Top 10 Most Annoying Motoring Habits - These are the things that other people on the road do that really bug me.

1. Driving with Foglights on when there is perfect visibility - The rear foglight thing is bad enough, (most people simply forget to turn them off after driving through fog), but there appears to be a trend for driving around with the front foglights on all of the time, perhaps people are unaware that using front foglights in non-foggy conditions is illegal?

2. People who indicate right when they are going straight on at roundabouts - Where the hell does this come from? Is there a secret driving school that teaches its pupils to do this? Most driving sins are understandable as they are generally sins of ommission, but this is one where the perpetrator actually performs an extra, unwarranted, action.

3. People who don't bother to indicate left at roundabouts - this one bugs me especially when I am driving the service barge with the rally car behind it, I come up to a roundabout and stop because a car is apparently about to go straight on, the car then pulls off to the left and I have brought 4 tonnes of vehicle to a halt because another driver was too lazy to move his left hand 4 inches.

4. People who will not return to the inside lane on motorways/dual carriageways - Again this is more of a problem when I am towing, as I am not allowed in the outer lane on 3 lane motorways. I have on occasion come across drivers who will not move from the middle lane, in these circumstances I have to break the law in order to pass them. Usually one finds that they are turning right 274 miles down the road and thought that they had better get in their lane nice and early.

5. One-Speed-Suits-All-Driving-Conditions drivers - you know the type, they crawl along a perfectly good A-class road at 45mph then come to a busy town and continue at 45mph right the way through.

6. People who park in "No Parking" areas in order to save walking 30 yards - I frequently have trouble manouvering my truck in car parks because of these gits, my proposal, rather than wheelclamps etc, is to wipe dogsh*t on their door handles. I have suggested this at work in order to curb the illegal parking that goes on here, but for some reason my employer has yet to adopt it as official policy.

7. People who come to a halt at roundabouts/junction when there is absolutely no need to do so.

8. People who accelerate when I am passing them - this is more of a problem when you own a "low status" or small car. When I owned a Skoda, other drivers would go berserk at the thought that they were being overtaken - I had much the same problem with my Smart Car.

9. People who stop to let one car out of a junction but bring the 15 cars behind them to a halt - there is always a bit of judgement required in these sorts of situations, unfortunately a very high percentage of drivers apparently have no judgement whatsoever.

10. People who throw litter and cigarette ends out of their cars as they drive along - Antisocial areseholes! Can be dangerous, too - I have driven cars that leaked fuel on occasion, adding a lit cigarette end to that situation could prove more than interesting.

Ah well, rant over, I'm glad I got that off my chest. I reckon that we really should look at forcing people to re-take their driving tests every 5 years.

Vehicles overtaking on dual carriageways on up slopes that are only going slightly faster than the vehicle they are overtaking. Thus causing a tailback of many miles.

This activity is banned in many European countries during the peak traffic times.

Heavy vehicles overtaking at short notice so as to avoid slowing down by 1 or 2 mph - there by causing numerous vehilcles to have to cut their speed in half.

Derek

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Drivers going to slowly when there is open space in front of them!

It is so frustrating when you can see open space and the guy in front is slowing you down!

Regards

NB

1. Slight variation on BLTs first one. Those absolute brainless twats who switch their rear fog-lights on when its raining, causing dazzle and near blindness for everybody behind them.

2. People who insist on tail-gating me at 85mph on the motorway, particularly when in a continuous line of traffic.

3. Those persons who stop in the outside lane at a traffic-light controlled crossroads and wait till the lights go green before indicating a right turn.

4. Drivers who treat mini-roundabouts as if they weren't there and don't even slow down as they approach them.

5. Self-appointed speed monitors who drive at 68mph in the outside lane of three lane motorways.

6. Driving instructors who allow their pupils to drive along at 20mph in a 30mph limit. If they're not competent or confident to drive at 30 they shouldn't be on the road at all.

7. A******es in white vans (and others) who see it as good sport to cut up cyclists (particularly me!) when passing them.


Errr! - I think that's it for now

David

and don't get me going on other drivers using their mobiles when driving and ignoring everthing going on around them......!

NB

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other drivers using their mobiles when driving

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Does this imply it's OK for you to use your mobile when driving

David

I forgot one;

11. Caravans - there simply is no excuse for caravans, they are a crap way of taking a holiday and cause huge hold ups on what would be fantastic driving roads in the highlands. For the price of a half-decent caravan (a contradiction in terms!) you could stay in a good B & B or self catering accommodation for a few weeks each year for the rest of your life. I have had caravanners tell me "It has all the comforts of home", sorry but I don't take a cr*p in a cupboard at home! ( except when I am very drunk - but that is another story!)

Ditto the rear fog light thing. I think some drivers must be under the impression that using rear fog lights when it's a bit cloudy makes them safer from being hit from behind. Don't they realise that those bright rear fog lights make the all important brake lights less prominent?

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People who indicate right when they are going straight on at roundabouts - Where the hell does this come from?

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I think it used to be a highway code rule from a very long time ago.

One thing I find annoying is drivers who fail to accelerate in the acceleration lane. They dawdle along with their right indicator on and expect everyone to move over or slow right down for them.

Steve B

In London it would have to be:
1) stopping in yellow box junctions
2) stopping on pedestrian crossings (particularly buses)
3) not giving pedestrians right of way when turning into a side road
Given that all of these are infringed in 99% of cases I'm not convinced most motorists are even aware they are doing something wrong.
John

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Drivers going to slowly when there is open space in front of them!

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"Only a fool breaks the two second rule" ie he reccomended time gap between following vehicles.

The vehicle in fron of you should take into account how close the following the vehicle is and allow sufficient stopping distance for both vehicles.

Derek

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"3) not giving pedestrians right of way when turning into a side road"

I beleive that only applies when you are turning right and, for it to make much sense, it also requires you as a pedestrian to observe the rule about always walking on the right hand pavement.

I.e. in theory you should walk so that you are facing the oncoming traffic on your side of the road rather than having it come up behind you. For left turners therefore pedestrians should give way (since you can see the car coming) but for right turners the car should give way to avoid blindsiding the pedestrian.

Matthew

Quote:-

Does this imply it's OK for you to use your mobile when driving
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David,

I don't use my mobile when I am driving


NB

So called responsible parents who allow their kids to stand up on the back seat... or hold babies on their lap in the front seat! It's against the bloody law!


Clive

Actually the pedestrian has right of way at all times. This used to be a favourite question at the end of the driving test to catch people out. If a pedestrian is in the road you must give way to him.

But if the pedestrian is on the pavement and can see an oncoming car is indicating to turn left into the side road in front of them they should not step into the road as the car has right of way.

I agree if the pedrestrian is already in the road then the car should not just mow them down willy nilly.

Matthew

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But if the pedestrian is on the pavement and can see an oncoming car is indicating to turn left into the side road in front of them they should not step into the road as the car has right of way.
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but you try explaining that to the pedestrian!


NB

Great thread!

My pet hate is folk who use their mobile phone (without a hands free kit) whilst driving, especially when they are trying to get their car round a tight bend and really should have two hands on the wheel. The fact that it's wrong and very dangerous doesn't seem to worry them at all. I don't understand why it's not illegal until December, surely the sooner hefty fines are applied the sooner more people will concentrate on what they're doing and there will be less mobile phone related accidents.

Double parking is the new thing in Bradford. It's not uncommon to find you have to wait behind a car parked in the middle of the road, giving right of way to traffic coming towards you. Usually the cars are not empty but full of kids passing spliffs to and from the car they are parked alongside. The Police in Bradford don't like to get involved, it's easier to invest heavily in speed cameras. High revenue with no aggro.

Finally, it's folk who pull out in front of you and then drive at 10mph lower than the limit, and when you look in your rear view mirror there is nothing behind you for miles, but they just had to pull out in front of you, not behind!

"I beleive that only applies when you are turning right and, for it to make much sense, it also requires you as a pedestrian to observe the rule about always walking on the right hand pavement. "
Matthew, there is no such rule. The Highway Code states that if there is NO pavement, pedestrians should walk on the right hand side of the road.

For the motorist's giving ROW to pedestrians crossing as he/she turns right, it wouldn't make any difference which side of the side road the pedestrian was on, as they would anyway be crossing at right-angles to the oncoming motorist.

Chris (still worrying about Bryan Adams)...

I agree that everyone should be re-tested every 5 years, and the test should reflect the years of driving experience too!

1.People who drive side-by-side at the same speed. It gives them less options if they need to take evasive action, but more importantly it means I can't overtake and I can't undertake.....

2.People using the BMW lane on the motorway when they're not in a BMW.

It makes me really quite cross.

Regards,

Brian OReilly