What annoys you ?

[GORDON STREETER]

I often wonder what is your pet hate on other drivers on the road.
For me its people that pull out in front of you at the last second and then drive along about half of the speed you were going. I'm not talking about driving about 90mph but a reasonable speed. Also if you are on a minor road and want to turn right, what is it with the drivers that stop you by blocking the road in front of you, if they are in a traffic jam on the major road.,

[Cryos]

Comming onto motorways annoy me in this country, your suppose to join at around the motorway speed..

Everyday without fail i come onto the m50 and there is always someone trying to join the motorway at around 60/70 k's yet the motorway speed is 120.... Which means people have to dive into the overtaking lane....

I came home up from Limerick over the weekend and its mainly 100k's speed limit, yet there was me sitting behind someone doing 50k's not able to overtake because of oncomming traffic!!! Eventually passed a whole fleet of these people 6 infact doing stupidly slow speeds at 160k's on the other side of the road

[Suze]

People sitting on your arse for absolutely no reason particularly in traffic so you have nowhere to go, and people that sit in the middle of car parks blocking the whole car park "just incase" a space becomes available in front of them when there's blatently no-one getting into cars in that area. They sit in the middle of the car park so no-one else can get out if they want to and refuse to budge, often in my local town blocking the whole car park and the road.

Also - people who block the major road by pulling out half way into the major road from the minor road. Nobody going the other way lets them out so your side of the road gets blocked. And people who creep and creep and creep onto roundabouts (particularly motorway ones) blocking the outside lane so you come round the corner blind and whoooo! there's a car sat just blocking the outside lane.

[ensign14]

Middle Lane Hoggers!!!! Die Die Die Die Die!!!!!!!

[Tim Falce]

Anyone else who is on the road at the same time as me.

[MikeH]

Old people. Can't count the number of times (I drive for a living so am on the road at least 9 hours a day) I get stuck behind them in their Micras etc at 40 mph, get to a village and slow down to 30 - they bumble on through at 40! Past the village and sure enough I catch up with them again.

[bella]

people who don't drive like the germans.

[Adam43]

After spending some time recently on the Autobahns I go along with that. They drive fast when it is safe to do so, but slow when it is wise. They wait for you to get out the way and get ourt of the way for you. Bloody works too.

[Woolley]

Originally Posted by bella

people who don't drive like the germans.

On motorways, I was pleasantly surprised by the Italians. Out, overtake, back in, quick as you like.

Hates?

Middle laners (and on normal dual-carriageways these days, outside-laners)
People who don't indicate when you could have got out (especially on roundabouts).
People who drive slowly but make it difficult to pass. I don't mind them going slowly, but please, let me through. If someone catches me, I always call them past as soon as I can.

Other than that, I'm with Falcemob. Everyone else on the road!

[GORDON STREETER]

MikeH Could you specify what you call "old people" as I am not exactly a spring chicken and there are a lot of racers on here the same age or older than me. I have a theory that most "old" dodderers couldn't ever drive sensibly even when they were young !

[jhansen]

Big +1 on people trying to merge into traffic at slow speeds. Talk about recipe for disaster. I'm amazed we don't get more accidents because of this.

Also agree on those people that pull out in front of you then go slow. Or what about when you pass a slower car and then they pull up behind you?

People in a hurry bother me. Is saving a couple of minutes worth running a red light?

Those folks that are making a right hand turn, but act like they are racers by setting up wide for the turn. Get out of the freaking lane!

And, when I'm on my motorcycle, all car drivers bother me. You lot don't have the slightest clue of what's going on around you. Sadly, I catch myself doing that when I'm in my cage on occassion. But my driving skills certainly sharpened up once I started riding.

[MikeH]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

MikeH Could you specify what you call "old people" as I am not exactly a spring chicken and there are a lot of racers on here the same age or older than me. I have a theory that most "old" dodderers couldn't ever drive sensibly even when they were young !

Just checked your profile and you're younger than my Dad so I doubt I'd classify you as old!

I actually meant the frail old over-75 brigade, if they can pass a driving test sufficiently every couple of years then no probs.

Don't get me wrong though - I don't believe anyone under 21 should be driving either!

[johnh875]

Geez this could be a long list – although I have to say making sure you leave sufficient time for your trip and just letting the chaos unfold around you rather than involve you certainly lowers the stress levels. My dad lives in a small country town, has a fairly short fuse and it can be very entertaining to see him drive in city traffic!

The 2 main catch-all points I would make are
1. Lack of courtesy, which has been covered by a couple of people already, but it seems some people think they are in a race to get somewhere and an extra 10 seconds or a car length will cause the world to end!,
2. Lack of awareness, either just poor driving skills or lack of attention.

Mike – it would be fairly hard for people <21 to function normally in society if they couldn’t drive!

[Suze]

I get stuck behind them in their Micras etc at 40 mph

My Micra certainly goes a lot quicker than that thanks including on country lanes and motorways when I'm driving Incidentally it also does some "different" things as you can see in the avatar!

[and no, am not old *but* am in your group of people who shouldn't be driving as under 21 )

I actually meant the frail old over-75 brigade, if they can pass a driving test sufficiently every couple of years then no probs.

Definitely agree with the re-testing idea.

[silver bullet]

There are only two things that really annoy me.

1. Poor lane discipline, and it's not just the oldies. I have a Friend in his 30's who drives a fast car. One day we were on a very quiet motorway in the centre lane. I suggested he may want to move into the left hand lane. His reply was "WHAT,.... the truck lane" When I explained the highway code regarding lane discipline, I might have well been talking a foreign language. He just did not get it.
I think part of the trouble is motorway driving has never been taught. As learner we are not allowed on the motorway then when you pass your test, you are allowed on, without any experience or instruction.

2. People dawdling at traffic lights. We all know that they are going to change within the next couple of minutes. So why does it take so many people by surprise.

Warning, what follows is a rant and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Ten-Tenths. (To be honest, it probably doesn't even represent the opinions of the poster when they aren't ranting.) Why when we can all see the traffic lights change, does the car in front of me, have to wait until the car in front of him moves off, before deciding to engage first gear, and then take a further few seconds to release the handbrake. He could have started the process when the first car started to move. We now return you to our normal ramblings.

[Asp]

Stopping distances.
Both people who don't leave enough, but especially people who undertake me on motorways and then pull into the nice gap I've left in front of the car. Causing me to slow down again to build up the gap again, so other cars behind think I'm being a middle/outer lane hogger and do the same

I'll agree with elderly "Sunday" drivers too. It's not all old people, but there are more than just a few who think they're going fast when they've not got someone walking infront of the car with a red flag. Retesting should be done I'm afraid.

However, disagree with:

Originally Posted by Suze

Also - people who block the major road by pulling out half way into the major road from the minor road. Nobody going the other way lets them out so your side of the road gets blocked.

Some times due to the lay of the road / parked cars / other hazards, you're only able to see the other side of the road by the time you're significantly jutting out into your side of the road.
And I'd actually apportion the blame at those people not being considerate and letting the people out - if traffic is really heavy, you might be waiting for hours for traffic to clear in both directions. We've all got to share the roads, let's all show some consideration johnh875 highlights that point wonderfully.

[ensign14]

Originally Posted by Asp

Stopping distances.
Both people who don't leave enough, but especially people who undertake me on motorways and then pull into the nice gap I've left in front of the car.

So why aren't you in the nice and empty lane which the under-takers are utilizing?

[Suze]

Some times due to the lay of the road / parked cars / other hazards, you're only able to see the other side of the road by the time you're significantly jutting out into your side of the road.
And I'd actually apportion the blame at those people not being considerate and letting the people out - if traffic is really heavy, you might be waiting for hours for traffic to clear in both directions.

You disagree with me, I agree with you

In a situation where you need to pull out to see, I have no problem with it, it really is the safest option sometimes. People should be considerate and let others out - I've sat for quite a long time trying to join the major road coming out of my village which is normally heavy with traffic as it goes off to the A1 and am grateful if someone lets me out, particularly if heavy traffic, and try to do the same.

The issue I have with people pulling out is when they can see clearly both ways and do it just because they're impatient. They then are blocking the major road and causing issues, and it's not a case of "needing to see" it's just they think it might gain them some time. Maybe it does, I don't know, but if you're sat there and they're blocking your side of the road it doesn't save me any time!

[dj choc ice]

what annoys me?, old people, they drive at half the speed limit and less and weave and drift across the road, its damn annoying and aggrivating and ive already seen one oldie go head on with a bus last week, somehow no one was actually hurt as the accident happened at about 15-20mph in a 40mph limit.

taxi drivers are horrid, they drive right up your rear, cut you up and drive at about 60 in a 30 limit and really do my heading but not as much as old people though.

[bella]

Originally Posted by silver bullet

I have a Friend in his 30's who drives a fast car. One day we were on a very quiet motorway in the centre lane. I suggested he may want to move into the left hand lane. His reply was "WHAT,.... the truck lane"

the only reason why i lurk in the middle lane is that i have massive wide tyres on a reasonably narrow car, and they catch in lorry ruts which at any speed is fairly risky. a swerve like that caused a nice load of damage to my car, so as soon as they make the car move once, i get out of that lane.

[Suze]

My car has the same issue with ruts - bar not driving in the inside lane / trying to avoid them not much I can do with it... Maybe if we had tolls they could keep the roads better maintained and start getting rid of some of the truck ruts

[silver bullet]

That is a fair point about the truck ruts. If they are making the car unstable then it is probably wise to get out of the inside lane.

[Asp]

Originally Posted by ensign14

So why aren't you in the nice and empty lane which the under-takers are utilizing?

In a train of cars travelling at less than the speed limit overtaking other vehicles. In the situation where you don't move back into the inside lane because the distance between slow moving vehicles isn't that huge, but there is a nice long train of vehicles behind you too so if you do move in you'll be stuck there.
The reason people undertake is that they think I am lane hogging because there's a big gap infront of my car. Nope, that's the 2 seconds (4 in poor conditions) - I'm keeping pace with the vehicle in front.

[bella]

you know, you don't need to leave 2 seconds gap if you have somewhere to go in the event of heavy braking, for example the empty lane beside you...

[ensign14]

Originally Posted by Asp

In the situation where you don't move back into the inside lane because the distance between slow moving vehicles isn't that huge, but there is a nice long train of vehicles behind you too so if you do move in you'll be stuck there.

There's a nice long train of vehicles behind you cos they're not supposed to undertake you.

How about overtaking them in the outside lane if they're doing less than the limit?