BS: New rules of the road for the UK

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Senoufou
Date: 21 Feb 22 - 04:51 AM

Chauffeured'. Tut tut, my French has deteriorated now that I'm not speaking to my ex-husband every day!

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Senoufou
Date: 21 Feb 22 - 04:50 AM

I do admire anyone brave enough to drive abroad. I don't think I could handle driving on the right, with everything reversed. (I'm a bit challenged spatially!) I have travelled widely, on the Continent, Africa and Canada, but was always 'chauffered', never driving myself.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: BobL
Date: 21 Feb 22 - 04:18 AM

Thank God, my first experience of driving on the continent was on a camping trip with the Scamp Owners' Club (in this thing).
In a convoy, no worries at roundabouts, just look in every direction then follow the car in front!

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 20 Feb 22 - 07:20 AM

When I was working in Italy, near Milan, I discovered the joy of driving round roundabouts the ‘wrong-way’ (anti-clockwise) on the ‘wrong’ (i.e. right) side of the road, and where vehicles joining the roundabout have priority over vehicles already on it - everything the opposite way to UK roundabouts.

After about six weeks I’d just about got used to it. Piece of piss from then on! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Feb 22 - 06:26 AM

I get tailgated even when I'm exceeding the speed limit, which of course I never do <>(innocent whistling emoji)

Don't get me started on wot people do at roundabouts. Mind you, a few years ago I hired a car for a week on Cyprus (where they drive on the left). I was warned that most people there had passed their driving test before roundabouts were introduced. Well talk about wild west... I concluded that the safest thing to do was probably to shut your eyes, put your foot down and whip over the roundabout in a flash...!

The very first moments of my driving on the right were when I drove my car off the Plymouth-Santander ferry in Santander. The first thing you encounter outside the ferry terminal is a huge, complex roundabout with traffic lights everywhere, high and low (it was near-impossible to work out which ones applied to you...). Total confusion... I must say, the Spanish drivers were very patient, almost certainly because they'd worked out from my number plate that the car was being driven by a British tosser... I made it...somehow...

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 20 Feb 22 - 06:21 AM

when I am being tailgated, I slow down to a speed where I am satisfied that the car behind is a safe stopping distance. Either they will get the message, or overtake whether or not it is safe for oncoming traffic if they do so, but then that become their problem.

Another pet gripe when I am in pedestrian mode are traffic islands. Pedestrians forget that their sole function is to allow impatient drivers to overtake at speed on the wrong side of the road. Traffic islands must never be used by pedestrians when crossing the road.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Senoufou
Date: 20 Feb 22 - 06:07 AM

They are indeed Steve. I always have driven to the speed limit where it's safe and possible to do so. I'm not a 'dawdler'. But there's always some twit who apparently wants me to break the speed limit. I'm not driving a helicopter. This occasionally happens at roundabouts, where the idiot behind me wants me to zoom out and get on the roundabout, even if there is traffic on it, which of course has right of way. It's very intimidating, and now I shall be quite alone in my Fiesta, trying to be brave. 'Big girl's pants on Eliza!'

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Feb 22 - 05:18 AM

I make every effort to let tailgaters get past me. It's selfish I know, as they then tailgate the next car in front. It's amazing how often you get tailgated when there's absolutely nothing you can do to speed up, as with being in a line of traffic for example. Bellends.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: BobL
Date: 20 Feb 22 - 03:55 AM

I inadvertently discovered one way of dealing with tailgaters, back in the days when I was honing my engineering skills on a series of geriatric Minis.

A perennial problem with the sideways engine was oil surge: on right-hand bends, the oil would slosh to the end away from the oil pump, and if it was below the recommended level (not unknown in old cars) you lost oil pressure. On this particular occasion I went round a sharp right-hander and the oil light came on. No problem: shove her in neutral, switch off, coast for a few seconds, switch on again and bump start. This last resulted in a short sharp deceleration - without brake lights - before the engine fired and normal operation was resumed. The driver behind backed off rather quickly.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: G-Force
Date: 19 Feb 22 - 08:56 AM

People who drive wearing a hat. Especially a flat cap. Dire warning.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Senoufou
Date: 19 Feb 22 - 07:04 AM

I'm just so thankful that there isn't a single motorway in Norfolk. Hurray!

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Feb 22 - 06:05 AM

Just avoiding frequent lane-switching like that is not necessarily middle lane-hogging. If it's dead busy it's OK to stay for longer in the middle as long as you are not causing a balls-up behind you. As soon as it's clear in front, then you should retreat to the inside. The best motorway "rule" is to drive so that there's lots of space all around. No tailgating (unless it's Mr Red in front of you, in which case drive six inches from his bumper and honk and flash like crazy - I haven't forgotten what he said about tailgaters a few years ago!), no bunching, no lane-hopping, etc., and falling asleep is not an option!

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Senoufou
Date: 19 Feb 22 - 02:46 AM

When I did Prison Visiting, I often had to navigate my way around the M25 (a motorway that circles London). I always tried to stay in the inside lane (which apparently you're supposed to do unless overtaking) but every few minutes, traffic was joining the motorway from the left, including large lorries, so everyone had to shift over to the middle lane to allow them to enter. But it was tricky - the people already in the middle often refuse to budge over, and there was often a bit of a tussle. At 70mph, that's rather dodgy!
I can't imagine doing those trips nowadays.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 18 Feb 22 - 09:29 PM

fast trigger finger

when I was driving in the 70s I once passed some "oldies out for an airing" at less than the 35mph speed limit.

I am their age now ...

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 18 Feb 22 - 09:25 PM

When I'm being driven about by friends or bus drivers, I'm often mentally singing ... driving in the middle lane, driving in the middle lane, Not too fast, not too slow ...

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Feb 22 - 07:57 PM

Uptick for that, Sandra. So brilliant, so infuriating!

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 18 Feb 22 - 07:37 PM

here in the Land of Oz, many of our drivers do the same, & drivers need more than 100% concentration. I was reminded of this song video

DRIVING IN THE MIDDLE LANE by Harvey Andrews

I spend far more time in the car than on stage. This is a road rage controller. Learn the chorus and sing it next time you get behind one of these… it helps the blood pressure.

I'm driving in the middle lane
Driving in the middle lane
Not too fast, not too slow
That's the way I like to go
I never use the inside lane
Never use the inside lane
You can flash, you can toot,
I don't give a hoot
I'm staying in the middle lane

You may see me as a pest
You don't think I've passed my test
But I do what I do best
Brain in neutral, mind at rest

Sometimes drivers get too close
Sometimes they get bellicose
Shake their fists, get quite verbose
Me, I just stay comatose

So if you should see ahead
That middle lane hog that you dread
Don't you wish that moron dead
It could be me, so join instead
And we can have a convoy!
Imagine, everybody driving in the middle lane
No one on the inside lane
No one on the outside lane
Everybody in the middle lane
Going back mile after mile after mile
That's my idea of heaven
Especially when I'm towing my caravan

from The Gift, released January 1, 2001

sandra (who drove for 3 years, then sold her car in 1978, bought a trolley & became a public transport user)

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Feb 22 - 07:12 PM

Exactly! And in shop entrances. If you're completely unaware of who's around you, you are an amoeba, not a human being....

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 18 Feb 22 - 06:42 PM

Stopping just round corners?...... Sounds a bit like those who stand at the top of escalators (not) making up their mind where they are going.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 08:28 PM

So the old boy in front of me is turning left into the little country lane, and so am I. But oh, he's not sure where he's going - so what does he do? He stops as soon as he's got round the corner and I'm stranded behind him with the arse-end of my car sticking out into the main road...

Thank God for horns, flashing headlights and expletives...

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 06:01 PM

I'm certain that some people round here wear out their brake linings within a day. You get behind these idiots and their brake lights flicker on about forty times a minute. There are people who brake every single time they see a vehicle coming in the opposite direction. We have a long, gentle hill going down into Bude. I've been behind people who are on the brake pedal for the whole length of that hill. And anyone who has to brake when they are driving uphill approaching a bend should be banned for life.

And as for middle lane hogs...

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 05:05 PM

???

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: The Sandman
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 11:24 AM

I do adore living in the countryside, but there are some drawbacks in ireland, I met one to day a... Cork City, Langer.
he said, so why are you not walking down that lane, you cant just stop and give up, so i replied, i will walk where i like.
so he said, where are you from with an accent like that,Germany?
I replied, i will walk where i like, when i like, but since you ask my partner has not got suitable boots. he replied well you and your type had better not stay here in g.....n

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Senoufou
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 10:45 AM

And during harvest time, the gigantic 'comboin arrrvesters' trundling along cause no end of difficulties. They consist of the main vehicle, followed by the detached rotary blades pointing forward. They're contractors too, so they travel from one end of Norfolk to another.
I do adore living in the countryside, but there are some drawbacks, especially now that I absolutely must drive myself about. And our lanes are quite narrow.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: G-Force
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 10:37 AM

Talking of dipped headlights, I hate the old (and I'm 73) idiots who dawdle along at night on dipped lights even when there's no traffic in front of them or coming the other way, so you can't see to overtake them. Put your mainbeam on!

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 10:35 AM

You just described rural Lincolnshire driving, Steve. The only thing you missed out was the millions of seemingly bottomless pot-holes! :-(

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 09:50 AM

The biggest irritation round here is tractors. In the good old days, when farmers actually did some work, you knew that the tractor wouldn't be in front of you for long as the farmer was just carting stuff from one field to another. These days it's mostly hired contractors and they can be going for mile after mile in front of you. The majority are either oblivious to the jam forming behind them or actually enjoying the chaos they're creating. Oh, and then you can be the second car behind the tractor, but the car in front of you won't take a punt to overtake. You're stuck, because while you could get past just the tractor, there's no way you can get past the two of 'em. B*ast*ards, the lot of em... And don't get me started on tractors with no number plates spewing shit on the road behind them, no sidelights or brake lights and those two powerful headlights, undippable and very close to each other...

God, I love this...

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Senoufou
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 07:51 AM

Ha ha Steve, I've seen all those types of bad driving in Norfolk, especially those who pull out onto the main road from a side road without even looking. And those 'oldies' who dawdle along 'admiring the view' (or just unaware) at a silly, slow pace on a 50 or 60mph road, provoking overtaking (often on dangerous bends) by the frustrated people behind them.
I was a very good, positive driver for decades ( completely clean Driving Licence, and not even a prang) until I stopped taking the wheel, letting my (ex) husband do the driving. Now that he's left me, I absolutely must bite the bullet and pull up my big girl's pants!

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 07:41 AM

You forgot…

1) Driving with front and/or rear fog lights on when visibility is not significantly reduced by thick fog. Especially annoying at night.

2) Driving at night at a steady 40mph on roads which are subject to, and suitable for driving at up to, the National 60mph limit, apparently oblivious to the queued traffic piling up behind you.

On the topic of speed humps, we have a lot in my locality which are high and steep enough to cause damage to cars if approached at anything more than walking pace - on one in my road I broke a front spring on my Golf doing no more than 15mph and a neighbour cracked his van’s sump. I therefore reserve the right to slow down to a crawl… ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 07:19 AM

Now some of you guys need to see what it's like living in a seaside retirement area:

Pulling out without looking

Pulling out in front of you when there is no other traffic on the road then driving extremely slowly

Terrible positioning when turning right, causing a huge queue to form behind

Failing to notice the lights changing at road works then driving through them at snail's pace

Almost completely stopping even on the very gentlest of road humps

Crawling along the coast road at 15mph "to enjoy the scenery"

Not signalling

Not cancelling signalling

Not having a clue about what you do at roundabouts (we have a particular mini-roundabout which gets more conversations going than the weather, usually due to total traffic paralysis)

Taking up three parking spaces ("I can't risk getting boxed in")

Not putting your bloody car between the white lines in car parks

Not putting your car at the end of the parking bay (an offence that deserves no less than slow and painful testicle removal)

Feel free to suggest additions. One last thing. All towed caravans should be taxed at £10,000 per month and motor homes should be allowed on the road between the hours of 2am and 4am only, and should only ever be parked deep inside dense pine forests at least one mile along a dirt track from the main road.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Senoufou
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 04:04 AM

Well, I managed a second trip over to Fakenham yesterday (I thought I'd avoid Storm Eunice which is due tomorrow) and it went quite well, apart from some twit who tailgated me a little too closely. I was doing the speed limit of 50mph (speed signs visible all along that part of the route). I wonder what speed he'd have preferred me to do? 80? 90? And would he have paid my fine?
I am a little concerned about these electric scooters using the pavements. There are so many elderly folk in this part of Norfolk, and scooters whizzing along can be a hazard for them. But, being fair, a scooter out in the road is in danger too.
There is an added hazard round here of cars parking actually on the pavement. Breaking the law I think, but no Police around. Prams, mobility scooters etc have to move on to the road to avoid them.
We should all be driving little horse-drawn carts, like the one my neighbour used to drive when she delivered farm milk in the fifties!

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 03:30 AM

Ae you suggesting that pedestrians should continually look behind them for cyclists and electric scooter riders and ensure that there is room for them to bomb past at all times, or stop using the pavement? What is the betting if you are hit and injured walking along the pavement the insurance companies will refuse to insure them so that the injured party can make a claim against the iunsurance company as soon as they are insured.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: BobL
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 03:09 AM

Absolutely Sen. Anyone who thinks that another road user shouldn't be on the road, shouldn't be on the road.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Senoufou
Date: 16 Feb 22 - 05:58 AM

I think it all boils down to the words 'consideration' and 'common sense'. These are qualities some people don't possess, which probably causes most accidents on the roads.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: G-Force
Date: 16 Feb 22 - 05:27 AM

I don't care who has right of way, if there's a 20-ton lorry coming I'm not going to walk out in front of it.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Senoufou
Date: 16 Feb 22 - 04:30 AM

My lovely neighbour (the shepherdess/vet nurse) has a mare called Eleisha. She was riding her along our narrow village lanes one morning when a minibus full of secondary school pupils overtook her, with merely a few centimetres to spare. The pupils shouted and jeered through the open windows and the mare tried to bolt. Luckily, my neighbour is a brilliant rider and managed to get Eleisha under control. She complained later to the school, and on our village Facebook. I hope this doesn't happen again!

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 16 Feb 22 - 03:37 AM

Don't get me going on selfish attitudes, SPB! There is the entitled brigade in all camps, there is the "what I'm doing is more important" crew and, sadly, there are even pedestrians (usually teenage girls but there are others) who's world comprises entirely of themselves and their mobile phones.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 05:13 AM

My little rant was directed at people who deliberately drive/cycle/scoot dangerously without any consideration for anyone except themselves.

I know people make mistakes or let their attention slip for a moment.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: BobL
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 03:32 AM

I've said it before and will say it again: motorists, if you get the chance to go on an IAM Advanced Driving course, take it. Even if you don't get as far as taking the test, some of the good habits should nevertheless stick if you let them.

At least, that's what I like to think happened in my case.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Feb 22 - 07:29 PM

The last time I looked at a Highway Code properly was when I was seventeen and five months old, in the waiting room waiting for the examiner to call me in. It was in Bury, a week before Christmas, and it was sleeting, and I did my emergency stop on a cobbled back street. That was fifty-three years ago (I passed first time). Driving is a learning curve and a gig unto itself and it can't be expressed in a theoretical little book full of neat diagrams which show roads and cars as they are not. I know the rules of the road and I get bloody annoyed with many a driver, but I know that consideration to other road and footpath users is the name of the game and costs nothing. The most important thing is to pay attention to what you're doing behind the wheel as though it is the very first time you got to drive without your L plates on.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 13 Feb 22 - 06:29 PM

The new rules (Highway Code)has a number of serious ommissio0ns which put the lives of pedestrians in danger. I would add:

(1) Pedestrians who are using the pavement are personally responsible for ensuring their own safety and must always ensure that they provide adequate space to ensure that cyclists and electric scooter riders illegally riding on the pavement are not inconvenienced.

(2) There is no obligation for motorists and cyclists to stop at pedestrians controlled crossings as they do not risk collision with another vehicle. Pedestrians should wait for all oncoming traffic to stop before attempting to cross the road, and pedestrians should never cross when traffic has stopped in case cyclists and electric scooter users decide to pass stopped vehicles and jump the lights.

(3) Motor cycles and moped delivering fast food have priority to park on the pavement while waiting for next deliveries over pedestrians walking on the pavement. If pedestrians are forced to walk in the road, they have right of way over motor vehicles using the road.

Probably many more omissions but these are all I can think of for the moment.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 13 Feb 22 - 04:24 PM

98...

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Senoufou
Date: 12 Feb 22 - 05:54 AM

Hee hee thank you Backwoodsman! I suppose it's like riding a bike, roller-skating or swimming, one never really loses the knack.
I quite agree that one must give cyclists, pedestrians, horses etc a wide berth when overtaking - seems blooming obvious to me!
My father used to say that one drives according to ones character - aggressive and pushy, timid and hesitant, devil-may-care etc. and I think he was right.
I even got my Fiesta back into my garage (it's rather a narrow doorway!)
Another celebratory crumpet later I think!

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 12 Feb 22 - 05:49 AM

Congratulations, Sen!

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Senoufou
Date: 12 Feb 22 - 05:46 AM

Well, yesterday I 'pulled up my big girl's pants', got into my little Fiesta and drove the thirteen miles over to the supermarket. Surprisingly, the 'knack' had never left me, and it all seemed to be fairly straightforward. No cyclists about (a working day) and very few cars on the road.
Parking was trouble-free, and I got back to my village with the groceries feeling very triumphant!
Neighbour made me a celebratory cup of tea, and I now feel I can do this every week.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Tunesmith
Date: 10 Feb 22 - 06:12 PM

It's interesting about the new rule about giving way to pedestrians when turning at a junction because nobody took any notice of the old rule about giving way to pedestrians who were already crossing the road.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: BobL
Date: 08 Feb 22 - 04:12 AM

My own experience was that on a bike, whether push- or motor-, I was a lot more aware of what was going on around me than when I progressed to being shut in a metal box (which might have been behind my preference for soft-tops).

Over the years I discovered several occasions when one might have to drive slowly, such as searching for something along the route or trying to get to the next filling station with the electric petrol pump rattling ominously as it starts to pump air. Eventually, I came to regard driving as a team activity - it's not you versus the other road users, it's you and them together, versus the clock. And the clock is not in a hurry.

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 07 Feb 22 - 10:52 AM

Been there (many, many times!), done that, Dave!

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 07 Feb 22 - 10:46 AM

It used to be a good afternoons entertainment to sit at the bottom of the very steep Winnat's Pass in Castleton and watch the high speed cyclists panic when they spotted the cattle grid at the end :-D

Subject: RE: BS: New rules of the road for the UK
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 07 Feb 22 - 10:38 AM

Cyclists are not always "slow moving vehicles" - at least, around here they are not! Emerging from our side street on to an A road in my car, carefully keeping just on the 30 mph limit, there's a downhill stretch where speeding cyclists often overtake or "undertake" cars. At their own risk, as the road is also riddled with potholes: one such cyclist hit one and flew through the air, eventually landing up on the pavement on the opposite side of the road! Luckily no traffic coming the other way as he hurtled across.