What annoys you when you’re driving? It occurred to me on my regular commute the other day that there are some pretty poor driving practices out there – I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, really, but a blog about it just had to be in order.
I came up with a little Top 10 of my own (well actually, it was 12) and that soon turned into 15 by the time that the evening commute was out of the way.
The following day, I decided to ask some of my fellow Tweeps about what really got their goat when it comes to motoring and to be honest, I wasn’t quite expecting the sheer plethora of peeves that came out of the hat!
So now, the Top 10 Motoring Gripes aren’t 10 at all. They are, in fact, 17; this week we are featuring all of the annoyances that our lovely friends on Twitter told us about. I also have a load more to follow next week. So with this in mind, I have decided to rename it as Driving Room 101.
At the moment, they are in no particular order but this is something that we are looking at developing with a vote system (watch this space, as they say!)….
1. Buses – pulling out without indicating, pulling into a side road right in front of you (meaning that you have to brake to accommodate their turn), bullying their way into the traffic come what may (for example, if you don’t let them out, they nudge over anyway so you actually have no choice). North City Autos (@NorthCityAutos) said on the very subject “Yes I will give way to the bus but give some notice that you are going to pull out – indicate”. Here, here.
2. Taligating – we’ve already covered it in one of my previous blogs but tailgating is a major peeve. As Les Smith (@LesSmith) put it: “drivers who drive so close to car in front they constantly have to brake” are certainly a cause of irritation.
3. Stationary Lane Hoggers – This means cars that don’t pull forward in traffic, blocking a lane that you want to get into.Our very own Simon Ford (@simonscarspots) said “I hate lane hoggers at a junction where you can’t pass thus getting stuck at the lights”. Don’t we all!
4. Indicating – Tristan Honeywill (@CarSafetyRules) told us that “people not indicating for left turns is my pet peeve” which opened up a debate where it was decided that actually, any sort of not-indicating is a driving no-no.
5. Common courtesy – This was another topic that got many of you hot under the collar; quoting Cliff Culver (@CarDealerCliff), “Drivers not saying thank you when you give way to them grrrrrrrrrrr!!”. That, I think, just about sums it up!
6. Fog Light Misuse – A really interesting driving gripe that Wendy (@Thewarrantyco) highlighted was fog lights – specifically, the use of them when it’s not actually foggy. Geraldine Herbert (@MotoringLifeMag) tweeted a very interesting piece about the subject that was featured recently on the brilliant www.wheelsforwomen.co.uk website – you can read it here. Wendy did also manage to find clarification that this practice is also illegal – anyone who does this is liable for a £30 fixed penalty, in fact.
7. Motorway Queue Jumpers – Talking about illegal driving practices, Latest UK Car News (@Motorpaper) suggested that “Motorway Queue jumpers who in slow moving traffic use the hard shoulder as an overspill lane” should go into #Room101. Well said.
8. Indecisive Drivers – Indecision is another major irritation – although this did raise some patience issues for the more elderly drivers out there (see my previous blog), Rich (@Joe_Hallenbeck) summed it up rather neatly; “Indecision. I’d rather have a committed d*** ***d than someone faffing around. Stop/go/turn just commit & go…. If someone has taken a wrong turn you should never know about it. Stick with the rules of the road. Stay safe”
9. Parking Space Misuse – For any parent out there – and also, of course, anyone who has a disability – a major irritation is misuse of parking spaces. After some initial confusion on my part (I thought that @NewmarketCars wanted bigger parking spaces in general), it turned out that he was having a dig at people who park in designated parent and disabled places. I do actually already tell people off when I come across this, so feel free to send the offenders to me if you see any individual doing the same!
10. Kids not in Appropriate Seats – Safety wise, Tristan Honeywill (@CarSafetyRules) highlighted the serious issue of “not putting kids in booster or car seats”. There is never, ever, any excuse for this. Interestingly, he also highlighted an interesting piece about a US lobby that would like to see seat belts banished (click here to read it for yourself)
11. Distractions - On a lighter note, the subject of “applying make-up and shaving while driving” was raised by Ralph Morton (@RalphMorton) – he did, in fact call them “heinous driving crimes”. Although this sparked a conversation that was the cause of some hilarity, it is actually a serious safety issue – distractions whilst driving are obviously dangerous.
12. Mobile Phones – While we are on the subject of distractions, we can’t let the mobile phone go unmentioned. Shabba (@J8mes_b) told us that people “on their phone” was a pet hate of his. North City Autos (@NorthCityAutos) agreed, shaming those who talk on their phone whilst driving and not using hands-free.
13. Pulling Out – Jason Garbutt (@GreatDriver) bought up the annoyance of “drivers that wait to pull out of side road until you are nearly there”. This, I think, is one that many of us will agree with and one that some buses (as mentioned above!) are certainly guilty of.
14. Parking - Bad parking was a really hot topic; Motorfix Autocentre (@motor_fix) and North City Autos (@NorthCityAutos) tweeted a hilarious poor-parking picture and Car Loan 4U (@carloan4u) tweeted a Lamborghini bad parking picture. In addition, Central Contracts (@centralcarlease) tweeted a picture (courtesy of @MajorGav) highlighting a “hilarious image of people who can’t park." A lot of people who own top-end cars double park as standard practice; this way they are minimising the risk of someone parking close enough to them to bash their precious car when they open the door. And a lot of people are just rubbish at parking. Whatever way you look at it, it’s highly irritating.
15. Cutting-In – Cutting in lanes was another one that got Shabba (@J8mes_b) annoyed; this actually happened to me just last night on the way home (actually, I was under-cut very dangerously by some moron) so I wholeheartedly agree on this one.
16. Residential Speeding - Another serious issue that affects many of us is speeding on residential roads; Tristan Honeywill (@CarSafetyRules) also bought this up during the Driving Gripe Twitter debate.
17. School Run – North City Autos (@NorthCityAutos) said “Stopping in middle of road to do school run using hazards is never OK” and whilst I agree, kids, after all, can make you do some very uncharacteristic thing, sometimes!
So, there you have it. Thank you to all of the wonderful Twitter bods that took the time to take part in our discussion last week.
I actually have quite a few more Driving Gripes to put into Driving Room 101 but guess what? I’m saving those for next week…..!
Part 2 will follow next week – if you have any suggestions then throw them at @MotorMistress
Written by @MotorMistress
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