jdp1962 said:
I read this thread just after a drive back to London on a rural road where overtaking opportunities are few and far between. For something like 20 miles, I was driving behind someone who drove at 40mph in a 60mph limit, and at 25mph in a 40mph limit. She braked every time a car came the other way, simply because it was there, and on the occasion when my patience finally snapped and I tried a marginal overtaking manouevre, speeded up just enough to leave me high and dry.
This woman probably thinks she is a careful driver but in truth she is a menace whose behaviour should be the subject of a citing on that better driving website. But I can't be @rsed to write it.
As is usual with me please be warned this is a long post but I would like to kindly ask you (all) to take a moment to read it.
Now, I absolutely don't want to get into any argument about this and its absolutely, 100% nothing personal (towards jdp1962) but I would like to take the above quote as an example of why, if posted on the BetterDrivingPlease website, it would be ultimately pointless (like most of the posts on that site)...
Naturally it may be annoying and an inconvenience if the person in front of you is driving below the speed limit but that is something to which they are perfectly entitled, and can quite legally do (unless there is a posted minimum speed limit which, as it is not mentioned, I can only assume there wasn't). The Highway Code (section 146) itself states that the maximum speed limit is not a target and it is often not safe or appropriate to drive at that limit.
Who's to say that this woman did not know the (rural) road and was not comfortable driving at the speed limit where she would present an even greater danger? The Highway code also recommends other drivers make provisions for this by being patient and considerate (section 147)
There is also no information included about road width, weather conditions (Dry? Raining?) and light conditions (Day? Night? Dull? Dusk/Dawn?) which may, or may not, offer an explanation for the constant braking when encountering oncoming traffic. For example; if it was at night or during low light conditions (where cars are required to use their headlights) section 115 of the Highway code recommends you to slow down, and if necessary stop, if you are dazzled by oncoming headlights.
While it is only the womans driving that is being criticised its also interesting to note that if the driver of the vehicle in front is posing a problem by slowing down when encountering traffic this itself would indicate that that the following vehicle is itself too close. The highway code (section 126) advises to leave enough space between you and the vehicle in front so that you can pull up safely if it suddenly slows down or stops.
Its also worth noting that on a road where "overtaking opportunities are few and far between" jdp1962 goes on to say "when my
patience finally snapped and I tried a
marginal overtaking manouevre...". This itself could be considered a dangerous act and also driving without reasonable consideration for other road users (H/C section 144).
While I am in no way attempting to defend the woman speeding up as she was attempted to be overtaken (if her intention was to prevent the manouevre) but could it not also be concievable that she, just at the same time as it was viewed it to be a 'marginally' safe place to overtake, also viewed it as a safe place to increase her speed?
Like I said, I am by no means attempting to criticise jdp1962's driving. I am merely trying to emphasis why the BetterDrivingPlease website is ultimately, and terminally, flawed due to the hundreds (and hundreds) of 'reports' that are represented in the same manner as jdp1962 posted above. It would just strike me as the whinging of someone who percieved that another driver did not drive to their particular standards, and in fact has nothing to do with the law or the other driver being a particularly bad.
My point is
nobody drives like a saint (or largely how they were taught) and
nobody follows the highway code to the absolute letter. The thing that annoys me the most is the fact that, as drivers, the contributors to that site are no different to you and I, and probably make exactly the same 'mistakes' on a daily basis too. Who at some point in time hasn't been guilty of driving too close, failing to signal, speeding (even slightly), forgetting to switch off foglights, etc, etc? Nobody is perfect not even, as they would like you to believe, the many pious contributors to BetterDrivingPlease.
I do not begrudge those that post incidents of illegal, dangerous driving (especially those with proof), however most posts to BetterDrivingPlease are nothing more than petty venting of annoyances while others, without actually realising it, incriminate themselves to be equally guilty of bad driving (if the Highway Code is followed to the letter). Then there are the posts about people with ambiguous registration plates, naughty modifications etc which in no shape or form are an indication upon the driving abilities of the owners and absolutely should not be included in a website designed to highlight
bad drivers.
It also worries me that the contributions cannot be verified (unless accompanied by photographic evidence) and are open to abuse by bias, omissions, grudges or can even be completely made up!
I know this has been a long post but thank you to all that have taken the time to read it. Your opinions will be looked forward to!