Biggest menace on the road

[philsussex]

Fiat drivers.

Citroens too.

 

[Skaville]

Right now it's my missus. She's eight months pregnant and her spacial awareness is shot. A month ago she pranged the old car, last weekend she caused £200 worth of damage to the new one. She's a bloody liability

 

[Driver8]

Rover drivers. Usually old men with facial hair doing half the speed limit.

 

[tedebear]

Right now it's my missus. She's eight months pregnant and her spacial awareness is shot. A month ago she pranged the old car, last weekend she caused £200 worth of damage to the new one. She's a bloody liability

You got her pregnant - you pay the price!!

 

[jakarta]

On my commute its usually balding men in mondeos, white van drivers or people (guessing usually men) on motorbikes....

Everyone above is in a hurry, and need to be infront of everyone else sooner than everyone else...plain old selfishness really, bought about by being unhappy with their lot in life...

If I'm on my bike and in a hurry how can it possibly cause you a problem, I am past you in a moment and over the horizon a minute later - what is your problem?

 

[tedebear]

If I'm on my bike and in a hurry how can it possibly cause you a problem, I am past you in a moment and over the horizon a minute later - what is your problem?

Are you the one that undertakes at Brooklands, or overtakes into oncoming traffic after the art deco flats....

I'd like to arrive at work without seing your guts all over the road because someone didn't anticipate your impatient manouvere....

 

[e77]

BMW and Van drivers.

 

[1066gull]

Oiiii!

Leave my micra alone!!

We actually speed a little too often sometimes averaging 45mph and scaring old ladies on their scooties on the pavement who i know verballed 'idiot' to me.

 

[Worthai Seagull]

All caravans should get the Top Gear treatment

LOL

 

[GlennMurray]

Squirrels and rabbits are a particular menace!!

 

[Skaville]

You got her pregnant - you pay the price!!

Yep, for the next 18 years no doubt

 

[tedebear]

Yep, for the next 18 years no doubt

Tell me about it - our 4 year old has just declared he wants a kart - as in petrol engined junior formula one model.... ouch!!

 

[1066gull]

is it just me or whenever i see a black fiat punto or black ford ka i see a really fit girl inside?

 

[jakarta]

Are you the one that undertakes at Brooklands, or overtakes into oncoming traffic after the art deco flats....

I'd like to arrive at work without seing your guts all over the road because someone didn't anticipate your impatient manouvere....

Dont live in or around Brighton & after 30 years biking can say I don't ride like that anyway - thanks for the concern though - most car drivers don't share your feelings!

 

[blue'n'white]

Twat cyclists who think they're in the Tour de France, dressed in all the gear cycling slowly 2 or 3 abreast just chatting....

100% agree mate - cyclists are the worst

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Having just driven through Italy & France I have to say British drivers are f***ing wank, over there they seem to get to 130kph on the motorways and STAY there, even in the slow lane no-one dropped below 110kph. On the slower roads they all went at or above the speed limit, in England you get slow fuckers hanging in the MIDDLE lane at 60mph and they refuse to budge over to the slow lane because some twats doing 50mph! then they INSIST in driving at 30mph in a 40zone....its bloody annoying, cars are designed to get us from A to B and I much prefer to get to B as quickly as f***ing possible, esepcially on the way home after a long day at work.....innit!


/rant

I always find if i'm following behind a driver like this who does 10 mph or more under the limit on most roads, they are also the same drivers who then decide to speed up and go at least 10mph over the speed limit once they reach a road with a 30mph speed limit!

I have never been able to work out why they feel it's unsafe to drive at 50 on a 50 mph limit road, or 40 on a 40mph road but then think that it is prefectly safe and exceptable to drive at 40+ in a 30 mph zone, usually an urban area where they are more likely to encounter unexpected things on their journey like someone stepping or running out in front of their vehicle, etc... - why?


I also agree about the people who hog the middle or outer lanes too and won't move over for faster traffic, especially when they are not overtaking and the inside lane is empty. Seems to me that once people pass their driving tests, they decide to forget the stuff they learn and just choose which rules they like and therefore follow and which they don't like and ignore - We drive on the left in this country and the outer lane(s) are there for overtaking, other countries actually fine drivers who stay in the wrong lane for no reason yet it seems to be common practice and seen as acceptable here.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

In 2008 there were 4,739 road deaths in Italy (source: DfT). This equates to 7.9 road deaths per 100,000 of population. In 2008 there were 4,275 road deaths in France (source: DfT). This equates to 6.7 road deaths per 100,000 of population, compared to the UK average of 4.3 road deaths per 100,000 of population in 2008.

Still, as long as you get home quick, right.

Italy and France both have winding mountain roads, we don't really have the same so is it a fair comparison? - How many deaths in Italy and France are caused by people overtaking on these roads when there is a short gap only to find that there is oncoming traffic coming around the next bend?

Speeding is a main factor in only a small amount of road deaths each year in this country (maybe because we are always stuck in traffic jams and unable to speed?) yet seems to be the biggest targeted factor. For example, Poor road conditions, alcohol & drugs are bigger causes of crashes and deaths on our roads but except from an occasional drink drive campaign, mainly around xmas time, when are they targeted?

Speed cameras are just an easy and lazy way to try to improve safety, but they can't tell if the driver if drunk or high or even if a driver is drifting across several lanes or following dangerously close to other vehicles infront of them etc. if they are doing the speed limit but does it make them safer than someone doing say 5mph over it but leaving enough of a gap to other vehicles etc?

There are plenty of other options that could be looked into or introduced to improve safety on the roads but don't get enough support or coverage, things like widening road shoulders, and clearing space alongside roadways to provide a bigger buffer between drivers and homes, business, trees, etc instead of the ever increasing number of roadside signs etc we seem to be getting instead. This way, if a driver does make a mistake, they have time and space in which to recover from it before potentially having a crash.

From September 2006 (found this after i had written the above comment)

Only one in every 20 road accidents is caused by the driver breaking the speed limit, the Government has admitted.Critics said the research, based on official police reports, destroyed the case for speed cameras.
It came amid a separate row over the accuracy of the Government's figures for the number of people being injured or killed on the roads, which showed a three per cent fall last year.
Critics say the figures, compiled by police, do not tally with the higher toll of hospital admissions.
Ministers have justified the explosion in speed cameras - which raised £120m last year by trapping two million motorists - by insisting that 'speed kills'.
But the first published study into the causes behind road accidents yesterday found exceeding the speed limit was a factor in only five per cent of cases.
Accidents were far more likely to be caused by drivers failing to pay attention and making mistakes, or pedestrians not looking properly.
The Department for Transport attempted to inflate the figure for speeding, claiming it was a factor in 15 per cent of accidents.
But this was only achieved by adding on the ten per cent of accidents in which drivers were considered by police to be driving too fast for the conditions - but, crucially, were not breaking the speed limit.
The Safe Speed campaign group said it was now clear the Government's 'entire road safety policy has been based on dodgy data'. It has seen the number of cameras rocket to 3,300 fixed sites and 3,400 mobile devices.
Founder Paul Smith said: 'Safe Speed has been pointing out for years that the concentration on speeding was a deadly mistake. 'Speed cameras must be scrapped.
'They have focused everyone on the wrong safety factor and have proved to be a dangerous distraction. Countless opportunities for live-saving policies have been missed - because of speed cameras.'
The 'contributory factors to road accidents report', the first of its kind, showed a total of 147,509 accidents last year.
Of these five per cent, or 7,314, had breaking the speed limit as a factor. This rose to 12 per cent, or 325, for accidents which ended in a fatality.
The police deciding the driver was going too fast for the conditions was a factor in a further 10 per cent of all accidents, or 15,436, and in 14 per cent of those ending in a death, or 357.
More significant were people failing to look properly (32 per cent), drivers of pedestrians failing to judge the other person's speed properly and road conditions or layout (15 per cent).
Separate figures showed the number of people killed in accidents involving drink-driving fell by three per cent last year to 560.
A total of 3,201 people were killed overall on the roads, down one per cent. And the number of people seriously injured fell 7 per cent to 28,954.
Total casualties - deaths, serious injuries and slight injuries - fell three per cent to 271,017.
Cyclists killed or seriously injured rose by 2 per cent overall to 2,360, and the number of fatalities increased 10 per cent - from 134 to 148.


Read more: 'Only one in 20 road accidents caused by breaking speed limit' | Mail Online

 

[bhaexpress]

People who stop on double yellow lines to pop into a shop because they can't be bothered to walk a bit. The double yellows are not there for decoration you twats.

 

[drew]

Italy and France both have winding mountain roads, we don't really have the same so is it a fair comparison? - How many deaths in Italy and France are caused by people overtaking on these roads when there is a short gap only to find that there is oncoming traffic coming around the next bend? Exactly what percentage of Italian/French roads are actually in the mountains then.

Speeding is a main factor in only a small amount of road deaths each year in this country (maybe because we are always stuck in traffic jams and unable to speed?) yet seems to be the biggest targeted factor. For example, Poor road conditions, alcohol & drugs are bigger causes of crashes and deaths on our roads but except from an occasional drink drive campaign, mainly around xmas time, when are they targeted?

Speed cameras are just an easy and lazy way to try to improve safety, but they can't tell if the driver if drunk or high or even if a driver is drifting across several lanes or following dangerously close to other vehicles infront of them etc. if they are doing the speed limit but does it make them safer than someone doing say 5mph over it but leaving enough of a gap to other vehicles etc?

There are plenty of other options that could be looked into or introduced to improve safety on the roads but don't get enough support or coverage, things like widening road shoulders, and clearing space alongside roadways to provide a bigger buffer between drivers and homes, business, trees, etc instead of the ever increasing number of roadside signs etc we seem to be getting instead. This way, if a driver does make a mistake, they have time and space in which to recover from it before potentially having a crash.

From September 2006 (found this after i had written the above comment)

You have cited a lot of stats there but the crucial one is missing. Of the total of 3,201 people killed and 28,954 injured, how much did speed affect the severity of the outcome. Speed in itself isn't necessarily dangerous, for example, just because you are speeding doesn't mean you are responsible for an accident. It is nearly always human error but the effects are exacerbated by speed. People don't like cameras because it means they get caught breaking the law.

What is required is that local authorities should keep the revenue from cameras rather than it going into central government and that should be used to introduce traffic calming measures where necessary. Also, there should be more prosecutions of people caught driving badly. For example, the video cameras on motorways could be used as evidence or the Police should use their on board cameras to actually charge people for such things as cruising in the middle lane, having your fog lights on when visibility is actually ok, tailgating (especially lorries) etc and actually publicise these convictions to drive the message home, rather than just pull them over and give them a 'talking to'.

 

[Icy Gull]

Vauxhall Zafira drivers seem to be family men who, when driving alone, develop a high level of anger and drive what is essentially a van at high speed on just about any road. Generalisations are rash but I see so much crazy driving by men in Zafiras.