Driving Habbits Poll

No Pants · 06-08-2014 08:48AM

Strawwwbreeezz wrote: »

I wish more drivers were like you OP :-)

Seriously? You wish that more drivers would drive completely off the road if they noticed someone approaching at a slightly higher speed. Has overtaking correctly become a lost art?

Zubeneschamali · 06-08-2014 09:04AM

Firstly, it costs me nothing to pull over the odd time and let someone by, so I do. Obviously only if the visibility is good, the shoulder is clear and it is safe.

Secondly, I don't usually hang around, so someone approaching from behind is in a serious hurry. I'd prefer that they get past as quickly as possible, rather than jumping around on my bumper impatiently waiting for the first barely safe opportunity to pass. Badly judged overtaking maneuvers are a common cause of serious accidents. Let them have their accident somewhere else.

deise08 · 06-08-2014 09:22AM

Just because the speed limit is 100 doesn't mean you have to do 100.

tcawley29 · 06-08-2014 09:34AM

deise08 wrote: »

Just because the speed limit is 100 doesn't mean you have to do 100.

Just because you dont want to drive at the speed limit doesn't mean that you have to enforce your own speed limit on everyone else

djimi · 06-08-2014 09:37AM

tcawley29 wrote: »

Just because you dont want to drive at the speed limit doesn't mean that you have to enforce your own speed limit on everyone else

Its a public road; nobody has a divine right to drive as fast as they want. You drive as fast as conditions allow, and if those conditions mean sitting behind a slower moving vehicle until the opportunity arises to overtake safely then so be it.

I hate to break it to you, but you are not more important than anyone else on the road, and are not entitled to any special privilage from other drivers...

keithclancy · 06-08-2014 09:38AM

Meh, If they can overtake then they can do it properly.

Basically your trusting a stranger to overtake you in a safe way while you put half your car into an area of road where any debris and so on is thrown to get it off the driving part of the road.

Uncle did it and ended up with a big shard of metal in his tyre.

Buddy did it and ended up driving over a large wooden log at night time.

In both cases the person behind them just crawled past and the overtake took way longer than it should have.

I would really only drive 80 in a 100 if I was driving a Camper Van or towing a trailer.

Or if the conditions were terrible, so for me it doesn't really come up that often.

Basically they can overtake when its safe to overtake, not when I have to share the risk for them to be able to overtake.

tcawley29 · 06-08-2014 09:40AM

djimi wrote: »

Its a public road; nobody has a divine right to drive as fast as they want. You drive as fast as conditions allow, and if those conditions mean sitting behind a slower moving vehicle until the opportunity arises to overtake safely then so be it.

I hate to break it to you, but you are not more important than anyone else on the road, and are not entitled to any special privilage from other drivers...

I don't recall saying that I was. Its just called consideration for other road users. If they want to go faster than you and you have the opportunity to let them by without endangering yourself why would you hold them up?

Tea 1000 · 06-08-2014 09:40AM

daz1988 wrote: »

There is a woman who live about 3 miles away from me her son collapsed during a hurling game rushed to hospital she left her house and about a mile from my house she came behind a person who refused to pull in she sat there for 10 minutes eventually she rammed the car as she passed and did not stop the guards treated her as a criminal and tried to arrest her while she sat at her sons bedside about a week later her husband called to that persons door and explained the story and this persons words were ( I dont give a **** she is a mad woman she needs her head checked she could have killed me ) If anything serious happened like that happened that I had to get to hospital there and then no one would stop me no cars no road blocks i would not stop country is a joke country drivers should be ashamed driving there fancy cars staying on the middle of the road as there afraid to get a scratch on them

Ah now, revenge for them not letting her past became more important to her than continuing her journey to the hospital. That was stupid, she'd be fairly stupid looking with her son dying in her banjaxed car at the side of the road because she wanted revenge from a toolbag.
I'm sorry, but what she did is inexcusable. You use it as a case for "what if there's someone behind you who has a dying teenager and they have to get to hospital" situation, but what if yer man in front has a seriously injured infant and he can't drive any quicker in case of inflicting further injury on his way to the hospital then some lunatic smashes into his car to teach him a lesson?
Unlikely I know, but no more unlikely than every car flashing you from behind is taking someone to hospital.

djimi · 06-08-2014 09:45AM

tcawley29 wrote: »

I don't recall saying that I was. Its just called consideration for other road users. If they want to go faster than you and you have the opportunity to let them by without endangering yourself why would you hold them up?

Suggesting that people are trying to enforce their own speed limit on you suggests to me that you feel a sense of entitlement to drive as fast as you want, regardless of what speed other road users may be going. Its a public road, and as such you are going to get people driving a variety of speeds. If someone feels comfortable driving 85 in a 100 zone then more power to them. So long as they move to the left of the driving lane when being overtaken as per the rules of the road then thats all I ask. I would never expect anyone to jump into the hard shoulder to allow me pass.

Of course, Im not condoning those dickheads who actively block overtaking (I know this happens from time to time), but thankfully they are very much in the minority.

tcawley29 · 06-08-2014 09:47AM

djimi wrote: »

Suggesting that people are trying to enforce their own speed limit on you suggests to me that you feel a sense of entitlement to drive as fast as you want, regardless of what speed other road users may be going. Its a public road, and as such you are going to get people driving a variety of speeds. If someone feels comfortable driving 85 in a 100 zone then more power to them. So long as they move to the left of the driving lane when being overtaken as per the rules of the road then thats all I ask. I would never expect anyone to jump into the hard shoulder to allow me pass.

Of course, Im not condoning those dickheads who actively block overtaking (I know this happens from time to time), but thankfully they are very much in the minority.

No I don't feel I can drive as fast as I want, I feel that I can do the maximum speed limit where conditions allow.
I have absolutely no problem with anyone who makes life easier by keeping left, however to be honest I rarely see it.

No Pants · 06-08-2014 09:51AM

tcawley29 wrote: »

Just because you dont want to drive at the speed limit doesn't mean that you have to enforce your own speed limit on everyone else

Enforce? That's an interesting way to describe it. A more honest way would be to say that the following driver isn't competent enough to overtake without assistance.

djimi · 06-08-2014 09:53AM

tcawley29 wrote: »

No I don't feel I can drive as fast as I want, I feel that I can do the maximum speed limit where conditions allow.

This is my point; conditions mean more than just whether or not the road is wet/icy or whatever. If you are behind someone who is going slower than you would like and you cant pass them without them needing to leave the main driving carraigeway then conditions do not allow you to drive the speed limit and you are not entitled to expect that the other car get out of your way just so that you can drive as fast as you would like.

tcawley29 · 06-08-2014 09:54AM

No Pants wrote: »

Enforce? That's an interesting way to describe it. A more honest way would be to say that the following driver isn't competent enough to overtake without assistance.

Not really, Supposing there's a long line of traffic coming in the opposite direction.
Dunno about you but I personally wouldn't be going on to their side of the road then unless I had bigger problems in life

tcawley29 · 06-08-2014 09:56AM

djimi wrote: »

This is my point; conditions mean more than just whether or not the road is wet/icy or whatever. If you are behind someone who is going slower than you would like and you cant pass them without them needing to leave the main driving carraigeway then conditions do not allow you to drive the speed limit and you are not entitled to expect that the other car get out of your way just so that you can drive as fast as you would like.

I never said I was entitled to however it usually makes life a lot easier. The person in front gets tailgated by the other car in most cases (not me but I do see it happen). If they just moved left they could make both their journey and the other guys journey a lot easier

Slicemeister · 06-08-2014 09:57AM

No Pants wrote: »

Enforce? That's an interesting way to describe it. A more honest way would be to say that the following driver isn't competent enough to overtake without assistance.

Six of one half dozen of the other. Have often met numpties who hog the white line at 70 in a 100. Likewise I've seen lads refuse a pass even though the leading car is so far left in the hard shoulder it's dangerous, he himself holding up a line of cars behind him.

Often times it's car number 2 in this scenario who's a danger. I've been there and just drop back 100 yards to let those behind me know I'm in no rush. Depends on the road if I'll move left though.

No Pants · 06-08-2014 10:00AM

tcawley29 wrote: »

Not really, Supposing there's a long line of traffic coming in the opposite direction.

Then it's not safe to overtake.

tcawley29 · 06-08-2014 10:01AM

No Pants wrote: »

Then it's not safe to overtake.

Unless the car in front is considerate enough to move into the hard shoulder

No Pants · 06-08-2014 10:04AM

tcawley29 wrote: »

Unless the car in front is considerate enough to move into the hard shoulder

If the other driver has to leave the road, then it's still not safe to overtake.

djimi · 06-08-2014 10:05AM

tcawley29 wrote: »

Not really, Supposing there's a long line of traffic coming in the opposite direction.
Dunno about you but I personally wouldn't be going on to their side of the road then unless I had bigger problems in life

If there is a long line of traffic coming the other way then its not safe to overtake.

What you are asking the car in front to do is get the **** out of your way and basically disappear off the road. Its a horrible sense of entitlement to have and shows a real lack of respect towards other road users.

No Pants · 06-08-2014 10:10AM

djimi wrote: »

If there is a long line of traffic coming the other way then its not safe to overtake.

What you are asking the car in front to do is get the **** out of your way and basically disappear off the road. Its a horrible sense of entitlement to have and shows a real lack of respect towards other road users.

It also shows a lack of driving confidence, perhaps due to a lack of driving competence.

06-08-2014 10:16AM

Yes I would and have moved fully aside into the hard shoulder to allow people past. I haven't see the hard shoulder "littered with debris" as some are saying and driving tractors I have spent a lot of time in hard shoulders. That said its extremely rare that I am the one needing to pull in but I really appreciate when others do so I can overtake while there is oncoming traffic. I wouldn't flash my lights at them though I just drive behind them in the hope they would pull aside.

Its pure ignorant pig headedness not pulling in when you are holding up the show. You can see most professional drivers like truck and bus drivers have the cop on to always pull in for cars to pass but the "I own the road" brigade are on their own mission and don't give a damn about holding people up.

djimi wrote: »

If there is a long line of traffic coming the other way then its not safe to overtake.

If the hard shoulder is wide enough for the car to pull in fully then its no more dangerous than over taking on a climbing lane with a line of cars coming the other way. I reckon on nearly every journey home on a weekend I pass at least one vehicle by them pulling into the hard shoulder with cars coming the other way (usually a truck of bus) its perfectly safe.

No Pants · 06-08-2014 10:21AM

Aubree Shaggy Creature wrote: »

I haven't see the hard shoulder "littered with debris" as some are saying and driving tractors I have spent a lot of time in hard shoulders.

Nor have I. Upon closer inspection, say when cycling, some things do stick out more. However, the road with a hard shoulder that I would use most is the N2 and that is littered with side roads. Side roads which people just drive straight out of, assuming that they have a clear hard shoulder to accelerate to speed on. There's no way that I would willingly use the hard shoulder on a lot of that road.

djimi · 06-08-2014 10:24AM

Aubree Shaggy Creature wrote: »

If the hard shoulder is wide enough for the car to pull in fully then its no more dangerous than over taking on a climbing lane with a line of cars coming the other way. I reckon on nearly every journey home on a weekend I pass at least one vehicle by them pulling into the hard shoulder with cars coming the other way (usually a truck of bus) its perfectly safe.

Its nothing like a climbing lane, which is a proper lane that is used all the time by vehicles. You dont have to look far to find many stories of people who have caused damage to their car by driving in the debris found in the hard shoulder. Just because it hasnt happened to you does not mean that its not an issue.

The hard shoulder is not a driving lane, and its utterly ridiculous to expect that anyone should ever have to use it to allow another vehicle to pass. How can you complain about the "I own the road brigade" who dont want to pull in, when you display such an attitude of owning the road in wanting to drive as fast as you like and expecting that people just fall off the driving carraigeway to accommodate you? Hypocrite much?

tcawley29 · 06-08-2014 10:37AM

djimi wrote: »

Its nothing like a climbing lane, which is a proper lane that is used all the time by vehicles. You dont have to look far to find many stories of people who have caused damage to their car by driving in the debris found in the hard shoulder. Just because it hasnt happened to you does not mean that its not an issue.

The hard shoulder is not a driving lane, and its utterly ridiculous to expect that anyone should ever have to use it to allow another vehicle to pass. How can you complain about the "I own the road brigade" who dont want to pull in, when you display such an attitude of owning the road in wanting to drive as fast as you like and expecting that people just fall off the driving carraigeway to accommodate you? Hypocrite much?

As the poll indicates 81 people here are against you. You are a minority and you are a selfish driver. I bet you don't use slow lanes either because in your mind you are going fast enough.

Boom_Bap · 06-08-2014 10:42AM

tcawley29 wrote: »

As the poll indicates 81 people here are against you. You are a minority and you are a selfish driver. I bet you don't use slow lanes either because in your mind you are going fast enough.

He's not a selfish driver, he is abiding by the ROTR.

Jogathon · 06-08-2014 10:44AM

I never go fully into the hard shoulder when this happens, but always pull in slightly if the road is straight and I have a good view. I never go anywhere near the hard shoulder coming up to a bend, I know there could be anything just around it.

I prefer to have the aggressive and lunatic drivers in front of me, harassing someone else, instead of behind me, making me feel under pressure.

And I forgot to say this... I never pass out on a corner when the car in front has pulled in for me to pass. They think that they are being considerate and generous but there could be cyclists/tractor just around the corner and then they'll have to quickly pull out back into the driving lane. The lack of awareness is so evident in some drivers. However, I will if it is a clear stretch of road.

EazyD · 06-08-2014 10:51AM

tcawley29 wrote: »

As the poll indicates 81 people here are against you. You are a minority and you are a selfish driver. I bet you don't use slow lanes either because in your mind you are going fast enough.

Refraining from driving in a hard shoulder is not selfish whatsoever. It is not intended nor designed to be used as a driving lane, as the ROTR states.

Additionally, many hard shoulders in this country are littered with debris and have very poor drainage.

djimi · 06-08-2014 11:05AM

tcawley29 wrote: »

As the poll indicates 81 people here are against you. You are a minority and you are a selfish driver. I bet you don't use slow lanes either because in your mind you are going fast enough.

Maybe if the wording of your poll wasnt so loaded more people might have voted differently. When the other option is "screw them" you are basically voting as to whether or not you are a prick; not many people will admit to that...

keithclancy · 06-08-2014 11:05AM

Aubree Shaggy Creature wrote: »

Yes I would and have moved fully aside into the hard shoulder to allow people past. I haven't see the hard shoulder "littered with debris" as some are saying and driving tractors I have spent a lot of time in hard shoulders. That said its extremely rare that I am the one needing to pull in but I really appreciate when others do so I can overtake while there is oncoming traffic. I wouldn't flash my lights at them though I just drive behind them in the hope they would pull aside.

Its pure ignorant pig headedness not pulling in when you are holding up the show. You can see most professional drivers like truck and bus drivers have the cop on to always pull in for cars to pass but the "I own the road" brigade are on their own mission and don't give a damn about holding people up.

If the hard shoulder is wide enough for the car to pull in fully then its no more dangerous than over taking on a climbing lane with a line of cars coming the other way. I reckon on nearly every journey home on a weekend I pass at least one vehicle by them pulling into the hard shoulder with cars coming the other way (usually a truck of bus) its perfectly safe.

Driving 80km/h in an Emergency lane that's used for breakdowns and in Rural Ireland used for walking/cycling is f*cking crazy imo.

I never really paid attention in Ireland but on the Dutch/German hard shoulders on closer inspection its littered with screws, bits of tires from blowouts, small bits of rubbish and stones that get blown off the road.

It's also where all the water settles.

jimgoose · 06-08-2014 11:08AM

tcawley29 wrote: »

As the poll indicates 81 people here are against you. You are a minority and you are a selfish driver. I bet you don't use slow lanes either because in your mind you are going fast enough.

Now shtall the digger there a minute. I will extend courtesy to assist faster-moving traffic coming up behind to overtake, when it suits me. That is, I make a call on each and every occasion based on the whether it's safe, the likelihood of debris/potholes/pedestrians/bicycles, etc. appearing in the hard-shoulder, that kind of thing. If I decide to not move over, that doesn't make me selfish, it makes me prudent.

Driving Habbits Poll

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