The WORST drivers, which cars do they drive?

[Cyclone]

I made an evening trip to Leeds yesterday, no rush on the way there, I was going to be early so I pinned the needle at 70 with cruise control, meaning I was doing about 68.

 

It was pretty quiet on the motorway at 2000, I was overtake most noticeably (ie rapidly) by two separate Vauxhall Insignia. I wasn't overtaken by any German cars.

I overtook about 10 cars who thought 50 - 60 was an appropriate motorway speed. Given that the cars were perfectly capable of doing 70, I couldn't really understand why they were driving slowly and forcing people to overtake them.

 

On the way home I noticed a mini that at one point was doing over a ton.

[RonJeremy]

I made an evening trip to Leeds yesterday, no rush on the way there, I was going to be early so I pinned the needle at 70 with cruise control, meaning I was doing about 68.

 

It was pretty quiet on the motorway at 2000, I was overtake most noticeably (ie rapidly) by two separate Vauxhall Insignia. I wasn't overtaken by any German cars.

I overtook about 10 cars who thought 50 - 60 was an appropriate motorway speed. Given that the cars were perfectly capable of doing 70, I couldn't really understand why they were driving slowly and forcing people to overtake them.

 

On the way home I noticed a mini that at one point was doing over a ton.

 

Evening trip?

All the German car drivers had put their foot down and already got home.

[L00b]

Now Mr Loob, I'm not going to believe a single thing that you post on here!! Belgians ?? Seriously ??? Acceptable driving?? Mrs Jeremy and I always have a laugh at B plates on the continent.

Ron, I was born and learnt to drive in North East France and worked in Belgium and Luxembourg in my early years, I know every gradient, twist and turn of the E25 and the A31 between Brussels and Nancy, trust me when I say I know perfectly well what you mean...and when I say most of the (surprisingly-) few B plates I saw on Continental roads and m'ways two weeks ago around Boulogne and then last week, were (again, surprisingly-) very well behaved

 

I even passed a B-plated Corvette Z06 on the A26 cruising at 70 (when the limit is 80) which seemed content to just stay there (..."jam for pigs" sprang to mind )

 

On the way home I noticed a mini that at one point was doing over a ton.

Not me this time, Guv'. I have full plausible deniability

[Cyclone]

Evening trip?

All the German car drivers had put their foot down and already got home.

 

Most likely, it was really very quiet. Good example of when a limit >70 would be safe.

 

---------- Post added 19-04-2016 at 09:55 ----------

 

Not me this time, Guv'. I have full plausible deniability

 

I suspect you are not a youngish, blonde, female, which is who I noted was driving.

[L00b]

I suspect you are not a youngish, blonde, female, which is who I noted was driving.

You suspect correctly...though I would still class myself as youngish

[tzijlstra]

Surprisingly few, and they were driving well enough as it happens (...for a change! )

 

A surprising amount of Romanian travel vans (Merc Sprinters, unsurprisingly all those in Coquelles stopped at UK customs for search/inspection before boarding). Many were travelling with empty car trailers. Made (paranoid-/cynical-) me wonder if they come over to nick medium to high value cars and drive them back through on trailers with false plates

 

That is rather cynical and paranoid L00b, most of those are people looking for high-mileage, low cost cars, usually from auctions. I knew a Polish guy who used to do this just after Poland joined the EU, they had a rubbish selection of cars available there, ill-maintained, bad makes etc. so they came to the Netherlands to buy old Volvos and the like with full dealer service history, simply because cars like that weren't available in Poland so they could get a good price selling them there. Fairly certain the same will apply to Romanians and Bulgarians now.

[L00b]

That is rather cynical and paranoid L00b, most of those are people looking for high-mileage, low cost cars, usually from auctions. I knew a Polish guy who used to do this just after Poland joined the EU, they had a rubbish selection of cars available there, ill-maintained, bad makes etc. so they came to the Netherlands to buy old Volvos and the like with full dealer service history, simply because cars like that weren't available in Poland so they could get a good price selling them there. Fairly certain the same will apply to Romanians and Bulgarians now.

Notwithstanding the right hand drive position?

 

I've driven both on both sides of the Channel (and further afield) for 20-odd years by now. As a fellow Continental importee, I'm confident that you have for a while too. I'd never buy a 'wrong driving side' car for regular use. For obvious long-term safety reasons, to say nothing of the admin headaches (MOT equivalents, insurability, etc.)

 

Then again...maybe this goes to explain the mostly 'Eastern' content of those Liveleak and Youtube dashcam compilations

[Justin Smith]

Your point being what exactly? Assuming his speedo is any more accurate than mine, is it ok to tailgate someone doing 63mph any more than it is at 70? Is it also acceptable to undertake at this speed as you're joining the carriageway and then pull in front and then slam your brakes on?

 

The claim that Audi's and BMW's have more accurate speedo's than most cars (assuming you're correct) when coupled with the opinions expressed on this thread about it being acceptable to speed pretty much when you decide its Ok if you're driving such a car, would seem to add up to the conclusion that such drivers are likely to be definitely choosing to exceed the speed limit and are far more certain about the extent to which they are doing it.

 

Almost all the cars I have owned have had a speedo error of about 5% fast. I read somewhere this was because it was legal to have a speedo up to 10% fast but illegal to have a speedo which reads slow. Ths manufacturers err on the safe side. I would add that if it makes motorists travel just that bit slower that`s a good thing.

[Cyclone]

You're obsessed with speed, at the differences you're talking about (circa 5%) it's the least important factor of driving.

[Justin Smith]

That's not a strong case at all. It's a strong case that there's a higher number of deaths per head of population (as is apparently stated by the data you have apparently seen), but that premise doesn't bear out your conclusion. For instance...

 

a) you have stated that reports that Lincolnshire has the most dangerous roads. Putting the same drivers on different roads is likely to result in more accidents on more "dangerous" roads.

b) you've made clear that you were in Lincolnshire, which demonstrates that not all the people on Lincolnshire roads are from Lincolnshire. Supposedly you keep to the speed limit, but who's to say that in general the accidents are not being caused by people from Lincolnshire, but people from other counties, say Yorkshire, who are not used to the more dangerous roads.

 

I honestly have no ties at all to Lincolnshire, but it's clear that your conclusions are shaping your assumptions and premises.

 

I have yet more evidence that drivers in Lincolnshire are the worst (certainly the most dangerous) in the country. How often do you travel on the A17 ? It`s a hell of a road in the worst possible sense, and many of the drivers on it are absolutely appalling.

Three examples :

 

1 There are more "shrines" (to, one assumes, dead motorists) on that road than any other I`ve been on.

 

2 We were travelling back from Norfolk on the A17 the other day doing 55mph and were overtaken by a bloke in a red 4WD pick up. The shocking thing being he was chatting on the phone whilst simultaneously speeding and overtaking. Even worse was a silver Vectra up his rear end overtaking at the same time (i.e. the Vectra was overtaking me before the pick up had even pulled in), a big no no for all decent drivers. A bit later on they repeated the "trick" overtaking a car just behind a truck, but the truck then braked quite hard because there was a tractor just in front (round a bend) and the Vectra was stuck out in the oncoming lane and had to literally force his way back in again. How there wasn`t an accident I`ll never know. And it was all a complete waste of time because 15 miles later both vehicle were only 50 to 100 yards ahead of me.....

 

3 We repeatedly saw speed cameras and assumed there was a 50mph limit in force. Oh no, it was 60mph yet there were still (expensive to install) average speed cameras on a number of stretches. Now, let`s think about this, how fast must the retard speeding drivers have been regularly travelling at to result in the installation of average speed cameras on a 60mph road ? 80 to 90mph ? And how many people must have been killed or seriously injured before the highway authorities spent the tens of thousands of pounds required to install average speed cameras ? The mind boggles......

Edited April 24, 2016 by Justin Smith