Courtesy? No thanks.

born2bwild

I wish certain drivers would stop trying to be courteous in situations where their courtesy could cause an accident.

For example, yesterday I was waiting to take a right at a T junction onto a road of greater importance. A driver coming down the road of greater importance from my left decided to stop to let me out. She was signalling at me to pull out and I was looking back at her puzzled.

Why do people do this? Just follow the rules and we'll all be grand. I've seen this a lot and it's beginning to annoy me a lot. In the attempt to be courteous people are making up their own rules and that can result in people getting killed etc....

Am I out of order complaining like this?

Mint Sauce

born2bwild wrote: »

I wish certain drivers would stop trying to be courteous in situations where their courtesy could cause an accident.

For example, yesterday I was waiting to take a right at a T junction onto a road of greater importance. A driver coming down the road of greater importance from my left decided to stop to let me out. She was signalling at me to pull out and I was looking back at her puzzled.

Why do people do this? Just follow the rules and we'll all be grand. I've seen this a lot and it's beginning to annoy me a lot. In the attempt to be courteous people are making up their own rules and that can result in people getting killed etc....

Am I out of order complaining like this?

Think it depends on the road, and its location. Theres one particular in Sligo Town, a t junction as well. Both have a steady flow of traffic on them, but there seems to be an unwritten rule amoungt drivers on it that they take turns in letting people go. ie. One car exits the t junction, one cat moves along the road with proiorty, one car from t junction, one car along the road with proiorty, etc etc.

mickdw

If the driver doing it Is aware of the dangers and has checked around them, then it can be useful but yes there are situations where they could cause an accident by doing it.
Even in slow moving traffic, I've seen many near miss when driver waves
someone out of side road oblivious to a motorbike flying down beside them.

hi5

Very annoying when someone in front of you stops dead on the road to let someone out from the right, misguided courtesy.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

corktina

you should always look for yourself. NEVER trust someone else wave or light-flash

msg11

Not a big fan of it either.

Or the driver that flashes you to go, but keeps on rolling. So by the time you have checked for yourself that it is safe the driver is now blocking your path .

I know it's off the topic but what is it with people not letting you merge back into the normal lane when there is a bus lane ahead.

It reminds me of the time I used to flash people with no lights on at night. That changed the night a drunk driver went by with no lights on, so since then I have said to myself if your not capable of turning the lights on at night you should be on the road deserved to be stopped.

born2bwild

irish-stew wrote: »

Think it depends on the road, and its location. Theres one particular in Sligo Town, a t junction as well. Both have a steady flow of traffic on them, but there seems to be an unwritten rule amoungt drivers on it that they take turns in letting people go. ie. One car exits the t junction, one cat moves along the road with proiorty, one car from t junction, one car along the road with proiorty, etc etc.

I think you're legally obliged to brake for a dog; not a cat.;)

_Kaiser_

hi5 wrote: »

Very annoying when someone in front of you stops dead on the road to let someone out from the right, misguided courtesy.

Had this happen once on the old N3 at the Dunboyne turnoff (long before there was an M3/roundabouts there etc). Doing in/around 100 km/h as it was then and the idiot in front of me decides to jam on and stop dead in the road to let someone across from the turn :mad:

born2bwild

The most insane incident of this I've seen was about a year ago in Clondalkin (Dutch village roundabout just off the Red Cow) when this bloke stopped dead in front of me on the roundabout to let some pedestrians cross at the exit. No signal and I had to jam on.

Guy:Incognito

People that are last or 2nd last in a line of cars or if theres only a couple of cars there stopping to let me out annoys me. When I'm looking for a gap , I'll be looking behind a car if its on its own or the last car to check to make sure the gap is there. Then they start slowing to a stop but I'm not looking at them because I'm checkign for the gap for when they're gone. By the time they stop, I realise they've stopped and then move out, it would have been much quicker if they just kept going and I moved out in the gap I was looking at in the begining.

People stopping on roundabouts to let people out. How can anyone remotely competant as a driver think thats ok?

Shakti

I think people shouldn't confuse courtesy with stupidity similarly having to 'jam on' may mean you were traveling to close to the vehicle in front in the first place to come to a controlled stop.

_Kaiser_

Shakti wrote: »

similarly having to 'jam on' may mean you were traveling to close to the vehicle in front in the first place to come to a controlled stop.

I'll presume that's aimed at me from my post above.

That's all well and good in theory, but given that most Irish drivers can't even manage to maintain a consistent speed, never mind drive at the appropriate limit when it's perfectly safe to do so (or at least get out of the way for those of us who can), trying to maintain a distance between a lot of these dawdlers can be quite a challenge in itself.

Take for example the girl in a 99 3-Series that I ended up behind at lunchtime who not only dawdles across the junction as she turns right, but then trundles up the road at between 25-40 (and back again) km/h completely oblivious/ignorant of myself and the 3 other cars behind her :rolleyes:

And before the "it's a limit, not a target" brigade or the "driving slower saves me fuel" misers jump in, if you want to potter along wasting your time and telling yourself you're saving a "fortune" by doing so then work away - but that doesn't entitle you to hold up the rest of us who do have places to be and aren't overly concerned about the fiver per tank this tactic might save.

If you can't/don't want to drive at an appropriate speed when safe/appropriate to do so, then you shouldn't be on the road anyway in my opinion

(Incidentally, it was the clown in front of me - in the example earlier today - who decided to drop anchor. I slowed the car with plenty of space and then spent the next 30 seconds or so leaning on the horn until the aforementioned clown decided to stop holding up the entire road with his "good deed" and get moving again)

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

msg11 wrote: »

Not a big fan of it either.

Or the driver that flashes you to go, but keeps on rolling. So by the time you have checked for yourself that it is safe the driver is now blocking your path .

I know it's off the topic but what is it with people not letting you merge back into the normal lane when there is a bus lane ahead.

It reminds me of the time I used to flash people with no lights on at night. That changed the night a drunk driver went by with no lights on, so since then I have said to myself if your not capable of turning the lights on at night you should be on the road deserved to be stopped.

I see what you mean but i'd be flashing him to put his lights on for the safety of other road users, not to save him getting stopped or whatever.

_Kaiser_

deccurley wrote: »

I see what you mean but i'd be flashing him to put his lights on for the safety of other road users, not to save him getting stopped or whatever.

+1

There's far too many drivers in general who potter around in bad weather/poor visibility/bad light with no headlights on as it is. Always fun say on a bad day with a low overcast grey sky and all the silver cars around, or in a tree covered stretch at dusk with black cars! :rolleyes:

Headlights are also to be seen folks!

msg11

deccurley wrote: »

I see what you mean but i'd be flashing him to put his lights on for the safety of other road users, not to save him getting stopped or whatever.

Sorry bit of information missed, a road user in front flashed him cause of the no lights. But he was so pissed the strong lights must have blinded him and he swerved across two lanes of traffic.

Just dangerous, mongo shouldn't be let near a set of car keys in such a state!

Shakti

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

I'll presume that's aimed at me from my post above.

That's all well and good in theory, but given that most Irish drivers can't even manage to maintain a consistent speed, never mind drive at the appropriate limit when it's perfectly safe to do so (or at least get out of the way for those of us who can), trying to maintain a distance between a lot of these dawdlers can be quite a challenge in itself.

Take for example the girl in a 99 3-Series that I ended up behind at lunchtime who not only dawdles across the junction as she turns right, but then trundles up the road at between 25-40 (and back again) km/h completely oblivious/ignorant of myself and the 3 other cars behind her :rolleyes:

And before the "it's a limit, not a target" brigade or the "driving slower saves me fuel" misers jump in, if you want to potter along wasting your time and telling yourself you're saving a "fortune" by doing so then work away - but that doesn't entitle you to hold up the rest of us who do have places to be and aren't overly concerned about the fiver per tank this tactic might save.

If you can't/don't want to drive at an appropriate speed when safe/appropriate to do so, then you shouldn't be on the road anyway in my opinion

(Incidentally, it was the clown in front of me - in the example earlier today - who decided to drop anchor. I slowed the car with plenty of space and then spent the next 30 seconds or so leaning on the horn until the aforementioned clown decided to stop holding up the entire road with his "good deed" and get moving again)

No it wasn't aimed at you just making the point that courteous driving isn't the problem stupid driving is, as you have pointed out some people may think they are practicing courtesy were in fact it's more of an inspired lunacy considering that courtesy should aid the free flow of traffic on the road not hinder it.

As for being stuck behind a less than competent driver well until cars can leap frog or fly well your stuck, behind them that is, when it happens to me I tend to pull over at the first opportunity just to get away from the drama but I'm talking post coronary I wasn't always that way.