Monday 26 April 2010

Driving me crazy

I write some of my best tweets while driving. Well, that is, I think of some pretty good ones while I'm driving. At least, I think they're good. The problem is, I don't have internet access on my phone or txt my tweets, and I'm hardly ever just on my way home or heading to somewhere where I can access wifi with my iPod touch ... and then I've forgotten them. Until the next time I hop in the car and the same thing happens.

I've decided to experiment with writing a blog post about the things that drive me crazy on the roads. This list is not exhaustive (it's merely a starting point, lol) and I'm sure there will be dozens more examples which can be added to it. Some happen over and over and over again. How do these people manage to stay on the roads without doing major damage to themselves or everyone else around them??

Tips for drivers

  • In New Zealand, we drive on the left-hand side of the road. Whether or not there is a line painted down the middle of the road, or the street is narrower than usual, or you're just driving home from the movies, the rule is the same. 
  • A busy intersection is not the place for a U-turn.
  • A street corner is not a car park. This is especially true if your car is technically straddling two streets at once.
  • If you indicate left to pull over the side of the road, this does not give you permission to then pull out to the right and do a U-turn. I know what you're thinking: "well, at least I indicated". I'd thank you for it, if only it made the slightest bit of sense.
  • When you drive 90km/h in the fast lane on the motorway, you cause other drivers around you to behave erratically and change lanes intermittently. When you speed up as the rest of the motorway rearranges itself around you ... well, words fail me.
  • If you are supposed to give way to me at an intersection but you try to sneak through by speeding up and assume I'll be able to slow down in time to avoid you, then you can expect to hear my horn. Yelling abuse at me, complete with rude gestures, when you could have been the cause of a crash and should have given way does not make you right.
  • Just because your car is loud and the back half of it barely clears the road, it doesn't mean that you can change lanes whenever you feel like it, pass on the inside, or drive through pedestrian crossings.
  • Perhaps taxi and bus drivers could stop for red lights, or at least not speed up as soon as a light turns amber? I know - crazy talk!
  • Randomly stopping in the middle of a busy street to let someone out of your car (or pick someone up) is never a good idea. It doesn't matter how much you gesture to me that I should pass you while you've decided to park on the road; I'm not prepared to drive head-on into traffic coming towards me in the other lane. Turning on your indicator after all the above has occurred does not get you out of trouble, either.
  • If you rear-end someone and end up crashing into the back of their car, don't get out and pretend that any damage or scratches to their car was there before you hit them. How the heck would you know?? (This one's for my sweetie.)
Care to add any of your own?

3 comments:

betty-NZ said...

Those are some interesting thoughts, but maybe it's just as well that you can't blog while you drive so you don't get a ticket!

Sab said...

Ugh... I've had so many ordeals with other drivers already I sometimes think I could write a novel about it! Like passing me at a stop sign. I'm stopped at the stop sign, you don't pass me and stick your nose in front of me because you want to go. That's not how stop signs work! Or when people signal and start changing lanes without looking. Like the semi truck (complete with trailer) the other day. We were on the shoulder honking our horn and practically next to his cab already by the time he noticed us. And his signal only went on when we were already halfway 'down' his trailer.

Really... do people think when they drive? Sometimes I think there should be 'retests' every few years for your drivers! Some people need them!

Kellee said...

Oooooh, where to I begin.

1. High beam headlights are only to be used when you're on your own on the road. Don't tailgate me with them on and expect me not to go blind. If I slow down to 10km/h it's because I want you to pass me, not because I'm trying to piss you off. Please just overtake and move on!!

2. Sometimes when I'm in the right lane on a 3 lane road (not freeway), it's because I intend to turn right soon. Please don't beep me and flash your lights because I'm not exceeding the speed limit by 30km/h like you. Please just overtake to the left and move on!! (I hope this doesn't contradict your point about re-arranging traffic too much...)

3. If you do anything wrong, rude or just plain dangerous, please wave your hand to to say sorry/thankyou to the person you've offended so you don't look like a total jerk who thinks he owns the road. It does a lot to calm the person who's just been cut off.