Bad Drivers - get it off your chest here.
 

OK,

I just got really pissed orf when I saw a f'ckwit of a driver stop on a round-a-bout. She had gone past her desired exit. So she stopped and reversed until she could go forward and out again.

How friggin stupid is that. A Darwin candidate waiting to happen. If she had just kept going forward for another 15m she would have been OK again. In case she didn't already know, you can keep going around a round-a-bout ad-infinitum.

Hymee feel's better now he has vented.

I feel strongly about things like this, as usually it is us 'enthusiasts' who get the bad name. I mean - we are all just 'hoons' aren't we? hahaha.

Cheers,
Hymee.

I would not be upset at regular driver testing (e.g. every 5 years). There are far too many people on our roads who don't keep up with rule changes and new road features... and some who just shouldn't be allowed to drive.

Some of my favourites:
- people who brake just before merging
- people who don't change into the right lane when a merging traffic comes up on their left, and there is no traffic in the right lane
- people that sit in the second and third lane of a four lane motorway but should be in the left most lane.
- people who can't indicate correctly around a roundabout
- people that don't know that if there are no lines marked, and you're in front then you have right of way when merging
- people that don't enter an intersection when turning right at a set of lights.
-people that accelerate when they think you're going to overtake them.
- constant accelerators (slow up hills, fast down)

In my eight years of driving, 0 accidents (touch wood), but many close calls because of others actions.

sco, you hit many on my list.

I'm afraid to say, having lived in UK/Europe for five years until Sept 03, that Australian drivers are bad and getting worse. :mad: But I am not sure that the so-called "road safety" authorities aren't contributing to the problem! Badly-designed roundabouts and intersections, even on new roads (ie, short merge lanes). To compensate for poorly designed roads, the authorities then impose speed restrictions -- which they enforce with a vengeance, where? On the safest parts, of course! How dumb is that! The French, Italians, Germans and English would not stand for it. But to take to be 'anti-speed restrictions' in this country is not politically correct.

In fact, before returning, I did say to my partner that I would contemplate running for Parliament on the single issue of better roads/less speed restrictions -- sort of equivalent to the NRA reps in the US about 'the right to bear arms'. Given the rest of our transport system is generally so lousy, it has to be supportable. Car is the only way to get around this country, other than flying between the capital cities.

On the issue of re-testing, I agree also. At least every ten years. One statistic that really frightened me recently was the estimate that there are 45,000 people still legally driving in Australia, but suffering from dementia!

So, when you see that old Corona with the behatted bowler at the wheel, be afraid, be very afraid!:eek:

Ok, who wants the soapbox now?

I nearly got cleaned up by a Tarago on Friday night that didn't stop at a stop sign... I made sure as I sped off that I pointed several times at the stop sign so they got the point! :D

Read 'em the Riot Act I say..

--dez;

I guess there's some consilation in the fact that "she" wasn't driving an RX8 * grin *

++dez;

My pet hate is tail gaters... particularly on a three lane highway with no other cars around, and youre in the left hand lane.. grrr.
It's usually the "corona" drivers too :)

Been driving for 15 years....0 accidents


Two incidents really pissed me off:

1. Being pulled over in my MX-5 which had been modified for no apparent reason but to defect it. Was defected for being too low, he also questioned the legality of the roll bar at the back. On questioning the cop on the leaglities of lowering a car he informed me that you cannot lower past further than what the car is on leaving the factory, however you can raise the car as high as you want. I did point out to him on the safety issues on raising the centre of gravity. He just told me to talk to the politicians.

Do you ever see a clapped out datsun 120 being defected...no! Instead they lower the speed limit

2. Upon driving down a main road one night in my RX-7 a car from the oncoming side with no lights on whatsoever decided to sharply turn in front of me (to enter McDonalds) causing me to brake abruptly and spin the wheels in protest as I was once again taking off. Just so happened that there was a cop leaving the McDonalds car park at the same time, pulled me over and got me for excessive noise....go figure!

One Incident which shows that some cops are reasonable was when I was doing 160km/hr in a 110 zone. Got pulled over be a cop with a car mounted radar and issued with an on the spot fine. I asked him why I didn't get a more severe penalty. He replied that he deemed I was driving safely in a car that could easily handle that speed(MX-5)...we need more of these cops.

Wouldn't it be cool if you could pay an extra premium on your drivers liscence or rego each year that allowed you to add 10km/h to what ever the posted speed limit was. You could have a little sticker above your rego sticker that said "+10". Kind of like paying for your speeding tickets in advance without worrying about the points. I think $100 per 10km/h would be fair. Put me on the $300 plan....

D.G.W.

that would be magic, but then you'd have mad men like me, doing daily deposits to ++10; * grin *

I could see it, remember the old stories of the Red Baron and his ilk stamping the sides of thier biplanes [ and in the case of le baron rouge triplane ] with little X-PlaneImageHere pictures for every pilot they shot down?

Well I could see the whole driver side of Dez's car covered in +10 stickers till it was +1000000 or more!

That would be the end of my disposable income [ like my darling wife didn't already see to that right ].

But hey, I like the way you think!

Run for state - I'll be there on polling day with a "Vote #1 for D.G.W." plaquard ( why can't someone write a PHP spell check for this frigging VBforum powered site?) !!

What better platform to run from than an RX8 on the grounds of faster driving for those who can afford it.

++dez;

ps: I wonder if that would mean that Kerry Packer would be able to drive to Newcastle in his private lear jet and not leave the ground - mach 2 on the pacific hyway, now there's a wild ride!

Hark!

There I was reminising about an old book by one of my favourite authors of the Gonzo Journalism genre PJ O'Rourke with Kev in his "we love the Yakuza" thread, when I remebered a quote that felt rather appropriate for this thread:


"Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed, and love of power."

- PJ O'Rourke


++dez;

What you have described is exactly what is happening in the UK, as speeding fines from camera nowhere near accident blackspots and on artifically lowered speed limit roads is now raising £70million a year and rising rapidly. :mad: :mad: :mad:

There was a new camera recently installed near a school zone [ 40 km p/hr ] here near Mosman ( Spit Junction - there's an appropriately named intersection for a camera spot ) and in the first week it was claimed that the one camera raked in for the NSW ( local state ) government more than One Million dollars ( don't quote me - I could be wrong - but I'm pretty sure that was the figure ) !!

We're going to hell in a leaky boat called Politics and Capitalism.

Here in Australia things are so fegged up we have a Goverment which still owns 51% of the previously 100% federal govt owned Telecom service provier Telecom Australia ( now Telstra ).

So these days I can't help but wonder:

a) do we have a Government that is still trying to be a phone company

or

b) do we have a phone company that is trying to be a government

it's all just a screwed!

after doing a pretty major stint at the NSW "Roads and Traffic Authority" on conrtract to "fix shit" - I got to know too much about the RTA and what they do - and - well - it's horrible!

I swear every time I fart it gets taxed these days.

Here in Mosman, the average Council Ranger ( Warden - cop with no gun ) gets paid around the $75k mark, in the past few years, some of the local Rangers / Wardens have raked in more than AUD$180k by earning parkig fine "bonuses" - that is - they've written so many parking fines they got paid essentially what equates to a "commision" on tickets served!

Now thats totally smegged!

If you stop and think too hard about the current state of the nation, you'd give up and go live on the street frankly..

So I try not to think about it - it makes me sick.

To think we're bringing new people in the form of our kids, into this f*cked up world makes me sometimes feel like I'm being unreasonably cruel to a whole generation of people!

</rant>

++dez;

Dez,

wrt: </rant>

You will be fined for closing an XML element without opeing it first!

Then if the XML is well formed, you will be taxed for using it.

Cheers,
Hymee.

Hymee I thought RX8 owners were trying to pretend they don't all work in IT?

I think we all know it's a given that speed cameras are there for revenue raising. "But deaths are down!". Well they are trending down, in SA they are considerably higher this year (with 50 kph suburban limits) than last year (with 60 kph). But there could be other reasons why the death rates are down :

- better brakes
- better chasis
- ABS, TC, DSC, LSD etc.
- Air bags, seat belt pretensioners, crumple zones.

About the only place deaths are trending higher is on country roads, and these always seem to involve a 4WD rolling over ;-)

Druck,

Hehehe. Lock & Load is helping with those stats!

BTW - Congrats on the World Cup (if you are into that sort of thing). I heard the English coach was still complaining about the ref. D'oh! Someone forget to tell him that they won anyway!

Cheers,
Hymee.

Hymee Cheers! Not a big rugby fan myself, but we'll celebrate any win over here while we can before the cricket starts again :)

I'll be in Brisbane 2nd week in April, hope to see you around. Well I hope to see your RX8 as I'm taking a month to do Perth to Alice to Cairns to Brisbane to Sydney this time, and thats a long time to be away from mine!

Cheers
---Dave

Druck - keep in contact dude. Would love to hook up. And we'll have to get Haddock (an expat brit) along as well.

Cheers!

Haven't seen a big 4wd with preoccupied school mum complaint yet. Has to be a biggy

Round my way, they drive them like tanks wit no concern for other vehicles. The run over kids in car parks with them (yes - kill them). What happens? Nothing!

I think the big landcruisers, etc should require diferent licence tests. A bimbo can go from a barina to a range rover by simply smiling at a doctor or lawyer!!!

ha hah ha LOL :D

Kev's quote of the week

The big 4WD vehicles come into this country (from my faulty memory) under a farm vehicle subsidy. They are essentially trucks.

Why not make the people who buy them get a truck licence. Watch all the soccer mums try all the clutch tricks. Ooops. Sorry.
Only know how to drive automatics.

And they should ban nudge bars and people catchers in metro
areas.

<!ELEMENT facial_expression>smile</facial_expression>

There's nobody here in IT but us mice..

++dez;

Mouses Dez... mouses.

I am wondering when this thread will cross with the "Spotting & Fessing" thread...

"This prick cut me off the other day in a yellow - oh, it was an RX-8. Sorry - saw a yellow one the other day..."

Hehehe

Cheers,
Hymee.