How to reduce the number of journeys made by motor vehicles on UK roads

does anyone else here get pissed off when agricultural vehicles, like tractors and trailers, insist on travelling on urban roads during rush hour, creating huge tailbacks?
as for trucks on motorways, don't get me started.
I'd ban them from overtaking anything on the outside lane of a three-lane motorway, except in an emergency.
let them have lanes one and two, and keep them out of the way of fast-moving traffic!
unfortunately, on two-lane motorways, you just have to suffer the a**holes overtaking other trucks up hill on the outside lane doing 3 m.p.h more than the truck they're overtaking!
mind you, it feels good giving them the v-sign when they eventually move over and let you pass, after being behind them for about quarter of an hour

TN

Tractors and trailers don't piss me off. neither do cows crossing the road. I guess it all depends on where you live. I wouldn't expect to see them in the moddle of a city. That might well get on my nerves. I've gradually taught myself not to have a heart attack over the behaviour of HGVs because nothing changes and banging my head against a wall would be just as productive! Sadly.

Cheers

Harry

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he/she is overtaking at or about the speed limit when someone (you?) doing
30 mph more inevitably catch up and then remain glued
to his/her bumper. In that situation you are at fault; you should back off
until the first driver has completed the overtake.

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It may surprise you to learn that I don't drive that quickly - in perfect
conditions I'll cruise along at roughly 80mph.

Now while I agree that the person behind shouldn't lurk on your bumper the
fact remains that you should have seen them coming and not pulled in front
of them in the first place - and you CAN see them coming on English
motorways. Let's say you can see 500m behind you, even at 60km/h closing
speed(approx 40mph) that gives you at least 30 seconds notice of their
arrival. If you're checking your mirrors every 10-15 seconds surely you can
work out that on the last check they were a long way away and on the current
check they've halved that distance. The road behind at this point obviously
IS NOT clear for an overtake. If anyone catches you during an overtake then
road WAS NOT clear when you pulled out. It's quite simple really - just
imagine using your logic on a single carriageway where the 'prat' is coming
from the opposite direction.

How can you expect anyone to monitor their mirrors and make judgements about closing speeds when they are in a constant state of nervous exhaustion brought about my an irrational dread of yellow boxes?

Matthew

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If anyone catches you during an overtake then road WAS NOT clear when you pulled out.

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Well, that's not true is it? There will be some situations when its the case but not every one.

Also the car doing the tailgating has a responsibility to slow down and pull back to keep a safe distance. It's not OK to tailgate someone because they made a mistake and misjudged the timing of their overtake.

harry,

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Originally posted by HTK:
Tractors and trailers don't piss me off. neither do cows crossing the road.

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neither of the above piss me off, when I'm in the country, where you expect to see tractors or cows.
however tractors trundling along at 10 m.p.h in the middle of weston-super-mare at rush hour, causing tailbacks, is not a cause for celebration.
if I were transport minister, I'd put a ban on all agricultural vehicles travelling in towns or cities between the hours of 8am - 9pm, and 5pm - 6.30pm.
farmers tend not to work normal hours.
so there's plenty of time throughout the rest of the day for them travel, if they have to use busy urban roads to get to where they're going!
I just love threads like this don't you?
next is school runs, and mothers with their 4X4s!

TN

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Originally posted by Trevor Newall:
I just love threads like this don't you?
next is school runs, and mothers with their 4X4s!
TN

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Oh yeah. It's like a train wreck of plane crash - I want to look away but I just can't!

I know I shouldn't mix theoretical discussion with real life, but I must admit to being somewhat disturbed by the comments of a few posters who seem convinced that it's difficult to judge speed and closing speeds with all the other distractions about. Well, OK, we're not all precision measurement devices and mistakes are made, but if this really does apply I'd say that retraining or advanced training is strongly recommended. I'm not sniping. I think this is serious.

As for tail gating - well, you can't educate pork can you? I get out of their way as soon as possible. I'd rather they were down the road than weaving about all over me. I don't take it personally. And I never tail gate. As well as being aggressive and dangerous it leaves stone chips in my paint.

For me driving is a necessary component of doing my job. It's not a challenge or a contest. It is possible to stay out of trouble for most of the time and if you're frequently getting tail gated or pissed off by the actions of other drivers I think you have to ask yourself if maybe you're just as big a contributary factor to other people's bad driving. Of course there are always exceptions. Some nutters will always find you no matter how hard you try to keep yourself to youtself. But they soon rocket off and pick on somebody else.

Cheers

Harry

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Well, that's not true is it? There will be some situations when its the case
but not every one.

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well one situation would be if you're travelling in a line of traffic -
caused, of course, by the car leading the line not pulling over. Another
would be where you're moving along fast enough to get past a car before
getting caught but Mr Cavendish, travelling behind said car, believes that
the road is clear because there's nobody next to him and pulls in front of
you forcing you to kill your speed by 20mph allowing the car behind to catch
you faster than anticipated.
Any others without considering situations with crazy closing speeds?

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It's not OK to tailgate someone because they made a mistake and
misjudged the timing of their overtake.

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You're right and I've never said that it was but if you're constantly being
tailgated in lane 2/3 of motorways in free flowing traffic then maybe you
should have a rethink about your driving.

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How can you expect anyone to monitor their mirrors and make judgements about
closing speeds when they are in a constant state of nervous exhaustion
brought about my an irrational dread of yellow boxes?

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you're quite right of course. Most people can't even manage to put two
hands on the wheel let alone turn a corner correctly (ie without holding the
back of the wheel) so I suppose we can't expect them to do anything this
complicated.

Special pleading, John.

Whatever the behaviour of the "prat" (you?) it is your responsibility to minimise the effect of the "prat's" mistake or poor driving.

cheers

Nigel

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And various pressure groups like the AA have the oppositie inclinatoin.

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Motoring organisations like the AA and RAC have an interest in keeping traffic flowing (not being a crypto-Stalinist I don't really understand what's wrong with that). They also have an interest in vehicles being well maintained so they have fewer breakdown call-outs.

They certainly have no financial interest in promoting driving behaviour that may lead to more accidents, so attempting to polarize their stance with government policy is but lame deflective strategy.



Regards,

Steve.

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does anyone else here get pissed off when agricultural vehicles, like tractors and trailers, insist on travelling on urban roads during rush hour, creating huge tailbacks?
as for trucks on motorways, don't get me started.
I'd ban them from overtaking anything on the outside lane of a three-lane motorway, except in an emergency.
let them have lanes one and two, and keep them out of the way of fast-moving traffic!
unfortunately, on two-lane motorways, you just have to suffer the a**holes overtaking other trucks up hill on the outside lane doing 3 m.p.h more than the truck they're overtaking!

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Firstly, in the Highway Code it states that slow moving vehicles (tractors etc) have a duty to pull over and let other vehicles pass. It should be a specific offence not to do so and such legislation should be strictly enforced.

As for trucks on motorways, HGVs above 7.5 tonnes are already prohibited from using lane 3.

We should install those electronic signs like they have in Germany that as well as being able to impose temporary speed limits, can impose a temporary ban on lorries using lane 2 as well when traffic is particularly dense.



Regards,

Steve.

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Whatever the behaviour of the "prat" (you?) it is your responsibility to
minimise the effect of the "prat's" mistake or poor driving

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yes, that would indeed be very good driving practice and an excellent way of
keeping both yourself and others alive on the road.

If a pedestrian walks in front of you without looking would you run them
down because you have right of way? Do you cross on the 'green man' without
looking because you have right of way?

john, you seem to be getting a bit perturbed about all this.
chill
let's talk instead about the a**holes who take half an hour to shift, at a roundabout, when it's blatantly obvious there's nothing coming!
or the w**kers who abandon their cars, at some obscure angle, in supermarket car parks, and take up two parking spaces

TN

Don't forget white van drivers

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you seem to be getting a bit perturbed about all this.

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nah, I'm just bored.

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or the w**kers who abandon their cars, at some obscure angle, in
supermarket car parks, and take up two parking spaces

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what, you think I'm going to leave my 50p car (with £20K of wings and
woofers) lined up so you can park next to me and scratch it?

and taxi drivers

well at least the ones in towns who just swerve in front of you and stop when they spot a customer flagging them down!
or the ones who insist on talking drivel throughout the journey, when all you want is to sit there in peace and quiet.
I also have a healthy dislike for motorcycle couriers

TN

When idiots keep asking, "are you busy?/ what time do you finish?" every fucking time they get in the car they make you want to spout drivel.



Regards,

Steve.

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what, you think I'm going to leave my 50p car (with £20K of wings and
woofers) lined up so you can park next to me and scratch it?

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hehe... here in the UK, volvo drivers tend to be the worst for inconsiderate parking in supermarkets.
come to think of it, volvo drivers tend to be worst at most things!
I leave people who park badly a note on their windscreen along the lines of "nice parking, you f*****g a**hole!"
the fun bit is when, on the way out of the supermarket, you catch them reading the note with a pissed off look on their face, looking around to see who might have been responsible
needless to say, I'm parked well away from the scene!
once I wrote one such message on the back of a business card belonging to a supplier I didn't like.
yes, he was later telephoned by an irate volvo driver, and he didn't have a clue what it was about

TN

steve,

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When idiots keep asking, "are you busy?/ what time do you finish?" every fucking time they get in the car they make you want to spout drivel.

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just give them a slap, and tell them to shut it.
firm, but fair, that's my motto

TN

I'm fed up with other peoples kids kicking their doors open and doing hundreds of quids worth to my bodywork. I've lost count. So yes I do use the wide bays at supermarkets (not the disabled ones) and yes I do take up two spaces if I think it's appropriate to (small car park or nearly full to capacity I won't do this) and if you think that makes me a lousy driver you can go fuck yourself.

So to speak.



Cheers

Harry

fine, harry, but do you at least park straight?

TN

p.s what's your view on delivery drivers who insist on double-parking right outside the shop where they're going to, causing an obstruction, even when they're delivering something little bigger than a box of mars bars?
I say the f**kers should park further down the road wherever they can without causing an obstruction, and carry the stuff to the shop!
lazy gits.

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Originally posted by Paul Ranson:

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Anyone who slams on the brakes and then "look around for danger" when they see a speed camera is a bad driver full stop. How can they possibly be expected to cope with a genuine ermgencey if they cannot cope with a large prominently displayed yellow box? Or even road sings for that matter.

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So given that we have many bad drivers not getting caught by speed cameras but increasing the levels of danger on the road, what do you suggest to improve road safety?

And something does need to be done, the trend in road deaths is turning up after many years of decrease.

Paul

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Although not generating revenue I would have thought the solution was obvious - why not put more police patrol cars on the road?

Mike

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Originally posted by Trevor Newall:


fine, harry, but do you at least park straight?

TN

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Of course! I've even been known to get back in and straighten it up, how sad is that?

The delivery van syndrome is just another example to 'I'm improrant so fuck you', possibly combined with pressure of work - their work that is. They don't give a toss if you're late or in an emergency. However, I mustn't get all preachy, now that I've come out on my parking bay hogging weakness. I'm such a monster behind the wheel - but at least I'm in good company

Cheers

Harry

This will all sort itself out soon enough.

It is recognised that the days of cheap energy are dead. There won't be enough oil around from now on and the curent price of $50 will look great in just a few years (maybe months). $200 a barrel is quite possible.

£10 a litre anyone?

Personally I'm off to buy shares in footwear companies.

Oil is a volatile commodity and these are testing times.

With insurgents blowing up oil wells and pipelines in Iraq, the fear of the same happening in Saudi Arabia, as well as unusually high demand in China and America, it is no wonder the price of a barrel of crude is so high. However, resources that can be exploited profitably account for about 5% of total reserves. As demand increases so will percentage of profitable resources against total reserves. So, in the relatively short term the price may remain high but eventually it will fall again as the political climate settles, and new technology comes along enabling us to exploit those vast and untouched reserves economically.



Regards,

Steve.