Bad driving weekend

Whilst most people have been enjoying the BBQ weather this bank holiday weekend, there have been some people who've taken it upon themselves to bring sorrow and misery to the roads. 

Three times this weekend I've witnessed driving which I thought i'd never see outside of the Vodka fuelled Russian capital. 

On Sunday going along the motorway a car swerved in front of another car as it suddenly decided it wanted to stay on the motorway, and not exit. It was centimetres away from a high speed, and probably fatal accident. As I got side by side with the muppet, expecting Kermit the frog or Bert and Ernie, there was a man with a phone in one hand, and a map in the other. Not quite believing it, and deciding it was my duty to try and get him to stop what he was doing, I gave him the full duel horn affect.  he took no notice. He overtook me, still with no hands on the wheel. I decided waving my hands out the window and shouting was the next stage. Still nothing. He then decided he wanted to be in my lane, and cut in front of me.  Short of ramming him in a US police style pit manoeuvre there wasn't much I could do. He had at least got one hand on the wheel by this time. An accident waiting to happen. I was angry and wish I could legally lob a grenade into his open window.

Sunday evening now, and driving along a 60mph road, I find a car doing 30mph. I held back for a while, and then overtook when it was safe to do so. I got the flashing light treatment for this, and they decided to then speed up and follow me. The story doesn't end there however. As I neared a roundabout and slowed down to the appropriate speed to take it, I heard screeching tyres behind me and in the mirror saw the car i had overtaken, plough into the sign post on the island of the roundabout. It would seem that the reason why this driver was doing 30mph to start with is because they cant handle the car anything over this speed! Clearly they shouldn't be driving.

Monday afternoon, and the last of the bad drivers.  On a 60mph road again, and i spot some reversing lights at the side of the road. Wondering what might be about to happen, i slow to 40mph. Just as well, as a van had decided to reverse out of a driveway, straight onto this fast section of road. I had time to stop.  If i had been the drive previously revered to, i would not have noticed the reverse lights, would have panicked and swerved and ploughed into an oncoming car, or a tree.  This van then decided to do 35mph on a road which is safe for 60mph plus, and jam on its breaks for no good reason at one point as well.  I had enough and overtook on a straight, and safe section.  Now even more shocked and appalled at the state of driving skill i had witnessed during the weekend

So in summary... It is not speed that kills, it is the drivers who cant drive at 30mph, and cant handle their car anything over this speed.  You can drive fast, and safely - its just you have to know the limits of your car, and what situations are safe, and not safe!  These drivers put lives in their hands every day, and this is when the roads are dry and fairly empty. Imagine what happens when these drivers try to drive when its raining, dark, or icy.

How did they crash!?

Monday lunch time, on way to a popular shopping centre in Hampshire - coming across a head on accident on a 30mph road, was not the thing i was expecting to see. a Big cheese filled burger, and perhaps some shop lifters - yes.

The accident appears to have just happened. Two cars had gone head on, and the cars were obliterated at the front.  How they'd managed to even crash, and how they'd damaged their cars so bad is a mystery.   They must have been doing 50mph each!  More concerning though was the third car who again must have been doing over 40mph, and decided that instead of braking to avoid the crash, they'd go towards some metal railings. Great decision there, slow clap for you.  7 people then proceeded to get out of this car and all walk off in different directions! Presumably they had an important burger to eat, or were immigrants or some such.

So, the cause of this accident.  Well more than likely the cause on paper will go down as being speed. Which will mean speed camera's will be put up, and speed humps that could catch a Bowing 747 out. Yes these drivers appeared to have been speeding - but this does not mean speed was the cause.  They ineptness at driving properly is.  How did they crash on a straight road!? How did the other car not brake?  These drivers did not have the skills required for dealing with any potential hazards, and this was what caused it. People should go through a crash avoidance test either during, or just after their driving test.  There are some people id like to volunteer to be the pedestrians walking out in front of the car!

Sticking to the speed limit does not make you a good driver

Last night I had a Ford Galaxy people carrier pull in front of me out of a petrol station.  This annoyed me a little, but i decided top give the driver the benefit of the doubt. 

However, my frustration became increasinly heightened as the driver was keen on doing 5 mph, and sometimes 10mph below the speed limit.  There was no need for this, the roads were dry, there was very limited traffic about. 

Next we came upto a roundabout, and they pulled into the lane to go left, rather than ahead. Thinking what was about to happen, i stayed back - and indeed they saw their mistake and pulled back into my lane to go straight ahead.

Again, they were doing 20mph in a 30mph limit, and I was starting to wonder how I was going to be able to get away from this driver before there was a simply monumental accident.  Next we came to a larage roundabout which was busy. This time in the right lane to go straight ahead of right, but with no signal they veered off to the right. A car coming the other direction wanting to go straight ahead had not expected them to do this due to lack of signal, and had to slam on their brakes to avooid a colision. The driver who I had been following made no reaction.

So before you judge someone who going too fast on the roads, please remember for every 1 of those peoploe who may be oing 1mph over the speed limit, there is someone who thinks they are the safest driver ever because they stick well under the speed limit. Not true!

Overtaking behaviour

There has been some brilliant opportunity for some overtaking this week due to several people wanting to crawl along at ridiculously slow speeds on the way back from work. Honestly, India will have conquered how to build a Mcdonalds on the moon, before some of these people will make it home!

One person decided they would do 35mph on a 60mph road, with a long straight.  The car behind that hesitated and wanted to stick behind it, sniffing its rear exhaust. So i went for it and overtook both of them. No hastle, so fuss - overtaken safely and made it home before the next Ice Age.  That was Tuesday.

Wednesday, another one decided they would do 40mph on a 60mph road.  I didn't hesitate, i went for it and overtook as soon as it was safe, and again all was well.

No doubt it was me who was seen as the reckless driver here - but i was not taking risks, i was completely safe. If you don't think its safe, don't do it. If you hesitate, don't do it. Only perform an overtake if you are sure you can keep control of your car.

If you get overtaken constantly, surely you should be thinking "perhaps i should go a bit faster?"

White van man - lost identity

This morning I was following a white man on a 60mph road.  Now you would have thought that i would have to be really hard pushed to keep up with him, as if stereotypes are true he would have been doing about 150mph, sideways, talking on his mobile and smoking a sausage roll!

Quite the opposite - he was barely doing 30mph!  It seems he had lost his identity, and was not actually a "white van man"  - maybe he was used to riding the Teacup ride at Thorpe Park all day, and got lost on the M25, and accidentally found himself in a white van!?

Driving to work rage

I am fortunate enough to work in some buildings surrounding a country mansion house in the middle of the Hampshire / West Sussex countryside. It is a great place to work but comes with its downfalls in that it is a magnet for seriously slow and dangerous drivers! 

There is a very straight and 60mph limit road leading to a series of country roads in which the work place is situated.  Pretty much every day I get stuck behind someone doing 35mph max, who then of course turns off to go the same way as me.  The country roads can accommodate a car doing at least 40mph, but people insist on travelling 20mph.  This week i was stuck behind one such driver who did 20mph all along this road (probably thinking they were being safe)  and then at a sharp bend decided to speed up and cut the corner off.  If a car had been coming the opposite way there would have definitely been a head on crash!  More proof that people who think they are being safe because they are going slow, end up causing the accidents because they are not skilled drivers.

There used to be someone who worked for us, who used to do 15mph down this road.  His car had a huge dent in the back of his car - because he had reversed into his girlfriends house... TWICE! When trying to overtake him, he would always decide to head to the middle of the road. Now, if that doesn't speak "cannot drive, should be banned" i do not know what is.  

The driveway to work has a speed limit of 20mph and speed humps.  30mph is about the correct speed here and perfectly safe.  This week an e-mail was sent around all businesses on the estate telling people not to speed, and not to do handbrake turns in the car park! To which my only comment was.  It wasn't me - this time!

Speed doesn't cause crashes. People who cannot drive do!

Raising the Motorway limit to 80mph

The government has announced today that they will be looking at reviewing the current speed limit on the UK Motorways of 70mph, and will consider raising it to 80mph.

Their reasons for doing so are due to improved car safety the risk to life at 80mph if a crash happens is now reduced. Also that millions will be saved every year because people get to where they want to go quicker.

Firstly, WELL DONE for thinking about this, and not before time!  However, its not going to make any difference.  People will still drive at 90 - 100mph, there will be no difference to journey times, all that will happen is that the number of people getting stopped for speeding on a motorway will be reduced, meaning the police forces in the UK will have to think of another way to catch people and make money, otherwise the government will need to either cut their budgets, or raise our taxes in some other way.  It will come back to bite us in the end!

The government has also said that its only able to think about this now because its got hot on uninsured and drunk drivers.  Yes, I am sure they have - They can now take their £50 cars off them -  but that's not to say they do not exist anymore. There is always going to be some monkey who will decide car insurance is too expensive, or they've just had a few pints and they've only got to drive a few miles.  If they got hot on people who cant drive, and should be off the roads - then they could open up the motorways to an "any speed you want to" policy!  Think about how much money that would save!  Winchester to Portsmouth in 10 minutes in a Lamborghini! Yes please !

Slow drivers - cause accidents

A huge story in the news right now is the increase of car insurance, particularly for young drivers. To me this seems unjustified and an excuse to charge shocking amounts to people who just want to get in the car, and start doing handbrake turns... I mean, driving carefully.

Young people in the majority are not dangerous. They know the risks but are careful drivers.

To prove this statement:

• When I had passed my test I would only do handbrake turns when travelling well under 100mph. I have since had more experience so have now increased the speed to 125mph


• I would do a maximum of 55mph in a 30mph zone


• When it was raining i would stop driving on the pavements


• When snowing, i had an anchor to throw out the window - so in the event i started slipping out of control i could wrap it around a lamppost, or a fat man on the pavement to stop safely


• The maximum speed i would travel backwards in a car park was 35mph


• J turns were only completed on a Monday morning, during rush hour.


• My tyres were renewed whenever i heard metal grinding on the road from a blow out

The older generation of today are the cause of the accidents. Only yesterday i was sat behind a Honda Ass, sorry Jazz doing 20mph in a 60mph zone. I think the engine must have been stripped out and a small gerbil put into its place. Either that or the person driving had no knowledge of what a car is, and what they were doing. After 2 minutes of getting frustrated and about to have a nosebleed due to increased bloody pressure i overtook them. It was a straight road, i could see 200 yards in front, the road was dry, my handbrake was off. On passing the car they started to honk their horn and flash their lights. For one second i thought maybe I'd left my blow up doll on the roof, but they were in fact protesting at my unsafe driving.

I ignored them and forgot about it. 20 minutes later i drove back the other way and 2 miles along the road where i had overtaken them earlier I came across the same Honda Jazz, just in front of a mangled bicycle. The biker was fortunately ok, but it was obvious what had happened. The Honda Jazz driver was so engrained in travelling under 25mph so not to disturb the straw hat from the parcel shelf, they had not seen the cyclist and caught his bike on the bumper and knocked him off.

People should have a yearly test at the Nurburg ring to demonstrate that they can handle a car at speed, and in extreme circumstances. If they can, the maximumn insurance they should pay is £100 a year. If they cant, they should be sent home on the bus and ordered to pay road tax for the people who can drive.

Its time the insurance sector was revolutionised.