Terrible but not quite dangerous drivers

Dis86 · 19 Jul 2016 at 15:06

So...just wanting to know people's thoughts around this subject.
I went to college with a girl who can only be described as an utterly incompetent driver. In 8 years she's written off 5 cars. Every single one her fault. Every single one entirely avoidable. Whilst her insurance is obviously through the roof, criminally she hasn't seemingly done anything wrong (not quite sure how when three times she's driven in the back of someone, once in to a stationary row of cars and once in to a wall).
I can only think it's going to be a matter of time before she seriously injures or kills someone, possibly herself. It just boggles my mind that she's still on the road and there's nothing anyone can do from a legal standpoint to stop the inevitable.
What are people's thoughts on drivers like this?
Oh also worth mentioning every one has been a new 'premium' brand. Shows how much damage must have been done to write them off.

tom_e · 19 Jul 2016 at 15:09

Everyday especially on a bike you come across people that make you think licences are available at the bottom of a cereal box but like you said there's not a great deal you can do about it apart from be aware of what's going on around you and hope you spot them before they do any damage.

wesimmo · 19 Jul 2016 at 15:28

This always surprises me about some taxi drivers, you get in and then they tear off down the street like a lunatic, serving across lanes and generally acting like an idiot.

As they spend their working life driving, how on earth have they not killed themselves or got themselves banned given that the 10 minute journey I just took with them scared the life out of me to the point I would have felt safer driving myself even after the skinful I'd just consumed?

Kuros · 19 Jul 2016 at 15:51

The problem is, you can't really do anything against this.

Drivers will be up in arms if there's a "Cause 2 accidents to have your driving licence revoked", have to resit it or anything along them lines.

Anything to actually stop these sorts of people off the road will just get them driving illegally and encourage more hit and runs.

grudas · 19 Jul 2016 at 15:54

tom_e said:
Everyday especially on a bike you come across people that make you think licences are available at the bottom of a cereal box but like you said there's not a great deal you can do about it apart from be aware of what's going on around you and hope you spot them before they do any damage.

agree! a lot more noticeable when you're on a bike!

I see them all the time while driving and I question how many of them actually have a license?

I mean the only time it'd be a real issue is if they got stopped by police? and how often do you get stopped if you don't drive a highly modded car or behave like a lunatic 99% of the time

Buffman · 19 Jul 2016 at 16:20

Wow I wonder what the girl in the OP has to pay for insurance! Must be well off if she can still afford to insure (any) car

Diagro · 19 Jul 2016 at 18:16

grudas said:
agree! a lot more noticeable when you're on a bike!

I see them all the time while driving and I question how many of them actually have a license?

I mean the only time it'd be a real issue is if they got stopped by police? and how often do you get stopped if you don't drive a highly modded car or behave like a lunatic 99% of the time

?? Police cars have anpr. so do many many cameras on many many roads. You will be caught far faster than a police car seeing you

TheVoice · 19 Jul 2016 at 18:41

Diagro said:
?? Police cars have anpr. so do many many cameras on many many roads. You will be caught far faster than a police car seeing you

ANPR doesn't know if the driver has a valid licence.

geekman · 19 Jul 2016 at 18:42

Diagro said:
?? Police cars have anpr. so do many many cameras on many many roads. You will be caught far faster than a police car seeing you

ANPR can't tell if you have a licence or not, it can only tell if the car is insured and if the insured driver has a licence. There's plenty of people with no licence driving around in cars that are taxed, MOT'd and insured to someone else and it's quite rare that they get caught.

grudas · 19 Jul 2016 at 19:09

geekman said:
ANPR can't tell if you have a licence or not, it can only tell if the car is insured and if the insured driver has a licence. There's plenty of people with no licence driving around in cars that are taxed, MOT'd and insured to someone else and it's quite rare that they get caught.

Exactly what I was getting at

Dav4 · 19 Jul 2016 at 19:20

I know someone who is just as bad. She's had a few pointless crashes and still has not learnt her lesson. She drives everywhere likes she's running late pulling dangerous overtakes and riding an inch off other drivers bumpers. She bought a brand new car and within a few weeks smashed into the back of somebody and caused a load of panel damage to her shiny new car.
She's also had a load of points for speeding over the years and never once have any insurers checked this when she never declares them :rolleyes:

Hedge · 19 Jul 2016 at 19:39

My lasses dad is the worst driver I've ever experienced. He drives at 40 through residential areas, which seems almost good. Until he drives no faster than 50-55 on motorways.

Hes dangerous as hell and I lose my mind when I get a lift anywhere. Ive never once in my 10+years of driving had a Lorry over take me. This guy has Lorrys overtake him constantly. Hes too scared to be on motorways.

Makes me rage thinking about it actually. Worst and least confident driver Ive ever experienced.

Orionaut · 19 Jul 2016 at 20:46

wesimmo said:
This always surprises me about some taxi drivers, you get in and then they tear off down the street like a lunatic, serving across lanes and generally acting like an idiot.

As they spend their working life driving, how on earth have they not killed themselves or got themselves banned given that the 10 minute journey I just took with them scared the life out of me to the point I would have felt safer driving myself even after the skinful I'd just consumed?

The question surely is,

How many accidents do these "Insane" Taxi drivers actually have?

I am guessing not that many (otherwise they wouldn't still be Taxi drivers)

It is a bit like "White Van Man"

Urban Light goods vehicle drivers have a fearsome reputation because they scare the crap out of other less experienced drivers.

But statistically, they (We

) are about the safest (IE least likely to be involved in a serious or fatal accident) than any other vehicle class (and that includes pedal cyclists)

Professional drivers are, for the most part, very safe. (Which is why it grieves me when I see professional drivers being total ****,(especially on youtube clips where people are trying to claim it was the other guys fault! :mad:

)

Nasher · 19 Jul 2016 at 22:51

I've seen some pretty idiotic taxi drivers around. Like the one who decided he was going to overtake me in a 30mph zone with average speed cameras, while I was already going 30.

Haggisman · 20 Jul 2016 at 00:38

Orionaut said:
The question surely is,

How many accidents do these "Insane" Taxi drivers actually have?

I am guessing not that many (otherwise they wouldn't still be Taxi drivers)

It is a bit like "White Van Man"

Urban Light goods vehicle drivers have a fearsome reputation because they scare the crap out of other less experienced drivers.

But statistically, they (We ) are about the safest (IE least likely to be involved in a serious or fatal accident) than any other vehicle class (and that includes pedal cyclists)

Professional drivers are, for the most part, very safe. (Which is why it grieves me when I see professional drivers being total ****,(especially on youtube clips where people are trying to claim it was the other guys fault! )

Very safe (allegedly) and yet utterly inconsiderate of anyone else on the road

Scania · 20 Jul 2016 at 03:00

Some HGV drivers scare the **** out of me and I'm left wondering how on earth they get from a to b without killing themselves or others, Eastern European ones especially!

Talking to a driver trainer at work he told me about a recent bridge strike incident, the driver concerned said "I didn't think the bridge was high enough but thought I'd give it a go....."
15'3" trailer, 14'2" bridge!

Dis86 · 20 Jul 2016 at 08:55

Nasher said:
I've seen some pretty idiotic taxi drivers around. Like the one who decided he was going to overtake me in a 30mph zone with average speed cameras, while I was already going 30.

Most spectacular crash I ever witnessed was between two taxis in Newcastle. At a cross roads one tried to beat the red whilst another tried to jump it. They both ended up slamming in to one another and closing the junction causing chaos for a few hours.
However yes, as has been said, professional drivers may be safer on paper but how many crashes do they cause with their actions and they really are inconsiderate!

Jamesyboyjim · 20 Jul 2016 at 12:18

Drivers who dawdle about and think its perfectly fine to just point their car and head in that direction with no thought whatsoever. changing lanes cutting you up without indicating, coming off a roundabout doing the same thing. pulling into your breaking distance, again, without even indicating.

It usually seems to be older drivers I see behaving like this, they will cause an accident one day and be completely oblivious and continue on their merry way.

Semple · 20 Jul 2016 at 12:33

I was actually going to create a similar thread on this the other day.

I do a lot of motorway driving (650+ miles per week) and the last 7 days have been horrendous on the motorways with accidents at least every day. The worst was last Thursday driving up to Manchester, the M5 was closed for a good few hours, and then the M6 had hour long delays.

Personally i feel that if people cause an accident on a motorway and it's got to be shut for hours for cleanup/investigation, they should be charged with driving without due care and be given 6 points along with a high-3-figure/low-4-figure fine.

The majority of these idiots who cause accidents are either speeding, tailgating, or just not even paying attention.

I can accept if you have an accident because of bad weather (ice) or a vehicle malfunction (tyre puncture) [Assuming vehicle is maintained to acceptable standard]. But i'd be betting that this is rarely the case.

The_Dark_Side · 20 Jul 2016 at 13:12

Orionaut said:
Urban Light goods vehicle drivers have a fearsome reputation because they scare the crap out of other less experienced drivers.

But statistically, they (We ) are about the safest (IE least likely to be involved in a serious or fatal accident) than any other vehicle class (and that includes pedal cyclists)

Professional drivers are, for the most part, very safe.

Or it could be that the majority of drivers give white van man a wide berth hence their accident figures not showing a prevalence of bad behaviour.
As for professional van drivers, the vast majority have received no more training than the typical car driver.....and some even less. I'd suggest that doing something for a living doesn't necessarily make you a professional.