Is this a new thing?

lisajane

Is this a new thing where ur driving along and people coming out of junctions that has to give u right of way just pulls out enough to stop traffic and get out themselves???? I seem to be coming across alot of this lately.

I was driving along today and there was some asshole on my left that was doing this that was planning on turning right. Only he didn't stop his/her car in the middle of the road to let the cars stop for him. He started to drive on the wrong side of the road towards me.

We came so close to each other. As it was i had another asshole driving on my ass (again). As it is i was driving fairly fast. I could have braked hard but only to have one asshole drive into back me and i didn't know if this asshole had a death wish. I would have been caught in the middle. Luckily there was no on coming traffic so i just overtook him and let him carry on with his ignorance.

Was i right to do this? Overtaking him? I mean he was driving on the wrong side of the road and i didn't know if he had a death wish. I would have been caught in the middle due to some one else's ignorance. And really i value my life not to be that ignorant.

Andrewf20

I see this from time to time alright. I reckon people are getting impatient at having to wait ages for both directions to free up and then pull out.

littlejukka

did you move to the right of a car that was coming against you in the wrong lane, rather than stop before you hit him?

if there was an accident in that situation you would have been milled by your insurance company and the courts if it came to it. yes he was wrong, but in that situation you stop and look after your own safety rather than try to squeeze into the wrong lane to maintain progress.

i've had a couple of these situations in the last couple of months; one was a woman misjudging which lane was the filter right lane on lesson street which left me face-to-face with her with bare feet to spare. idiot.

the other was a woman on merrion row heading the wrong way towards stephen's green on a one-way road in a 645ci. she seemed disgusted when i blew my horn, and even more disgusted when an unmarked car threw on the sirens and pulled her over.

if you find yourself the subject of somebody else's stupidity, don't try to get creative because you'll only get yourself into more trouble.

cantdecide

littlejukka wrote: »

if you find yourself the subject of somebody else's stupidity, don't try to get creative because you'll only get yourself into more trouble.

QFT,

It all goes back to rule#1- don't hit nottin'

Pherekydes

littlejukka wrote: »

...and even more disgusted when an unmarked car threw on the sirens and pulled her over.

I bet you were gloating when this happened. I would.

wil

Slow coach wrote: »

I bet you were gloating when this happened. I would.

I'm more p'd off at the number that are ignored by the gardai in plain view.:mad:
The number of kamikazis I've seen crossing OConnell bridge and others on the wrong side under the watchful glaze of a freeflow garda is ridiculous.
Even had to wake one up once to aid one kamikazi in not completing her mission.:eek:
Think I have photos somewhere, I must share.
How many shopping days to freeflow?

milltown

littlejukka wrote: »

which left me face-to-face with her with bare feet to spare.

Face to face with her bare feet? Sounds like a fetishist's dream

Back to the OP. I think this is a vicious circle that, like most irritations on the road, stems from lack of observation. How many times have you been trying to get onto a road, whether you're going left or right, and been boxed in by somebody with tunnel vision who just drives up to the bumper of the car in front and then has a look around. If they left a gap of a car length or two then traffic could flow into and out of the side road and at the absolute worst she might have two more cars in front of her. The same people always seem to be in a mad rush to get to the red traffic light 100m away. So much so that they will cross the road to overtake cars turning in front of them or almost knock cyclists off their bikes to get to the light first.

A lot of bad driving is down to poor training but I fear the above is just the human condition and until we're allowed throw eggs at these people not a lot will change.

arybvtcw0eolkf

lisajane wrote: »

Is this a new thing where ur driving along and people coming out of junctions that has to give u right of way just pulls out enough to stop traffic and get out themselves???? I seem to be coming across alot of this lately.

I was driving along today and there was some asshole on my left that was doing this that was planning on turning right. Only he didn't stop his/her car in the middle of the road to let the cars stop for him. He started to drive on the wrong side of the road towards me.

We came so close to each other. As it was i had another asshole driving on my ass (again). As it is i was driving fairly fast. I could have braked hard but only to have one asshole drive into back me and i didn't know if this asshole had a death wish. I would have been caught in the middle. Luckily there was no on coming traffic so i just overtook him and let him carry on with his ignorance.

Was i right to do this? Overtaking him? I mean he was driving on the wrong side of the road and i didn't know if he had a death wish. I would have been caught in the middle due to some one else's ignorance. And really i value my life not to be that ignorant.

I find travellers and east europeans do this alot.

deman

Is there a "yield" sign at these junctions?

_Kaiser_

This all goes back to courtesy (or more accurately, the lack thereof) on the roads in recent years.

If you're in a queue of slow moving traffic and you come to a junction where people are trying to get out, stop and let them. If you let one out, and the person behind you lets one out then things work much smoother and there's less stress for everyone.

The alternative (and I must admit, I've been guilty of this myself on occasion) is that the person sitting there for several minutes as traffic builds behind them too, watching people that could stop for a few seconds just drive on (generally women I've noticed - not being sexist, but a man is a lot faster to let you out I've found), gets frustrated and forces their way out in the end, blocking both lanes until they complete the manoeuver.

dudara

Like previous posters said, if you're waiting to join traffic, you could be sitting there a long while. You wouldn't believe how many people block junctions and entrances while sitting in slow-moving traffic.

Personally, I will edge the car forwards, in an effort to signal my intention, but only when safe to do so. If a road is especially busy and once my half is clear I will drive halfway and wait for a gap.

I believe that sometimes you have to be a little forceful in signalling your intentions because so many people drive around with blinkers on.

However, the OP probably had a very bad experience.

cyclopath2001

dudara wrote: »

Personally, I will edge the car forwards, in an effort to signal my intention, but only when safe to do so.

This is what the law states:

(5) A driver of a vehicle approaching a road junction by a road which is not a major road shall, notwithstanding that there is no traffic sign indicating that the last mentioned road is a major road, yield the right of way to traffic and pedestrians on the major road.

It's not just a matter of whether or not it's safe, blocking people is not allowed

Fey!

OP; that incident didn't happen on Shantalla Road at the entrance to Highfield Park by any chance? I live in Highfield, and can't get over how many people pass the line of traffic on the wrong side of the road to cut across it and turn into the estate, completely blocking traffic coming the other way (for those who don't know Galway, there is a T juction just after the entrance to the estate which always has a tailback at peak times, resulting in traffic blocking the estate entrance).

Stark

For the UK driving test, they teach people to treat every junction like a yellow box junction. Unfortunately, they don't teach that over here.

lisajane

Fey! wrote: »

OP; that incident didn't happen on Shantalla Road at the entrance to Highfield Park by any chance? I live in Highfield, and can't get over how many people pass the line of traffic on the wrong side of the road to cut across it and turn into the estate, completely blocking traffic coming the other way (for those who don't know Galway, there is a T juction just after the entrance to the estate which always has a tailback at peak times, resulting in traffic blocking the estate entrance).

No didn't happen there. It was a normal road. It wasn't even in the city where things can get a bit confusing.

did you move to the right of a car that was coming against you in the wrong lane, rather than stop before you hit him?

if there was an accident in that situation you would have been milled by your insurance company and the courts if it came to it. yes he was wrong, but in that situation you stop and look after your own safety rather than try to squeeze into the wrong lane to maintain progress.

I overtook the car that was coming towards me. He was driving on the wrong side of the road towards me. There wasn't any lanes to get confused over. He was just driving on the wrong side of the road. I don't know what he wanted me to do. For all it was some crazy guy that had a death wish and was going to bring someone with him. There seems to be alot of crazy galway men around lately.

He wasn't indicating to move quickly over to his side of the road and i wasn't going to let him drive into me. There wasn't any oncoming cars so i over took him. I wasn't trying to maintain progress. If i stopped and let him drive into me i would have another asshole drive into the back of me. And that was looking after my own safety. Not being stuck between 2 cars.