Can nobody keep to their side of the road these days?!

[andrew.graham97934]

Is it just me, or is there an increasing tendency, perhaps as cars get ever bigger, for drivers to be incapable of staying to their side of the road, particularly on right hand bends?
It was a beautiful day yesterday in Derbyshire, so I thought the Jaguar would appreciate a nice run out. So would I!
With 20", expensive or impossible -to-fix wheels you are always conscious of big kerbs and verges, but on several occasions on left hand bends I was having to squeeze into the potholed verge to give some clearance to an oncoming vehicle cutting what was for them a right hand bend.
Long vehicles and trailers have an excuse but not Corsas and Kia's a good foot or more over centre on a country A or B road.
The other day I crept up to the end of my residential road with a view to turning left, and a grandmother with her grand child in the car with her turned in to the road at a 45 degree angle and almost took my front corner off. I was almost stopped anyway thank goodness.
When I put the window down and politely asked why she couldn't make an effort to take the corner at 90 degrees rather than 45, she at first looked puzzled and then gave me a rude hand gesture (women are never very good at them in my experience), called me something unmentionable and drove off, with me frantically reversing before she really did hit something.
Is it just me? Am I becoming a grumpy old - whatever she called me?! Funny thing she was older than me!
Love to hear your thoughts.

[andypryce]

I think driving standards generally are awful now, but then as I have just turned 60 I am definitely becoming a grumpy old man…..

[Andy P]

Agree with both of you,down here they have started to indicate when going round a corner .
At mini roundabouts if they have to turn right they cut the roundabout altogether,unbelievable.
I can see myself turning into Victor Meldrew .
Take care.
Andy

[steve_m]

I'm seriously considering trading the Jag in for a C3 Corvette; being left hand drive I'll be able to get a better view of the ditches that I nearly end up in all the time.

[DaveO]

At age 78 my main concern is hanging onto my driving licence. In December 2020 I was carved up by a young mother obviously in a hurry to deliver her young kids to school at 9.00 am in the morning. Fortunately I was not in the XKR so my Freelander took the bump from her, trying to overtake me on the inside coming out of a roundabout at the base of a very steep dual carriageway hill. Unfortunately there were no witnesses. We stopped to pull in at the top of the hill to find that my front wing had a scuff mark on the black plastic cowling and a very shallow scratch in the red bodywork below the cowling. The scuff mark is still there today and the scratch which I touched in is still visible.

We looked at her car, an oldish 2 door Ford Fiesta which had a badly crumpled front door panel and a damaged cill. She tried to pretend the damage was my fault and subsequently reported it to the police and claimed off her insurer with a bunch of false evidence that neither of us could prove or disprove as there were no witnesses. My insurer advised me not to take it to court which cost them £650 and some inevitable loss of my no claims bonus.

All that aside the truly galling worry was the police required me to take a driving test in view of my age. I had 3 months of sleepless nights worrying about the driving test and dreaming about the implications of failing the test for whatever reason, like another maniac tangling with me! The idea of my wife having to drive me everywhere and the interruption to her own social life made me start seriously thinking about suicide. We live in a very rural part of Cornwall!

There were some positive outcomes like having to refresh my Highway Code knowledge whilst awaiting the driving test. I had quite a shock at the length and breadth of the current rules and regulations and there is little or no scope to accommodate the onset of any old age dementia. I was lucky to have sufficient time to thoroughly absorb before taking my test.

The test day eventually arrived after many worrying sleepless nights but in the event it was a breeze. The mobility company nominated by the police were extremely professional and well equipped. The test started in the classroom with two instructors questioning me on a broad range of subjects. The first question was what was my background and education? They seemed very impressed that I had an engineering technical apprenticeship training at what was the BMC Oxford car plant back in the early 60's, followed by starting a motor sport preparation company called Oselli Engineering. I started the biz on the back of Oxford University undergraduates who had wealthy parents and exotic sports cars that they wanted to take rallying and motor racing. There was also a Cognitive and Perceptual Assessment and a Physical and Mobility Assessment which was almost my downfall but for a significant degree of latitude on the marking. I hadn't practiced very short term memorising of words and phrases and I felt like a prize moron. I thought I had failed the whole test.

The classroom session ended and I was mightily relieved the same two instructors announced we were all going driving. This I was much more confident about, barring something completely unforeseen. The driving took place mainly in the town and district of Truro with lots of traffic lights and pedestrian crossings along the way, as well as a road works section with heavy machinery obstructing normal vision. I started to get a little bored and feeling my right foot beginning to twitch when they directed me out of the town. I started longing for an emergency stop instruction so I could "get my own back". Sure enough when we were on an open road in the almost brand new VW Golf, just a few hundred miles on the clock, the instruction came loud and clear--- "STOP"!

I have never done an emergency stop like it, I almost pushed the brake pedal through the floor, my reaction time was instantaneous. There was a horrible crack noise which I pretended not to hear. This brand new lovely little car utterly and wilfully abused, barely 100 miles on the clock. I still feel guilty today! The instructors made no comment and I knew that was the end of my ordeal. We drove back to the school in comparative silence and I knew I could not have done any better.

[andypryce]

All part of life’s rich pattern DaveO

[DaveO]

Aye Aye Andy!

[rosemary]

Hello Folks
Have you seen how many cars are driving around with broken and damaged offside wing and doors mirrors currently. I live in the Chiltern Hills and thus narrow lanes and its an endemic disease around here. At around £700 a time to replace on a modern Jaguar, it's no wonder and not surprising with so many reckless drivers about, there are so many. My advice is "don't drive around in our area at all !!! , On coming cars just don't slow down to squeeze past especially in West Wycombe on the main A40.
Dave

[3.8etypephil]

There's not much that one can do about the anti social, dangerous, and incompetent driving which one encounters today, but an inexpensive camera, unobtrusively fitted, can protect one from at least some of the consequences.

[andrew.graham97934]

Sounds like you did well DaveO! Apart from the financial hit and the stress, overall it will have done you good.
I remember Osselli. I think my older Brother was lusting after some of your conversion parts back in the 70's
Andrew

[poprivet]

Many idiots straightlining roundabouts at speed lately. They then get upset if you happen to pull out in front of them because it was clear when you started to move.

[RobXJC]

My ad is that a fair few don’t realise the steering wheel rotates a whole 360 degrees and some. The straight lining of roundabouts is my pet hate. If I’m on the roundabout inside lane from a junction I keep my lane with the straight liner and watch their car suddenly swerve to correct the straight lining, twice! First to avoid myself the second to avoid the kerb.
My daughter is currently learning to drive. I notice my daughter watching my feet as I drive and she then asks why did I indicate. Bemused I replied to allow other road users and pedestrians to visually see which lane I intend to move too. Her reply, my instructor said don’t need to indicate if you can’t see anyone there.

[andrew.graham97934]

I took the Advanced driving test about 40 years ago and whilst there were many excellent points about training for that test which I use every day, there were also some I didn't agree with. One of them was about signaling. I indicated for something or other and my instructor (ex-copper - moustache, a gallon of after shave etc) causally looked around and asked who was I signaling to? There's nobody there he said. (possible 40 years ago but highly unlikely nowadays!) So, I replied that what harm could it do? There maybe somebody I had not taken account of.
The same guy criticised me because I changed from third to fourth gear whilst overtaking a car on a national speed limit road.
I asked what was wrong with that? He said it meant I had to take one hand off the wheel and also if the gears didn't engage I would be stranded on the wrong side of the road.
I replied that in my eyes neither of those things was a likely problem,but hitting the rev limit of the car by staying too long in third would mean I would be on the wrong side of the road doing the overtake far longer than necessary which would be much riskier.
I think because I was in my late 20's the instructor thought I was cocky and marked me down.
So, I am not surprised about what your daughter said!

[steve_m]

We should indicate all the time, just to show BMW drivers that it can be done.

[rreed352]

We should indicate all the time, just to show BMW drivers that it can be done.

Mercedes and Audi drivers too!