That sounds like last time I used the Calais - Dover crossing after a week in the Alps. Within ten miles I was sick of driving in the UK. Some moron in the outside lane just north of Dover with two empty inside lanes at 2 in the morning! After 1 mile I did the only sensible thing and undertook the barsteward. To this day I don't know why he felt the need to sit in his average Honda at an indicated 70mph, in the outside lane on a near empty motorway. Sit in the outside lane in France/Germany/Switzerland and not move over as soon as your overtake is done and you will get flashed. The standard of driving is way better over there. Progress is better. Blood pressure lower. It is definitely to do with the attitude and education of drivers though...
Of course, a lot of the crap driving we see in the UK is magnified because of the sheer number of cars on any road. There are more and more cars on the road every year, and no new roads being built; compounding this is the local councils' brainwave of 'traffic-calming' nearly every urban side road, which forces even more motors onto our congested trunk roads. Things are bound to get a bit heated.
The standard of motorway driving in particular in this country is appalling. Lane discipline is far, far better in France. I don't drive on motorways on a daily basis but when I do I find the antics of some drivers (especially middle lane hoggers) unbelievable. I usually pull over to the nearside lane which is invariably less crowded and slowly go past and give them a Paddington stylie hard stare. They are invariably oblivious. Often when I look in my mirror after a minute or two, they are still there in the middle lane. The mind-set seems to be that they-will-be-overtaking-something-in-the-nearside-lane-at-some-point-in-the-future-so-why-bother-changing-lanes?
Oh and I think more than a fair few of those know exactly what they should do - but are 'looking after' the motorways by attempting to stop people from going over 70 - same on the 40mph dual carriageways round Salisbury - 'why should I move over I'm doing 40' attitude
Well, sat in the back of a cab in rush hour on the autobahn, and whilst there are more centre lane owners than I am used to over here, the outside lane is still clear with people moving out, then in again immediately after passing. Not many places you can get from airport to hotel at 140-160kph average cruising speeds during peak times.
Surrounding a car?! What was he meant to do, knock you off?! And if he did, I assume it would be the drivers fault... Why not just ignore them if you can get past anyway. Just get past. Simple. None of us (apart from Andy B ;-) ) has any more right to get someone else to abide by the rules by making them get out of the lane as they have sitting at 70 and acting like Judge Dredd
This is a definite case of treating the symptoms, not the cause. Driving standards in the UK are a complete joke ! Lane discipline is non-existent. "Mirror, signal, maneuver" is a thing of the past on all UK motorways - if you ever see anyone indicating it is ALWAYS after they have already started changing lanes... A big part of the problem is that people in the UK see having a driving licence as a right, not a privilege. Get some traffic police out on the road, and stop all the crap drivers. And when you've stopped them, take their damn licence away... That might start to improve things.
Bingo. Much as us Tarmac terrorists don't like it, the answer is zero tolerance and have 10 times as many traffic fuzz booming around in big Jags (buy British ;-) ) catching them. Add a driving scheme into schools starting at 14, moped licence 15, car 16 and have a heavy system of education. All cost money tho...
I agree with mopeds at 15; that way everyone (cos all kids will want one) gets to see the roads from our perspective before they get anywhere near a car. Not sure about cops in Jags though - they ain't made one that can keep up with me yet...
best thing i ever did was the IAM course...i was lucky because my instructor was only 30, and didnt stink my car out with pipe smoke or werthers originals breath..great bloke...(his other car was an Evo).. it made me aware of lots of small bad habits, improved my obs and machine control enormously..much of which transfers to the bike..i found the bike course unrealistic in many respects... the driving course has also highlighted others poor driving technique and particularly observation....virtually every driver i know has poor obs, acceleration sense, and constant use of cadence braking, or excessive engine braking...clutches are dear, brake pads are cheap...the course also taught me to use my peripheral vision a lot..i now make better progress and dont get anywhere near as stressed in heavy traffic..in fact, i often play a game where i try to keep the car moving constantly without braking unnecessarily..this is more fun than concentrating on how heavy the traffic is, or assuming that everyone is a twat... zero tolerance is bullshit unless you are squeaky clean and never ever speed or make mistakes, which we all do occasionally whether intentionally or not.... we need better training, a systematic approach and not more rules, regulations, penalty points and bureaucratic, expensive, unimplementable, time wasting bollox.
I always (well nearly always) double declutch in the car. I know that it's not meant to be necessary, but I do it for the noise. I think it's a hangover from biking. It sounds cool. I can't help feeling it's quite good for the clutch. Alfa is still on its first one after about 115'000 miles, but maybe that is par for the course. I've also got well into saving fuel, so, unless in a big hurry, I try to brake as little as possible. This generally means not slowing down for the corners - I let my fat tyres (my car is ridiculously over-tyred for the horsepower) take care of things. Keeps things more interesting and costs less at the pump.
I'd never claim to be a great rider or driver, but two full winters dispatching in the great metropolis, much motorcycle touring, and thereafter roughly 50,000 miles a year in the car, I've got a rough idea of what I need to do to stay alive. And after more than 3 decades on the road I've decided the following: Fast drivers are rarely a problem - Go ahead and kill yourselves guys, but try not to hit anyone else. Young women have no road sense whatsoever, and are far and away the worst offenders when it comes to using mobile phones. Young men are a lot slower than they used to be - presumably their insurance is so cripplingly expensive they can't afford to make any kind of mistake. They still hog lane 3 though, and get arsey when you point it out to them. BMW GS riders should still be wearing L-plates - and should get the fuck out of the fast lane before I torpedo the fuckers Lorry drivers should be lobotomized so that they follow the rules blindly. Aggregate lorry drivers should be castrated to remove some of their testosterone. Pensioners should be banned from driving at the weekends. Audi drivers can only race in a straight line. Coppers break as many rules as every other road user. Cyclists should be shot. Then revived. then shot again. Then put on the cycle lane that was purpose-built for them at great expense, and told not to stray off it ever again. And they should be insured and carry a registration plate so when they inevitably scratch the fuck out of your car you can get the bastards to pay for it.
Figgy, you forgot about cab drivers and private hire drivers (a sat nav does not make you a taxi driver)
There was a feature on Paris taxis on TV a couple of days ago. It got me thinking that if there is one thing that Britain rules the world in (well, London at any rate) it's black cabs. In central London you can get a cab in seconds normally (unless it's Friday night rush hour in the rain). The cabbies know just where they are going without a sat nav and generally make amusing conversation - and are actually from London. In Paris and many other towns (with the notable exception of New York) the cabs are just cars. In Paris they are an invisible silver colour. The cabbies often don't know where they are going, and their conversation is uninteresting. Try getting a cab in Paris. A waste of time. You'll have arrived by public transport well before you have finally hunted one down. In fact in just about every other city, what passes for a taxi is in fact a minicab, driven by an immigrant of some description. In Liverpool you get black cabs too, and they were great value for money in the 80s at least. But the moment you crossed the Mersey, your cabbie was lost. I used to have to leave them with directions to get back from Birkenhead to Liverpool - pathetic in London terms, it's all the same conurbation (and not that big).
Good point. People who are driving fast, or trying to drive fast, even if they are not very good at it, are at least paying close attention to the road. That makes all the difference. It is people whose attention is focussed mainly on something else who are the real problem.
what a load of tosh.............anyone can put their foot down with or without paying attention........
