Idiots on the road

[pauljh74]

I've had 2 incidents in the last week or so that really annoy me.
The first was when I was driving along in the right lane and a P-Plater in an older BMW is on my left and a little behind. I'm maintaining a safe gap to the car in front of me. Now I am in the right lane because I know someone parks their car on the road - the only car on that stretch - which is a stupid thing to do on an arterial road and when it gets cleaned up by a truck I'll be happy. Anyway, Beemer driver sees the parked car and speeds up. I don't want him to chop into my gap between me and the car in front, so I get closer to shut him out. My lane's not blocked and he has to give way to me. This doesn't stop Beemer driver who just continues driving and cuts into my lane with no indicators barely 2 feet in front of me. I filled his mirrors with high beams and this is the bit that annoys me the most. He starts pointing at the parked car as if to say that because he had a parked car to get around, that gave him every right to cut me off. I pulled up alongside and gestured to the indicator stalk, then pulled in behind him (if I wanted to get him I would have cut in front of him as well) as I had to turn left. I also realised that there was a limit to how much I could communicate with gestures from a moving car and was willing to continue on my way. He then used his indicator to signal a left turn and I gave him a thumb up as if to say "Yes, that's how you use your indicators." Considering he is a P-Plater, he should be more aware of the road rules as he sat his test more recently. I would have liked to have a (non-violent) discussion into why I think his driving sucks.

If I had been in his situation, I would have firstly thought, I have to change lanes and looked around for options. Then I would indicate and if a car was travelling alongside me, I would slow down and drop in behind that car if safe to do so. I wouldn't speed up and cut into a gap that doesn't exist. There are alot of people out there now that see a 2 car length gap and think they can put their car in it at 60km/h. This is why I tried to shut him out. One day a driver like that will do that sort of thing and another car in front will slam on the brakes for whatever reason and this person will slam into the back of that car and the car behind him will slam into him as there is no safety margin. It will be the lane cutter's fault and that person will have to pay for 3 car's repairs.

The second idiot I had to deal with just yesterday was on a road that goes from 2 lanes to 1 about 200m from the lights. The left lane becomes parking spaces. Now I passed this Camry while it was still 2 lanes and I was then behind another car. Again, as I know the road I chose my lane. I was completely in front for a few seconds and this guy in a Camry, upon seeing the "form 1 lane" sign decides to speed up and pass me. He's barely alongside me when he has run out of lane. At this point I hit the horn as I could see he intended to cut me off. This guy has continued driving in what is no longer a lane, and I've held my ground, looked across at him and shook my head. He eventually dropped in behind me some 200 metres after his lane ended.

I am aware that the car in front has right of way in zip merging where one lane ends and merges into another, but what I really hate is people who speed up from behind and overtake while their lane rapidly narrows and cut into gaps that barely accommodate their car. This law I'm sure did not have this type of behaviour in mind when they came up with the driver in front has right of way.

Some of you may think I should just concede and it will all be easier. My thoughts on that are if you keep giving in to people like this, they will keep on doing it. This extends alot further than driving (criminal acts etc) but that's another story.

I'm not a person who shuts everyone out when driving - another occasion a couple of days later with a truck approaching the parked car, and he was in front and hadn't even begun changing lanes or indicating - I waved him across. If people approach certain driving tasks the right way, I'll accommodate those people. People that do it in a way that says "Screw you and everyone else" don't tend to get much co-operation from me. I don't like people cutting in front of me - hey I'm running late for work too, yet I don't go about cutting people off. I know where I need to be on my daily commute and prepare which lane I'm in early and stay put.
You can tell which drivers are lost and need to change lanes from the lane hoppers who do it to get that extra 2 cars ahead in peak hour traffic. Some of them just indicate long enough for the indicator to flash once and then cut in front of you and then wonder why you are annoyed at them.