Worst things youve seen people do whilst Driving

[beefy]

My wife had to be transferred from one hospital to another under blue lights yesterday. I was appalled at how many people ignored the ambulance, pulled out in front or tried to follow it. Hats off to the driver, who managed to get through busy Cornish holiday traffic safely and carefully.

[touringcarnut]

Originally posted by beefy
My wife had to be transferred from one hospital to another under blue lights yesterday. I was appalled at how many people ignored the ambulance, pulled out in front or tried to follow it. Hats off to the driver, who managed to get through busy Cornish holiday traffic safely and carefully.

I often find pedestrians to be even worse in such circumstances, e.g. crossing the road with a green man, when there's clearly an emergency vechile approaching. Its as if they feel that their journey across the road is more important!

[djb]

Beefy, here in Montreal, drivers are just plain out of this world for lack of cooperation/awareness/giving a rats ass etc etc about getting out of the way for a siren. I've lived here for nearly 20 years and it never ceases to make me mad as hell seeing it happen.

Last year, was at a light, an ambulance was coming up behind, people slowly made room, I moved ahead and out of the way, the ambulance gets through and carefully proceeded to go ahead. Some goddamn idiot coming along on the other street, oblivious to the siren and flashing lights, continues along, finally sees the crossing ambulance, brakes too late and crunches into it on the left front end. Not to hard, ie no injuries, but the ambulance had to stop going to its call and so some poor accident victem or some poor family waiting desperately for the ambulance to arrive had to wait surely numerous minutes more for another to arrive. I tell ya, i coulda gotten out of my car and kicked the unattentive bugger in the rear it made me so mad. (I've been in a situation waiting for an amulance to come to an emergency and minutes seem like hours believe me!)

so thats my rant!

[KA]

I know just what you mean-

One of my personal 'favourites' a couple of years ago was sitting in a queue of barely-moving traffic and hearing sirens behind me. A quick look in the mirror revealed a fire engine a couple of vehicles behind trying to pick it's way through the traffic jam, so I pulled right into the side of the road to give him room to pass, only to see the idiot behind me- apparently not having noticed 10 tons of bright red fire engine now right behind him with blue lights and sirens in full cry - drive straight past me into the gap I'd left, and totally block the road...

[mandretti39]

I got three stories.

First, my dad, brother, and I were heading to my aun't house. Some guy behind us felt that we were going too slow, so he crossed the broken yellow line into the opposing lane to pass us on the left (legal move here in the U.S.). We were no more than half a mile down the road from the intersection. When the guy that passed us, he took a right at the intersection. Apparently, the guy couldn't wait the thirty seconds it would have taken him if he stayed behind us.

This one I did. I was on my home from school one day and was sitting at an intersection (I was the first guy in line). I wasn't really paying attention to the signal and I thought I saw a green light, so naturally, I went. I looked behind me in my rearview mirror and noticed that none of the other drivers behind me went. Obviouslly, I ran a red light.

Another one I did:
I like to design race tracks. So I decided to make a street circuit for downtown Syracuse, NY, less than 30 minutes from my home. As I was driving through the city, trying out my creation, I was reading my map, not focusing on the traffic signals. I reached one intersection, and looked up in time to see the lights are red. I slammed on the brakes, and ended up about a quarter to halfway into the intersection. Had I not seen the light, I probably would not be writing this, because a guy who had the green on my right was making a left hand turn, and we could have had a head-on collision.

[Pug620]

Regarding the phones in petrol stations its a load of **** about them starting fires.

I attended a seminar two years ago at the institue of petrolium which all the big companys were their Shell,BP ect

They had done various research world wise to advise the users ie petrolium stations and manufactures about this

Their finding were that mobile phone do not start fires at petrol stations it is static from latched petrol nozzles and then people sit in cars when they return they cause a static short and bang

They even had film evidence of this happening when put to the members they all agreed that the finding were correct but when asked if they would let people use mobile phones on the forcourt they said that it would distract the operator and could cause a accident

When we heard this we asked them to clarify if the TV screens selling advertisments would be taken down at one of the manufactures forcourts ??

They refused the anwser is that people are still convinced that the phones are to blame but its not true !!!

[T0MAT01]

I saw a programme on SKY about Mobile phones starting fires.
They put about 30 phones in a caravan drenched with petrol and then phoned them all .......... nothing happened.

Then they got someone wearing a nylon (I think) shell suit to jump about in a plastic bucket for a few minutes and then touch a wire connected to the caravan.........BOOM!

So why don't you see signs banning shell suits on forecourts then?

[Pug620]

I will second the banning of shell suits

their you go all be ware you will get a forecourt operator warning you tommorow if you are wearing one

so be warned!!!

[garcon]

I disagree with the banning of shell suits.

Surely anyone wearing a shell suit deserves to be blown up...

[dubby99]

Seeing a driver drunk behind the wheel and then smashing into the back of a van parked right out the front of my house.

The driver was so intoxicated that he could not even talk and tried to do the runnner but the car was a complete ride off.

[mjolnir]

going on a midnight run up to glasgow not more two days ago it was ****ing down with rain on the A66 (a two lane carriageway), so much so that visiblity was probably no more than 150-160 meters. while doing around 60mph, straining to see the next piece of road a semi passes me going a good 10-15mph faster!!!

[touringcarnut]

Originally posted by mjolnir
going on a midnight run up to glasgow not more two days ago it was ****ing down with rain on the A66 (a two lane carriageway), so much so that visiblity was probably no more than 150-160 meters. while doing around 60mph, straining to see the next piece of road a semi passes me going a good 10-15mph faster!!!

No doubt leaving a wall of spray to those behind

All too common

[Tim Falce]

Originally posted by touringcarnut
No doubt leaving a wall of spray to those behind

All too common

You car drivers shouldn't get in the way if you don't want to be sprayed. You're holding industry up.

[Kicking-back]

Get it on the trains!

[Mackmot]

Someone barrelled into the back of a queue of 4 cars with me and my dad in the second car on tuesday. It bloody hurt and I cant wait to get the insurance money from the guy.

[kingfloopy]

The scariest thing I've ever experienced was a semi truck trying to run me over. I was driving on a two lane highway at 55mph (the speed limit) in a little Ford Escort. A loaded truck comes barreling up behind me at about 70 mph and literally comes within a foot of the rear of my car, all I could see was grill behind me. The other lane was clear but the truck wouldn't pass so I sped up. I watched the truck weave between lanes behind me (and it wasn't windy out). I pulled around a quarter of a mile ahead by the time I approached town and had to slow to 35mph. I slowed down and the truck came flying up within a few inches of me blowing his horn, apparently he decided he didn't need to slow down. I guess he though since he was about 25 times my size I should have pulled over and got out of his way. My dad drives a truck so I understand the pressure drivers can be under to deliver loads, but that really isn't an excuse for generally poor driving.

J.D.

[Paddy_NL]

In the early nineties a truck driver was jailed for -as far as I can remember- 12 years for smashing into a traffic jam on the Belgian motorway.
He had his pants on his knees, and a naughty mag on his lap. He killed three people in that accident

[garcon]

Of course, that doesn't mean all truck drivers are ******s.................. sorry

Inevitably there is a minority of truck drivers who really need a refresher driving course (or a different job). I know it's frustrating when a car is in the way, but that's no excuse for tailgating and trying to bully them out of the way. Or for driving at insane speeds in appalling conditions.

However, in my experience, the majority of car drivers who complain about truck drivers simply don't understand what it takes to drive, steer and stop a fully laden truck. In fact it stuns me that time after time some car drivers appear to be so utterly stupid that they don't realise a truck needs more room to turn or stop. Why else would they attempt to pass one through a tight roundabout, or dive in front of one and hit the brakes because their exit's coming up?


I find the huge majority of truck drivers... and coach drivers, and any other professional drivers except private hire minicabs (most of whom appear never to have passed a basic driving test)... to be safe and courteous, but maybe that's because I'm courteous to them and give them the room they need.

[Paddy_NL]

Well, I drove trucks for about 7 years in total ('89-'95), out of which over two years international (you'd call it continental). So no really bad words from my mouth about truck drivers in general. I know it's a really hard job.

And like all of you here I think I'm a pretty good driver
Never had a serious accident, though


One of the mistakes some people make -and I've seen it several times (and it makes me very agressive!)- is when people have missed their junction, and reverse on the hard shoulder. They should lose their license on the spot as far as I'm concerned.

[garcon]

Have to admit I've never driven a truck (Yet! Still might do some lessons, take the test and get out of my desk job!!!)... But I do have a couple of truck driving mates, so I suppose I've developed an empathy, so to speak.

I agree - Anyone reversing on a motorway hard shoulder should get an instant ban. And that includes traffic police who do it without managing the traffic flow in lane 1 first!!

[kingfloopy]

I want to make sure that no one thinks I'm saying all truck drivers drive poorly. Like I said before my dad drives a truck and I know how difficult it can be. Most truck drivers act responsible and are much better drivers than people in cars.

J.D.

[Mackmot]

I do think that anyone going slower than a truck limited to 56mph on a motorway should be shot and people who pull onto the motorway and not speed up and cause trucks to have to slam the brakes on.

[mattmarvell]

Worst thing i've ever seen someone do - was myself

Picked up a new car and was trying to dim the dash lights and kept hitting the button that i thought would do this - it was around this time i started to notice how the cars behind me kept dropping back this being on the A14 in Suffolk a busy road.

So anyway i keep trying to dim the lights for a few more mins when it hits me that i've been hitting the hazzard lights every couple of seconds (I felt like a pratt)

I now know where the dimmer button is in a Mini oppisite side of the speedo to hazzard button ,also of course not the one with a big trangle on it..

[KPC]

Where do you start. The one that really sticks in my mind was the closest I've ever come to being roadkill.

I was going to my parents one Christmas Eve a few years back and it had started to sleet. I was in the fast lane of the M23 approaching the M25 junction 8, which is downhill northbound. Everyone was driving carefully as conditions were not great, it was dark and there was the usual clog at the junction. I was keeping a good distance from the car in front. In front of this car was a Golf. All of a sudden the brake lights of the car in front came on and it did an emergency stop sliding into the middle lane and narrowly missing traffic. I did the same but the conditions meant that I kept on going. I pulled my handbrake and spun the wheel coming to a stop facing a concrete block on the central reservation where there were roadworks also. I looked out of my drivers door and saw a car hurtling towards me. Fortunately the car had ABS, a newish thing back then.

Anyway, upshot is, the Golf had stopped dead in the fast lane to let someone (a hitcher) out of the car to run across all three lanes to the M25 spur. I learned a lesson that night: Braking distances are no good when someone does the totally unexpected. I was subsequently taught to drive off of the driving line of the car in front to increase view. Good advice.

[Sheila M]

One of the things I've noticed in this thread is that all you chaps keep referring to the outside lane of a motorway as "the fast lane". The Institute of Advanced Motorists Manual on Motorway Driving suggests that this is incorrect and that the lanes should be numbered 1, 2 and 3 (and occasionally 4), which is how most police forces refer to them.