Good lord.

AsproBoy: Please cut up your licence.

Thoroughly Smashed said :

Good lord.

AsproBoy: Please cut up your licence.

Thoroughly Smashed – I presume this refers to the state of your car when pulling out blindly into traffic heedless of the relative speed of your vehicle and theirs, and expecting them to slow down to accomodate you.

Or perhaps it is an indication of the condition in which you no doubt drive.

Could you please post up your make, model and license plate details so that if I see your car I know to expect negligent driving. Forewarned is, after all, forearmed.

Thoroughly Smashed said :

Good lord.

AsproBoy: Please cut up your licence.

WTF are you going on about????

Jethro said :

AsproBoy said :

HenryBG said :

To the OP:
I would suggest that you are belatedly noticing standard driving behaviour from people who’ve driven in the real world.
There’s something special in the Canberra water that makes people think nobody’s allowed to get in front of them.

I understand your disappointment, but you’ll have to understand – the problem is yours.

Thanks for the insight Henry. You have definitively demonstrated that encountering self-important arse hats like yourself on the roads is no doubt the root cause of my problem.

I”m with Aspro here. You can’t just pull out straight in front of an oncoming car and expect them to slam on the brakes to accommodate you. Cars on the main road have right of way over cars entering, who need to give way to oncoming traffic.

+1. I can’t believe people are claiming that they have right of way when pulling out of a T intersection. THEY DON’T. It’s just that simple. They are required by law to pull out only when safe (which means not doing so in a manner that requires the other vehicles to hit the brakes).

Ahh crap. That was meant to be directed at Futureproof. Apologies.

Don’t I feel a bit stupid.

When I first started driving I also had this problem, got cut off all the time.

After sitting defensive driving and several advanced driving courses, motorbike and truck driving courses, I no longer experience drivers failing to give way resulting in an emergency situation anywhere near as often. Almost never in fact.

The key thing that changed was me. I have slowed down considerably. I now treat every other road user as a trained assassin who is going to attempt to kill me the instant I let my guard down. When they make their move, they’re not only going to do their very best to make it look like an accident, but will also kill themselves if they have to.

While it sounds absurd, when you think about it, this is an incredibly realistic representation of using our roads, regardless of your mode of transport.

My advice? There’s not a lot you can do to change the behavior of others. Though ff you’re constantly finding yourself in emergency situations, have a look at your own driving.

If you see a road user approaching an intersection where you have right of way, immediately start easing up on the accelerator in case you need to start braking. If the road user is approaching at high speed and may not stop, release the accelerator and hover over the brake, or even start braking. If they see you and stop, no problem, continue on your merry way. If they don’t see you and fail to give way, you’ve already wiped 5 km/h off your own speed and will be in a better position to stop safely if you have to.

Learn that a give way sign and a dotted line is never going to physically stop a 1 to 62.5 tonne machine, ever. Most drivers will also avoid ever stopping at all costs. Approaching an intersection, they’ll check with a fleeting glance if it’s safe to proceed, then move off if they believe it’s safe. Naturally if they have not seen you (how often have you looked for the butter in the fridge and not seen it immediately, even though it’s right in front of you), then they’re still going to go.

Most drivers will not double check. If you’re prepared for this then you’ll have far fewer problems.

Here’s an idea, if fewer people had s*** & slow cars they would be less likely to get in others way.

To contribute, if I’ve got room to do so I will move out of the left lane when I see someone in the distance waiting in a slip lane.

Thoroughly Smashed said :

Ahh crap. That was meant to be directed at Futureproof. Apologies.

Don’t I feel a bit stupid.

Bahahahahaha, Riotact fail, happens daily just ask Mr Gillespie

mein gott! the world’s gone mad, mad i tells ya: i’m in almost total agreement with sgt bungers..!

You merge at speed.

If it’s an 80 zone and the traffic is doing 90, you do 90.

If it’s an 80 zone and the traffic is doing 60, you do 60.

You can adjust your speed once you’re in the flow of traffic.

Common sense, simple common sense.

G-Fresh said :

Here’s an idea, if fewer people had s*** & slow cars they would be less likely to get in others way.

Now we’re in solutions mode. I support this idea. I never have trouble merging in my I6 twin turbo.

All authorised rego inspection stations to install a chassis dynamometre. If your car reads less than 200kw per tonne at the drive wheels, it is unsafe to operate on the roads and is either defected or turbocharged at the operator’s expense.

astrojax said :

mein gott! the world’s gone mad, mad i tells ya: i’m in almost total agreement with sgt bungers..!

Me too, but I often am.

The intersection of Oaks Estate Road is a classic. I approach that with real dread these days, and assume that every car (and Deanes bus) is going to start driving across it. With the Deanes buses I’m usually right.

Being ready for it avoided a very nasty crash one day (Deanes bus) although it was a close thing and I locked my car’s wheels briefly, for about the only time ever. So often cars do decide to go across, they seem to misjudge the speed of oncoming traffic which means the orientation of the road is probably contributing. All you can do is be ready, slow down a bit, and foot near the brake and hand near the horn. Brake prevents the crash, horn means maybe they won’t do it next time.

The number of crashes there though indicates that a lot of people don’t slow down adn they’re not watching the other cars like a hawk.

Alderney said :

Some wanker pulled out in front of me (from the right) last Thusday while I was going southbound at 105km/h in the right hand lane on the Monaro Highway. This was at the intersection which leads to the houses/properties a kilometre or so before the gaol. I had to apply my brakes very hard and wrestle with the wheel in order to maintain control. All the while hoping that the people behind were not going to crash into the back of me.

Okay, time to point out some very obvious things. First of all the speed limit there is 100km/h, but I am not going to go into that as I am sure you feel you have a right to do 5km/h over for some stupid reason.

More importantly, if you were struggling to keep control of your car under heavy braking then I suggest you get it serviced and get them to pay particular attention to your brakes. I have literally stood on the brake (I even lifted my arse off the seat because of the force of my leg on the pedal) in several cars to avoid wildlife and farm animals (my Dad lives in the middle of nowhere) and I have never had to fight the car to maintain control. The worst one pukked slightly to the left adn it was nearly 15 years old.

qbngeek said :

Alderney said :

Some wanker pulled out in front of me (from the right) last Thusday while I was going southbound at 105km/h in the right hand lane on the Monaro Highway. This was at the intersection which leads to the houses/properties a kilometre or so before the gaol. I had to apply my brakes very hard and wrestle with the wheel in order to maintain control. All the while hoping that the people behind were not going to crash into the back of me.

Okay, time to point out some very obvious things. First of all the speed limit there is 100km/h, but I am not going to go into that as I am sure you feel you have a right to do 5km/h over for some stupid reason.

More importantly, if you were struggling to keep control of your car under heavy braking then I suggest you get it serviced and get them to pay particular attention to your brakes. I have literally stood on the brake (I even lifted my arse off the seat because of the force of my leg on the pedal) in several cars to avoid wildlife and farm animals (my Dad lives in the middle of nowhere) and I have never had to fight the car to maintain control. The worst one pukked slightly to the left adn it was nearly 15 years old.

Thats should have said pay attention to your brakes and suspension.

Solidarity said :

You merge at speed.

If it’s an 80 zone and the traffic is doing 90, you do 90.

If it’s an 80 zone and the traffic is doing 60, you do 60.

You can adjust your speed once you’re in the flow of traffic.

Common sense, simple common sense.

You’d think so…

I see quite often people going left around a 90 degree corner coming to a stop when there is a car some kms back in the distance and then pulling out when a car is approaching 50m away at 80km (eg Gungahlin Dr turning left onto Gundaroo Dr near Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club).

Sgt.Bungers said :

When I first started driving I also had this problem, got cut off all the time.

After sitting defensive driving and several advanced driving courses, motorbike and truck driving courses, I no longer experience drivers failing to give way resulting in an emergency situation anywhere near as often. Almost never in fact.

The key thing that changed was me. I have slowed down considerably. I now treat every other road user as a trained assassin who is going to attempt to kill me the instant I let my guard down. When they make their move, they’re not only going to do their very best to make it look like an accident, but will also kill themselves if they have to.

While it sounds absurd, when you think about it, this is an incredibly realistic representation of using our roads, regardless of your mode of transport.

My advice? There’s not a lot you can do to change the behavior of others. Though ff you’re constantly finding yourself in emergency situations, have a look at your own driving.

If you see a road user approaching an intersection where you have right of way, immediately start easing up on the accelerator in case you need to start braking. If the road user is approaching at high speed and may not stop, release the accelerator and hover over the brake, or even start braking. If they see you and stop, no problem, continue on your merry way. If they don’t see you and fail to give way, you’ve already wiped 5 km/h off your own speed and will be in a better position to stop safely if you have to.

Learn that a give way sign and a dotted line is never going to physically stop a 1 to 62.5 tonne machine, ever. Most drivers will also avoid ever stopping at all costs. Approaching an intersection, they’ll check with a fleeting glance if it’s safe to proceed, then move off if they believe it’s safe. Naturally if they have not seen you (how often have you looked for the butter in the fridge and not seen it immediately, even though it’s right in front of you), then they’re still going to go.

Most drivers will not double check. If you’re prepared for this then you’ll have far fewer problems.

Very well said. Defensive driving is a must. Always be aware of every car around you and have a think about what they are likely to do next. You can usually predict when some idiot is about to do something stupid before it has happened. This has saved me on more than one occasion.

AsproBoy said :

HenryBG said :

AsproBoy said :

HenryBG said :

To the OP:
I would suggest that you are belatedly noticing standard driving behaviour from people who’ve driven in the real world.
There’s something special in the Canberra water that makes people think nobody’s allowed to get in front of them.

I understand your disappointment, but you’ll have to understand – the problem is yours.

Thanks for the insight Henry. You have definitively demonstrated that encountering self-important arse hats like yourself on the roads is no doubt the root cause of my problem.

How ironic – somebody who doesn’t believe he should have to slow down for other traffic on the road calling somebody else a “self-important arse hat”.
Not that I have the faintest idea what an “arse hat” is – some kind of american thing learnt from the idiot box, I have no doubt.

Look Grandpa Simpson… I am obviously confusing you with technicalities and “jive talk” that those dang blasted kids always go on with, so I’ll dumb it down a little.

My fundamental assertion is that pulling out into the path of an oncoming car doing 80km/hr, causing said oncoming car to brake heavily to avoid a collision, is an unsafe manoeuvre.

I’ll wait here while you go and google “arse hat”.

When you say “causing said oncoming car to brake heavily”, do you in fact mean, the driver of said oncoming car, having seen somebody turn into their lane, continues to accelerate for as long as possible in order to approach the rear of the offending vehicle at a very high speed in an attempt to intimidate before braking heavily and acting like the victim instead of the road bully he really is?

Just curious why, when you see a car turning into your lane, you feel the need to drive so quickly when what you should be doing is slowing down.

Thoroughly Smashed said :

To contribute, if I’ve got room to do so I will move out of the left lane when I see someone in the distance waiting in a slip lane.

Yours appears to be a voice in the wilderness.
I *really* don’t understand why so many people have trouble with this simple concept.

I would say “useless public servants”, except the tradies on our roads are often among the worst.

HenryBG said :

AsproBoy said :

HenryBG said :

AsproBoy said :

HenryBG said :

To the OP:
I would suggest that you are belatedly noticing standard driving behaviour from people who’ve driven in the real world.
There’s something special in the Canberra water that makes people think nobody’s allowed to get in front of them.

I understand your disappointment, but you’ll have to understand – the problem is yours.

Thanks for the insight Henry. You have definitively demonstrated that encountering self-important arse hats like yourself on the roads is no doubt the root cause of my problem.

How ironic – somebody who doesn’t believe he should have to slow down for other traffic on the road calling somebody else a “self-important arse hat”.
Not that I have the faintest idea what an “arse hat” is – some kind of american thing learnt from the idiot box, I have no doubt.

Look Grandpa Simpson… I am obviously confusing you with technicalities and “jive talk” that those dang blasted kids always go on with, so I’ll dumb it down a little.

My fundamental assertion is that pulling out into the path of an oncoming car doing 80km/hr, causing said oncoming car to brake heavily to avoid a collision, is an unsafe manoeuvre.

I’ll wait here while you go and google “arse hat”.

When you say “causing said oncoming car to brake heavily”, do you in fact mean, the driver of said oncoming car, having seen somebody turn into their lane, continues to accelerate for as long as possible in order to approach the rear of the offending vehicle at a very high speed in an attempt to intimidate before braking heavily and acting like the victim instead of the road bully he really is?

Just curious why, when you see a car turning into your lane, you feel the need to drive so quickly when what you should be doing is slowing down.

No one else got that from Aspro’s comment, just you Henry. I suspect you do this often & that is why you have such experience with it.

Can you not see that when you pull out of a side road (not a slip lane) into a piece of road that is marked at 80 or 100 km/h & dont have a Ferrarri or a Hyabusa that acellerates to 100 in 4 seconds is dangerous?

If you do this on a regular basis then your arrogance is astounding if you expect other people just to slow down for you. I would not be surprised if you get run over by a B double one day & that poor driver will have to live with that for the rest of his life even though it would not have been his fault.

Felix the Cat said :

I see quite often people going left around a 90 degree corner coming to a stop when there is a car some kms back in the distance and then pulling out when a car is approaching 50m away at 80km (eg Gungahlin Dr turning left onto Gundaroo Dr near Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club).

I think that is HenryBG you are following…….

[Qbngeek said]: Okay, time to point out some very obvious things. First of all the speed limit there is 100km/h, but I am not going to go into that as I am sure you feel you have a right to do 5km/h over for some stupid reason.

More importantly, if you were struggling to keep control of your car under heavy braking then I suggest you get it serviced and get them to pay particular attention to your brakes. I have literally stood on the brake (I even lifted my arse off the seat because of the force of my leg on the pedal) in several cars to avoid wildlife and farm animals (my Dad lives in the middle of nowhere) and I have never had to fight the car to maintain control. The worst one pukked slightly to the left adn it was nearly 15 years old. [end quote]

I needed to copy and paste your comment as I am signed in on the first page of comments, but not the second so could not click on quotes. Some quirk of the riotact web system.

Firstly, to ally the pedant. I know that when my speedo says 105 I am going under 100. How do I know this? The car is only 2 years old and is an expensive European model. Also, it’s been tested.

I was also by no mean the fastest car on the road at the time. Don’t try to diffuse this dickheads actions by blaming me for being there. If it wasn’t me in that spot at that time, it would have been someone else; maybe someone not as capable a driver as I, and carnage may have reigned.

Secondly, while there may have been some embellishment to my comment, it was intended to indictate the serious nature of the way this fuckwit, who apparently also lives in qbn, pulled out with no regard to what was actually happening on the road. If one is required to wait 5 or 10 minutes before proceeding then one is required to wait 5 or 10 minutes before proceeding; simple as that.

I’m glad that you feel you are such a legend driver that you can proclaim to the world (or at least the riotact audience) your tales of avoiding wildlife and other animals. What I can say to you is that if you have never had to fight to keep a car under control you have never been in a truely tricky situation. I can say that in my 26 years of driving I’ve really only had to fight to keep control of a car once. Luckily for that person I managed to because they were dead if I didn’t (I would have gone 80 km/h into their drivers side door). That however, does not make the initial pressures my vehicle was under on this occasion (with a 3 year old child on board) any the less dramatic.

Are you one of those people who believe things because they are in the paper? I don’t think you are, so it might be a good start to not totally believe everything you read on the riotact. Just remember the grain of salt qbngeek.

Yes Henry, every single car that has run up your backside, because you carelessly pulled out into oncoming traffic, has been driven by me and me alone. You would not believe how intimidating my 1.3 lt micro Mitsubishi can be can be.

HenryBG said :

Thoroughly Smashed said :

.

I would say “useless public servants”, except the tradies on our roads are often among the worst.

Excellent post. Managed to label two groups at once while, in your own mind at least, maintaining a sense of balance and fair play. So you see a lot of people that “nearly” hit you. Whats the common denominator here? Maybe spend some time in the room of mirrors…

#55 Aagh. Should have previewed. In a rush. Actually HenryBG comment and my response. Thoroughly Smashed not involved.

NoImRight said :

#55 Aagh. Should have previewed. In a rush. Actually HenryBG comment and my response. Thoroughly Smashed not involved.

Well, no, I don’t see anybody “nearly hitting me”. (Occasionally I see people “trying to hit me”, like the motorcyclist who changed lanes the other day without noticing I was already in the lane. You’d have to get up pretty early in the morning to “nearly hit me”….).

What I do see, frequently (especially in the 2-hour period surrounding 1700hrs when somebody seems to release all the cretins onto the road), is the situation I described above, where delusional “road-owners” like AsproBoy drive dangerously to “punish” others for daring to enter their lane.

As for the idiot who can’t slow down in time to avoid challenging his poor skills at controlling a braking vehicle, all I can say is stick to the left lane in future, keep an eye on the road ahead, and when you see somebody indicating – instead of creating a dangerous situation, adjust your speed in a timely manner to avoid it.

What I do see, frequently (especially in the 2-hour period surrounding 1700hrs when somebody seems to release all the cretins onto the road), is the situation I described above, where delusional “road-owners” like AsproBoy drive dangerously to “punish” others for daring to enter their lane.

Looks like my alter ego “The Punisher” is personally responsible for the public service grand prix every afternoon at 1700.

My god Henry, It’s like you know me! You know my thoughts …are you watching me right now?
That’s it…I’m putting on my triple layer alfoil hat to keep you out of my head.

GET OUT OF MY HEAD HENRY!!!

HenryBG said :

I would say “useless public servants”, except the tradies on our roads are often among the worst.

i would take offence to that comment if I could be bothered. But after ready all the arguements on this post and many others within this forum I’ve calmed my self down when driving and laugh at the idiots on the road. I’m going to buy a dash cam and start naming and shaming.

HenryBG appears to be the only person here who doesn’t understand the road rules.