After a long day during which, in no particular order:
A pedestrian just off London Wall swore at me and said I should look up what the road surface meant in the “fucking Highway Code” (I checked with City of London Police: the raised cobbled surface I turned right onto, just by Waterstones, is just a speed bump. The pedestrian assumed it was an extension of the pavement and gave him right of way, which it didn’t and even then wouldn’t be an excuse for not looking before stepping out.)
I was forced into a bus lane in Battersea because the driver overtaking a bus coming in the other direction couldn’t see my 9′ high, 22′ long van on a sunny day and pulled out anyway, assuming I’d let him go because why wouldn’t you let someone so important drive on the wrong side of the road rather than have to wait for a bus to pull out?
Another impatient driver went inside of me joining a roundabout then cut in front of me, finally turning right, having effectively gone across three lanes, straight onto the M25 where the traffic was almost stationery as usual.
The BMW that nearly drove into me, trying to get past me by driving up the bus lane by Lambeth Palace.
Plus all the usual taxi drivers, buses, suicidal tourists although not, unusually, cyclists.
When a man is tired of London he’s just fed up with driving there.
Gatz says
Can we assume that the Battersea and the roundabout guys were in Audis as they weren’t in the BMW?
Tiggerlion says
I like the image of the traffic on the M25 being trapped inside a ring binder.
davebigpicture says
Roundabout no, possibly a Toyota. Battersea possibly an A3.
davebigpicture says
Wrong reply Tiggs. That was for Gatz.
Yes, might as well be a ring binder (bloody auto correct)
anton says
I suppose someone has to drive in London…thank God its not me
ganglesprocket says
I live in London. We have a car. My wife does all the driving. I am extremely lucky that my regular cycle commute involves no main roads. If I had to drive here I’d go insane. The drivers are the single worst thing in this city.
anton says
seen worse
Colin H says
I sympathise with you, Dave. For me, any time I’m in London – including three days last week – it’s akin to holding one’s breath underwater. Within five minutes of getting on a tube train at leafy Wimbledon I was dripping with sweat. If you just ‘don’t belong there’, don’t normally have to deal with that amount of people, the whole place can have a claustrophobic sort of effect on you. It’s not cheap either. I would hardly need to be there if Ireland had any library periodical collections worth a damn.
mikethep says
I lived there for > 30 years, but I get all that now when I go to the Smoke. How the hell did I commute on the tube twice a day five days a week?
Junior Wells says
Mrs Wells ,who does a lot of driving as a rep, has a particular dislike of Audi drivers.
Why have they become the new Volvo drivers?
mikethep says
Volvo drivers? When did that happen? They were were always the ones who drove their enormomobiles veeeery slowly so as to keep Tristram and Araminta and the three gundogs safe. Or was that Range Rovers? Anyhow, never associated them with Audi-type behavious.
Junior Wells says
well she just regards them both as in the category of bad drivers.
Agree re the stereotype for Volvo drivers, just wondering how the opprobrium for Audi drivers started.
Johnny Concheroo says
I think it started with BMW drivers who were known for driving aggressively. Then, as Clarkson said, “all the cocks are driving Audis now” and the aggressive dickhead baton was passed to them.
MC Escher says
In my head it goes Ford (usu. Granada) -> Mercedes -> BMW -> Audi
Black Celebration says
A comedian over here observed that when you get home and tell your other half about your near-miss or other people’s bad driving, it immediately sounds petty as you’re talking – and you just know that the other party is not really taking it in.
Earlier today, I moved lanes without indicating – the guy behind me was, quite rightly, really cross. That’s because I spent all day yesterday driving around in a rental car that had the indicators on the other side. True story!
Johnny Concheroo says
What you really mean is you indicated your intention to change lanes by switching on your windscreen wipers? It’s a familiar scenario.
mikethep says
My sister-in-law complained that the indicators in our car (Ford) were on the ‘wrong’ side. That’s because she always drives Japanese cars. That’ll be it.
Johnny Concheroo says
Exactly. Whenever I change from a Toyota to a Ford or Vauxhall/GM it takes a day or so to stop turning on the wipers instead of the indicators.
Junior Wells says
Mrs Wells has a golf, me a subaru.
Constantly turn wipers on instead of indicators.
Black Celebration says
My rental yesterday was a Mercedes but it was a right pain. If you used the right hand “paddle” by mistake you change gear! Don’t mind the windscreen wipers going off by mistake but the car slamming itself into reverse is another story.
Black Type says
We have two cars, both Hyundai, but each having the indicator switch on different sides. For heaven’s sake why, Hyundai, why?
bricameron says
There I was,yesterday,like a dutiful citizen, taking back all the recyclable glass to the nearest depot when in front of me the lights are changing to amber but because of my within the speed limit speed I should go through all the same… Ah! but no. Some Clown in front of me decides that he can cross three lanes and speed on through another intersection forcing me to slam on the brakes. Broken glass everywhere. So yeah. I feel your pain.
Black Type says
Were people also pissing on the station (you know they just don’t care)? ?
MC Escher says
Come on, it’s been a while. Let’s do cyclists!
davebigpicture says
Strangely absent yesterday. Maybe all the MAMILs are on holiday.
retropath2 says
For London, now read Brum. The traffic has progressively become more and more gridlocked, coupled with the council policy of doing roadworks throughout the summer “holidays” to ensure continuity of jams. Even at 6.30 in the morning the roads are chocka, at least on the arterials into the fair city. Trying to get back to Lich anytime between 4 and 7 can become a 3 CD marathon.(Which means I am getting that pile down, so some good of it. Normal journey time is 1 CD, which, FWIW, today morning was Galaxie 500, On Fire, and jolly good it is too. Sort of shoegazey Neil Youngy stuff)
davebigpicture says
Agreed Retro. It used to be that when you got away from London, the traffic was noticeably lighter but it seems that everywhere is universally awful now. I did a post at the old place saying that I would gladly pay road charging for certain routes, mainly the M25. Given that a 75 mile journey takes around 3 hours now (about twice the time of a clear run) I believe this even more. The congestion charge hasn’t worked in London, not sure what the long term answer is.
Jim Cain says
I almost pulled out into the path of a cyclist this morning, but managed to see her at the last minute and slam on the brakes. The classic SMIDSY. My subsequent apologies were met with a withering stare. The embarrassing thing is, I was on a bicycle too!
johnw says
I’ll start with a caveat in that I’m talking about evening and weekend visits but I’ve rarely had a problem with London driving. You get idiots everywhere and the fact that they’re usually closer and more numerous when the traffic is denser can be a pain but I’d much rather drive round a congested London than most other town centres. People generally know that in order to get anywhere, you all have to play fair and (in the evenings) that’s generally what seems to happen. I don’t know whether not having a deadline to meet is a factor but it’s pretty much the only destination that I don’t mind driving to/in.
I can’t join in with the makes of cars thing because I care so little about cars that I don’t normally look at the badge. It was only via this very forum a while back that I (as an Audi driver) am considered to be pond life which baffles me a bit because the reason I got an Audi (A1) was because the Seat (Ibiza) I wanted to buy had a shit radio and I didn’t want to have to start drilling holes in a new car just to get what are now fairly standard features. What I notice is the increase in people driving big wide van type things when they seem to think they’re still driving a Fiesta. If they can’t drive within the white lines then they really should consider the Tube especially on a road that has a London bus keeping in the lane.
Skirky says
Everyone knows that if you’re on a single track country lane and you happen to be next to a passing place when you see someone coming the other way you stop, wait, maybe even flash your headlights to let them know it’s safe to proceed. Not career forward at speed hoping the other driver will be able to magically reduce their wheelbase until they can fit on the verge. Mind you, if I was sitting in the comfort of an Audi with all that power, precision and reliability under my control I’d probably drive like a See You Next Tuesday too.
Mike_H says
Quite apart from bad driving in London and other major cities, there are just too many people driving in our cities nowadays.
Before I retired in March I was obliged to drive a Renault Trafic van around the northern half of London going from job to job as a maintenance electrician.
There is a back road in NW7 called Bunns Lane, which is a handy route between Grahame Park (NW9) and Mill Hill, passing underneath the A1 Barnet Bypass, The M1 motorway and the Main Railway line from St Pancras where they all bunch together.
It’s quite a busy little road anyway that also gets a lot of use from local driving instructors. On one mid-afternoon weekday journey along it about a year ago, I counted 13 driving school cars on just this 3/4 mile stretch of road.
Everywhere you go, outside of central London, there are driving school cars in swarms. The roads are already really congested and every single person with the money for lessons seems to be learning to drive and then, presumably, getting a car. It’s a rite of passage for every teenager to learn to drive and get themselves some wheels of their own. Total urban gridlock is on it’s way.