Your bad driving encounters

[lordrobs]

Then park somewhere else. No one is 'forced' to park in a space.

If you have to park like that to fit in the remaining space, then the space isn't big enough for your car. It's annoying and not your fault, but parking like a dick because someone else did just makes you a dick as well.

Ok but have you seen the way some people park their massive SUVs these days?

If there are two bay straddlers in a car park and the only space left is the one between them then I'm parking in it, even if that does make me look like the tool if they bother disappear and leave my car straddling two bays.

Sometimes but in this circumstance the car in the adjacent space (out of shot) was parked perfectly fine; besides the spaces aren't particular narrow either so I have very little sympathy for the hire car driver.

...but what about the car that was parked there before that one?

Unless you see the car pull up it's an assumption that they are the source of the problem.

 

[MartinPrince]

...but what about the car that was parked there before that one?

Unless you see the car pull up it's an assumption that they are the source of the problem.

Unfortunately I wasn't there to see the order the cars parked in but as you can see from the wider angle shot the other car was parked in between their lines - so I'm going to go with the greater probability that the person in the hire car was the one that wasn't too fussed about parking correctly and wasn't forced into it by a third party.

The only thing I was trying to work out was if the van was there first or whether it came after...

 

[LowEndTorque]

Saw an Audi S3 guy park across two bays at a Shell Station. Yes, horizontally, and not vertically in the bays. I don't get it, why you would do that even if you were still sat in your vehicle burning fuel. Guess some people get out of their house to have an argument with random strangers. I ignored him just like most who saw that and gave it a pass.

 

[jpaul]

red light idiots on the road in Cambs/A10, news told them there was fog so the hive mind decides to dazzle folks following them;
typically they are the straight line heros too, brake to b***** at the junctions/bends, and speeding on the straights.

The irresponsible weather forecasters need to remind them of the highway code.

 

[floatindolphin]

On the a55 earlier. There was a car waiting to merge at a tiny slip road. Rather than use what little slip road there was to get some speed up, they used it like a left turn junction and joined at a snails pace, crazy folk! They then bombed past at about 90 afterwards

 

[Richie]

Unfortunately I wasn't there to see the order the cars parked in but as you can see from the wider angle shot the other car was parked in between their lines - so I'm going to go with the greater probability that the person in the hire car was the one that wasn't too fussed about parking correctly and wasn't forced into it by a third party.

The only thing I was trying to work out was if the van was there first or whether it came after...

Given the front wheels are pointing left, Its a fair bet to say the driver just drove in, turned left into the space and didnt care where they ended up. If they did, their wheels would have been straightened and, after getting out the car, would have looked to see how much of an arse they made of it.

People saying "it could have been the fault of the previously parked car on their right" or some other event causing said driver to park like they have could be correct but the current evidence leans more to the Ibiza driver not caring. The fact its a hire car is likely to be a contributory factor for the driver just not caring.

 

[Uther]

Quite bad visibility on long stretches of the M40, and loads of people with, I assume just their drl's on and not realising they don't have rear lights on.
Not to mention the cars I saw on the way back in the dark with no lights on at all!

 

[Conscript]

Quite bad visibility on long stretches of the M40, and loads of people with, I assume just their drl's on and not realising they don't have rear lights on.
Not to mention the cars I saw on the way back in the dark with no lights on at all!

Same today while on the M25/A21. I'm beginning to think we should just adopt the Scandinavian model and just mandate headlights turned on all the time

 

[lordrobs]

Same today while on the M25/A21. I'm beginning to think we should just adopt the Scandinavian model and just mandate headlights turned on all the time

It just needs the dash to go dark illumination to go off if it's dark and you haven't got your lights on, like the last 3 VAG cars we've had.

I'm sure a big part of the problem is the perma Blackpool illuminations some cars have as a dashboard now.

I also don't understand why more cars don't switch the rear lights on with the DRLs either? My current and previous cars did and it just seems to make more sense.

 

[ShivP]

It just needs the dash to go dark illumination to go off if it's dark and you haven't got your lights on, like the last 3 VAG cars we've had.

I'm sure a big part of the problem is the perma Blackpool illuminations some cars have as a dashboard now.

I also don't understand why more cars don't switch the rear lights on with the DRLs either? My current and previous cars did and it just seems to make more sense.

The dash will work off auto light sensors. In the fog, even though lights should be on, the raw light level is still high so neither the lights will turn on nor will the dash turn dark

 

[Rroff]

I also don't understand why more cars don't switch the rear lights on with the DRLs either? My current and previous cars did and it just seems to make more sense.

Always found that strange - would make sense to have at least some kind of rear illumination along with the front DRLs.

 

[Resident]

It just needs the dash to go dark illumination to go off if it's dark and you haven't got your lights on, like the last 3 VAG cars we've had.

I'm sure a big part of the problem is the perma Blackpool illuminations some cars have as a dashboard now.

I also don't understand why more cars don't switch the rear lights on with the DRLs either? My current and previous cars did and it just seems to make more sense.

What is needs is a VERY LOUD (130Db range) audio warning.

 

[ICDP]

At a T junction in a smallish but busy rural town square. I was turning right but also going to park into a parking spot about 20 feet on the left after the junction. The road coming from my left has a gentle curve to the right as I look left, this means I can’t see more cars more than about 5 - 6 seconds away. As I pulled out a Kia Sportage comes in to view but I had already committed and instantly indicated left and engaged reverse to have my reverse lights show I was planning to parallel park. Now the time between him seeing me and me starting to indicate and reverse would have been about 4 - 5 seconds. The Sportage did initially leave me space but then pulled right up to my bumper and sat there. The van behind them saw all this and left a very large gap for him to reverse back to give me room.

Instead the Sportage driver just sat there, after about 10 seconds he pulled into the oncoming lane and parked inches from my driver door. It was an old man and he started giving off about me cutting him up (I didn’t). His wing mirror was overlapping mine and I told him I was now unable to move without damaging both cars.

He started ranting about calling the police, to which I replied that they would be very impressed he was now blocking the oncoming traffic and preventing me from moving in any direction. The old man got out of his car and abandoned it to go into a nearby shop. He was at least a minute, by which time a crowd had formed and the oncoming car drivers were absolutely livid.

The girl driving an Audi A4 estate parked just ahead of the spot I was going into kindly moved out to let me move in. She then parallel parked back in again once I had parked, she was joking with me about the lunatic in the Sportage. At this point the old man returned and the van driver who was behind the Sportage was calmly telling him to “catch yourself on”* that at his age he should know better. He was also making it very clear that he saw the entire thing and that I had given him plenty of indication that I was reverse parking.

I told the old man that I had dashcam footage if he wanted to use it when he called the police. The van driver told me to let it go and walk away as it wasn’t worth it. He did give the old man a few more choice words about his childish behaviour before moving on himself.

* “catch yourself on” is. Northern Ireland term for grow up, or get a grip.

 

[lordrobs]

At a T junction in a smallish but busy rural town square. I was turning right but also going to park into a parking spot about 20 feet on the left after the junction. The road coming from my left has a gentle curve to the right as I look left, this means I can’t see more cars more than about 5 - 6 seconds away. As I pulled out a Kia Sportage comes in to view but I had already committed and instantly indicated left and engaged reverse to have my reverse lights show I was planning to parallel park. Now the time between him seeing me and me starting to indicate and reverse would have been about 4 - 5 seconds. The Sportage did initially leave me space but then pulled right up to my bumper and sat there. The van behind them saw all this and left a very large gap for him to reverse back to give me room.

Instead the Sportage driver just sat there, after about 10 seconds he pulled into the oncoming lane and parked inches from my driver door. It was an old man and he started giving off about me cutting him up (I didn’t). His wing mirror was overlapping mine and I told him I was now unable to move without damaging both cars.

He started ranting about calling the police, to which I replied that they would be very impressed he was now blocking the oncoming traffic and preventing me from moving in any direction. The old man got out of his car and abandoned it to go into a nearby shop. He was at least a minute, by which time a crowd had formed and the oncoming car drivers were absolutely livid.

The girl driving an Audi A4 estate parked just ahead of the spot I was going into kindly moved out to let me move in. She then parallel parked back in again once I had parked, she was joking with me about the lunatic in the Sportage. At this point the old man returned and the van driver who was behind the Sportage was calmly telling him to “catch yourself on”* that at his age he should know better. He was also making it very clear that he saw the entire thing and that I had given him plenty of indication that I was reverse parking.

I told the old man that I had dashcam footage if he wanted to use it when he called the police. The van driver told me to let it go and walk away as it wasn’t worth it. He did give the old man a few more choice words about his childish behaviour before moving on himself.

* “catch yourself on” is. Northern Ireland term for grow up, or get a grip.

Many years ago I had a taxi driver pull right up to my bumper as I was about to parallel park. I think he just wasn't paying attention to what was going on ahead of him and driving in zombie mode. He was too close to pull round and there was traffic behind so to style it out and make it my problem he simply leant on the horn

 

[ICDP]

Yeah, this old fella was just stubbornly trying to make a point, even though he didn’t have a point. I neither cut him up, nor failed to give him reasonable notice of my intent. The fact he did stop leaving me plenty of room initially was evidence he had seen and reacted to my presence and intention. Had he waited 3 or 4 seconds I would have finished parking.

 

[Stu999]

Yeah, this old fella was just stubbornly trying to make a point, even though he didn’t have a point. I neither cut him up, nor failed to give him reasonable notice of my intent. The fact he did stop leaving me plenty of room initially was evidence he had seen and reacted to my presence and intention. Had he waited 3 or 4 seconds I would have finished parking.

Post the footage.

 

[ICDP]

The only “vindication” I have that I did nothing wrong is the van driver behind the Sportage telling the old man he had plenty of warning that I was reversing.

 

[Rroff]

Yeah, this old fella was just stubbornly trying to make a point, even though he didn’t have a point. I neither cut him up, nor failed to give him reasonable notice of my intent. The fact he did stop leaving me plenty of room initially was evidence he had seen and reacted to my presence and intention. Had he waited 3 or 4 seconds I would have finished parking.

It is no magic bullet but one of the reasons I like driving a large black pickup - more often than not people have second thoughts in situations like that, when I'm driving other stuff especially the Qashqai I get a very different reaction from people.

EDIT: This is one of the reasons I never bother trying to reverse into a parking space when it is busy, etc. whichever day it was last week I went shopping was in a queue of cars in a busy car park and someone 4 cars in front moved to the side and stuck their indicator on to reverse into a space and then engaged reverse and the 3 cars ahead of me all squeezed past them and when I stopped to give them adequate space to manoeuvre the first instincts of the person behind me was to try and come around me before realising what was happening despite they should have had a clear view of it.

 

[Resident]

At a T junction in a smallish but busy rural town square. I was turning right but also going to park into a parking spot about 20 feet on the left after the junction. The road coming from my left has a gentle curve to the right as I look left, this means I can’t see more cars more than about 5 - 6 seconds away. As I pulled out a Kia Sportage comes in to view but I had already committed and instantly indicated left and engaged reverse to have my reverse lights show I was planning to parallel park. Now the time between him seeing me and me starting to indicate and reverse would have been about 4 - 5 seconds. The Sportage did initially leave me space but then pulled right up to my bumper and sat there. The van behind them saw all this and left a very large gap for him to reverse back to give me room.

Instead the Sportage driver just sat there, after about 10 seconds he pulled into the oncoming lane and parked inches from my driver door. It was an old man and he started giving off about me cutting him up (I didn’t). His wing mirror was overlapping mine and I told him I was now unable to move without damaging both cars.

He started ranting about calling the police, to which I replied that they would be very impressed he was now blocking the oncoming traffic and preventing me from moving in any direction. The old man got out of his car and abandoned it to go into a nearby shop. He was at least a minute, by which time a crowd had formed and the oncoming car drivers were absolutely livid.

The girl driving an Audi A4 estate parked just ahead of the spot I was going into kindly moved out to let me move in. She then parallel parked back in again once I had parked, she was joking with me about the lunatic in the Sportage. At this point the old man returned and the van driver who was behind the Sportage was calmly telling him to “catch yourself on”* that at his age he should know better. He was also making it very clear that he saw the entire thing and that I had given him plenty of indication that I was reverse parking.

I told the old man that I had dashcam footage if he wanted to use it when he called the police. The van driver told me to let it go and walk away as it wasn’t worth it. He did give the old man a few more choice words about his childish behaviour before moving on himself.

* “catch yourself on” is. Northern Ireland term for grow up, or get a grip.

What is it about older folk that buy cheap eastern marques (Kia & MG primarily) who then think they're rocking around in a Rolls Royce like they own the place?

 

[TheVoice]

Same today while on the M25/A21. I'm beginning to think we should just adopt the Scandinavian model and just mandate headlights turned on all the time

As far as I'm aware that's no longer the case, they use DRLs rather than headlights. It used to be required to also have the rear lights on but that's no longer the case either.

Always found that strange - would make sense to have at least some kind of rear illumination along with the front DRLs.

When most cars still had halogen lights it risked making the brake lights less effective, especially on cars that don't have separate brake lights. It could probably do with being revised again now LED is more commonplace.

The dash will work off auto light sensors. In the fog, even though lights should be on, the raw light level is still high so neither the lights will turn on nor will the dash turn dark

The dash lighting works from a sensor on the dash on VAG cars, not the sensor that triggers the headlights themselves. One my Leon it only controls the brightness of the displays, the buttons/controls aren't lit unless parking lights/headlights are on.