[Travel] Any Flashers on Here? I Need Help.

[Bakero]

Or Europe

I could write a book on my years of driving the roads of Vietnam.

 

[sydney]

I could write a book on my years of driving the roads of Vietnam.

im bet .....i have 2 good mates who have almost met their ends in India and Bali , both on motorbikes , both taken out by crowded buses.....not for the faint hearted eh..? lol

 

[Napper]

Best way to deal is to get in front and jab your brakes , always sh1ts them up and pipes them down

 

[Official Old Man]

There are three occasions I will flash my lights.
On a country road when stuck behind a slow driver, when safe to overtake I flash them to let them know I'm passing. I would never flash them because of their driving.
On a motorway when someone lane hogs and I have to go from left lane all the way over to the right to pass them. Lights, horn and stare.
On any road were I'm driving at the maximum speed and someone nearly kills me, themselves or another driver when they try to overtake.

 

[WATFORD zero]

.... and if you're driving a modern fast car?

No bugger will let you out, they'll think you're a flash b*****d (In my experience )

 

[m@goo]

I drive 3 cars regularly and from this, I have deduced the following.

If you want to drive a fast car, drive an old classic sports car. No one flashes when you overtake and everyone lets you out. You can then floor it by way of a thank you

I've had a few classic Mini Cooper's and people almost expect you to drive like a bounder

 

[zefarelly]

I've had a few classic Mini Cooper's and people almost expect you to drive like a bounder

most people have become 'audio soft' to classic cars, particularly sportier ones with proper carburettors which are always nosier than modern sewing machine engines with EFI

I drove my race car round town a while back, you'd have thought I was doing 90 in a childrens playground the looks I got . . . . it just roars when you accelerate with open Weber carbs.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

I have a reasonably powerful car and I don't generally overtake to get somewhere quicker. I overtake someone going too slowly because they are going too slowly and it's boring.

Also it's just fun to overtake when safe and I only overtake when the road ahead is clear so I'm warranted in doing it.

I have a modern small SUV type family car and like you, I sometimes overtake for fun. Main reason is it has some kind of supercharger type thingy and flies like a rocket launch with a firm jab on the accelerator.

 

[drew]

I think there's one major flaw in the UK road rules for multi-lane roads:

1. It is mandatory to keep to the left if not overtaking. [That's fine]

2. It is an offence to overtake someone who sits in the right hand lane using any of the left hand lanes. [Here's the problem]

Because of Rule 2, it creates a situation where a vehicle sat in the right hand lane (a very common problem on the M25) can cause a bottle neck in all other lanes (because following traffic is worried about rule 2) OR forces following traffic to break that rule in order to overtake. The driver on the right may even consider that, if they are seen by the police, they have a plausible defence by stating "I couldn't change back to the left lanes because people were breaking the law overtaking me on the left".

Compare to Australia's laws:

1. It is mandatory to keep to the left if not overtaking. It's actually signposted clearly and regularly on multi-lane roads.

2. It is illegal to be *overtaken* on the left. The driver in the right hand land is considered at fault, because they are clearly in breach of rule 1 if they are being overtaken on the left.

As a result, drivers in Australia are far more likely to return to the left hand lanes and stay there unless they are actually over taking.

Just need to enforce the law as it stands. Fine the muppet in the right hand lane and fine the driver undertaking him. Two fines for the price of one. Realistically though, they should be using cameras to identify middle lane hoggers and sending the registered keeper the fine unless they identify the driver at the time. The more that are fined, the more that will start obeying the rule.

 

[CheeseRolls]

Phase one lockdown was noticeable for widespread considerate driving. Sadly phase two seems to have had the opposite effect and I have been quite surprised by the things that people seem to have been hacked off about. I must have had at least 5 occassions in the last week, with flashing lights or dramatic hand waving. None of the other drivers were exactly youngsters and not one of them I could say I had genuinely inconvenienced, especially if they had adjusted their own speed.

 

[Weststander]

Phase one lockdown was noticeable for widespread considerate driving. Sadly phase two seems to have had the opposite effect and I have been quite surprised by the things that people seem to have been hacked off about. I must have had at least 5 occassions in the last week, with flashing lights or dramatic hand waving. None of the other drivers were exactly youngsters and not one of them I could say I had genuinely inconvenienced, especially if they had adjusted their own speed.

There was also big speeds driven on the empty roads, ********s caught doing over 150mph. The police commented on the phenomenon.

Cycling on the Saddlescombe Road, plenty of incidents this spring of convertibles passing close by at astonishing speeds. With the highway otherwise all to themselves.

 

[GOM]

Someone in my family asks why do people have overtake-itis? His argument is that no matter what speed (slow) you're doing on a single carriageway without solid white lines, people shouldn't overtake, where does it get them? .... to a destination a minute earlier.

To which I might reply, .......and what right do they have to dictate the speed at which I drive, I'm not preventing them driving at the speed they wish to..

 

[Weststander]

To which I might reply, .......and what right do they have to dictate the speed at which I drive, I'm not preventing them driving at the speed they wish to..

I think of the examples of the A272 between Piltdown and Newick, and the A26 for example east of Isfield.

I’ve very often come across a nervy older driver, typically in a Honda Jazz, driving at 25mph or 30mph. Dashed white lines in the centre of the road.

If the road has zero oncoming traffic, what’s the harm in passing in a 60mph of 50mph? It’s legal, it’s safe.

The “entitled driver” argument has no validity on any level.

 

[GREASED WEASEL]

Driving in France is pretty straightforward

Drive as fast as you can get away with at all times

Speed limits basically indicate the minimum speed you should be driving,not maximum

Tailgating ,tooting,flashing and even waving your hands around is common place

Why? Because that's all it is,physical confrontation is very rare here

I've heard fellow brits say it's a very pleasant experience driving in France

And in the main,with a British car it will be

This is all to do with regional number plates

People know just by your number plate whether your local or not

And if your not,will cut you some slack,as you don't know the roads

French people in general are wary of foreign plates

Knowing cultures are different and the possibility of confrontation is always there

The amount of times I've gone to flash someone to go and they just sit there

Its because it's just not done here

Some of you may have noticed they don't stop at zebra crossings either

And at a stop sign you MUST stop,even at 3 o'clock in the morning with no one insight

As I found out with the local gendarmerie

Regional number plates is definitely the key to how people behave down here

 

[jackanada]

When Mrs Igzilla got her new transit van for work, she really noticed the the difference around Worthing in how she was treated by other road users. People assume she's going to drive like a moron, so they get in first.

I find that a little odd as I have never noticed drivers being less considerate when in the van as opposed to the car. In fact their is a faint cameraderie that leads other van drivers and hgvs and buses and sometimes even taxis to be more considerate.

Their is one proviso there which is that if you're driving a large vehicle other drivers of large vehicles expect you to be an expert judge wrt what gaps you can squeeze down. When you first encounter this having sized up it's a bit unnerving, but I think all of them, and now I, think if you can't cope get a smaller vehicle.

 

[jonnyrovers]

Not flashing so much, the vehicle behind you tooting the horn before the traffic lights are green a regular occurrence in London no bloody patience.

I have been known to remain stationary all the way through the green light, setting off milliseconds before red, just to pi$$ these to$$ers off.

 

[Igzilla]

I find that a little odd as I have never noticed drivers being less considerate when in the van as opposed to the car. In fact their is a faint cameraderie that leads other van drivers and hgvs and buses and sometimes even taxis to be more considerate.

Their is one proviso there which is that if you're driving a large vehicle other drivers of large vehicles expect you to be an expert judge wrt what gaps you can squeeze down. When you first encounter this having sized up it's a bit unnerving, but I think all of them, and now I, think if you can't cope get a smaller vehicle.

No, deffo the camaraderie, but car drivers assume you'll be a dick, so cut you up or pull out on you at a roundabout, amongst other behaviour

 

[ATFC Seagull]

What does my head in is when I'm driving in the countryside and sticking to 30/40mph through villages with limits, and someone gets right up behind me. On the way out of the village, but before the limit goes back up to 60, they overtake. 30 seconds later I am stuck behind them as they do 50mph on roads where they can EASILY do 60. Has happened more than once going up Coldean Lane as well.

 

[BrianWade4]

Not the thread I was expecting

 

[Weststander]

Driving in France is pretty straightforward

Drive as fast as you can get away with at all times

Speed limits basically indicate the minimum speed you should be driving,not maximum

Tailgating ,tooting,flashing and even waving your hands around is common place

Why? Because that's all it is,physical confrontation is very rare here

I've heard fellow brits say it's a very pleasant experience driving in France

And in the main,with a British car it will be

This is all to do with regional number plates

People know just by your number plate whether your local or not

And if your not,will cut you some slack,as you don't know the roads

French people in general are wary of foreign plates

Knowing cultures are different and the possibility of confrontation is always there

The amount of times I've gone to flash someone to go and they just sit there

Its because it's just not done here

Some of you may have noticed they don't stop at zebra crossings either

And at a stop sign you MUST stop,even at 3 o'clock in the morning with no one insight

As I found out with the local gendarmerie

Regional number plates is definitely the key to how people behave down here

I’ve had the painful experience of French speeding tickets reaching me once back home. Three on one journey once, all from fixed cameras not coloured brightly or visible, as they are in the UK.

A typical scenario would be a 120kph limit on an autoroute, briefly reduced to 80kph in a dead straight Alpine tunnel.

No complaints, but these must be amazing cash cows from non-locals.