving down the hard shoulder when it is not permitted? Why do you do it, how much time do you actually save?
When there is a traffic jam on the motorway, people who can't be be bothered to wait drive up the hard shoulder. Then they push in further up the que.
Another one, the outside lane of motorway is closing so everyone gets into the slow and middle lanes, well apart from the tool who drives at break-neck speed to the end of the closing lane and then aggressively pushes in.
Why do we let them in?
Is anyone going to admit to driving down the hard shoulder when it is not permitted? Why do you do it, how much time do you actually save?
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We let them in because we're better than them.
Its the English among us, we are too polite and do anything for a quite life:cool:
If everyone piles into lane 1000 yards before the obstruction of course the idiots will push in.
Regarding this though, it could be hours in mile long gridlocks i've been in before, given the speed you go compared to either 30mph makes a big difference. Thats why i view ahead on the motorway on my way to work and go what i call 'off road', using my tomtom to get to work if i see any hazard lights ahead. It works better than breaking laws and being dangerous by cutting up on the hard shoulder and stuff.
/rant.
You were right and the bloke in the van was a cad as well as wrong.
Although if you belted down the outside in a flashy Beemer or a large 4x4 and tried to force your way in at the end it could be viewed in a different light.
It makes sense to use as much motorway as possible.
I try to cultivate a non-aggressive attitude but being realistic I play "spot the tosser" to feel better.
Had a tussle with a 4x4 on a roundabout yesterday.
Luckily my van was the same size as him.
Unfortunately I had to drive a hundred years on a bit of cross hatch but he didn't get in.
This type of thing seems to be getting common.
I now have a baseball bat with me at all times
Stopped at red lights on roundabout.
Then the next lane was clear so i thought i'd just go past him, and his door opened, and he started getting out of the van, but i was already on my way into the other lane, and the lights turned amber.
I think i missed a scrape of death there with road rage. Its the closest i've ever got to it. To have another driver actually get out of his van, and he wasn't slender.
Driving too close to the car in front means you'll be stop-starting more frequently.
I aim to move in around the 200yds marker and don't force my way in, but as I get closer I look for a gap.
Thats when the baseball bat comes in handy
Let someone in and you lose a whole one car length of space in front of you. Something that'll take you less than a second to make up once the traffic starts moving again.
It is illegal and dangerous to drive on the hard shoulder.
Guidance from the Police and other experts is that traffic flow is improved (and pushing in avoided) by "merging in turn" at the last point before the lane restriction. Most coned-off areas are shaped to suggest that this is what drivers should do.
I used to have a 2CV - it was great, no-one came anywhere near me! I let people in because I figure they'll get theirs some day. I'm thinking of buying a Centurion tank someday and letting the b****rs try to get past that!
I prefer to get home to my family in one piece and try not to see driving as a combatative endurance test.