The Student Room Group

What would you call a 'bad driver'

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Original post by Aack

I can't stand people who drive right up close to the back of the car in front - not only is it dangerous, there's no reason to do it. I've been doing 90 in the fast lane and people still do it even when there is a long line of cars ahead of me. I usually slow down to 70 just to annoy them, as I assume they are doing it because they want me out of the way.


I would just let them go past you. If they get the speeding ticket then thats their fault.
Not saying you do, but if you brake and they go into the back of you, it might technically be 'their fault' in the eyes of insurance companies but the hassle and cost to you would not be worth it. Non fault claims add a lot to premiums even if your car was parked and no one was in it when your car was crashed into.
I see grey hair above the driver's headrest on the car in front and immediately drop back. Saw one old boy blindly follow someone onto a roundabout when if he'd looked for a second he would have seen a car he should have yielded to. Was a couple of cars behind (presumably) a doddery old person, pootling along at 40 in a 60 limit on a clear dry day, and then proceeded to completely ignore a 'give way to oncoming vehicles' sign and trundle over a narrow bridge. Was stuck behind another one on the way home from work the other night, going at no more than 25 in a residential area, but still slowing to a crawl for every speed bump.

Micras also seem to be owned solely by the incompetent. Had one pull out to overtake a cyclist with traffic (ME!) coming the other way.

Idiots that pull out and cause me to slow or brake sharply - one pulling across my lane to go the other way on a 30 road, not so bad, but the one that pulled out in front of me on a 60 road, oh that was stupid. However he did apologise and was French so it was forgiveable.

Buses are usually quite courteous, but I was coming the other way towards the aforementioned narrow bridge, and I know how people really object to giving way, so I took up quite an aggressive position to assert that I wanted to cross. This bus who, if the driver was able to plan past the front of his vehicle, would have seen me waiting decided to come across anyway, but then couldn't get round the tight corner on my side, and just sat there looking at me expecting me to move!

I think drivers who haven't read the highway code since they passed, or have lost the ability to drive since passing (or not in the case of some seniors). But I think it has taught (and is still teaching me) to anticipate others questionable driving better -

Coming up to a roundabout on a 2 lane dual carriageway in the nearside lane, a car matches my speed in the offside maybe half a car length ahead of me. I drop back slightly so there's enough space for him to fit in if he wants/needs to, and sure enough he indicates and moves across to my lane and then the left turn lane on my nearside.
most drivers apart from me of course
Reply 23
Not indicating
Speeding
Overtaking
Tailgating
Reply 24
If you feel scared when you're a passenger, THEY'RE A BAD DRIVER.
Reply 25
Original post by snufkin_
Completely agree. Not just this but the other day I was on a motorway, there were roadworks so it was 50mph limit so I was going a steady 50 (lots of speed cameras around) and I was in the lanes with the lorries going 50, and a lorry came right up behind me full beams flashing to try and get me to move as everyone was going that pace so he couldn't have overtook. Really irritated and almost blinded me!


Yeah same here on the A666 heading towards Bolton. I was flashed by a car, whilst doing 50mph (the speed limit, again with cameras), and he decided to move onto the left hand side, and undertake me. The limit is the limit, wheather I was on the far right of the motorway or the far left lane.
People who fail to look far enough ahead and spend their driving careers slamming on the brakes because of a hazard they should have seen much earlier.

RE: Headlights. Remember that in some 30mph zones where there are streetlights, headlights are not compulsory. Also, in some newer cars, the dashboard is illuminated at all times - making it harder to realise that one has forgotten to switch on the headlights.
anything with breasts
Original post by InnerTemple
People who fail to look far enough ahead and spend their driving careers slamming on the brakes because of a hazard they should have seen much earlier.


tbh if the hazard is in the distance, you should be able to see it too and react without slamming on your brakes as a result of guy in front slamming on the brakes.... So, either you're following far too close, or you're as guilty as the guy in front
Original post by abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
tbh if the hazard is in the distance, you should be able to see it too and react without slamming on your brakes as a result of guy in front slamming on the brakes.... So, either you're following far too close, or you're as guilty as the guy in front


I never said that I slam on my brakes: I was referring to other motorists having to do that because of a failure to look/plan ahead.
My main decider is whether they make fatal school boy errors. I had a friend who cut across to go up a slip lane without checking her mirror. We all make mistakes and lose concentration from time to time, but there's no excuse for not checking your mirrors in that situation. She nearly killed a motorcyclists if you're wondering.
Reply 31
There's no such thing as bad drivers, there are just bad people.

How you drive directly reflects your personality. If you're inconsiderate on the roads (which is 90% of bad driving), then you're just an inconsiderate ****, no two ways about it.
Reply 32
Original post by snufkin_
Completely agree. Not just this but the other day I was on a motorway, there were roadworks so it was 50mph limit so I was going a steady 50


Was it 50 on your speedometer?
Original post by py0alb
There's no such thing as bad drivers, there are just bad people.


Err, yes there are. Like the old guy I saw blindly follow someone onto a roundabout when he should have given way - he wasn't being inconsiderate, he was just too senile to cope with paying attention to anything going on outside of his tunnel vision.

Or the guy relatively crawling along on a dual carriageway because he was fiddling with his stereo and too distracted to notice his speed had dropped. They're not inconsiderate, just incompetent.
Reply 34
Original post by Pony Jack
Err, yes there are. Like the old guy I saw blindly follow someone onto a roundabout when he should have given way - he wasn't being inconsiderate, he was just too senile to cope with paying attention to anything going on outside of his tunnel vision.

Or the guy relatively crawling along on a dual carriageway because he was fiddling with his stereo and too distracted to notice his speed had dropped. They're not inconsiderate, just incompetent.


Thats why I said 90%, not 100%.

Very few people are actually genuinely incompetent, otherwise they would never have passed their test in the first place.

Most people would be perfectly competent drivers if they weren't so intractably ignorant. It simply never crosses their mind that leaving a 3 yard gap in front of their car might cause the poor sap three cars behind to be stuck in the middle of the junction, because they're simply not used to thinking about anyone but themselves.
Original post by py0alb
Thats why I said 90%, not 100%.

Very few people are actually genuinely incompetent, otherwise they would never have passed their test in the first place.

Most people would be perfectly competent drivers if they weren't so intractably ignorant. It simply never crosses their mind that leaving a 3 yard gap in front of their car might cause the poor sap three cars behind to be stuck in the middle of the junction, because they're simply not used to thinking about anyone but themselves.


But then the poor sap stuck in the middle of the junction wouldn't be there if s/he could plan past the end of their own bonnet and wait for a space the other side!

Most people are competent at the time they pass their test, yes, but few remain at this level afterwards, and they are especially stubborn about acknowledging that they are unable to drive safely any more, even when it's quite apparent.
To me a 'bad driver' would be someone who is careless about their driving and doesn't think the impact of their actions on other drivers and pedestrians.

Basically someone who is inconsiderate and is a danger to others around them, not because of mistakes (which we all make), but because they don't think or don't care.
The woman who reversed into and over my motorcycle in 2010.
Reply 38
I feel Im a terrible driver, Ive been learning for 9 months now, hour and a half every week. I just cant pick it up!
Reply 39
Original post by Pony Jack
But then the poor sap stuck in the middle of the junction wouldn't be there if s/he could plan past the end of their own bonnet and wait for a space the other side!

Most people are competent at the time they pass their test, yes, but few remain at this level afterwards, and they are especially stubborn about acknowledging that they are unable to drive safely any more, even when it's quite apparent.



Its not unreasonable to assume that the cars ahead are going to fill up the space available, is it now. You assess the space, and decide, yes, there is more than enough room for my car. But you didn't factor in other people's breathtakingly arrogant, stupid and inconsiderate driving.

The sad thing is, they probably aren't even aware of the problem their terrible driving created, and they'll probably do exactly the same thing tomorrow. They probably never even looked in their mirror.

Think about other road users.

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