Daily roundabout cut-up

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

HR17

Active Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2008
Messages
637
Location
West Mids
Car
A Merc.
Today it was only two people who cut me up either on or exiting roundabouts. It seems that I encounter at least one moron who is either unable to use their mirrors, or doesn't understand how to use a roundabout properly. Turning right but in the left hand lane? In the middle lane but veering into the right hand lane? Not checking blind spot or indicating? Wanting to turn left from the right hand lane? It seems to happen every day, and I'm now well used to giving a quick toot on the horn in the spirit of the highway code to say 'here I am' and please don't bump me. How many times have I been tooted back, had the finger or fist or been followed with lights and horn blazing in an attempt to scare me(it doesn't work on me by the way!).

Sometimes I wish I were a copper in an undercover car. I'd spend most of my days nicking people for their sheer stupidity, laziness and arrogance. As I have no intention of a career change, I take great pleasure in contacting the most senior person I can in the companies who's vans/trucks have caused the incident, and pushing as far as I can to cause them trouble. It makes me feel a whole lot better.

I even had a very humble apology from the MD of a local company after one of their vans nearly ran me off the road. When I tooted them, the driver and his passenger pulled over alongside me at the next lights, cursing threatening and swearing at me. They were stupid enough to stop for long enough for me to write down the company name, number, website and the reg number. A few minutes later, and I'm chatting to said MD and explaining. I had a call back from him later once the two accused had been dressed down and sent home for the day. Result!

I think more of us should do this - it might make people think twice, and maybe reduce the number of prangs we all see on our daily trek to work.
 
I don't let it get to me any more - it's not worth the hassle. I think it was Newton who discovered that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.................
 
I don't generally react either, except where it's obvious they're going to risk both our cars by swerving across in front of me.

What I don't get is the reaction in almost all cases, as above - like it's somehow my fault that even though they're in the left lane and want to turn right, I'm responsible for their complete lack of road awareness.

Happens on my road too, cars parked on both sides of the road making it one-car wide only. I'm going uphill so according to the Highway Code have right of way, yet pretty much everyone tries to run me off the road and then glares at me like I should have given way to them?

A friend used to carry copies of the Highway Code (when it was free from HMSO) and merrily fling it through their windows, even now it's not free I'm still tempted...
 
A few minutes later, and I'm chatting to said MD and explaining.

I've only ever done that once, after a local company works van all but ran me off the road in the most outrageous manoevre I've ever seen.

I called the company and was put through to someone who asked for my address so they could come round and "speak to me about it"! The amount of swearing from his end made me assume he wasn't thinking about bringing some discount vouchers off my next purchase. :)


I'm sure you're a capable driver but some people's driving style does seem to attract this sort of incident. I can get in my car and do a 400 mile round trip and not have a single problem. Go to our head office and my boss will drive across town and we'll nearly get a fight with other drivers about 3 times!
 
Last edited:
A friend used to carry copies of the Highway Code (when it was free from HMSO) and merrily fling it through their windows, even now it's not free I'm still tempted...


That's some feat of strength or did he only do it during the summer on non air-conditioned cars? :)
 
If you want to see gross stupidity on a roundabout try exiting the M4 westbound at J8/9 when it's busy. Apparently quite a simple roundabout to negotiate with three lanes, the RH one signposted for the A308M only. The A308M is about 300 degrees back around the circle.

The signs are regarded as mere suggestions by many. Every single time I've used it any number of impatient ****holes will try to barge their way out of the RH lane, where they should never have been in the first place, into one of the lanes to their left, a maneuver that might save about 5 seconds if someone lets them in.

If not they have to drive all the way around the roundabout again.
rolleyes.gif
 
Last edited:
It takes two to Tango.


If I'm doing nothing wrong, and driving sensibly, its not really my fault if someone nearly hits me through their own lack of awareness. On a number of occasions, a quick toot on the horn has woken them up and avoided a collision. Its there for a reason and I use it when I need to. Remember that nobody crashes intentionally.
 
I don't let it get to me any more - it's not worth the hassle. I think it was Newton who discovered that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.................
You're quite right in that the kinetic energy held by their car would immediately be transferred to my car, and swiftly dissipated through its lovely shiny bodywork.
 
If you want to see gross stupidity on a roundabout try exiting the M4 westbound at J8/9 when it's busy. Apparently quite a simple roundabout to negotiate with three lanes, the RH one signposted for the A308M only. The A308M is about 300 degrees back around the circle.

The signs are apparently regarded as mere suggestions by many. Every single time I've used it any number of impatient ****holes will try to barge their way out of the RH lane, where they should never have been in the first place, into one of the lanes to their left, a maneuver that might save about 5 seconds if someone lets them in.

If not they have to drive all the way around the roundabout again.
rolleyes.gif

There are so many roundabouts that I either avoid or take extra care on for the reason that so many people seem unable to understand how they work. Around us they've even been painting white lines on them and big white arrows pointing left, right or straight on, as a clue. It still doesnt seem to work though.
 
Don't be silly, those arrows are there for everybody else. They don't apply to me!
 
If I'm doing nothing wrong, and driving sensibly, its not really my fault if someone nearly hits me through their own lack of awareness. On a number of occasions, a quick toot on the horn has woken them up and avoided a collision. Its there for a reason and I use it when I need to. Remember that nobody crashes intentionally.

Keep a "safety cell" around you. Use "bold" positioning. If these terms are unfamiliar then enroll on a defensive (the name is a misnoma, it's more positive in reality) driving course.

You can ususally tell what other people are going to do on the road. If somebody comes sweeping alongside you on a roundabout then they may well try and take the exit. Back off and let them or move forward and block them. It's doing neither one thing nor the other that results in accidents.

I do a fair number of miles and I genuinely cannot remember the last time I used the horn in anger in a car.
 
It's doing neither one thing nor the other that results in accidents.
Very true.

Like the OP I used to have a roundabout on the way to work that had a two lane entrance, with the right hand lane marked for turn right and the left lane for left and straight ahead. Lane discipline on entrance to the roundabout was enerally good, however people going straight across would regularly straigh line the roundabout, causing you a bit of an issue if you were turning right.

My apporach was to ensure your were level/ahead, or just behind, but never with your front level with their B pillar. Also hand over horn - so when they do pull across in front of me I let them know.
 
Such stupid driving will only end if we can persuade Kelloggs to stop giving away driving licences in every pack of cornflakes........









.
 
You're quite right in that the kinetic energy held by their car would immediately be transferred to my car, and swiftly dissipated through its lovely shiny bodywork.

Nicely said but you miss the point by a country mile....... As said above it's odd how trouble always comes to some people but not others, isn't it?

I bored with this thread now....... there are drivers who don't drive according to the highway code everywhere - and that includes ourselves. Very few of us can hold up our hands and swear that we have never done anything wrong - we're only human. Retaliation is rarely helpful.
 
Last edited:
If you want to see gross stupidity on a roundabout try exiting the M4 westbound at J8/9 when it's busy. Apparently quite a simple roundabout to negotiate with three lanes, the RH one signposted for the A308M only. The A308M is about 300 degrees back around the circle.

The signs are regarded as mere suggestions by many. Every single time I've used it any number of impatient ****holes will try to barge their way out of the RH lane, where they should never have been in the first place, into one of the lanes to their left, a maneuver that might save about 5 seconds if someone lets them in.

If not they have to drive all the way around the roundabout again.
rolleyes.gif

thats a horror that one. it has three lanes entering the roundabout from the M4 exit slip which then all have to do at least 245 degrees to get onto the 404. that feels odd and counterintuitive. to make matters worse when its busy you get traffic from the right cutting over two or three lanes to get to their exit and confusing the traffic on their left doing what their lane tells them. the traffic lights dont help because all manoeuvres are not helped by encountering a stationary queue.

its obviously been solved by the road engineers with the perfection that is the new Handy cross rounabout on top of the M40 :crazy:
 
Keep a "safety cell" around you. Use "bold" positioning. If these terms are unfamiliar then enroll on a defensive (the name is a misnoma, it's more positive in reality) driving course.

You can ususally tell what other people are going to do on the road. If somebody comes sweeping alongside you on a roundabout then they may well try and take the exit. Back off and let them or move forward and block them. It's doing neither one thing nor the other that results in accidents.

I do a fair number of miles and I genuinely cannot remember the last time I used the horn in anger in a car.

The terms are familiar, having already done two professional advanced driving courses and being a member of ROSPA/IAM. As I drive 40K+ miles per year, and having done so for the last 15 years, still with a clean licence and never having had a bump, I consider myself to be a safe and sensible driver.

I never said I used the horn in anger - I quoted the correct use as in 'here I am' which successfully lets other drivers know where I am if they haven't seen me.
 
Nicely said but you miss the point by a country mile....... As said above it's odd how trouble always comes to some people but not others, isn't it?

I bored with this thread now....... there are drivers who don't drive according to the highway code everywhere - and that includes ourselves. Very few of us can hold up our hands and swear that we have never done anything wrong - we're only human. Retaliation is rarely helpful.

Retaliation make you feel a hell of a lot better though!!!:bannana:
 
I never said I used the horn in anger

Bad choice of word - I didn't mean in anger as in you being abgry, I meant other than in testing or driving over blind bridges etc.

Your experience and training is very similar to mine, and I do see the odd incident, but it does worry me when people seem to be having multiple incidents per day. I use a roundabout near home most days where the dual exit roads immediately merge into one lane. I can create an incident there every time I use it, or I can defuse one by leaving a bit of space.

You get some threads on PistonHeads where the poster is complaining about half a dozen things that have happened to him that day. and you have to wonder about the common factor in all those incidents.
 
Last edited:
I once got hit under these circumstances : there is a roundabout just outside Centre On in East Kilbride , leading onto the South Orbital Road . There are basically three exits - left , straight ahead ( two lane dual carriageway ) and right .

There are three lanes on approach : left lane for turning left or straight ahead ; centre lane for straight ahead only and right lane for turning right only . At peak times there tend to be queues in all three lanes ; people routinely use all three lanes correctly and there are seldom problems .

One evening , on my way home from work , I was in the left lane going straight ahead , exiting into the nearside lane of the dual carriageway ; as I came to my exit I was caught up with 'white van man' gunning it round the roundabout in the lane to my right - without any warning he just cut across into my lane and although I blasted the horn and braked HARD I could not avoid the collision which resulted in a dented front wing and broken door mirror . I was in a marked Fire Brigade van too ! I don't think he was for stopping either as he didn't seem to react to my headlamp flashes and I had to give him a flash of the blue lights to get him to pull over onto an exit slip a few hundred yards further up the road ( there was a bus stop layby he could have stopped in just after the roundabout ) .

I called the incident in to our control room , who requested the police but they wouldn't attend as there were no injuries , but there was just no way I could get the guy to understand that there were two lanes to exit into and he should have stayed in the second lane ; he just seemed to have the attitude 'you shouldn't be using that bit of the road' !!!!!! A few days later , a letter landed on my desk from his insurer ( at least he had one ) stating that he had blamed ME for the incident : I responded via our fleet services office ( we self insure ) with a set of photographs taken in sequence showing the layout of the roundabout , all signage and lane markings and superimposed arrows showing the courses of the two vehicles . Whilst I was photographing the roundabout at a quieter time , another white van took a short cut across the roundabout and I managed to motor-drive a sequence of him doing so and included this with the comment that this was exactly what there driver had done - only I was occupying the left lane at the time ! I don't know if they settled , but I never heard anything further .

Like others above , I tend only to use the horn as advance warning or in anticipation where visibility is restricted , and seldom find myself using it because I find myself in 'imminent danger' .

The above , however , does go to show that we can all find ourselves at risk due to the inattentiveness of others and sometimes there is little or no warning of a situation .
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom