Your bad driving encounters

Caporegime
Joined
22 Oct 2002
Posts
26,960
Location
Boston, Lincolnshire
Had this one happen the other day whilst in the car.

Driving instructor just pulling out. Complained to the driving school who claimed that it was a pupil on test which they failed for that manoeuvre, despite me telling them that there was only the driver in the car. I also know full well if there was an examiner he/she would have stopped them from doing so & ended the test immediately.

Either way, sent it to the ADI with reg details so I'm sure they'll deal with it.


Is it really that bad that you have to go out of your way and complain? I see ten times worse several times a day. Yeah he made a mistake but just get on with your life. He held you up for a second tops.
 
Last edited:
Associate
Joined
1 May 2007
Posts
1,810
Location
Manchester. UK
Is it really that bad that you have to go out of your way and complain? I see ten times worse several times a day. Yeah he made a mistake but just get on with your life. He held you up for a second tops.
Have to agree, the car turning left was blocking the road allowing him out, he was just a bit slow pulling out to capitalise on the gap and caused you to ease off slightly to let him go.
Absolute nothingburger, to then report him to the company...:rolleyes:
 
Soldato
Joined
10 Mar 2012
Posts
3,571
Location
unstated.assortment.union
Is it really that bad that you have to go out of your way and complain? I see ten times worse several times a day. Yeah he made a mistake but just get on with your life. He held you up for a second tops.

Have to agree, the car turning left was blocking the road allowing him out, he was just a bit slow pulling out to capitalise on the gap and caused you to ease off slightly to let him go.
Absolute nothingburger, to then report him to the company...:rolleyes:

I agree TBH, complete non event.

^ Three prime examples of why driving standards have fallen so much. Such poor attitudes toward the expectation of correct and proper safe driving.

I didn't 'ease off slightly' I was forced to brake, losing more than 75% of my speed (22 > 5)

If the driver was on their test, as the company claimed, also claiming that it caused the driver to fail their test. Well, you don't fail a test for a 'nothingburger'
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Sep 2003
Posts
15,947
Location
Norwich
^ Three prime examples of why driving standards have fallen so much. Such poor attitudes toward the expectation of correct and proper safe driving.

I didn't 'ease off slightly' I was forced to brake, losing more than 75% of my speed (22 > 5)

If the driver was on their test, as the company claimed, also claiming that it caused the driver to fail their test. Well, you don't fail a test for a 'nothingburger'
Not really, I just have empathy that as humans we sometimes make slightly mis judged decisions. Having to brake in a controlled manner, dropping a whopping 17 mph in the process, doesn't really warrant trying to mess with someone's livelihood by grassing them up for a total non event like that. I'm sure the video got a big old eye roll before sending out the usual dashcam police response.

You probably didn't need to keep decelerating after the car had cleared your path either but those save clip buttons can be tricky to find while driving...

Out of interest, how many times have you felt the need to pull footage from your dashcam? I use a dashcam in my own car and my wife's. Have done for getting on for 15 years and I've felt the need to pull footage TWICE. Once to get the reg of a fly tipper we caught and once because I thought someone threw an object out of a moving car, turned out that it was debris on the road that got flicked up and bounced off the following car.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2004
Posts
10,599
Location
Kent
It was a mistake. It's not like that driver dropped the clutch and did a one-wheel-peel out of the junction. They made an error of judgement which you anticipated and the result was you had to slow down a bit.

By your own admission, you made a mistake of your own seconds later - if you hadn't been so eager to reach up to your dashcam while still moving to make sure you had footage of this, it would have been even less of an imposition because the Citroen wouldn't have misinterpreted it as a signal to go. Perhaps you should improve your own attitude to the expectation of proper and safe driving and keep your hands on the wheel while you're in the middle of negotiating a junction?
 
Last edited:
Caporegime
Joined
22 Oct 2002
Posts
26,960
Location
Boston, Lincolnshire
^ Three prime examples of why driving standards have fallen so much. Such poor attitudes toward the expectation of correct and proper safe driving.

I didn't 'ease off slightly' I was forced to brake, losing more than 75% of my speed (22 > 5)

If the driver was on their test, as the company claimed, also claiming that it caused the driver to fail their test. Well, you don't fail a test for a 'nothingburger'

If you were that good a driver you would have anticipated the cars behind the car turning left and eased off the throttle accordingly and be prepared to brake.

Just because you were in the "right" doesn't really change anything you still have to anticipate what other road users may or may not do. In fact if that video was a hazard perception clip you would have gotten marked down because it took you circa 3 seconds to react to the learner car pulling out. Lol
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
6 Oct 2004
Posts
18,347
Location
Birmingham
^ Three prime examples of why driving standards have fallen so much. Such poor attitudes toward the expectation of correct and proper safe driving.

I didn't 'ease off slightly' I was forced to brake, losing more than 75% of my speed (22 > 5)

If the driver was on their test, as the company claimed, also claiming that it caused the driver to fail their test. Well, you don't fail a test for a 'nothingburger'

Come to Birmingham and you'll soon see what poor driving looks like. I wish incidents like that were the worst I had to deal with on a daily basis!
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Dec 2011
Posts
5,449
Location
Belfast
Had this one happen the other day whilst in the car.

Driving instructor just pulling out. Complained to the driving school who claimed that it was a pupil on test which they failed for that manoeuvre, despite me telling them that there was only the driver in the car. I also know full well if there was an examiner he/she would have stopped them from doing so & ended the test immediately.

Either way, sent it to the ADI with reg details so I'm sure they'll deal with it.


OK, I have looked at this multiple times and you really need to improve your driving awareness. I hope you take this as constructive criticism rather than an attack on your driving prowess. I’m also aware I have made similar mistakes in the past and am not preaching.

That learner car started pulling out as the car in front of you was turning left (the learner car’s right). The fact you missed it says as much about your driving as theirs. I will maybe give you the benefit of the doubt that their move was masked from your perspective but the car in front blocked your view of that junction and you assumed, “I have right of way and there is no danger”. But that learner car was visible for quite a distance and even if you missed it, it was always obvious something was in front of the silver people carrier and might do something stupid.

They were stupid to move out, but how you missed that obvious danger is why we have such poor driving standards on our roads. People just seem to go out of their way to prove they are right and end up making things worse. You barely slowed for that car in front to give it time to get out of your way and allow you a clear view of the road ahead. Just loads of poor assumptions on your end, if you actually sit back and objectively look at it.
 
Last edited:
Associate
Joined
4 Jun 2007
Posts
2,280
Location
South Wales
^ Three prime examples of why driving standards have fallen so much. Such poor attitudes toward the expectation of correct and proper safe driving.

I didn't 'ease off slightly' I was forced to brake, losing more than 75% of my speed (22 > 5)

If the driver was on their test, as the company claimed, also claiming that it caused the driver to fail their test. Well, you don't fail a test for a 'nothingburger'
This is the biggest example of the fall of driving standards. People that are so blinkered that they think their own driving is perfect even when it is pointed out multiple times that there was actions they could have taken to void the situation.
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Dec 2011
Posts
5,449
Location
Belfast
This is the biggest example of the fall of driving standards. People that are so blinkered that they think their own driving is perfect even when it is pointed out multiple times that there was actions they could have taken to void the situation.

Not applying this to this poster, but what I find is many people in this scenario simply keep saying “but I had right of way”. Like that fact alone absolves them from any blame whatsoever.

I posted in this thread before about me being a passenger during a school run. We were on a rural B road and I could see a car well up ahead pull out of a side road on the left. The driver of the car I was in said to me something like ‘look at this idiot’ and instead of easing off they kept speed until very late before doing emergency stop while blaring the horn. All to prove a point. I wanted to point out that all she needed to do was ease off the throttle to slow down a small amount and there would be zero issues or confrontation.
 
Last edited:
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
91,168
I get similar, or sometimes worse, almost daily, especially at a fuel station I pass on my commute where people often just pull out. To be honest I don't mind within reason if I have to slow a bit if someone pulls out a bit cheekily and then GETS GOING, those that just roll out and take 30-40 seconds to get anywhere close to road speed, or pull out and then creep across if going the other way, do my head in though, especially when they then get funny about the fact you got close behind them which only happened purely due to them pulling out!

Personally in that situation I'd have eased off let the silver car go and probably slowed a little to accommodate the potential for the learner pulling out - but I find you need to mix driving decisively enough to put people off from doing silly stuff like that but also defensively enough you can react to people doing silly things :(


On another note, been another nasty accident on the dual-carriageway I use to get to work, the driving on there constantly does my head in, but I wonder how many people will have to be seriously injured or killed before something is done to update the layout which hasn't been changed to accommodate the difference in usage since it was built 50+ years ago and make in my opinion some common sense changes to the speed limits, etc. (Not sure details only people who've commented only saw it in the distance but seemed to think a lorry pulled out on a car causing them to clip it and then the car rolled several times into a field).
 
Last edited:
Associate
Joined
27 Jan 2007
Posts
373
Location
London Town
Not applying this to this poster, but what I find is many people in this scenario simply keep saying “but I had right of way”. Like that fact alone absolves them from any blame whatsoever.

"Right of way" in the context people use it doesn't even exist, at least not in the UK. The correct term is 'priority', but that clearly doesn't convey the same sense of superiority.

Highway Code: "The rules in The Highway Code do not give you the right of way in any circumstance, but they do advise you when you should give way to others. Always give way if it can help to avoid an incident."

Right of way is only about access to land, giving you the legal right to do things like drive over whatever's between the road and your house.
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Dec 2011
Posts
5,449
Location
Belfast
"Right of way" in the context people use it doesn't even exist, at least not in the UK. The correct term is 'priority', but that clearly doesn't convey the same sense of superiority.

Highway Code: "The rules in The Highway Code do not give you the right of way in any circumstance, but they do advise you when you should give way to others. Always give way if it can help to avoid an incident."

Right of way is only about access to land, giving you the legal right to do things like drive over whatever's between the road and your house.

Yeah, it’s a case of people assuming some irrefutable law is on their side, when it means nothing of the sort. The same kind of people also tend to declare the Highway Code as “only guidance” when it is they who are meant to “give way”.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
16 Aug 2009
Posts
7,750
Driving late at night on the road between two towns it feels like you take your life into your hands in a weekly basis with bonkers driving a tailgater in inch from your bumper all the way back is the norm apparently the speed limit isn't sufficient for them and suddenly overtaking on the double white lines but last saturday was a new low chucking it down with rain on the narrow one lane side of a 3 lane road (overtaking lane other side double whites separating oncoming) and theres some idiot walking down the middle of the road literally straddling the double white lines as if he was hop scotching or something. Wearing dark clothes only spotted him at the last minute swerved left how I didn't land in the ditch I don't know. Still having flashbacks can you imagine having to deal with an incident pull over call an ambulance wait for the cops make a statement at the station appearing in teh dock at the inquest facing grieving relatives... jesus.

n.b. for reference someone was killied on the same stretch of road a couple of years back for a similar reason knocked down wandering across the road late at night completely avoiding using the traffic island, starting to think a dashcam would be a good investment at this point
 
Last edited:
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
91,168

Same spot my friend's partner was killed 2 years ago, same spot I had a 91 year old drive the wrong way at me, something like 14 people severely injured or killed in the last few years there, wonder how long before anything is done about it.
 
Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
1,302

Same spot my friend's partner was killed 2 years ago, same spot I had a 91 year old drive the wrong way at me, something like 14 people severely injured or killed in the last few years there, wonder how long before anything is done about it.
It takes them years to wake up to the problem, then years to investigate, then they have to find the money and then they can get on with it. Oh hold on they have changed government so that's on hold now. Sound familiar?
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Jul 2021
Posts
4,356
Location
Land of Gin (I wish)
Driving towards a set of traffic lights on red. Complete blonde b!tch in Juke in the lane to my left slowed down like she was going to stop - then decides to jump the lights. There’s a side turning on the left just after the lights. Van coming from that side road turning left had to go round her.

Thank goodness it’s half term as about 5 times more traffic that time of day!
 
Back
Top Bottom