Unsafe drivers

[peterb]

I find it's usually cabbies and the elderly that pull stupid stunts on the roads around here. Cutting people up, tailgating, no indicating and generally not having a clue on roundabouts (usually the elderly). I've had to use my horn plenty of times, but I recently bought a Skoda Octavia and was a bit embarrassed when I first had to use the horn... It sounds quite "lady like" .

Cabbies, especially self employed tend to be more careful because loss of the vehicle for repair results in lost income.

If you have had to use your horn plenty of times, then I would suggest you are either failing to anticipate what other drivers are doing, and letting them get on with it while keeping you and your vehicle out of harm's way, or using it inappropriately.

[Gerrard]

I think I've only used the horn in my car twice and one of those was accidental while reversing in a car-park and 'palming' the steering.

I've done that before!

I've never had an incident with an uninsured driver, the only incident I have had is someone reversing into the rear quarter in a car park while I was stationary. He seemed a tad bemused as to how he'd done it as I have a bright orange car...

Something similar happened to me before. I was sat in a car park waiting for someone to go so I could get their space, and I noticed another car to my right that was parked reversing out of the space; into me! At the time I was driving a military Land Rover 110, so it's not small. And I know they are painted dark green for camouflage reasons, but I don't think it's that effective in an Asda car park! The irony in this story? That was a good time to have used the horn, but by the time I found it, they had already hit me (it was on a stalk rather than in the steering wheel). No damage was done though.

[finlay666]

Bravo taktak

I have used the horn a few more times, but it's the same circumstance - namely to let someone know I was there when they obviously hadn't seen me and were about to move into where I was. Used in such a manner it's never yet been greeted with anything other than thankfulness by the other driver!

Last time I used mine was on Sunday, to strongly suggest to another driver promptly get out of the way as I was trying to pull over onto the hard shoulder for an ambulance with blues and 2's on and they were sat at the lights playing on their phone, stopping me from being able to safely move out of the way

Time before that... honestly can't remember

[shaithis]

In the case of uninsured person hitting you.......if they have lapsed their insurance, the insurance company has to be able to prove they received the policy back from the insured within 30 days of the policy lapsing. If they cannot prove this, they are liable for the duration of the policy.

I had a very kind lawyer chase this for me and the company paid out without complaining.

[PowerPie5000]

Cabbies, especially self employed tend to be more careful because loss of the vehicle for repair results in lost income..

Most of the cabbies in the Blackpool area are part of a fleet and there are a few of them. I'm not saying they're all bad, but if I have someone up my backside or almost taking the front end off my car then it's usually a cabbie from my own personal experience.

If you have had to use your horn plenty of times, then I would suggest you are either failing to anticipate what other drivers are doing, and letting them get on with it while keeping you and your vehicle out of harm's way, or using it inappropriately.

If I use the horn then it's for good reason and I don't use it inappropriately. It's always to let other drivers know i'm actually in the car that they've either almost banged in to or are about to. Someone just earlier today went to pull away from the lights while in reverse gear!!! I was behind them and tooted the horn to let them know (I had no way of getting out the way) and was greeted with a ****** gesture from the elderly female passenger of that car... Not something you'd expect. I'm sure it's just this town.

You can't always anticipate what other drivers are going to do, it's impossible.

[peterb]

Most of the cabbies in the Blackpool area are part of a fleet and there are a few of them.

Fair enough, although even if part of a fleet, loss or damage to the car might lead to loss of earnings.

If I use the horn then it's for good reason and I don't use it inappropriately. It's always to let other drivers know i'm actually in the car that they've either almost banged in to or are about to. Someone just earlier today went to pull away from the lights while in reverse gear!!! I was behind them and tooted the horn to let them know (I had no way of getting out the way) and was greeted with a ****** gesture from the elderly female passenger of that car... Not something you'd expect. I'm sure it's just this town.

You can't always anticipate what other drivers are going to do, it's impossible.

lol! Well, perhaps more Blackpool than St Anne's! Maybe they were from Southport!

/fetches coat and prepares to dodge rotten tomatoes from any Southport natives!

[OilSheikh]

Had two interesting encounters within the last week alone!

I turn into a side road and there's a car parked in the middle of the one way ( with cars parked on both sides ) road. A group of Asian kids ( the type that get the weird haircuts that's in between spikes and a crew cut ) and a group of East European men are talking next to the car. They are so involved in their talks that they didn't even notice me. Curious to find out what's going on, I wait 5 mins and then honk. The kids notice me, get in their car and drive off.
Hello Drug dealing!

Today, I am about to turn right into a side road from a main road and a car is approaching me but is miles away. So, my right indicator is blinking and I start my turn. Suddenly, the car brakes hard few inches away from me. How the hell did this car warp in front omy car so quickly. Yup, after careful Google analysis, I came to the conclusion that she was speeding and definitely going way over the 30mph speed limit.

[Saracen]

....

Today, I am about to turn right into a side road from a main road and a car is approaching me but is miles away. So, my right indicator is blinking and I start my turn. Suddenly, the car brakes hard few inches away from me. How the hell did this car warp in front omy car so quickly. Yup, after careful Google analysis, I came to the conclusion that she was speeding and definitely going way over the 30mph speed limit.

If they were going that fast, you ought to have been able to tell they were really flying, and not pulled across. And for that matter, kept one eye on them. If a car suddenly brakes hard inches from you, that speaks to either poor situational awareness, poor judgement of speed, or both

And ftom a pragmatic point of view, if they hadn't braked in time, you're going to gave the devil's own job explaining it away and avoiding liability, because it looks for all the world as if you turned across the path of on-coming traffic, because you did. I wouldn't be shocked to see you done for due care and attention, if there'd been an accident. After all, road positions and damage will show you pulling across his path, and good luck proving his speed.

[Butcher]

If they were going that fast, you ought to have been able to tell they were really flying, and not pulled across. And for that matter, kept one eye on them. If a car suddenly brakes hard inches from you, that speaks to either poor situational awareness, poor judgement of speed, or both

And ftom a pragmatic point of view, if they hadn't braked in time, you're going to gave the devil's own job explaining it away and avoiding liability, because it looks for all the world as if you turned across the path of on-coming traffic, because you did. I wouldn't be shocked to see you done for due care and attention, if there'd been an accident. After all, road positions and damage will show you pulling across his path, and good luck proving his speed.

A friend got hit in just that sort of situation, and was charged with due care and attention; the police were uninterested in claims of the other car speeding.

[peterb]

.......

Today, I am about to turn right into a side road from a main road and a car is approaching me but is miles away. So, my right indicator is blinking and I start my turn. Suddenly, the car brakes hard few inches away from me. How the hell did this car warp in front omy car so quickly. Yup, after careful Google analysis, I came to the conclusion that she was speeding and definitely going way over the 30mph speed limit.

Highway Code paragraph 180 refers. You should not make the turn until there is a safe gap. If the other car had to brake hard, you did not wait for a safe gap.

That said, it can be hard to judge what is a safe gap, particularly if you are inexperienced, so you need to take extra care to ensure you keep yourself safe.

Of course, the other driver should have slowed down in case you decided to make the turn despite the fact that you were approaching. However, they might not have seen the car, or not judged the speed correctly, because they were inexperienced too.

Two incorrect actions do not make a correct one, but they may lead to a collision that could otherwise have been avoided had just one of them acted correctly in the first instance.

But in general terms, the car travelling on the main road has an expectation of right of way, the car turning should give way to oncoming traffic.

[kalniel]

They are so involved in their talks that they didn't even notice me. Curious to find out what's going on, I wait 5 mins and then honk. The kids notice me, get in their car and drive off.
Hello Drug dealing!

Or they were just politely getting out of your way - sounds like they couldn't do that without driving off

[Guy]

Peoples ability to judge speeds are often widely inaccurate.

Even if they're over the limit or going far too fast for the times and conditions, you've got no proof and even the words and statement of a traffic officer alone wouldn't be sufficient for a conviction on said third party.

[OilSheikh]

Highway Code paragraph 180 refers. You should not make the turn until there is a safe gap. If the other car had to brake hard, you did not wait for a safe gap.

That said, it can be hard to judge what is a safe gap, particularly if you are inexperienced, so you need to take extra care to ensure you keep yourself safe.

Of course, the other driver should have slowed down in case you decided to make the turn despite the fact that you were approaching. However, they might not have seen the car, or not judged the speed correctly, because they were inexperienced too.

Two incorrect actions do not make a correct one, but they may lead to a collision that could otherwise have been avoided had just one of them acted correctly in the first instance.

But in general terms, the car travelling on the main road has an expectation of right of way, the car turning should give way to oncoming traffic.

The car was a dot in the distance and on this road, speed limit is 30mph. Hence I decided to start turning. My car was already on the right-hand side of the left hand lane. From this point to turn into the side road takes only 5 seconds.If it was indeed travelling at 30mph, it would not have been able to come up so quickly.
Moreover, even though it was dark, headlights were not lit!

I need to invest in a dashcam!

[Flibb]

Had an interesting one last week on the way home from work.
Heading out of one of the local villages you drop down a smallish hill and across a valley (60mph limit) of open farmland, with a single lane bridge crossing the small river (on uphill bend), priority is for traffic coming from my direction. Its very flat with open views across the fields and up the hill the other side of the bridge. Car about 50 yards in front of me is going a bit faster than me so crosses the bridge with a bit of a gap, car from other direction (stationary) decides it can make the gap, accelerates, then driver changes her mind and stops in the middle of the bridge. I end up doing an emergency stop from 40, whilst cornering and going up the incline to the bridge, stop with 4ft between us, other driver has closed their eyes and is ducked down behind steering wheel hiding. Although I had priority, I made an iffy decision, this was not to slow down more before reaching the bridge, I had decided to maintain speed to clear the bridge quicker so that those waiting from the other direction could get on their way. If its clear the bridge can be done at 50, I tend to drive that bit at 40, but will in future drive a bit more defensively.

[peterb]

The car was a dot in the distance and on this road, speed limit is 30mph. Hence I decided to start turning. My car was already on the right-hand side of the left hand lane. From this point to turn into the side road takes only 5 seconds.If it was indeed travelling at 30mph, it would not have been able to come up so quickly.
Moreover, even though it was dark, headlights were not lit!

I need to invest in a dashcam!

Ah, more information! If the other cars lights were off and it was dark, that would be in your favour in any court case or police proceedings. Not that that helps if you are seriously injured, or have to do without a car while it is fixed, plus the paperwork etc.

So the lesson really is to be always alert and try to expect the unexpected.

[BobF64]

Someone just earlier today went to pull away from the lights while in reverse gear!!! I was behind them and tooted the horn to let them know (I had no way of getting out the way) and was greeted with a ****** gesture from the elderly female passenger of that car

Now, that would have been an interesting one, given that usually shunts to the rear are treated as the fault of the driver behind...