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Author Topic: Roads and Holidays rant.  (Read 3387 times)

guest22972

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Roads and Holidays rant.
« on: January 01, 2017, 03:50:30 AM »
WARNING: Make your Cuppa tea and go to the bathroom before starting...... Especially the slow readers.


Just came back from Visiting my father 3.5 hours away up the country.  dealing with holiday traffic is a nightmare. Not so much the Volume but the inept morons behind the wheel.
I'm interested to hear if it's the same in other parts of the world or just where I am?

Going up during the day the traffic was predictably heavy and slow.  there was really no reason for it to be as slow as it was except for the inept and clueless drivers.
many times the traffic was down to 80 or below in 110 Zones for no reason at all.
There seemed to be several causes.

The proliferation of caravans, boats and trailers with 17 Bicycles hanging off the back. WTF is it that these people always have to take 3hundredweight in bikes with them? Never just a couple of kids bikes, a whole mish mas of the damn things.  They all travel along at low speeds on the highway taking out one lane effectively for all traffic and another for those going in and out only 5 kmh faster over taking.
Another was learners.  Yes, they have to learn but what the fluck re they learning on a highway steering the thing on cruise control?  They ought to be baned from the highways in Holiday time from dawn to dusk because they are also moving obstacles.

And the big one. As much as it will upset many closer to a funeral than a baptisim, Old people.
Fk me. There are plenty of young moron hoons around but the oldies give me far more grief than the young clowns.  There they were, one after the other, doing 20-30K UNDER the limit in their late model, perfectly good late model cars towing nothing holding up traffic.  Yes, I get it you are in no rush but that being the case, why the hell don't you take the backroad and let the people that do want to tear along like maniacs at the speed limit get to where they are going before they die of old age?

These people make the trip so much longer, more tiring and dangerous than anyone going 10 over the limit.  I know I get damned frustrated no matter how much I try to chill because the more patient you are, the more stupid things they do. I'm sure they look at all the other cars flying past twitting and tsking about how everyone is in a hurry and whats' the rush and then talk about a 100Km trip like it's once round the world.  Which they wouldn't have enough years left in them to complete at the snails pace they crawl along at.  Guess what you driver already in gods waiting room, they are just doing the limit or under it and In good weather, that's not fast at all nor dangerous.  

Of course there are the exceptions. Take my father. 140 in a 90 zone is no big deal to him. It's a worry when the kid has to chastise the father for driving too fast.  He had a Forester turbo. Just sold it and bought a twin Turbo Mercedes. Couldn't figure out why till the otehr day when he let the penny drop how much faster and harder it accelerates.  Yeah, Hoons aren't all young, this one is 78 years old in a couple of weeks. Only difference now and when he was 18 is he can afford a bloody fast car now instead of one that barely makes it along the road.

And then there are the ones that are too goddam brain dead and ignorant to get over in the slow lane even when it's only you and them on the whole bloody road. They sit there with their heads up their nether regions blissfully being safe doodling along in the wrong lane driving past the keep left signs  ( we drive on the correct side of the road unlike americans :0) ) and won't get over no matter how many cars are flashing or blasting them.  They look at you with a " Whats your problem you Irrational person? I'm doing nothing wrong" look on their brainless faces.

These clowns whom I suspect only ever drive on the highway once a year ( thank god for that!) cause so much delay where there should be none. No reason all the cars even in the fast lane can't all do the limit. If the slow ones want to stay in the slow lane and double their trip time, then stay the Fk in the snail lane and DO NOT move out from there.

It's the thought of holiday traffic that really makes me laugh at the thought of these " Preppers" and their bug out vehicles. The roads are congested as hell at holiday time when only a percentage of people want to get out of town,,,, or into it.  What the fk do you think is going to happen in times of a disaster when EVERYONE wants to get out of town? You are just going to jump into your mad max monstrosity and cruise ahppily down the highway away from danger to your little happy place.
Wake the hell up you dreamers and get real. You are not going anywhere unless you have a bug out Chopper in your back yard. Disguised of course.

On the other side of the coin are the straight line hero hoons.  Blow past you 20 OVER the limit..... till you get to more than 2 consecutive corners then they drop back as they wobble round 20 under.  See this all the time up near where my father is. They want to go mad on the straight but then they hit the hills and they are all over the road like they are driving a wheelbarrow full of walrusses on the first corner and struggle to get round the rest.  I have cleaned up so many of these hero's just leaving the cruise control on the legal limit where it was and actually steering round the bends which I enjoy while you watch them dissappear in the distance.
Seen more than one of the particularly egotistical types almost go off the road and crash and one guy a couple of years back in his Japanese go fast toy actually spin out while trying to stay with me in my 4WD.  That's real incompetence and stupidity right there.

The other type of inept drive we get year round here is the wet weather clowns.
They are at opposite extremes. You get one that wants to go back to the days of having a guy walking along in front of the car waving a red flag and you get the other type that thinks the rain turned city streets into an F1 Track.  They either crawl or go completely nuts. No happy medium to suit the conditions.  Some just go back to first gear only the moment a raindrop hits their windshield.  Both are as dangerous as each otehr particularly on the highway.

I remember once going along this brand new section of highway in a downpour. There was this idiot tailgating me as I went carefully past slower traffic. There was a steep bend ahead and I saw a Coach in the distance go round, the wall of water come off the wheels and the thing twitch and aquaplane.  I had passed the traffic so dove right down into the emergency lane on the inside of the bend. The other guy went round me as I lifted off not game to brake. As we hit the water we aquaplanes just as I predicted on the fat tyres the car had and ended up in the right hand lane but still on the road. The guy that went round me went flying off the road and was spinning like a top on the grass on the luckily wide grass median strip.  He came to a stop and we went past and I laughed as I saw the freaked out look on his other wise completely unhurt face.
Bet the skidmarks on his shorts left the ones on the road for dead.

Of course when you get home from all this frustration and stupidity of holiday traffic, you turn on the idiot box ( or rather the wife or father does as I never watch the fabricated and biased news) and there is some Police mouthpiece browbeating everyone to slow down on the roads because the road toll is up on last year.  Clearly the twit has never been out there to see that the biggest problem is the LACK of speed not the excess.
No one will convince me my normally 3:20 trip at night taking 4.5 hours in holiday time is safer because I was going slower. I'm more tired, frustrated and battling to stay patient with all the twits that are dengerous and really can't drive.

The other night the cops did the predictable whinge then in the middle, featured the stoned and drunk guy that walked straight out into traffic and was killed and the 12 Yo riding a dirtbike at night that lept out from a park in front of a car and got bowled over.  They said the driver was completely not at fault and then they cut back to the Police mouthpiece laying a guilt trip on motorists to be more careful and.... slow down. Yeah, cause it's the driver's fault when alco's and kids on dirtbikes do stupid things that get them killed and shirk all THER personal responsibility. Just lay a guilt trip on the soft target, the guy with a licence. Don't matter if they were completely without fault, it makes for a good press conference.  And of course it's ALWAYS the drivers fault. Nothing to do with the shit roads or anything that every driver battles to keep their car on, no, the roads are perfect, it's all those maniac drivers obeying the road rules that are the problem.

Here's a thought, why the fk don't we just run the engines in our cars to power the AC and the stereo and hitch up a couple of Draft horses to our vehicles so we don't go too fast?  Would save fuel and the hose crap everywhere would satisfy the save the planet types as well! We could go back to dirt roads then as the horses would get better traction than on that tar stuff.
No, that would never do either. While they are telling you to slow down, you never see cops at accident black spots, only at the bottom of hills with their radars revenue raising in the name of safety catching those threats to life and limb for everyone in a 10 mile radius going 5 K over the limit.
Call a cop here when you have an accident and they will NOT come unless there is someone requiring an ambulance or it's on a main road and the vehicles can't be moved. Other than that, don't matter if the person at fault was drunk, has a Corn flakes licence or none at all. Sort it out with the insurance company. Too bad if they don't have one, you'll have to wear the ever growing excess.

I hear young people particularly complaining about the difficulty of licence tests. You must be shipping me. The test is the most basic level of almost competency imaginable. I taught my two kids a LOT more than they needed to pass their Driving test. That might be why both of them passed first time with only one point lost..... That I didn't even understand when I did get the guy to explain what they did wrong.
My Son actually complained to me how easy the test was. Wasn't pleased with what I made him do so far beyond what the actual test required.  Wasn't happy I made him learn hill starts, forwards and reverse and in 2nd gear on the 60o ramp on the loading dock when the test "hill" was basically a bit of road that wasn't quite level. He was a bit confused when the testing guy made him do a 3 point turn on a road 4 lanes wide when I had him doing them, without bumping the gutters in a laneway that was not much over 50% longer than the wheelbase of the truck.  The test guy for both him and my Daughter had a freak out when they walked out and were directed to a 3 ton 4WD they were driving for the test which was towering over the Hyundai's and other matchbox cars they were used to going in.

The Complaints soon stopped though when he got out in the real world and discovered he took things for granted his mates were freaking out at or wouldn't even attempt like certain spots in the School car park he would reverse my truck into and be laughing he could always get a close spot because no one else in their wind up cars would even attempt. Son once had to get in someones car and drive it up the ramp of the shopping centre when Saturday morning when they got stopped on the up ramp and couldn't get it to go up to the next level. Nothing wrong with eh car ( except the now fried clutch) they just couldn't drive the thing.
 Daughter takes the truck and all her friends away to music festivals along with the trailer for all their camping gear and crap and everyone else pays for her ticket, food, drinks etc for her providing the transport and fuel..... Which is of course the veg oil yours truly processes. She's not dumb I'll give her that!

I think driver education and training should be mandatory. Every 5 years or so. Keep people informed of the rule changes you are supposed to know but they NEVER tell you have even changed, make sure you know the basics of how to drive and do a driving test to make sure you have the nerve and are competent to pilot 1.5 tons at any speed.
Maybe a special licence to allow you to drive on the highways at holiday time and ban caravans, boats, and trailers during daylight hours would also be a step in the right direction.
My cousin told me on her trip to Germany last year she got pulled over and cautioned for "Only" doing 200 KM/H in the fast lane on the Autobahn. She works for Mercedes so the car she had was pretty happy at 250Km/h. They have one of the lowest road tolls in the world which pretty much flies in the face of the speed Kills excuse for revenue raising we get in other parts of the world.  
I think I need to move father than I first intended.

Does anyone else see this sort of thing where they are? Is it a universal or at least repeated thing or are we on our own here Down under?

vdubnut62

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Re: Roads and Holidays rant.
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2017, 06:13:56 AM »
Over the past 20 years I have driven probably 2 million miles all over the US and yes, people drive the same here as there.
Ron.
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LowGear

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Re: Roads and Holidays rant.
« Reply #2 on: January 02, 2017, 01:00:54 AM »
Novels just aren't my strong suit.

But as I'm a rather space cadet kind of driver I try and thank those that have saved my hams and quickly forgive those what have trespassed against me.

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mike90045

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Re: Roads and Holidays rant.
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2017, 01:09:01 AM »
My peeve is the car that roars up to my bumper (and I'm 20 over the limit already) and when I pull over, they zoom past for 400 feet, and then slow down because they lost their "guidance" (my back bumper) .  A pox on them all.

32 coupe

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Re: Roads and Holidays rant.
« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2017, 01:48:34 AM »

When driving in Florida remember to stay in the right hand lane if you want to get anywhere.
All the slow pokes seem to like to hang in the left lane and go as slow as they can.

And road rage, we'll that's another story !


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Thob

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Re: Roads and Holidays rant.
« Reply #5 on: January 02, 2017, 03:29:48 AM »
A late friend of mine said "People around Dallas drive as if stupidity was a virtue."

We have all the same stuff here, except it is much worse in or near the big cities.
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