Driving Pet Peeves. What really ticks you off?

[Landau Stable]

As per the title, what really gets to you the most?

To begin, i'll mention one of mine: I can't stand it when i am towing with my car trailer, and someone pulls out in front of me forcing me on the brakes. They take off, leaving me to struggle up to speed again. (usually, there is no one behind me, so it wouldn't have hurt them to wait)
Even worse when it comes to stopping, and they pull out in front of me at the last second, reducing my braking distance at an intersection etc

And now i hand it over to the good folk of the forum........

[Ryan]

Alot of people will probably say this, but tail gaters. Nothing annoys me more.

Oh, and people who don't use indicators at round abouts, and in general really.

[XRGhia]

people with ricer mods :| and truckies on the F3 who go and force you onto the grass while nearly hitting the limiter at WOT doing 160km/h trying to get away.... the truckie got pulled up at the northbound weighbridge and fined $800

[XCwillo]

Old people doing 10k's under the limit. In my old XC it doesnt too much like cruising at 50 in 3rd OR 4th and even worse at 40
really shits me to tears

[05_ENFORCER]

SAC's (self appointed coppers)

Who cares really, just stay in the left lane and everything will be OK.

There is no need to make everyone do the speed limit when you are in the right hand lane blocking those pesky speeding overtakers.

[Cooper69S]

if I thought for long enough I could come up with a long list...
some I can think of:
- people not indicating properly at roundabouts esp 2 lane ones (people indicating right from the left lane when you're alongside them then you realise they're actually going straight ahead... phew)
- people who don't cross the line while waiting to turn right at the lights. lights go red again and they stay put. have previously sat through 4 changes of lights without moving when people do that
- left-foot-brakers who ride the brake pedal so when following they effectively have no brake lights
- people tailgating while I'm obviously overtaking the slower traffic in the left lane and am already travelling maybe <5 over the limit
- people who flash you after you legally overtake them
- right lane hoggers on the highway/freeway
- people failing to maintain a constant speed and/or keep up with the flow of traffic, especially when they speed up as soon as you get to the overtaking lane and slow back down when it finishes
- seeing baby-on-board signs in peoples car windows... congratulations!!

[geckoGT]

Originally Posted by Cooper69S

- people who flash you after you legally overtake them

This is often done by truck drivers as a way of letting you know you are past them and it is safe to pull back in. Not common amongst car drivers now but some still do it (I do). It may be an act of courtesy.

[Jason[98.EL]]

Originally Posted by geckoGT

This is often done by truck drivers as a way of letting you know you are past them and it is safe to pull back in. Not common amongst car drivers now but some still do it (I do). It may be an act of courtesy.

your not alone on that one I do the same

my pet hate is i have our club stickers on the EL and every moron out there wants to race you

had one the other day a guy in a beet up old thing took off hard at the lights i just took off normally he planted the foot got wheel spin of the line
funny thing was the fact he had an unmarked car behind him lol

and people driving so slow i feel like i can walk bloody faster

[Cooper69S]

Originally Posted by geckoGT

This is often done by truck drivers as a way of letting you know you are past them and it is safe to pull back in. Not common amongst car drivers now but some still do it (I do). It may be an act of courtesy.

I know what you mean, and that's not what I have a gripe with. It's when people people seem to think that you have no right to overtake them, and once you're back on the left in front of them they proceed to flash their high-beams and gesticulate at you for the next couple hundred metres. kind of strange. I could understand it if the move is in any way dangerous or you cut them off or something, but for no reason? some people are strange...

I think its probably where they think they're already doing the speed limit (but their speedo is out by 5-10 or whatever) so they're doing the self-appointed-copper thing mentioned in another post...

[prydey]

Originally Posted by 05_ENFORCER

SAC's (self appointed coppers)

this^^^

if someone is tailgating you and you don't like it - let them pass. its not your job to correct them. personally, tailgaters don't bother me. just ignore them. 99% of the time it is nothing personal, they are just in more of a hurry than you are and once past will have already forgotten about you. so many people make it personal.

i'm going to throw out the old 'driving is a privilege, not a right' saying. people driving 5-10km/h under the limit are annoying, but they aren't breaking any laws. a limit is exactly that - a maximum limit, not a minimum! if everyone just chilled out a bit more it would be a lot easier. i've found if i allow plenty of time to get where i need to be, i drive with a much different attitude. its only when i'm a bit pushed for time that i get a bit hot under the collar.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by prydey

this^^^

if someone is tailgating you and you don't like it - let them pass. its not your job to correct them. personally, tailgaters don't bother me. just ignore them. 99% of the time it is nothing personal, they are just in more of a hurry than you are and once past will have already forgotten about you. so many people make it personal.

i'm going to throw out the old 'driving is a privilege, not a right' saying. people driving 5-10km/h under the limit are annoying, but they aren't breaking any laws. a limit is exactly that - a maximum limit, not a minimum! if everyone just chilled out a bit more it would be a lot easier. i've found if i allow plenty of time to get where i need to be, i drive with a much different attitude. its only when i'm a bit pushed for time that i get a bit hot under the collar.

Exactly, people who think it is their right to intimidate other drivers on the road.
The stress levels of some of these clowns must be through the roof.

I try to be a predictable law abiding driver and stay out of altercations
in the hopes that this will keep me and my passengers safe from others
treating the roads as their own personal property.

[burkie_21]

Originally Posted by prydey

if someone is tailgating you and you don't like it - let them pass. its not your job to correct them. personally, tailgaters don't bother me. just ignore them. 99% of the time it is nothing personal, they are just in more of a hurry than you are and once past will have already forgotten about you. so many people make it personal..

or slow down and really **** them off

[prydey]

Originally Posted by burkie_21

or slow down and really **** them off

ahh... no. refer to post #5. people who think its their job to correct others on the street are just as bad as those who are doing the wrong thing.

why get involved? why make it personal? just let them go. people that do that sort of thing will eventually do it to the wrong person.

[BigCav]

people who dont indicate till there half way done changing lanes

nothing worse then waiting behind a slow car for 2 k's and getting to a overtaking lane, putting on your indicator in anticipation to find the car behind you is half way into the lane attempting to leap frog you without indicating like its a bloody race.

excuse me me v6 commodore but im in a v8 fairlane, ill just overtake you once your done and slow down to **** you off deliberatly afterwards

[Crazy Dazz]

1. When I’m stuck in a huge traffic jam and assume there must be a big prang up ahead, only to find out that the jam is being caused by rubberneckers gawping at something on the side of the road.
2. Trucks, ****** little diesels, and grandmas, who don’t keep to the left at traffic lights. They dawdle away from the lights, and before you get anywhere near the speed limit, you’re at the next set of lights.
3. Drivers that can’t merge at speed. Simple message really, if you can’t merge, stay off the fekking freeway.
4. People that don’t indicate at roundabouts, so you have to try and guess what the fekkers are doing.
5. Motorcyclists that ride between the lanes. You won’t think you’re so clever when I open my door!
6. Drivers who breakdown and just leave their car blocking traffic.
7. Fekking morons who don’t allow a driver with a breakdown to pull off the road.

[The Outsider]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

5. Motorcyclists that ride between the lanes. You won’t think you’re so clever when I open my door!

and how clever will you feel if that same motorcyclist avoids your door but comes back and kicks the **** out of your car?

you are an a grade ********!

[TerritoryTurbo]

I think this one is going to get some replies, hehe.

Getting stuck behind someone on a single lane road doing 20 km/h under the limit and when you get to an overtaking area they do 10 km/h over...

Passing you on a dual carrage highway and pulling about 2 metres in front of you after they've overtaken you. You've got all this room and you have to cut me off...?!

Being a motorbike rider...red light runners make me shudder.

And of course the fav...tailgaters

OK thats enough...lol

[Cooper69S]

Originally Posted by TerritoryTurbo

Passing you on a dual carrage highway and pulling about 2 metres in front of you after they've overtaken you. You've got all this room and you have to cut me off...?!

similar problem happens pretty often on the Perth to Bunbury highway - dual carriageway - driving on cruise control and have people who fluctuate their speed so that they're constantly overtaking and then slowing down once they pass, so you get this leapfrog effect for half the journey. annoying

[TerritoryTurbo]

Originally Posted by Cooper69S

similar problem happens pretty often on the Perth to Bunbury highway - dual carriageway - driving on cruise control and have people who fluctuate their speed so that they're constantly overtaking and then slowing down once they pass, so you get this leapfrog effect for half the journey. annoying

Yep I agree, they break their neck to overtake you, then realise they're over the limit and slow down and you have to switch off your cruise.

I love my cruise control...

[mrbaxr6t]

clowns that sit in the overtake lane on a freeway that are doing maybe 5 or 10kmh below the limit, so you merge to overtake and all of a sudden they are driving the mach 5 and it is capable of 200 kmh or more

getting stuck behind some half wit on the onramp who thinks its their god given right to hit the highway at 60 kmh with a great freight train of cars backed up behind them, with trucks on the highway at highway speed if you want to risk your **** thats your business dont be putting my **** on the line too...

ALSO people that pull up toward the left of the road stationary to make a right hand turn, so you can't slip past them and continue on your way... (on the left) cause they didnt leave enough room

[paule11]

Originally Posted by TerritoryTurbo

I think this one is going to get some replies, hehe.

Getting stuck behind someone on a single lane road doing 20 km/h under the limit and when you get to an overtaking area they do 10 km/h over...

Passing you on a dual carrage highway and pulling about 2 metres in front of you after they've overtaken you. You've got all this room and you have to cut me off...?!

Being a motorbike rider...red light runners make me shudder.

And of course the fav...tailgaters

OK thats enough...lol

+1 except for tailgaters I just pull over and let them past

[want-a-XY]

Originally Posted by TerritoryTurbo

)

Getting stuck behind someone on a single lane road doing 20 km/h under the limit and when you get to an overtaking area they do 10 km/h over...

also my BIGGEST hate!

hippies in campervans, old people, or tourists. sit 20km/h under the limit until you get an overtaking lane and they speed up so the only legal choice you have it sit behind them. then once the overtaking lane ends they're back down to 30km/h below the limit!

[mrbaxr6t]

I remembered one that raged me so much I thought I was going to explode guy overtook me on freshly resurfaced road and slotted RIGHT infront of me after the overtake SPRAYING the front of my car with gravel, Lets just say I required blood pressure meds after that little stunt. A similar thing applies to wet conditions dont jump directly infront of another vehicle after an overtake subjecting them to reduced visibility because of your spray - not to mention the water off your dirty 4by is mud encrusted and makes my car filthy, spend a LITTLE longer in the overtake lane and make more of a gap before you cut infront of me to reduce the amount of spray my car is subjected to.

[rancidpunx]

People who stop suddenly for apparently no reason, then flick on the indicator as they finish making a right hand turn.
Dabbing the brakes on a straight road with no other traffic around. Also people who cant keep a consistent speed.
Hopeless, indicating at a roundabout.
Sitting 10-15ks under the limit on a clear day. (mostly thats just peoples speedos being out, but still). It takes the **** when you do 70 in an 80 zone but then continue to do 70 when it becomes a 60 zone.
Merging its the most frustrating. You use the slip lane to match the speed of the traffic, not trundle down at 60 and wonder why the traffic is hooning past at 100. You give way to traffic already in the lane (there is no "zip" rule for lanes that merge and are lined accordingly), there is no need to wait until the last moment to merge 99% of people will let you in. That really bugs me, having to slow down and wait for somebody to merge who will then hit the brakes as they do so as they **** themselves because their lane has come to an end.
Not checking blind spots when changing lanes. Infact it appears nobody checks their mirrors or indicates until they are about to complete the manoeuvre.
When approaching a passing lane and you indicate to pass only to find the tallywacker behind you has already pulled out and accelerating, especially when that person is control of a truck.
Ethnic drivers doing what they like. (most likely unlicensed.)
Impatience of drivers cruising up a free lane and then "push" their way into a lane of queuing traffic so they dont miss a turn.
Theres probably more just im to tired to think of them right now.
Geez I am an angry driver. However I think these are basic knowledge when in charge of a motor vehicle, and yet there happening every 30 secs on an average drive anywhere.

[Silver Ghia]

Originally Posted by rancidpunx

People who stop suddenly for apparently no reason, then flick on the indicator as they finish making a right hand turn.
Dabbing the brakes on a straight road with no other traffic around. Also people who cant keep a consistent speed.
Hopeless, indicating at a roundabout.
Sitting 10-15ks under the limit on a clear day. (mostly thats just peoples speedos being out, but still). It takes the **** when you do 70 in an 80 zone but then continue to do 70 when it becomes a 60 zone.
Merging its the most frustrating. You use the slip lane to match the speed of the traffic, not trundle down at 60 and wonder why the traffic is hooning past at 100. You give way to traffic already in the lane (there is no "zip" rule for lanes that merge and are lined accordingly), there is no need to wait until the last moment to merge 99% of people will let you in. That really bugs me, having to slow down and wait for somebody to merge who will then hit the brakes as they do so as they **** themselves because their lane has come to an end.
Not checking blind spots when changing lanes. Infact it appears nobody checks their mirrors or indicates until they are about to complete the manoeuvre.
When approaching a passing lane and you indicate to pass only to find the tallywacker behind you has already pulled out and accelerating, especially when that person is control of a truck.
Ethnic drivers doing what they like. (most likely unlicensed.)
Impatience of drivers cruising up a free lane and then "push" their way into a lane of queuing traffic so they dont miss a turn.
Theres probably more just im to tired to think of them right now.
Geez I am an angry driver. However I think these are basic knowledge when in charge of a motor vehicle, and yet there happening every 30 secs on an average drive anywhere.

And:

Originally Posted by rancidpunx

I knew I forgot another one. Not dangerous or against any rules, but more just not being aware of other road users.
In traffic waiting to turn right at a light you notice the lights go green but then notice cars taking an age to go through the lights and before you know it only 3 cars have gone and its red again. Its just annoying. Same goes for passing lanes and the one slow coach gets past a truck but everyone else is stuck behind hitting the anchors to let the truck merge.

So its the same in Brisbane, exactly as it is here in Melbourne.

I'd like to add a few more:

Hilux drivers pushing in because they can with their size, also coming up and blocking views at intersections seemingly on purpose.

Vehicles who have overtaken me and pull in front without leaving much distance at all. Worse still some slow down, slower than what I'm travelling at.

Vans and tradies (and others) travelling at 10kph or more under the limit in the second lane from the right on a four lane freeway.

[Feathers]

Originally Posted by rancidpunx

Impatience of drivers cruising up a free lane and then "push" their way into a lane of queuing traffic.

This irritates me. There is usually a sign saying the left lane ends, so instead of merging in that time, and keeping traffic flowing, they shoot right up to the end of the lane and push in, making everyone they just passed stop for them, and backing up traffic especially when it's heavy.

Originally Posted by nitro xr

Hilux drivers coming up and blocking views at intersections seemingly on purpose.

Happens to me at the bottom of my street. I'll be waiting to turn right, and then look left to see if it's clear, and can't see through them, waiting to turn left. You can see over my car, how hard is it to sit back a little????

Other thing that happens to me a lot in the bus, is idiots in cars on the M4/M5 who want the next exit, just as I'm passing it, and decide they have to overtake me on the right, then cut across to the left in front of me, when they could have just stayed where they were and moved over a second later. Seriously? WTF is that about??

Oh and people who don't understand what the "Do not overtake turning vehicle" sign on the back of trucks and buses means, so come flying up the inside, then have the audacity to honk at/abuse me, when they've now suddenly run out of room because I'm half way around the corner in front of them.

[geckoGT]

Originally Posted by Feathers

This irritates me. There is usually a sign saying the left lane ends, so instead of merging in that time, and keeping traffic flowing, they shoot right up to the end of the lane and push in, making everyone they just passed stop for them, and backing up traffic especially when it's heavy.

That irritates the crap out of me too, if they just merged at the first sign we would all flow through at the speed limit or close to it, but no they just have to push ahead and slow everyone else down whilst they try and merge back in at the last moment.

Personally if I have been patiently waiting in the traffic in the lane that continues and someone comes up on the terminating lane, jumping ahead of 20+ other people that have been waiting, I don't let them in. So easy to do by just closing up to the car in front while you all crawl through at 10 km/h.

What irritates me more is when it is a large truck/B double that does it, they should know better as they are supposed to be professional drivers.

[Landau Stable]

Saw another one that irritates me today

Douchebag throwing his cigarette butt out the window and using the road as his ashtray.

[Mechan1k]

Couldn't have said it better myself really Rancidpunx

Originally Posted by Landau Stable

To begin, i'll mention one of mine: I can't stand it when i am towing with my car trailer, and someone pulls out in front of me forcing me on the brakes. They take off, leaving me to struggle up to speed again. (usually, there is no one behind me, so it wouldn't have hurt them to wait)
Even worse when it comes to stopping, and they pull out in front of me at the last second, reducing my braking distance at an intersection etc

Replace car trailer with horse float with horses on ... and that makes it for an even more interesting time. You need to pull up nice and clean ... with out the horses taking a stumble in the float.

I can tell you ... if i horse goes down in a float ... it's dangerous. Then you need to pull over somewhere and try and get the horse back up (while it is still freaking out). Half ton plus of animal trying to scramble about in a confined space is hard enough to handle.

Always seems to happen as I am slowing up for a red light and easing up for the horse and someone flies up and cuts in and jumps on the brake.

[rancidpunx]

I knew I forgot another one. Not dangerous or against any rules, but more just not being aware of other road users.
In traffic waiting to turn right at a light you notice the lights go green but then notice cars taking an age to go through the lights and before you know it only 3 cars have gone and its red again. Its just annoying. Same goes for passing lanes and the one slow coach gets past a truck but everyone else is stuck behind hitting the anchors to let the truck merge.