2008-01-23 - Falling Driving Standards

Ramblings and thoughts from Neil
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neil
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2008-01-23 - Falling Driving Standards

Post by neil » Thu Jan 24, 2008 2:58 am

Is it me or are driving standards at a complete low ? I drove down to Bedford today and was amazed yet again at the crap driving discipline. Undertaking was rife, as was cutting in on people and lane hogging

So it got me thinking how we all drive.

My question is in the following situation what do you do.....


Outside lane [car] [car] [car] [car] [car] [car] [car] [........some distance...........] <----[You]
Middle lane [car] [...............] [car] [..............................] [car]
Inside lane [car] [car] [car]

I have to admit I tend to join the outside lane, but I'm never sure if this is the right course of action as you tend to be sat out on the end of a long queue. Trouble is you can't go into the middle lane as you'll either end up undertaking everyone, or get boxed in....

This morning I counted over 12 cars that whizzed either into the middle lane or the inside

So what would you do ?

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Post by Chas » Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:01 am

We don't have middle lanes in this part of the world :wink: but I have been guilty of undertaking when a lone plonker is hogging the outside lane.

However, if there were several people doing the same in a queue I'd be unlikely to do so because there may be a good reason for it further ahead which I can't judge from my position at the back.

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Post by Charles » Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:25 pm

In my old age, I tend to pick the lane which will cause me the least stress. If there is a long queue in lane 3 then I will move across to Lane 2 where I have more space and move back out when required.

If, when in Lane 2, Lane 3 slows and I start passing the cars outside me, then as long as I am not exceeding the speed limit and not intentionally weaving between lanes then I am not breaking the law.

If, in that situation, I then need to pull out to pass, then I do so without any guilt of having been "undertaking" - so long as I then pull back in to Lane 2 at the first appropriate opportunity.

I find this way I move through heavier traffic quicker and less stressed - whilst still remaining legal. It's not my problem that the plonkers hogging Lane 3 think I am breaking the law - that's why driving standards are so crap because people don't know what they should be doing in the first place.

My rule of thumb is as follows:

If I was being followed by a traffic cop would he have reason to pull me for dangerous or reckless driving?
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Post by ALPB1033 » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:34 am

In your suppose case I will drive to the left and ignore all the other traffic.
i.e. the inside lane.

I remember when I passed my driving test about 20 yrs. ago, people on motorway were having a very good lane discipline. People always drove on the left. But now people tend to drive on the right especially after the EU was formed(I means no restriction to cross each border). I always wonder is that the influence from too much European driving we take now.

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Post by tg » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:44 pm

This is one of my pet hates. Motorway lane discipline is one thing and fairly well documented. In my case whether I 'overtake' in a left hand lane depends on conditions i.e. what I can see, weather, and speed.

But I drive around London, where the standard of driving has steadily deteriorated since I passed my test in 1990. As the man says it's very quickly lowest common denominator since, if others are flouting the highway code, there's little incentive to behave 'correctly' as long as you are not reckless. A favourite ruse which drives me potty is to pull out at a T junction into the traffic coming perpendicular to you, making them stop until someone coming in the other direction lets you in. This is just selfish, shoddy behaviour. But at the end of the day we are all trying to get somewhere in our cars not taking a driving exam, so people quickly take liberties, sometimes big ones.

But where does it end? Off topic I know but they are allegedly thinking of imposing a 20 mph speed limit in London. 'They' must be out of their mind. If traffic during the day averages a speed slower than that, then fine. If during the evening people can drive faster, then as long as they are not endangering others (and traffic lights all over the place generally mean they cannot drive significantly faster on average) then what's the problem exactly? If we were discussing speed cameras we'd never stop.

This is just regulation gone mad

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Post by B10BRW » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:27 pm

tg wrote:
But where does it end? Off topic I know but they are allegedly thinking of imposing a 20 mph speed limit in London. 'They' must be out of their mind. If traffic during the day averages a speed slower than that, then fine. If during the evening people can drive faster, then as long as they are not endangering others (and traffic lights all over the place generally mean they cannot drive significantly faster on average) then what's the problem exactly? If we were discussing speed cameras we'd never stop.

This is just regulation gone mad
You can blame all this on that complete W**k*r Livingstone :evil: , who is totally Anti-motorist, the sooner that Ars*hole is voted out the better.
How does a sh*t like him get away with it :(

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