1. Wannabe Racers
Speeding has to be the No1 most dangerous activity you can embark on. We’re not talking about a few extra miles an hour on the Highway/Motorway; we’re looking at the complete scum who use our roads as racetracks.
Generally, the worst offenders are young men who have recently being let loose on the roads. Their first stop after gaining their licence is the Motorist Discount shop for some speedy stripes, a Fat Boy exhaust and a racing steering wheel.
They’re young, ignorant full of testosterone and DANGEROUS!
Spot them, keep well clear, and get them listed. Unfortunately there’s not much more you can do other than wait till they either grow up, loose their licence, or kill themselves (along with other innocent motorists).
If YOU are prone to screaming around the streets, putting our children in extreme danger then GROW UP!
If you want to experience the thrill of speed then book into the nearest racetrack. They will welcome you with open arms, teach you how to speed safely and ensure you get the most from the driving experience.
It is a proven fact that, on an average excursion the difference in journey time when driven sensibly and at breakneck speed, is a matter of minutes.
It is the perception of speed that makes a journey seem quicker but in actual fact there’s very little difference, and are those few minutes worth risking life and limb for???
To make any real headway speeding there needs to be a significant boost to the ‘average’ journey time and on today’s roads this is almost impossible. Next time you’re piling on the speed in the outside lane, overtaking all those ‘sensible drivers’, take note of how many catch you up at the next red light or busy junction.
Let’s look at an average journey across town. Speed limits are 30 mph.
Let’s try to reduce the journey time by breaking every law of the road and risking the lives of everyone and their dogs!
To do this you will need to raise the average speed above 30. To achieve this higher average speed will entail peaks and troughs in velocity, the peaks are going to be up to 50, 60, even 80 mph to compensate for dropping below 30mph.
Now after all that, what have you achieved?
If the journey takes you half an hour at 30mph and you manage to raise the average speed to 40mph (which takes some doing!) all you manage to save your self is a measly 7.5 minutes, and believe me you’ve got to drive like a bat out of hell to do this.
You’ve actually got to break the speed limit to keep an average speed of 30 mph in a 30 limit – you’ll find that your average speed in a 30 limit is more like 15 – 20 mph because of all the hold ups.
You generally only save a few minutes at most by speeding but you arrive stressed out, pumped and aggressive – take your time, slow down a little, it’s good for you, your health and the lives of others!
2. Insider Idiots
Undertaking on Highway/Motorway.
This is an exceptionally dangerous manoeuvre by ignorant, impatient drivers. Often the undertaker is putting themselves in an extremely hazardous position, as the car they are undertaking cannot see them, and when they innocently pull into the slower lanes suddenly they find the undertaking idiot in that space.
In severe cases the undertaker is driven off the road causing an accident for genuine road users.
3. Up Your Butt!
Tailgating.
Driving so close to the driver in front that the safe stopping distance is compromised.
Not only is tailgating off-putting for the driver being intimidated, but the offender can’t possibly see what’s happening ahead as their vision is blocked by the car or van in front.
The further you drop back the narrower the blind spot created by the car in front.
Good drivers never watch the car immediately ahead, they are looking past it so see what’s further on. Often, once you see the brake lights of the car you’re following it’s too late – you need to know what the diver ahead will be stopping for before they do!
Yes, it can be frustrating if a driver hogs the overtaking lanes and drives well below the speed limit – don’t tailgate!
Stay calm, take their number and put them in Driver’s Revenge. If they continue to be a pain in the backside, flash them out of the way, but don’t compromise your own safety.
If you find yourself in the overtaking lane and being intimidated by a flash git in their fast car driving on your rear bumper, headlights ablaze, then first check your speed.
If you are driving well below the limit then you really are in the wrong, but that’s no excuse for the person behind to drive so aggressively.
Stay calm, pull into the inside lane at the VERY FIRST OPPORTUNITY, and take the tailgater’s number – you know what to do with it!
4. The Cretins Are Passing!
Dangerous Overtaking – You’re peacefully drifting along, listening to your favourite music and minding your own business when some absolute retard decides to overtake the line of traffic you’re stuck in.
Problem is, they run out of clear road and their only manoeuvre to avoid a head on collision with the terrified driver coming in the opposite direction is to force their way into the space between you and the car in front.
You have considerately left a safe stopping distance that is now filled by an ignorant imbecile. You have to slow down to restore the safe stopping distance, which in turn means the people behind you have to do the same.
Get that Roadhog’s number!
5. Ferocious Fog Lights
It is actually illegal in many countries to drive with your rear fog lights on when the weather conditions don’t require them. Fog lights are 10x brighter than rear driving lights and as a result are not only exceptionally dazzling and off putting to drive behind, but worse still, they render brake lights almost invisible!
Fog lights are for fog!
Not rain, or drizzle, or a bit of mist, but FOG, pea soup that seriously reduces visibility to a few tens of yards.
Turn fog lights on to help other road users see you in times of seriously reduced visibility, but don’t dazzle and distract them by not turning them off when conditions clear– there’s no excuse for it other than ignorance and lack of awareness.
6. Dazzling Duckheads!
Not Dipping Headlights
Don’t you just hate it when some birdbrain comes round a bend with halogens ablaze; you end up with big black spots burned into your retina and for the next couple of minutes wouldn’t see even an elephant if it wandered in front of you (you’d probably be well lost at that point if one did though!).
There really is no reason to not dip – when driving at night the loom of the oncoming car’s light can be seen several seconds before the car rounds the bend or tops the hill – this is the moment to dip – NOT WHEN YOU ACTUALLY SEE THE WHITES OF THEIR EYES!
Once you have site of an oncoming car’s lights it’s too late, you’ve already dazzled them and at night this really is very dangerous. If you don’t dip in plenty of time you risk leaving some poor person wrapped around the tree on the sharp bend they didn’t see because you blinded them.
7. Lane Hogs
Hogging the OVERTAKING lanes – Understand this: The outer lanes of a Highway/Motorway are not the fast lanes, the cruising lanes, the lanes that you sit in for making phone calls – THEY ARE OVERTAKING LANES.
The rule of the road is to KEEP TO THE INSIDE LANE UNLESS OVERTAKING.
Hogging the centre lanes forces traffic into the outer lanes creating congestion.
I can guarantee that if road user’s just abided by this simple concept traffic congestion in busier areas would be significantly reduced.
KEEP LEFT OR GET LISTED IN DRIVERS’ REVENGE AS A “LANE HOG’!
8. Pedestrians’ Nightmare
Intimidating Pedestrians – Walkers are road users too!
Show them some respect – if someone wants to cross the road, let them. No journey is urgent enough to scare the crap out of people going about their daily business – especially when they’re on a pedestrian crossing!
9. Hopping Mad!
Lane Hopping in a Jam – It’s aggressive, stressful and simply just doesn’t work.
Many experiments have been conducted to see if you really can get ahead by constantly swapping to the faster moving lane. All lanes in a jam speed up and slow down. What inevitably happens is that your lane slows and you get stuck in it for a few seconds whilst waiting for someone’s safe stopping space you can squeeze into.
Whilst doing this the cars you fought so hard to get by earlier calmly overtake you.
It really is a case of 3 steps forward, two steps back. Admittedly you can get ahead Lane Hopping but the savings V stress are not worth it. We really are talking about exiting the jam just a minute or two quicker , if at all and no matter how frustrating it is sat in the gridlock it’s better for all concerned if you simply put on some soothing music and take it on the chin – we all hate jams but they’re simply a part of driving on today’s congested roads.