Merge in turn vigilantes

[growse]

You mean purposely have a collision?

Regardless of whos fault it would be in the insurance companys eyes, that's the completely wrong attitude to have. What about the possibility of injury to yourself, passengers or people in the other car. Regardless of how others drive, purposely colliding with them to teach them a lesson is incredibly childish, petty and above all, stupid.

One of the big problems on our roads are the vigilantes who are out there to teach us all a lesson. Regardless of who is in the right or the wrong, driving dangerously is never, ever justifiable. I'll probably get it in the neck for saying this on an English forum but English drivers are the worst for it. I don't mean to tar you all with the same brush, what I am saying is that there is a noticeably larger proportion of drivers in England who seem intent on teaching everyone how to drive properly. How do they go about it? By driving dangerously, offensively and carelessly whilst at the same time displaying their frustration using hand signals.

People who do this are the ones that need taken off the road.

Is a fair point and I agree. But your comments apply equally well to those who pull into the outside lane with no warning. Vigilantes trying to control the road how they see fit.

I therefore modify my comment to remove the purposefulness of it, and instead ask, what if someone just pulls out in front of you and you happen to crash into them, because they were so close when they pulled out. Would you be in the right in the insurance company's eyes?

 

[The_Dark_Side]

Your supposed to merge at the merge point, which is, unless im mistaken, at the last possible moment?!

i'd disagree with that stating that it promotes stop-start traffic.
when encountering a merge in turn situation i start looking for somewhere to move into the other lane in plenty of time, usually a few hundred yards before the lane closes.
a MUCH better way to deal with it than the way you seem to prefer.do it my way and if some ignorant fool won't let you in you may have to come to a stop as you cannot carry on in your lane while you wait for another driver to let you in.
why leave it any later?
it, rightly or wrongly, causes aggro with other drivers.
plus the chances you'll have to give up your momentum if some bonehead won't let you in.
and for what? so you can be a hundred feet further forward and get to your destination 8 seconds earlier?

 

[[TW]Fox]

If everyone moves to the inside lane 'in plenty of time' you end up with the ridiculous situation whereby you have a huge long queue in the inside lane and an open, empty lane on the outside.

This is an inefficient use of road space.

Merge in turn please, gentlement. It isn't difficult, and if everyone did it perfectly, it would promote smooth entry to the bottleneck.

 

[SB118]

...and for what? so you can be a hundred feet further forward and get to your destination 8 seconds earlier?

On a trip from Plymouth to Newquay, drove passed over a mile of queued traffic and saved a "touch" more than 8 seconds.

 

[The_Dark_Side]

If everyone moves to the inside lane 'in plenty of time' you end up with the ridiculous situation whereby you have a huge long queue in the inside lane and an open, empty lane on the outside.

This is an inefficient use of road space.

Merge in turn please, gentlement. It isn't difficult, and if everyone did it perfectly, it would promote smooth entry to the bottleneck.

if you re-read my post you'll find that i defined "plenty of time" to mean a couple of hundred yards.
while i'd agree with you that merging at a point where you can only see your lane ending ahead with binoculars is foolish, i also think that waiting until your 10 feet from the end of your lane is equally as foolish.
it will annoy other drivers...FACT and this could create a "revenge" mentaility.

as i said, if i merge at my chosen point and you merge at yours what have you gained?
you'll almost certainly have infuriated at least one motorist and your reward for this is to be positioned 100 or 200 yards ahead of me.
in these times of road rage involving physical attack do you think this is worth it?
repeating "but i was in the right" might just be some comfort to you during the ambulance ride.

 

[Scuzi]

Is a fair point and I agree. But your comments apply equally well to those who pull into the outside lane with no warning. Vigilantes trying to control the road how they see fit.

Correct, regardless of who is right or wrong, vigilante driving has no place on our roads.

I therefore modify my comment to remove the purposefulness of it, and instead ask, what if someone just pulls out in front of you and you happen to crash into them, because they were so close when they pulled out. Would you be in the right in the insurance company's eyes?

Well that depends. It is obviously the person who changed lane who is at fault in that example. Depending on how the evidence turns out, what hte witnesses say and who the insurance companies decide to believe, there's no way to be sure who will be found at fault. I myself have been a victim of an accident that was entirely not my fault, however the police decided to believe the story of the other person over my story. The result was that I was convicted of driving without due care and attention and due to this conviction, my insurance company gave up and admitted liability on my behalf, the ****ers.

I'd rather not find out to be honest!

 

[The_Dark_Side]

On a trip from Plymouth to Newquay, drove passed over a mile of queued traffic and saved a "touch" more than 8 seconds.

i start looking for somewhere to move into the other lane in plenty of time, usually a few hundred yards before the lane closes.

for the ininitiated, a mile is not the same as a few hundred tards.
1760 in fact.

 

[Fishman]

errrm, noooo

So, im to drive past lots of people who have no idea of the correct road rules, then sit there and wait for them to all pass me again before i merge?

**** that, when i get to the merge point, im merging, its supposed to be one by one. So if someone trys to block me, wedge my car into the gap and force my way in!

Why not, you arrived after them, seems that everyone seems so concerned with using both lanes. Why not do it this way.

When you have a small queue on the left which is less than 30s long people going down the right, breaking at the last minute and cutting in slow down the overall flow of traffic and keep the left hand queue artifically long. People that may "merged" early (50-100m before the junction) are then rewarded for their efforts with some idiot looking to overtake everyone and slowing down the left lane.

The problem is there is no clear definition of when the correct merge point is, no any punishments for not doing it or doing it wrong, which means that a certain group of people will abuse it every day.

[edit]
Just to add, if the cars in the left lane arent letting you in, its tough wait until there is a gap.

 

[Poppy]

I have issues with people not using their indicators. If someone is trying to merge infront of me without indicating they'll be waiting for another gap!

 

[Fishman]

I have issues with people not using their indicators. If someone is trying to merge infront of me without indicating they'll be waiting for another gap!

Round here no one indicates and instead they just drive left until you give way, queue the horn and the finger

 

[Bear]

Im with TDS, I try merge in close into the merge in point but at the best oppourtunity as to try not to have to stop someone to let me in. So if there is a gap anywhere then I'll jump into it even if its a few hundred yards.

Also if everyone is in line before the merge in point then the traffic will be constantly moving, just driving up to the end and merging in will force the traffic to stop. Obviously you wont merge into one line miles before the merge in point but its all common sense really.

 

[Cuchulain]

You mean purposely have a collision?

Regardless of whos fault it would be in the insurance companys eyes, that's the completely wrong attitude to have. What about the possibility of injury to yourself, passengers or people in the other car. Regardless of how others drive, purposely colliding with them to teach them a lesson is incredibly childish, petty and above all, stupid.

One of the big problems on our roads are the vigilantes who are out there to teach us all a lesson. Regardless of who is in the right or the wrong, driving dangerously is never, ever justifiable. I'll probably get it in the neck for saying this on an English forum but English drivers are the worst for it. I don't mean to tar you all with the same brush, what I am saying is that there is a noticeably larger proportion of drivers in England who seem intent on teaching everyone how to drive properly. How do they go about it? By driving dangerously, offensively and carelessly whilst at the same time displaying their frustration using hand signals.

People who do this are the ones that need taken off the road.

We could definately do with a couple of these vigilantes over here to teach the taxi men how to drive.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

but its all common sense really.

Therein lies the problem!

Well, as far as I'm concerned, the more people who don't know the rules, the faster I get to my destination!

I'm doing nothing wrong merging at the merge point, so I shall continue to do so and enjoy the pathetic vigilante whims of these poorly informed hero folk!

 

[The_Dark_Side]

I'm doing nothing wrong merging at the merge point, so I shall continue to do so and enjoy the pathetic vigilante whims of these poorly informed hero folk!

just because you're doing nothing wrong legally doesn't make it good driving.
there are many situations/responses that aren't in the highway code handbook but a good driver knows and applies then anyway.

in my opinion the drivers that merge a billion miles before the merge point are just as ignorant/incompetant (delete where applicable ) as the drivers that leave it until the last possible moment to merge.

 

[Jonny69]

If everyone moves to the inside lane 'in plenty of time' you end up with the ridiculous situation whereby you have a huge long queue in the inside lane and an open, empty lane on the outside.

This is an inefficient use of road space.

Merge in turn please, gentlement. It isn't difficult, and if everyone did it perfectly, it would promote smooth entry to the bottleneck.

This man speaketh the truth

There should be noticeboards on the motorway explaining this

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

just because you're doing nothing wrong legally doesn't make it good driving.
there are many situations/responses that aren't in the highway code handbook but a good driver knows and applies then anyway.

in my opinion the drivers that merge a billion miles before the merge point are just as ignorant/incompetant (delete where applicable ) as the drivers that leave it until the last possible moment to merge.

When in traffic it makes sense, especially when its stop start as it makes efficient use of the available space. Obviously when the traffic is moving im not going to dive into a gap that is not there whilst travelling at 30 mph, i will be indicating to merge whilst approaching the merge point, leaving me more than enough time to get in.

To be perfectly honest though, i dont think I have never been in a situation where i the left lane is moving sufficiently fast that this becomes an issue!

So, your wrong, what i do is good practice and driving correctly.

Can you give me an example of a situation where a good driver knows what to do and it isnt covered in the highway code?

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

.Can you give me an example of a situation where a good driver knows what to do and it isnt covered in the highway code?

Bumping for Dark's response he may have missed this during the day

 

[Mr.T]

What about when at a mini roundabout everyone is giving way to right and due to this no one moves? Normally the good driver is the one to go and solve the situation

 

[TripleT]

Merge in turn baby!

I actually saw "Merge in turn" signs for the first time the other week at some roadworks. There should be more of them

 

[The_Dark_Side]

When in traffic it makes sense, especially when its stop start as it makes efficient use of the available space.

you miss the point mate, leaving things until the last minute CAUSES stop-start traffic.
if everyone began to merge with time and a little distance to spare then the traffic would flow freely, assuming there isn't anything further ahead preventing this.

So, your wrong, what i do is good practice and driving correctly.

we may have to agree to disagree on our respective definitions of good practice and good driving if the following is a typical
example of your everyday attitude on the road.

**** that, when i get to the merge point, im merging, its supposed to be one by one. So if someone trys to block me, wedge my car into the gap and force my way in!

hmm.

Can you give me an example of a situation where a good driver knows what to do and it isnt covered in the highway code?

quite a few but to be honest to convey the situations accurately and get my point accross i'll need to include diagrams and lengthy descriptions...and no disrespect but i can't be bothered lol.
turn the statement on it's head and ask yourself, do you really believe that the highway code contains every correct and proper response to every possible traffic situation?
no, of course it doesn't.it couldn't as it would need to be bigger than the Encyclopaedia Brittanica to do so.