If we’ve all passed the same driving test, why do some motorists seem so completely incapable of employing the most basic driving logic, asks Lara Page.
Use the comment form below to tell me your motoring pet hates.
Yesterday evening on my drive home, I encountered not one, or even two, but five of my all-time biggest driving bug-bears in the space of a 30 mile trip.
It began shortly after I set off. I had to follow someone insistently driving at 30mph on a road which was signposted 40mph at almost every turn. “Why can’t they see it’s a 40 zone?” I wondered with creeping impatience. That was pet hate number one.
Approaching a T-junction, I did the charitable thing and let someone out. I flashed to indicate they could go. And waited. I flashed again. The driver stared blankly at me. Finally losing patience, I waved my hand around in a way that would either encourage them to move or imply I was having some sort of fit. And after what seemed to be about half an hour, they pulled out. Pet hate number two.
When I reached a similar junction myself, I spent a good few minutes watching dozens of vehicles amble past without offering the same courtesy. When I finally spotting an opening, a 4×4 approached and slowed down to a near stop. “Great,” I thought, “I’ll just slot in there.” But the moment I edged out, he lurched forward and closed the gap, leaving me to hold up a traffic-choked lane while a mounting procession of drivers beeped in unison. It was like some kind of road rage symphony in A Minor.
I was almost compelled to start chanting “calm blue ocean” or something to that effect, when I happened upon pet hate number four - and this is a big one - drivers leaving garden centres.
A lot of garden centres in Shropshire and the West Midlands are perched on the edge of 60mph roads, a speed which, for most people, is generally considered pretty fast. So, by all logic, if you’re going to pull out onto a fast road, you’d better either wait for a comfortable gap or do it pretty sharpish.
I was heading towards someone hovering at one such exit, and imagined (or hoped) this person would have the sense not to pull out. They didn’t. At least not until I was within a few perillous yards of them - at which point they chose to crawl out and proceed at hedgehog pace, forcing me to either slam on the brakes or plough into an arrangement of hand-crafted bird feeders.
“Mental note to self,” I thought. “Check train times.”
I was almost home when a boy racer-type pulled up alongside me in the right hand lane of a roundabout. Judging by the alarming sense of urgency with which he was driving, I had a feeling I knew what he was going to do. And he did - overtook and cut me up on the roundabout, beating me to my own exit. Grrrrrr!
So that was my journey home. I could go on, but I fear I might start foaming at the mouth.
So it’s over to you. Leave me a comment below and tell me what, in your opinion, is the single most annoying thing another driver can do on the road?
After all, they do say it’s therapeautic to get gripes such as these off your chest!
By Lara Page
26 Comments
one word - CARAVANS!!!
TAILGATERS
Lara
If you have passed the same driving test as I did, then you would know flashing one’s lights is not an official signal to another driver to pull out. You cant really blame someone for being cautious of another car flashing its lights at them.
That said, my biggest gripe now is pensioners. Unfortunately there are more and more of them now on our roads, the majority meander along because they are in no hurry to get anywhere, they have large tails of frustrated motorists behind them who they are holding up, but they hardly ever pull over to let the traffic pass.
Undertaking, when I am in the correct lane but they just can’t wait. An undertaker they may need at some point!……
I hate people who are impatient and drive right up your backside. They do it on Dual Carriageways to try and make you drive faster.
I’d love to see them pay for their poor driving by actually falling fowl of their actions.
Idiots!
The biggest problem may be Lara’s own poor driving standards. For example, the 40 limit is just that - a limit, the maximum speed one is allowed to travel at - there’s no obligation to drive everywhere at the maximum speed allowed. For some drivers, vehicles, and/or road conditions, 30 in a 40 limit might be perfectly appropriate.
Secondly, flashing your lights should be used only to warn another driver of your presence, not to ‘let someone out’.
Finally, whilst the 4×4 driver may have been selfish, he was under no obligation to let her out - the responsibility to ensure that her exit was clear lay solely with Lara. Perhaps if Lara pays a little more attention to the Highway code in future, she’ll have fewer problems!
Middle lane hogs; people who don’t indicate and the “look at me, aren’t I different?” brigade driving around in good visibility with their front foglights on.
I hate it when drivers behind are inces away from your bumper. It happened last night to me. I was travelling on a bendy road (driving at the correct speed 60mph). There was no way he could over take it was far to dangerous. what the no brained business bloke in his brand new car didnt realise was because he was so close i had to slow down a bit. This is because,if i had to break i could break gentlier and there was a slight chance he may not hit my back end.
I also hate people that indicate past parked cars. Did they not pay attention when leaning to drive. Its Dangerous and you shouldnt do it.
Peter is correct on all points.
My pet hates are the three black estate cars that commute every day on the A5 at consistently 20-30MPH over the speed limits.
One lorry overtaking another lorry on the M54 with a differential speed of about 0.01mph and taking 4 miles to accomplish it.
People who don’t take notice of the speed limit - my driving instructor taught me it is dangerous to do less than 60 on a 60.
Old people who can’t even seem to do 30mph.
People who use their breaks CONSTANTLY. Tip: taking your foot off the pedal for a couple of seconds slows the engine automatically..!
fast lane hoggers.
White vans. taxi drivers.
middle aged women.
people who stop at islands when there is nothing there.
i could go on… but i’d end getting RSI in my car horn hand……….
Relax! Our roads are very congested, and tolerance is a virtue. When driving home from work, especially, recognise that both you and other drivers are already tired after a day’s work, hungry and wanting to get home. Don’t make a competition of it - so what if someone in a great hurry (necessary or not) wants to go first? Why fret at the selfishly pushy, or inconsiderately slow? - just let them go and have their accident somewhere else and not involve you in it.
Oh, and Julie - you leave my hobby alone, and I’ll not grumble about yours - fair enough?
My pet hates [when using a motor car rather than my horse]:
Fog light use when it’s not foggy;
Poor lane discipline / middle lane drivers;
People who force their way out at speed from a slip road instead of giving way;
People who do not indicate;
People who cannot navigate a roundabout correctly;
People who emerge at a roundabout and drive at speed towards someone already going around the roundabout;
Red light jumpers;
People not driving anywhere near the speed limit [it is an offence to not keep up with the flow of traffic];
People who drive on their brakes;
Lack of consideration;
Not giving way to oncoming traffic when there’s an obstruction on their side of the road;
Cyclists not using cycle paths;
Aggresive driving of 4×4 drivers because their vehicles are bigger so they won’t get hurt;
Foreign lorries whose drivers can’t see to pull at out at large junctions because they’re left-hand drive vehicles; and,
Speeding in built up areas.
I have no problem with 80-90mph on the M54/A5. It’s time the national speed limit was changed, or, made variable depending on weather and/or busy conditions.
West Brom fans who stand too far away from the curb for me to splash them as I drive by…
H St John P,
I think you’ve managed to cover all bases on that!
Can’t disagree with any of your points! Excellent post!
I agree with most of the above, but above all we ALL need to be tolerant of other road user,as long as we all get to our destinations safely that is all that matters. I work in A&E and wish that IDIOTS who drive with no concern or thought for others could see the consequences of their bad driving. as my late Dad used to say ” Better to be late on Earth, than early in Heaven”
Middle lane hoggers. Do they not realise that the capacity of britains motorways are curtailed by therie
inconsiderate actions causing vehicles to go from lane 1 to lane 3 to overtake! Why use fog lights when
their is no fog! The only junction that you do not have to use indicators is if you are going straight
on at a crossroads. If you are turning right at a island use your right indicator then you left at the
point of exit! If you do not want to over take the vehicle in front of you on the A41 or A5 then leave
space so someone can overtake you and then overtake the vehicle in front. It is not an offence to
overtake! Stop being selfish and stop flashing because someone overtakes you to overtake the car in front!
Oh, and another thing. If I am turning right at an island and I am indicating right, and you are turning
right in front of me without indicating, then I am going to flash you. I am allowed to flash you to let
you know that I am there. Do not get road raged at me because I have flashed you! You are in the wrong.
My pet hate has been summed up in the article; it is drivers like Lara who, for whatever reason, believe they are perfect drivers and that ALL other road users are not!
To see what the problems on UK roads are I think she really needs to look a little closer to home.
Guess Lara may regret writing this article, a good follow up would be how she gets on having spent time at the wheel with an Instructor or Advanced driving examiner……
ha ha !!! there are so many people on here who take driving from a-b so seriously its unreal!!!if someone steps out in front of you as you walk down the street do you get so irritated?generally not you usually end up smiling and apologising yourself!..i do anyway but perhaps i am just too damned nice!! lol
it does make me laugh that some drivers on dual carriage ways seem to stay in the outside lane when they could easily pull to the left to let a faster moving vehicle pass.I tend to adopt a 10 second rule,where you assess your speed,and that of those around you when overtaking and if you cant get past in about 10 mental seconds then stay in the left hand lane till you can,simple really,if someone wants to go faster than you then that is their problem to deal with,not yours and you should not (in my opinion)’hog’ the lane just because you are travelling at the legal limit this is a simply childish tactic i have witnessed many times travelling across the country that leads to unnecessary problems(my father in law does this and i find it so embarrassing if im travelling with him lol!!!)
oh and 1 other “observation” i could add with reference to letting people out…i tend to find that the majority of this courteous behaviour is performed by male drivers,(waits for the sexist remark brigade!!)..as mentioned above its only my personal observation so calm down ladies!!(..perhaps ladies dont let me out so they can catch a glimpse of me for that little bit longer eh?…yeah thats bound to be the reason,im sure it must be!! lol)
and ladies instead of going nuts on this thread it would be far more productive to prove me wrong and next time let someone out instead of making them wait;-)
for example you want to turn right off a main road say into a housing estate,a car is waiting at the T junction to turn right on to the road you are on.the car approaching from the opposite direction to you is turning left into the estate,now wouldnt it be nice if we held back half a vehicles length so as not to block the exit of the vehicle exiting the estate?(you would only have to wait till the approaching car had cleared its turn anyway)..its all about forward planning in my opinion
ps. obviously different locations do not allow for this but many many more do,so common sense is required,but if you have no common sense i suggest that you leave the driving to others!! lol
ooh,ooh,ooh…i got another one!!!! lol
the amount of people STILL flouting the mobile phone laws when driving and not even being discreet about it!…now that DOES make me mad!!!!….ooooohhh i can feel the rage starting,am i losing control?….help me somebody!
Hell:-
fog lights in the day/not foggy
10-15 mph under the speed limit(standard in shrewsbury!)
stopping at islands when clear
sat in the fast lane when shoud pull over
lorries slowly overtaking
caravans
1 min to pull away from green lights
driving along with indicator on
drivers that are slouched down at the side of their seat(looks funny too)
speeding in 30 mph limits in town
the supermarket pedestrian
people who park in mother and baby spaces without kids
on the new a5 going to shrewsbury people who turn left at the end of the road from the right hand lane at the last moment before the island(you know who you are) yes I have to turn right!!
people who smoke with kids in the car
NOT motorbikes leave them alone!!!!!
out of my way I agree with all barring one of your comments; that is to do with parking in M&T spaces when the kids are not with me.
Why?…. If supermarkets made the standard bays wide enough for standard cars to fit in then I would use them. As it is you have to be thinner than Kate Moss after a week-long-starvation-diet to get in your motor without scuffing the car in the next bay.
People do not give a stuff about scratching my car so I park in the M&T bays to protect my car. Selfish maybe but not against the law (yet).
ps, I tend to shop late at night when most M&T bays are empty…..if the M&T bays are full I go home, I do not want to be in TASDASPENCERs which is full of screaming brats .:-)
i suspect those who think driving at 40mph in a 40 zone in safe, normal driving conditions is still too fast are the people who passed their test a LONG time ago and don’t realise that laws and codes have changed - they should read this article on why SLOW DRIVING IS JUST AS DANGEROUS AS FAST driving, when there is absolutely no need to drive at less than the limit and conditions are safe -
http://www.speedlimit.org.uk/art_slowdrive.html
Middle lane huggers, lack of indicators ,tailgaters and school run huge 4×4’s with one child in from 100 yards who live within walking distance of the school gate!!