I think people are a lot more impatient than they used to be. Perhaps the fact that there is more traffic on the roads makes this worse. Having previously regularly done 500-1000 miles a week for work, I have become a lot more relaxed about driving and getting places, there is no point in weaving in and out of traffic just to get somewhere 2 or 5 minutes quicker. I try to make sure I have plenty of time to get somewhere and I'll get there when I get there.

Not that I am saying I never get wound up though...

Edited 2 May, 201214 yr by trundlenut

To the op. I sometimes wonder if town planners highway engineers think about what they are doing.

Wrong profession, thankfully....I get blamed for most things, but I'm not having this one.

Right Ema_jane person, think you are getting very, very confused here.

What I have said is that someone with 3-4 years of experience openly stating that they can tear apart the driving of most people even those with 40 years of driving experience is arrogant. I couldn't care if they were 21 or 101 that's not the issue. My dad has been driving for over 40 years, has won competitions and numerous trophies for his standard of driving. Am I supposed to accept that someone who has been driving for 3-4 years is skilled enough tear my dads driving standards apart when passing a cyclist just because he says he is? Erm..... nope.

That is/was my point.

I have never stated that I have or have not made mistakes when driving. I have never said that I consider myself as an experienced driver. Just in the same vain that you disagree with me and I disagree with yesiamtom we are all entitled to our opinions. Only difference is that my opinion is right and yours is wrong. Now GTFO :rofl:

Very good for your dad, give him another gold star. The only part of you claiming that just because he has had only max of 4 years on the road he obviously can not possibly be experienced enough, which ever way you want to try and re-word it, that it what you said and how it reads to me, to be honest its not all about your time on the road ect, yes your dad may be a very good driver ironically enough so was my father but its how a person reads the road. Yes you need experience in order to do this..but not decades and if you do then your a bloody slow leaner.

Anyway regardless i hate cyclist and they needed knocking down a peg or two, just unfortunately they seem to stuck on this moral high ground.

By the way, what on earth GTFO? When did typing become so hard?

mmm popcorn

I've been doing a lot more miles recently (commuting) and see some awful driving on a daily basis. I will admit I'm not a perfect driver all of the time (nobody can be) but I do sometimes wonder how some drivers passed their test or if they have any clue about the Highway Code. Among the worst have got to be tailgating or people pulling in too close in front of me, leaving an unsafe distance. On big roundabouts with marked lanes people don't seem to be able to stay in their lane (typically SUV drivers).

I am a cyclist myself and don't tend to have any issues with them on the road when I'm driving, the only exception being when they ride 2+ abreast preventing you from overtaking.

Im dont dislike cyclists only because most of them seem to think they own the road and have the head shoved too far up their bottom its just the fact they are so unsafe, to themselfs.

Now this shocked me the other day, driving on the moors and it was thick with fog, viability down to 20 or so ft, out of no where comes this police man on the bicycle! No rear light, high vis on but it was day time so nothing is going to get reflected, i was only going about 40 and saw him in good time but it could of gone wrong in so many ways, this person preaches health and safety when on the road, even i would not have the ball to do that!

Anyways say the worst is to happen and one gets knocked down, out of every 10 cyclists its rare i see even one with a helmet on, any protective or reflective clothing, its asking for trouble in my opinion

Oh sausage roll, GTFO...are you serious? Im sorry, who are you?

Ema_jane, you have been spouting off about your 100,000 miles and 4 years of experience, and then come out with something I find insane. Before you reply think about what you have written. " VISIBILITY WAS ABOUT 20FT IN THICK FOG AND I WAS ONLY DOING ABOUT 40MPH " what, are you totally nuts? You say you saw him in plenty of time. Rubbish, at that speed in those conditions you would have killed him, before your brain even had time to think about braking.

Please don't make stuff up and post on here, some of us have real experience.

Ema_jane, you have been spouting off about your 100,000 miles and 4 years of experience, and then come out with something I find insane. Before you reply think about what you have written. " VISIBILITY WAS ABOUT 20FT IN THICK FOG AND I WAS ONLY DOING ABOUT 40MPH " what, are you totally nuts? You say you saw him in plenty of time. Rubbish, at that speed in those conditions you would have killed him, before your brain even had time to think about braking.

Please don't make stuff up and post on here, some of us have real experience.

In Whitby, a coastal town, we have something called sea threat, basically rolling low cloud, this can surround your car within seconds, rendering you blind at 60mph and it can disappear in a split second, right a combination of the two will give you rolling fog, so when it breaks up you can see further then it came over heavy again, i saw a flash of break lights in the distance but did not react but was cautious (might of been wildlife) that i was very shocked when i had to swerve for the police man, i did not have to throw the car violently across to the other side of the road, i passed him with room to spare. This man was cycling on the edge of the road, if you drive close to the edge in them conditions then you are asking for an accident, i call it safe guarding yourself for such an event.

If you like me to go in further detail then i will but the rudeness was very uncalled for, yet another middle aged man get a hump as a young female has argued a point because you think you know best

At 40mph you would travel 20ft in about 0.34 seconds, so no reaction time at all.

What you are saying is that the visibility was variable, realistically you probably saw him from a lot further than 20ft, it just seemed less.

The copper may not have been local and by the sound of it he was caught out by the conditions. It could easily have been someone coming the other way in a car/bike/motorbike/lorry who hit the thick fog, drifted across the road and that would have been the end of you and them. Not that much to do with ability more conditions and a combination of circumstances.

In Whitby, a coastal town, we have something called sea threat, basically rolling low cloud, this can surround your car within seconds, rendering you blind at 60mph and it can disappear in a split second, right a combination of the two will give you rolling fog, so when it breaks up you can see further then it came over heavy again, i saw a flash of break lights in the distance but did not react but was cautious (might of been wildlife) that i was very shocked when i had to swerve for the police man, i did not have to throw the car violently across to the other side of the road, i passed him with room to spare. This man was cycling on the edge of the road, if you drive close to the edge in them conditions then you are asking for an accident, i call it safe guarding yourself for such an event.

If you like me to go in further detail then i will but the rudeness was very uncalled for, yet another middle aged man get a hump as a young female has argued a point because you think you know best

I lived next to the sea in Pembrokeshire for 40+ years, so sea mist etc is no mystery to me. Why in your reply have you failed to mention the fact that you were doing 40mph in those conditions? That is all I am getting at, you say you are or have in 4 years lots of experience, but you have shot yourself down by posting what you did. You should have been driving to suit the conditions, which as a local goes without saying. Also where would you expect a cyclist to be, usually the edge of the road, seldom in the middle. I think you should admit you are mistaken about thinking 4 years driving gives you the experience you think you have. I have been lucky during my life and been able to drive in lots of countries, under some atrocious conditions, and this is where you pick up experience, I'm still learning after all these years, and don't mind admitting I'm a little more than middle aged. If I were you I would sit back and learn and when you get several more years driving under your belt, maybe start airing your views, but be honest your last post was full of what a driver shouldn't have been doing.

Arrogance and cockiness gets people killed in all walks of work and life, but particularly on the roads. Many of us on this forum have been driving for 20,30 or even 40 years and believe me - the longer you have been driving the more you realise you have to learn.

Edited 4 May, 201214 yr by slider