OT: Thoughtless drivers

[whiskychaser]

We've had a drop or two of rain in the UK over the last day or so. This video is of the main road between Oldham and Huddersfield today. Before they built the M62 this would have been THE road Lancs to Yorks. The commentary is my own and as I didnt know I was being recorded is 'candid'. Check it out and let me know if you think the drivers coming the other way were just fine...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm2K2ajpdO0

[Zeuk in Oz]

Don't see what you are complaining about .....

Free car wash ! :D

[fin]

Nice Weather.

One of the things that we teach drivers in the midwest USA is not to drive through standing water. In town it might be OK, but definitely
not in the countryside.

If it is near a river or a low area running perpendicular to the road the flowing water may wash the road away (Very Bad) or float your car downstream (Very, Very Bad).

On Interstate 35 south of the Minneapolis, there is a low spot where the median is removable so that the Minnesota River can flood the road instead of taking out the bridge half a mile away. Strangely, the lowest spot is the location of a VW dealership with not much else around (Stubborn Germans?).

We call that kind of rain shower a 'gully washer'. And -20 celsius 'brisk'!

Cheers,

Fin

[Ross]

Dumfuks who go crashing through ought to be the victim of their own bow waves.
Take heart in knowing these are the same *******s who eventually need rescue because they stalled out.

[Ferret]

Urgh, typical white van man...

Is that a rover 400 or a honda you're in? :P Seems eerily similar to my dads old 220GTi.

On a more serious note down here amongst the dirty southerners we have the exact opposite problem. People balk at the floods and wont go through them when it's painfully obvious they're only 2-3 inches deep.

Currently I have to wade the car through 4 floods each way to work... and there's always someone that does a random emergency stop at the start of the flood and causes a major traffic jam. (Instead of slowing to a crawl and entering the flood sedately - I'm talking full blown instant handbrake effect)

I'm not saying caution isnt necessary - I personally wont go through floods at more than about 5 mph as the little 12 year old thugs around here are prone to throwing boulders into floods... a guy at work lost most of his front bumper to an intentionally submerged rock last summer.


!Rant Alert!
While we're on the subject of thoughtless driving I'm getting sick to the back teeth of people flying up to a roundabout, looking straight at you (while you're coming round the roundabout about to go past their turning) - looking but not actually seeing becuase they're so effing brain dead - not even braking and just flying onto the roundabout on a path that you have to brake or risk running into them.

Recently this has been happening to me twice a day (even on the TDs before I swapped to the 540) ... are E34's invisibile? I've got so sick of it that I just let the natural course of things happen now, dont brake and end up running them off the roundabout. They can **** right off, brain dead morons!

On a lighter note it's very amusing to watch what happens when they realise you're not braking and they suddenly wake up :D I'm surprised I've not had a pillock spin out on me yet!

Apologies for the thread hijack sire!

[whiskychaser]

Is that a rover 400 or a honda you're in? :P Seems eerily similar to my dads old 220GTi.
!Rant Alert!
While we're on the subject of thoughtless driving I'm getting sick to the back teeth of people flying up to a roundabout, looking straight at you (while you're coming round the roundabout about to go past their turning) - looking but not actually seeing becuase they're so effing brain dead - not even braking and just flying onto the roundabout on a path that you have to brake or risk running into them.

Its a 416 auto. But that model is all Honda anyway and the motors are bullet proof. (Unlike the crap 414 twin cam Rover bodged up ). Apart from idiots who go too fast through floods, my personal rant alerts are:
1. People who do not know how to join motorways
2. People who think it is OK to pull into my stopping distance, then brake
cos they dont know how to leave motorways
3. Cyclists
4. Anyone wearing a hat in the car
My apologies to anyone offended by the frank comments in the video. Maybe you wouldnt understand the accent anyway:)

[repenttokyo]

how are you supposed to see driving into the sun unless you have a hat on?

[fin]

Turnabouts are starting to make an appearance here in the states.

Love to drive through them in the european manner, except when the locals don't know that you yield inbound. Then I give'em a blast of the hooter and make bad decisions.

The cure for the deadheads not paying attention? T-bone 'em. Right in the door. Push'em right into the weeds. As long as they are in the wrong anyway or maybe just for the fun of it. Best to do it with a clapped-out Ford. It's also hard to distinguish skid marks from burn-out marks when you mashed on the accelerator.

When I drive my Dad's '75 farm truck, I get a lot of reverence/respect in the form of traffic yielding as the dented fenders and gnarly grill has the appearance of wanton disregard for others.

I have one disagreement on your list of personal rants. You may wear a hat while driving as long as it is a suede driving hat and you are in any of the finer british topless roadsters (MGTC would be proper). While smoking a pipe and wearing a norfolk jacket would be even better. Saying "Old Chap" would be optional.

Driving through flood waters in an MGTC in this getup will only further your classification as an "eccentric". Amusing, yet daft.

Cheers,

Fin

[repenttokyo]

massachusetts has more rotaries (what you call turnabouts) than any other state in the union.

[nirvana19]

DC has quite a few circles itself, it gets complicated when you have six sets of traffic lights and 8 roads going into one circle, and various roads criss-crossing it. Love to watch people from out of town go around the circle three times before getting into the right lane to get off where they want (/that usually ends up being me lol).

[whiskychaser]

I have one disagreement on your list of personal rants. You may wear a hat while driving as long as it is a suede driving hat and you are in any of the finer british topless roadsters (MGTC would be proper). While smoking a pipe and wearing a norfolk jacket would be even better. Saying "Old Chap" would be optional.
Fin
This is a definite exception. I should also add if you are driving an old Bentley (with the handbrake outside the door) you may even wear a 'Bigles' style pilot's helmet. But a trilby / red velvet steering wheel cover combo is a clear danger sign. These drivers have moved on from Morris Minors to Nissan Micras so you have to be alert

[Ferret]

Its a 416 auto. But that model is all Honda anyway and the motors are bullet proof. (Unlike the crap 414 twin cam Rover bodged up ). Apart from idiots who go too fast through floods, my personal rant alerts are:
1. People who do not know how to join motorways
2. People who think it is OK to pull into my stopping distance, then brake
cos they dont know how to leave motorways


These are two of my biggest hates...

Do you know the M60 trafford centre junction right before the barton bridge? (going clockwise)

While a student I used to work at the trafford centre and would have to join the M60 from that junction - it's a 1/2 to 3/4 mile long uphill slip road that merges with plenty of space into the upwards hill onto the barton bridge.

I used to see one accident a week there from people not knowing how to merge to a motorway (and I only used to use it twice a week!) my mother managed to do £2.5k worth of damage to my fathers audi A4 because of some pillock that didnt know how to merge.

As usual she crested the hill doing 60 just as the merge bit is about to begin (still a good 1/4 mile before the merge ends,) eyes a ford mondeo 1/4 mile ahead just mergeing onto the motorway, looks over her right shoulder to check the blind spot, floors it to get on the motorway, turns back to face forwards and the mondeo had stopped dead on the slip road.

Did you also know that they got so sick of people mergeing like that... that if you have a major accident on the barton bridge and they deem it worthy they revoke your license automatically under a by-law they passed.


As to your second rant, that really p*sses me right off - I think that should carry an auto 6 month ban which can be convicted by camera evidence.


I had a rover 200 while at uni, hated it with a small passion becuase I had the rover single cam 1.4 k-series. It was powerful. for a 1.4 8v, but I had to do the head gasket on it twice! Quite economical as well, but I replaced it with the 525i as I graduated :D

[BigKriss]

roundabouts (they are never called turnabouts in my backward country) are seen everywhere. I hate it when some dick decides to just go in there when thery are suppossed to give way. some day (i don't don't when) i swear I will accelerate and **** them over. of course in the e34, I'm always recultant to do it. if only i had a pos second car to drive around in.

[whiskychaser]

Do you know the M60 trafford centre junction right before the barton bridge? (going clockwise)
I had a rover 200 while at uni, hated it with a small passion becuase I had the rover single cam 1.4 k-series. It was powerful. for a 1.4 8v, but I had to do the head gasket on it twice!
I know it only too well. Acres of room and then you get some idiot doing a STOP and give way manoeuvre where the slip joins the carriageway. I drive all over and the worst one I know is M60 clockwise past Stockport. They just come down that slip like lemmings. This pic was taken from the passenger seat today (not at work) so dont think I'm in two lanes! I just had an M reg 1.4 twin cam given to me. Driver's seat base came in handy for the 1.6 but not much else will:D Enjoy the pic. Dont you just miss it?:D

[Paul in NZ]

idiots....the type of people ,who if they stalled out would get absolutely no help frm me.....

[BigKriss]

whats wrong with the cars going through the water quite quickly. I couldn't see what the fuss was about??