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Y'know what really grinds my gears?

Started by Link Prime, 12 April, 2014, 01:47:44 PM

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Fungus

When walking, it's idiot drivers who don't know the right-of-way rules. When driving, it's idiot pedestrians who jay-walk in the belief that the guy in the car better stop if he knows what's good for him. These views sound sarcastic, but sum it up for me, depending on context. Know your enemy.

Grugz

you ought to try visiting preston with its new open high street,no kerbs lights crossings or nuffink you have to rely on the drivers not mowing you down or the peds not to walk out in front of you. miracle no ones been squished yet.
don't get into an argument with an idiot,he'll drag you down to his level then win with experience!

http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,26167.0.html

The Legendary Shark

Tailgating is pretty poor behaviour, especially from professional drivers who should know better, but in some cases car drivers bring it on themselves - especially the ones who think the middle lane belongs to them. Truck driving is all about momentum, keeping moving so you don't waste fuel hauling several tons of cargo back up to speed again. This is no excuse for tailgating but in the case of the middle-lane-hugger the lorry driver is presented with a problem; overtake in the inside lane, which is dangerous, or overtake in the outside lane, which is dangerous and illegal, or slow down to maintain their gap and contribute to the blockage of the middle lane, which is dangerous and stupid. The inside lane is not the "slow" lane, the middle lane is not the "cruising" lane and the outside lane is not the "fast" lane.
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In heavy traffic 90% of the problem is caused by people not maintaining their own two second gap. They go as fast as they can and only slow down when they get to the tail end of the queue in front. Then they brake, causing the drivers behind to brake and so on, causing a chain reaction. If everyone maintained a decent gap, traffic jams on the motorway would be lessened considerably.
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In slow-moving, heavy traffic I like to keep a healthy gap. While the vehicles in front constantly accelerate and brake, compounding the problem, the driver with the gap can creep along thereby keeping his vehicle, and the ones behind, moving smoothly if slowly. But what do idiots do? They see my gap and think it means my lane is travelling faster than theirs, so they dive in front of me, causing me to brake, and the vehicles behind me to brake, causing another disruptive ripple and making the overall situation worse.
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Poor lane discipline causes the most tailbacks. Some numpty in the outside lane decides to cut across two lanes of traffic to get to his exit because he thinks he's a "good driver" and causes everyone behind to dab their brakes. Because most drivers don't maintain an adequate gap or watch what's happening in front (you should always drive as many vehicles in front as you can), they dab their brakes as well. That ripple starts again and soon you get standing traffic until the wave dissipates - meanwhile, the numpty who caused it is already at home jerking off to Top Gear and thinking what a good driver he is while the traffic jam he caused takes hours to sort itself out. This kind of idiocy is behind those traffic jams you get into which suddenly clear for no apparent reason and...
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Jeez - I'm boring myself, now.
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Hawkmumbler

Cycling in Holland is a completely different kettle of fish all together. Besides the main road and the pavement, theirs also roads on the other side of the pavement for cyclists and moped users. You would think that would complicate things, but it doesn't, it runs like clock work.

Fungus

On this subject at least you are not boring, Sharky :-)
Are you the first to mention middle-lane-huggers? Unbelievable....! I undertake so often now that in my head it's the right thing to do. Which is worrying.

The Legendary Shark

Heh. If I remember my Highway Code correctly, "always overtake on the outside unless you are turning/filtering left or in heavy traffic where one lane is moving faster than the other." Or something like that.
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I also sometimes overtake on the inside, which I really shouldn't and don't like. More often than not, a lorry trundling alongside them on the inside wakes them up and spurs them to a more sensible speed. It's still wrong but rather more polite than tailgating.
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TordelBack

Sharky's description of poor lane discipline and insufficient driving gaps is so painfully true that it was actually stressing me out reading it!

Grugz

when my wifes on the motorway,every lanes the fast lane!
don't get into an argument with an idiot,he'll drag you down to his level then win with experience!

http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,26167.0.html

Dandontdare

Middle lane hogging at slow/medium speeds is bad, but if the inside lane is full of slow-moving lorries and caravans, and I'm driving at or near the speed limit, I'm not going to keep diving in and out of those (too small) gaps between every lorry - if I'm driving faster than everything in that lane, I'm going to stay in the middle. If you want to overtake me a) there's another lane for that and b) you're probably going too fast 'cos I'm doing the speed limit. If I slow down, I will certainly move to the inside lane.

Leaving adequate stopping distances on a motorway (to Highway Code guidelines) is simply not possible due to volume of traffic - If I try to leave 240 feet (18 car lengths) at 60mph*, other vehicles will simply fill that gap - if I drop back, the same thing happens, meaning that my only option is to stop and wait till everybody else has gone home before I continue my journey.

*yes I did have to look that up!

The Legendary Shark

If you're overtaking something, you're not hogging the middle lane. If you overtake something and then there's a quarter mile gap before the next vehicle, and you stay in the middle lane, you are hogging it.
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Leaving a gap is entirely possible, no matter how busy the traffic. I do it all the time; all it takes is patience and (most important of all driving skills) observation.
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Fungus

Quote from: Dandontdare on 10 March, 2015, 02:04:58 PM
I'm going to stay in the middle. If you want to overtake me a) there's another lane for that and b) you're probably going too fast 'cos I'm doing the speed limit. If I slow down, I will certainly move to the inside lane.

I'll bite!
As Sharky says, you are a hog. You don't get to decide which is the best lane for you, the Highway Code kindly does that for you.

Happily, most of my driving is motorway and way outside the rush hours. In Cal Hab at night, the M8 is pleasingly quiet. More often than not, the only solitary other car I see every few miles, ahead of me, is tootling along in the middle lane. They are hogs.

*Honk*

Dandontdare

#776
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 10 March, 2015, 02:25:20 PM
If you're overtaking something, you're not hogging the middle lane. If you overtake something and then there's a quarter mile gap before the next vehicle, and you stay in the middle lane, you are hogging it.
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Leaving a gap is entirely possible, no matter how busy the traffic. I do it all the time; all it takes is patience and (most important of all driving skills) observation.

Can't remember the last time I saw a quarter mile gap on a motorway!

as for leaving a gap, let's say you're in the slow inside lane doing your max comfortable speed with a nice legal gap in front of you. A car overtakes you and slots into the gap halving it. Do you slow down and drop back? Then another car fills the new gap - do you slow down again? I can't see how it's possible to maintain the gap on a crowded motorway.

Quote from: Fungus on 10 March, 2015, 02:42:36 PM

I'll bite!
As Sharky says, you are a hog. You don't get to decide which is the best lane for you, the Highway Code kindly does that for you.

but doesn't that infringe my common law rights? I didn't sign a contract with the Highways agency  ;) (joking!)

The Legendary Shark

If a car, in free-moving traffic, "steals my gap" it's usually because they're exiting the motorway. Whether I drop back or pull out to overtake depends on the road conditions and traffic.
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I'm not going to get into common law here - I have enough headaches at the moment! :-D
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Mattofthespurs

2 chevrons people! 2 chevrons!

Is it that frickin' hard?

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 10 March, 2015, 05:33:12 PM
2 chevrons people! 2 chevrons!

I thought you needed all seven locked if you wanted to get anywhere interesting...?

Cheers

Jim
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