Yesterday I was driving behind a taxi. A car pulled across the road from a side turning, causing me no inconvenience. Who knows what the cabby thought, though? He slammed on his brakes for no reason, and when the other driver tried to drive round him the cabby rolled down his window and started yelling at the guy. Then he leaned out of his window and tried to wrench open the car door. I started hooting (I hardly EVER use my horn) and eventually he drove off. I took his details down and tried to report him but as I was not the victim, a man who is not even fit to drive a car is allowed to carry on ferrying passengers.
Today as I waited at traffic lights to turn right, I noticed the guy in the car bahind me was on his mobile phone. This is illegal in Britain, though you'd never know it. After we took the turn, I realised he was also smoking - phone clamped by left hand to left ear, cigarette in right hand. His vehicle was quite large, and he could have caused major damage, especially as it was school chucking-out time and the crossing attendants were busy ferrying kids across this busy road.
Men think they are better drivers than women. Male CHILDREN thnk they are better drivers than women. It would be funny if it were not so dman dangerous.
Crazy story. I think it is really hard to find good drivers these days, at least it is in atlanta. The more people there are driving, the worse it gets and people seem to drive worse because they have to be so aggressive to even get where they want to go.
ReplyDeleteGetting onto the motorway on Wednesday, I was approaching the end of the slip road - and as we know, one is not supposed to STOP, but to filter onto the main carriageway - so I checked my mirrors. There was a large truck bearing down on me, but it was far enough away that I had time to do what I had to...I'm nearly running out of slip road altogether, when, suddenly there's long, angry tooting going on. Thankfully there was no one on the slip road behind me because, I've no idea what's going on, so I slam my brakes on. I look in the mirror again, and see the truck driver is gesticulating wildly for me to 'GO FASTER'. I see, so he couldn't maintain his speed, or god forbid, slow down slightly - until I was safely on the bit of road in front of him then??
ReplyDeleteVincent D'Onofrio is, of course, a MAN and no doubt a WONDERFUL driver, and I volunteer to be in a car with him so that he can prove this to me ;0)
I had a similar encounter with the cell phone/cigarette scenario a couple of years back. There was a lady in an SUV coming toward me on a narrow street. She had a cigarette in one hand and a cell phone in the other. I pulled off to the side to let her pass. I kept thinking that's two hands by my count...how the heck is she steering the vehicle. Bad, thoughtless, inconsiderate, RUDE drivers...they're everywhere.
ReplyDeleteIn Chicago, at least, bad drivers come in all sexes, ages, sizes, colors, etc. Which is part of what makes it so damned unpredictable. One thing I've learned . . . ALWAYS drive defensively. Anyone know if VDO needs a chauffeur? I have a great driving record. Would just have to move to Manhattan . . .
ReplyDeleteOne of my best examples of superior male driving is the guy I observed on the motorway driving an articulated lorry with the newspaper spread over the steering wheel and a sandwich in one hand. He probably had a cup of coffee somewhere close by. Then they wonder why the emergency services end up cutting people out of multi vehicle pile ups!
ReplyDeleteWhat pisses me off are people who drive in the fast lane while talking on their cell phones and going slow, and 9 times out of 10 it's a woman in a minivan. No one on the west coast can drive worth shit. I learned to drive in Boston/New England/New York and we drive aggressively and defensively as well.
ReplyDeleteI've learned that the following cars ALWAYS go slow: VW's, Volvo's, minivans, PT Cruisers and Subaru's.
BTW, my friends used to call me "Mario Andretti" and one of them gave me a bumpersticker that said, "If you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk."
Now,this is why I'm sometimes glad I don't drive.I say sometimes,only because when it's peeing down I'd much rather be in a car :-)
ReplyDeleteAlthough...for really manic driving,just be at the local primary at 3.15.We have no crosssing guards,or even a pedestrian crossing,so it feels like you take your life in your hands every day
At school, when someone pulls into the car lane the wrong way, we know it is Always a Dad or a Grandpa picking up the kids.
ReplyDeleteI must remember to get driving lessons from you next time I visit England Val ;o)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, over here at least, the first thing most women do when they set off in their SUV tanks is grab the cell phone. Men are just as guilty but it isn't just a male thing...it is an arrogant, selfish people thing.
Being distracted by the phone is as bad as, or worse than, driving drunk.
Pauline's anecdote reminds me of a very similar situation I witnessed on the M6 when I was a truck driver. A car in the inside lane was being driven by a guy who was eating breakfast (with coffee) and the paper so high there was no way he could see. His passenger was steering. I requested my co-pilot make a call to the police and stayed alongside until they arrived and, presumably, gave him a good bollocking and hopefully a very expensive ticket.
During my years as a truck driver I never went more than a day or two without seeing someone being cut out of a car or truck. The sad thing is, it is usually the innocent who pay the price.
Michael - Ford Concertina.
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