Poor driving style

[FalcoColumbarius]

Okay, the bambie bars are off.

I learned to drive in England. I took the test in England. I received my drivers licence in England. When I arrived back to Canada, I had to take another test to get my BC driver's licence. Many people who take the test in England fail on the first try. It is a very stringent test. Items such as: MSSM (Mirror, Signal, Shoulder, Manoeuvre); Crossing your hands whilst turning the steering wheel ~ if you fail to perform the former or do perform the latter ~ it is met with an immediate "Sir, you will pull to the side of the road, switch off the ignition, remove the keys from the ignition and step out from the driver's seat". It is an instant fail. When learning to drive in England you are subjected to a great deal of theory, such as stopping distance at any given speed based on the average time it takes for someone to appreciate the hazard, for the message to move from the eye to the brain and to the foot, the weight of the motor vehicle to adjust it's velocity when the brakes are applied.

When I took the test in BC I passed with 97% (two of the three items I argued, but not too much). Was it because of my amazing driving skills? Not really. It was a piece of cake. It was if the Motor Vehicle Branch wanted to record a better statistical success rate.

I believe that most accidents that occur are because the average driver's attention and foresight does not extend past the rear bumper of the car in front of them. They do not read the whole picture that is relevant to their situation. Also I think a major contributor is that many people have no clue to the size of their vehicle, once they are sitting in the driver's seat.

As far as cel phones are concerned ~ I will assume that the police, ambulance &c. set a good example and refrain from using them when they are driving ~ but they do need to use the radio, which demands a free hand to operate the transmitter.

Falco.

[marsgal42]

I could go on at length about this. Trust me.

My pet peeve is right turns at red lights. They are optional. They are not mandatory, and a car-size gap in the cross traffic is not my idea of a good time to turn. It's my decision, and no amount of horn honking or rude gestures will change that.

Personally, I prefer to think of more pleasant things. I'm stretching next weekend, and am planning a little bit of a road trip. My three possible itineraries are Portland (Powell's ) via Snoqualmie Pass and Yakima, Port Alberni to Bamfield, or Lake Cowichan to Port Renfrew. Three days would allow lots of messing around on the latter two routes.

...laura

[delicanuck]

Powell's ! Pick Powell's... er.. Portland.

Hi marsgal,
A tad off topic but if your were to decide to visit Powell's and you happen to stumble on a copy of James Sewid's book "Guests Never Leave Hungry" and if you were to purchase said book and bring it back, I would be pretty much at your mercy. I can get a copy from Amazon but anyone can do that. I would be stoked to get it from Powell's, maybe with a Powell's stamp on the fly leaf. Just sayin'.... Cause I would do the Shawnigan Lake to Port Renfrew road myself, just because I haven't seen the western half of it.
And on a traffic note... uhm... Nope. I got nothin'.

[patty]

lots of hate on cell phone usage,seems to me a way worse culprit would be the ipod and or mp3 player.so many people try to find a song, artist, playlist while they drive and so many people loose track of what there doing at the time.for this reason i never even hook up my ipod while driving.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Powell's ! Pick Powell's... er.. Portland.

Hi marsgal,
A tad off topic but if your were to decide to visit Powell's and you happen to stumble on a copy of James Sewid's book "Guests Never Leave Hungry" and if you were to purchase said book and bring it back, I would be pretty much at your mercy. I can get a copy from Amazon but anyone can do that. I would be stoked to get it from Powell's, maybe with a Powell's stamp on the fly leaf. Just sayin'.... Cause I would do the Shawnigan Lake to Port Renfrew road myself, just because I haven't seen the western half of it.
And on a traffic note... uhm... Nope. I got nothin'.

A Tad Off Topic?? Brett, we have been a tad off topic for some time on this thread. Come to think about it I am not really clear if it was "on topic" to start with. What we really need to do is set up a rant forum of one sort or another. But what the hades

Falco.

[dfnder]

I could go on at length about this. Trust me.


Personally, I prefer to think of more pleasant things... planning a little bit of a road trip. ... or Lake Cowichan to Port Renfrew. Three days would allow lots of messing around on the latter ...

One of my fondest memories driving was a trip from Victoria - Port Renfrew to Cowichan - Duncan - Victoria. It started one sunny Spring morning in Victoria, after breakfast my X and I decided to go for a drive up the coast as I had never been up that way before. We hopped into the Tercel and headed up to Port Renfrew, it was a pleasant drive to Port Renfrew with the seasons changing we were abask in the sparkling sun. We stopped at the warf/trading post area and there wasn't much happening there so we decided to drive further as we both enjoy driving and we weren't ready to turn around yet to head back. I looked at the gas and saw that we only had 1/2 a tank so I said when it gets to a 1/4 we will turn around. We sallyied forth front wheels a spinning. Well before you could say "what time is it anyway" we were well inland and it turned into a real adventure as we had no map, no compass and no idea where we were going. By the time we were at 1/4 tank I was worried as we were high up on the logging roads - somehow we decided to just keep going in the direction we were heading and in a while we were on the downslope. After a long dusty, and worrysome, road we were surprised that we landed up in Cowichan. Promptly we got gas and proceeded to the giant hockey stick, then turned South. Arrived into Victoria late afternoon and felt content that we had done all the driving for that day that needed to be done :)

[tomanique]

By the way, if you want to see a really good driver ~ drive behind Tomanique. He signals before his vehicle changes attitude, not during. Clean concise manoeuvres that are easily read and a good convoy leader.

Aaaaaaaaarmy training, sir!!!!!!

[marsgal42]

Please forgive the rant, but I needed somewhere to vent...

It's obvious that most drivers around Vancouver don't have a clue about right of way at 4 way stops, and are probably hazy about right of way in general - but what I'm seeing a lot of lately is people who think they are being courteous by yielding right of way when they have right of way.

It's not courtesy at all. The rules of the road are well-defined, and only work if everybody follows them. If vehicles behave in unpredictable ways, ways that others are not expecting, accidents happen.

Yes, some moron pulled this on me this afternoon. He also seemed to think it his civic duty to follow me home and lecture me on driving courtesy while I unloaded my groceries from Gumdrop. Creepy or what?

...laura who reserves the right to be slightly cranky while her gallbladder surgery scars (from last Wednesday) heal

[jrman]

Ooooohhhh - you touched a sore spot with me.....I'm in 100000% agreement. Maybe I'm more sensitive to is lately since my daughter now has her "N" and I'm trying to show her how ridiculous it is when people don't drive as they should, by taking their right of way each and every time it is there's to do so. I have noted recently so many people at one particular intersection near my daughters school constantly create mayhem and confusion by attempting to be "courteous". It has become so bad that the kids at the cross walk are completely confused as well - so now there is confused drivers, confused kids, and a much much much higher chance for an unfortunate accident just because and someone thought they would be "nice".....DON'T BE NICE, JUST DRIVE YOUR CAR ACCORDING TO THE RULES OF THE ROAD DAMMIT!!!!!!. I feel better now. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to vent as well Marsgal - I feel you're pain!

[Modsqwad]

Be glad you all get to drive on Sundays. I have to hide for the day to avoid being a statistic. Mexico has the highest death rate due to
drunk driving in the world and most of it happens on their day off. The other day I got pulled over by some Federale's who were
drinking beer on duty!
Andy Wilson
Sayulita Nay. Mx.

[mararmeisto]

The other day I got pulled over by some Federale's who were drinking beer on duty!
Andy Wilson
Sayulita Nay. Mx.

They'd probably only had a couple... don't worry about it.

[pajerry]

I think many people in Vancouver are also unaware that they are supposed to stop for pedestrians at crosswalks. I can think of one where I would literally have to stand there, with my hand out like a five year old, trying to cross while everyone is too in a rush to get to work and worry about stopping. At the same crosswalk, it has been at least or four times where I was already crossing, halfway across, and the people refuse to stop even though Im practically in front of them about to jump out with my hand stuck straight out at them yelling at them!!

I also hate the fact that people do not let people in when they merge! Isnt the rule that for every car passing you let one car in? The poor people merging from 1st street to westbnd hwy 1 know what Im talking about. Then when I slow down to let one in, you get honked at, yelled at, followed etc etc.

I also hate when people are right on your a$$ wanting to pass you in the 'fast lane' when it is rush hour traffic and there is no where to advance. Yes I know your Dodge Ram is bigger than my little Paj, but really, piss off! The flashing of lights, swerving, and/or gestures isnt the way to my heart, or my lane.

You have to remember that a huge population of Vancouver is quite new to driving and hasn't been in a vehicle everyday of their lives. Not to mention the poor layout and lack of highway systems in the city also make it a more aggressive and fast passed cummute in most cases since you have to drive somewhat aggressively to get from point A to B to C in a timely fashion.

Just a few observations after living in all the major Canadian cities.

[dpd]

+1 for Laura's point about taking right of way when it's yours.

My perspective on this is as a cyclist. I can't stand it when I'm waiting, clearly stopped, for an opening to cross lanes of traffic, and cars start doing the slow-down-surge-slow dance wondering if they're supposed to stop, as if I'm a kid about to run in to the road. Then I miss opening after opening, with this confused milling. Yes cyclists do some bonehead stuff, and do be aware of me in case I'm a stupid one. But if my feet are firmly on the ground and I'm backed off and clearly waiting, don't give up your right of way. It just creates confusion and more accidents and piles up all the cars behind you, making it harder for me.

[ShaneA]

Another beef of mine is the people that have no idea regarding right of way in a roundabout! I've had many occasions I've seen a car follow another car into the roundabout as if they've got a green light, despite the fact that I'm already in the round-about heading right towards them!

I also often see many drivers that seem to think the yellow light means gun it into the intersection despite having plenty of time to brake and leave the left turner in the intersection to go well after the light turns red!

[Profister]

I also often see many drivers that seem to think the yellow light means gun it into the intersection despite having plenty of time to brake and leave the left turner in the intersection to go well after the light turns red!

All drivers in Vancouver know that green light means 'Go!' and yellow means 'Go faster!'.
My best experience with the right of way was crossing Lonsdale Ave on 1st Street westbound in North Van. When I approached the stop sign there was another car waiting on the opposite side flashing left turn light. The intersection was clear and I started moving straight when the angry driver who came to a stop sign (not a 4-way stop) first spit on my side window! Fortunately for him I did not notice it right away as I was concentrated on crossing the busy intersection. The situation I described is always scary for me because I never know what to expect from other drivers when it comes to the right-of-way on stop signs; most of them do not know the difference and treat all stop signs in a 4-way manner. I do not think the ignorance is an excuse.