[RANT] Treatment of L Drivers

knifey_spoonie

Ok so i took my first driving lesson today { WOOHOO} Never been on the road before, I just feel people should have a little bit of patience, for feck sake im in a car with a big sign on the roof saying "learner", Im coming up to a roundabout and slowing down from 75 kph to about 50 kph and so ejit behind decides to flash me and pass me out then he cuts me up to avoid a centre island coming upto the roundabout.

Also coming to a t-junction i postioned my-self left side of the road and indicated and lorry pulls up beside me and decides he is turning left to as i start to pull out he floors the lorry and try to force me over.


Maybe it just me and i dont understand but for feck sake theres no need to make life ever harder on the road.Wheres the respect people.

Idleater

Take it on the chin.

Those muppets will drive anyone off the road anyway. You are just an easy target.

Just deal with it in the best possible way - ignore it. With more lessons you will become more confident and then that will happen less.

Remember, they were like you are now once.

L.

smemon

yeah you get that type. had a lesson a few weeks back and a northern jeep came right up behind me and starting swerving out as if to say 'hurry the f*** up'

he began to rev up a bit and eventually overtook me. wouldn't mind but i was bang on the speed limit :rolleyes:

BrianD3

It's actually good for you to experience this on your first lesson as it will prepare you well for your test and subsequent driving career. Better this than to have your instructor pussyfooting around by taking you out on "quiet roads" for the first while.

crosstownk

Yeah - take it on the chin is the best advice. The roads are full of idiot drivers who feel they own the road. I meet several everyday but just ignore them. We all have to use the roads and we should all extend every courtesy to other drivers, not take advantage of them and create potentially dangerous situations.

I give L drivers as much time and space as possible. I essentially respect his/her right to the road network - and the right to learn on the very same roads. We all were learners at some time - some just forget that.

Savman

BrianD3 wrote:

It's actually good for you to experience this on your first lesson as it will prepare you well for your test and subsequent driving career. Better this than to have your instructor pussyfooting around by taking you out on "quiet roads" for the first while.

The truth...

mmenarry

I do try and be patient with L Drivers that are obviously out on lessons (i.e. instructors car).

Admittedly I have less patience with those just displaying L-plates. And even less with those displaying just a red "L" with the white bits cut off.

M.

babybundy

no you should not be taking any where near a public road till you can stop without jerking or jaming up start without stalling it atleast 3 times i no people will stall on the roads just not 3 times while the traffic is building up behind them making even more nervous reverse well enough and judge distance and learn you are driving a punto fiesta or some small car and not a bloody artic

Hotblack Desiato

BrianD3 wrote:

It's actually good for you to experience this on your first lesson as it will prepare you well for your test and subsequent driving career. Better this than to have your instructor pussyfooting around by taking you out on "quiet roads" for the first while.

Having complete novices trying to learn how to physically control a vehicle, as well as road sense, at the same time on anything other than a VERY quiet road is just crazy.

elexes

welcome to driving . hope you have a long stay

as for the muppet .. well hes number one if u dont see 10 of them in one day ur lucky

Spitfire666

i had some lessons a while back to please my mother, i was going through a housing estate and this muppet in an old shape fiesta (tackyd up with a dodgy xr2 kit) started flashing and reving like mad coz i was taking it easy as there were kids around. he then cut down a side road to get around me before meeting the main road again, as i already knew how to drive (and i knew the instructor) i planted the pedal once i got past the kids and got out infront of him again and made him slow down. needless to say he was fuming and beeping and flashing. didnt let it bother me though. just turn the rear fog light on.

P.S. i dont condone that coarse of action and i dont think its "the right thing to do" before people start flaming it.

event

babybundy wrote:

no you should not be taking any where near a public road till you can stop without jerking or jaming up start without stalling it atleast 3 times i no people will stall on the roads just not 3 times while the traffic is building up behind them making even more nervous reverse well enough and judge distance and learn you are driving a punto fiesta or some small car and not a bloody artic

so where did you learn?

babybundy

i learned on bikes and for some reason had little trouble changing over but i still went around a yard first stop start before i went near a road

Lord Nikon

mmenarry wrote:

I do try and be patient with L Drivers that are obviously out on lessons (i.e. instructors car).

Admittedly I have less patience with those just displaying L-plates.

M.

Why? Are they driving too slow for ya? Remember, you were once in the same situation.

michaelanthony

You're better off taking off the L plates. I know from experience that you will have much less hassle from other drivers than with them on.

Noelie

Anyone think it would be a good idea to have like a learner course somewhere in dublin, absolute novices should have to go around it for an hour.
It should have things like a few traffic lights, a roundabout or two and so on. nothing worse than being stuck behind a learner when stalls repeatedly. Obviously leaners need somewhere to practice but if they can't control the car they shoudn't really be on public roads.

Big Nelly

michaelanthony wrote:

You're better off taking off the L plates. I know from experience that you will have much less hassle from other drivers than with them on.

Isnt that illegal?

Lord Nikon

Noelie wrote:

It should have things like a few traffic lights, a roundabout or two and so on. nothing worse than being stuck behind a learner when stalls repeatedly.

Learner driver are not the only ones to stall a car. Give learners a chance, beeping of horns and flashing of lights does nothing to speed up the process.

I think it's fair to blow someone out of it who is not displaying any L plates, and is generally being an idiot on the road.

Stark

babybundy wrote:

i learned on bikes and for some reason had little trouble changing over but i still went around a yard first stop start before i went near a road

I did too, but you still need to do actual roads at some point in your instructor-led lessons rather than trying to navigate roads for the first time on your own.

Vegeta

Big Nelly wrote:

Isnt that illegal?

it violates your license doesn't it

that recent court case where they guy was told there's no punishment for not displaying plates or having a full license driver, but and its a big but, this means you are driving in violation of the terms of your license and therefore driving with no license

babybundy

Stark wrote:

I did too, but you still need to do actual roads at some point in your instructor-led lessons rather than trying to navigate roads for the first time on your own.

my first time driving a car properly on a road i drove cork to portlaoise and i only stalled twice so thats wat i mean by getting the practice and the only reason idid drive the rest of the way to dublin was because of the motorway the funny thing was 3 bikers going to the rds bike show in a car:rolleyes:

Noelie

neuromancer wrote:

Learner driver are not the only ones to stall a car. Give learners a chance, beeping of horns and flashing of lights does nothing to speed up the process.

granted learners aren't the only ones who stall but if an experienced drive does it they will start the car and off they go next try, learners can stall over and over. An example, on my way to work last week there was a learner at the front at a set of lights stalled twice, lights changed to red the learner(didn't notice if it was male or female, but that doesn't matter it could easily have been either) the learner then floors the trottle jumps the car back and forth and finally into gear and breaks the lights.

I'd be surprised if this person had driven a car before, these are the things that you shake off with time, but they should be shaken off before you get onto the open road

babybundy

Vegeta wrote:

it violates your license doesn't it

that recent court case where they guy was told there's no punishment for not displaying plates or having a full license driver, but and its a big but, this means you are driving in violation of the terms of your license and therefore driving with no license

i was summons for not displaying mine and fined a 30 spot

wingnut

All those people with cut up "Ls" or the ones with silver trim from the magazines could and should be summonsed too. Blowing an L driver is ignorant and achieves nothing, other than to frustrate their efforts to progress (and yours). A Horn is an alert, a warning. If a driver stalls he knows he has stalled so blowing him/her is down right stupid. Some people seem to forget they were once learners. People who do are usually a**holes in general and as ignorant in life as they are on the roads.

Wossack

Got to agree on this one. When I was learning to drive, I was the only one on the roads that stuck to the speed limit. Was regularly overtaken, beeped, flashed, aggressively tailgated, everything. It does harden you up though - there are an awful lot of inconsiderate assholes on the roads, and learning to keep your cool at an early stage, will make you a safer driver. Just try and remember that you're in the right and the one driving right up your ass, is obviously compensating for something

Stark

Noelie wrote:

granted learners aren't the only ones who stall but if an experienced drive does it they will start the car and off they go next try, learners can stall over and over. An example, on my way to work last week there was a learner at the front at a set of lights stalled twice, lights changed to red the learner(didn't notice if it was male or female, but that doesn't matter it could easily have been either) the learner then floors the trottle jumps the car back and forth and finally into gear and breaks the lights.

I'd be surprised if this person had driven a car before, these are the things that you shake off with time, but they should be shaken off before you get onto the open road

People shouldn't be out on the road on their own like that if they're novices. It's unfair to say people in instructor's cars shouldn't be out on the road though (getting back to original point of the thread). Stalling is down to nerves more than anything. You can be proficient at starting in an empty parking lot, but once you're out on the road with everything happening, it's a totally different game and you can only prepare so much for it. At least in an instructor's car, the instructor has dual controls to bail you out if things get too hairy.

unnameduser

unfortunately this is just a part of life. People act differently in their cars. My dad for example! He is a quiet man and would never have a cross word to say to anyone cause he is too shy. However put him in a car and he will swear at other motorists! its as if he is a different person or is invisible or invincible!

with more practice you will become more confident and competent and will be able to deal with these drivers.

best of luck with the driving

zoro

I'm learning at the moment too, and I did exactly that the first time I went out on the road. Stop/Start for nearly 5 minutes outside my house (quiet cul de sac), as well as plenty of stop/starts on the main roads.

I find that most people are actually quite pleasant about the whole thing, and on more than one occasion I've had a laugh with a car stopped beside me at lights after watching me struggle with the clutch for the third consecutive time.
That said, there are plenty of idiots out there that seem to forget that we all start off with no knowledge of how to drive, and build up from there.

Laugh about it with your instructor, learn from your mistakes, and move on. It'll be worth it.

layke

smemon wrote:

yeah you get that type. had a lesson a few weeks back and a northern jeep came right up behind me and starting swerving out as if to say 'hurry the f*** up'

he began to rev up a bit and eventually overtook me. wouldn't mind but i was bang on the speed limit :rolleyes:

Not saying it was your fault, (well with an L plate it certainly isn't) but did you ever hear of progression? Basically it means go a little over the limit and keep up with the traffic. I however had an experience this morning with a woman L plate driver doing 50 in a 60 zone. It wasn't that bad but it was clear she didn't read the speed signs (which are small and pretty easy to miss tbh). Didn't annoy me too much as it's what 5mph but on a bad day...

Stark

layke wrote:

Not saying it was your fault, (well with an L plate it certainly isn't) but did you ever hear of progression? Basically it means go a little over the limit and keep up with the traffic.

Why should it be someone's responsibility to break the law to facilitate progression though? If the speed limit in an area is so slow as to cause problems if drivers stick to it, then it's the council's job to increase it.

Idleater

layke wrote:

Not saying it was your fault, (well with an L plate it certainly isn't) but did you ever hear of progression? Basically it means go a little over the limit and keep up with the traffic.

jeez, did you know it was the guy's first lesson???

I hope you didn't drive at the speed limit the first time you drove!!!

L.

Illkillya

Until you lose the L, you will have no respect on the road. People will try to overtake you as soon as they can even if you aren't the one slowing down traffic. A common scenario:

normal_car ---> L driver ---> tractor
All going 30mph, because its not quite safe to overtake the tractor yet. The L driver might as well be another tractor as far as normal_Car is concerned, and as soon as L driver is about to pull out, normal_car will blast past him.

maidhc

Illkillya wrote:

Until you lose the L, you will have no respect on the road. People will try to overtake you as soon as they can even if you aren't the one slowing down traffic. A common scenario:

I often drive a car with an "L", and to be honest don't notice any difference in people's attitudes. I don't dawdle either though!

babybundy

Illkillya wrote:

Until you lose the L, you will have no respect on the road. People will try to overtake you as soon as they can even if you aren't the one slowing down traffic. A common scenario:

normal_car ---> L driver ---> tractor
All going 30mph, because its not quite safe to overtake the tractor yet. The L driver might as well be another tractor as far as normal_Car is concerned, and as soon as L driver is about to pull out, normal_car will blast past him.

the reason for that is L plater is less lightly to go when you have a chance at a quick sprint but its the prick that drives at 50kph when the speed iss 100kph on a good road are the ones that really piss me off i no every one has to progress on to a road but driving on a good road at 100 is as easy as at 50

knifey_spoonie

Went on another lesson today had a completly different experiece.I must have been lucky i was let otu by nearly every one i had nobody trying oto shot past me, overall very happy now that ive done some town driving.

I have no problem keeping to the speed limit but what annoys me is some young lad flooring his 1.1 saxo even though am am doing 100kph (MAIN RoaD)

Thats just dangerous and rude im lucky that im not aq nervous learner i have been moving cars around for years, but i just cant understand the rudeness of some people because your trying to learn on "thier" road

saobh_ie

neuromancer wrote:

I think it's fair to blow someone out of it who is not displaying any L plates, and is generally being an idiot on the road.

Which is most people. When displaying the L's and when not I still get treated the same and see the same examples of muppertry from other drivers and engage in it myself.

I used to be extra cautious around learners when I was on the bike but now that I'm in a car myself I treat everyone the same because the same mistakes are being made by all parties. ]

How do I treat people who are erratic, slow and stupid? I hang back and wait them out generally unless its somewhere I can get past them without them having to give my over take a thought. ~Try to be very Zen and talk to Budda and stuff =D.

Lord Nikon

layke wrote:

I however had an experience this morning with a woman L plate driver doing 50 in a 60 zone. It wasn't that bad but it was clear she didn't read the speed signs (which are small and pretty easy to miss tbh).

I'm going to assume you mean MHP. Maybe she did see the speeds signs, and felt uncomfortable doing 60 and did 50 instead. Maybe you were more annoyed that it was a bendy road and you couldn't overtake her. Maybe you should take a trip down the M50 some afternoon, and spot all the cars rubber-necking at 40mph instead of 75mph, without L plates.

Stark

The M50 is crazy for people not using the motorway properly. The congestion wouldn't be half as bad if people didn't insist on doing 40mph in the both lanes with clear road ahead of them and queue of cars behind.

Alun

Stark wrote:

The M50 is crazy for people not using the motorway properly. The congestion wouldn't be half as bad if people didn't insist on doing 40mph in the both lanes with clear road ahead of them and queue of cars behind.

I agree. I was in Germany last week driving back to Frankfurt airport on a Friday afternoon at 5pm, and even then the traffic was flowing along nicely at a steady 120-130km/h

Lord Nikon

Alun wrote:

the traffic was flowing along nicely at a steady 120-130km/h

Sweet, now you talkin'

Big Balls

Someone close to me is learning to drive at the moment.

They were out in their car last night with their father who is driving over 30 years and a taxi driver at the lights overtook her while they were stopped and forced his way into the gap between her and in the car in front leaving his car sticking out at a 45 degree angle.

Her father got out and asked him what the hell his problem was and his reply?

"She shouldn't even be on the road".

So apparently now in 'eh taxi speak', someone with a provisional licence, L plates, a full licence driver, insurance, tax and an NCT cert is not allowed drive on public roads.

News to me and cemented my opinion that 90% of Dublin taxi drivers are scumbags.

Stark

Big Balls wrote:

So apparently now in 'eh taxi speak', someone with a provisional licence, L plates, a full licence driver, insurance, tax and an NCT cert is not allowed drive on public roads.

Maybe he meant women shouldn't be allowed drive on public roads

Big Balls

You know, considering he drives a taxi for a living (ah but jaysus I've no money) he probably did mean that.

Lord Nikon

Big Balls wrote:

News to me and cemented my opinion that 90% of Dublin taxi drivers are scumbags.

I doubt that you know 100% of taxi drivers, and that you know that 90% of them are scumbags. A stronger case would be to suggest that all taxi drivers that drive past me/you while i am trying to wave one down, are ignorant gits.

I've seen drivers of all types, be it Provisional, Full licenced, foreign, male, female, young and old driving like complete feckin' idiots, including myself at times, having complete lack of safety and courtesy, and road experience. No point in saying taxi drivers are the main problem, if anything DoubleDecker drivers are worse.