What on the roads has annoyed you today?

[hejammy]

5 hours ago, Izzy Muzzett said:

Are you still stuck on the way to the game? Still over 2 hours til KO so hopefully you’ll make it ok 

Nope just made it.... Fortunately.... Unfortunately. 

[DJ Barry Hammond]

 

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/cyclist-death-wish-filmed-dashcam-945450

 

If you can be bothered to wait for the page / video to load, what do people make of this?

[Uranyl Yellow]

6 hours ago, DJ Barry Hammond said:

 

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/cyclist-death-wish-filmed-dashcam-945450

 

If you can be bothered to wait for the page / video to load, what do people make of this?

Stupid, yes; dangerous, certainly; but I can't really say it's overly shocking, or even unusual. I witness cyclists doing idiotic things like this daily. To be fair, probably no more than drivers doing stupid things, but given cyclists' vulnerability you'd think they'd be a bit more circumspect and moderate their crazy manoeuvres.

[Babylon]

7 hours ago, DJ Barry Hammond said:

 

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/cyclist-death-wish-filmed-dashcam-945450

 

If you can be bothered to wait for the page / video to load, what do people make of this?

Is that it? I was expecting more ha.

 

Seen people so many times with no lights wearing just black cycling home from work. They want to kill themselves it's up to them.

 

[Bellend Sebastian]

400 dead a year? Anything ISIS can do, we can do better:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-42406692/why-is-speeding-not-a-taboo

[Carl the Llama]

1 hour ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

400 dead a year? Anything ISIS can do, we can do better:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-42406692/why-is-speeding-not-a-taboo

Tbf speeding is cool and it gets me hard.

 

Of course the speeding advocates on here are always in full control of their vehicle and they've never had an accident so obviously that means they'll never have one.  The trouble with deliberate speeders is they lack the cognitive capacity to overcome their normalcy bias, what can we do about that?  All the media campaigns in the world won't change anything when the target audience is watching it and thinking "yeah, but I know it won't ever happen to me".

[Strokes]

19 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

Tbf speeding is cool and it gets me hard.

 

Of course the speeding advocates on here are always in full control of their vehicle and they've never had an accident so obviously that means they'll never have one.  The trouble with deliberate speeders is they lack the cognitive capacity to overcome their normalcy bias, what can we do about that?  All the media campaigns in the world won't change anything when the target audience is watching it and thinking "yeah, but I know it won't ever happen to me".

Surely we can spare 400 people a year, to continue being cool as fùck.....No?

[Jon the Hat]

10 hours ago, Carl the Llama said:

Tbf speeding is cool and it gets me hard.

 

Of course the speeding advocates on here are always in full control of their vehicle and they've never had an accident so obviously that means they'll never have one.  The trouble with deliberate speeders is they lack the cognitive capacity to overcome their normalcy bias, what can we do about that?  All the media campaigns in the world won't change anything when the target audience is watching it and thinking "yeah, but I know it won't ever happen to me".

To be fair driving 70 in a 30 is never cool and makes you a complete twat.  The vast majority of people who speed are not doing that, they are doing 80 on the motorway or 50 on a clear 40 road.

[DJ Barry Hammond]

16 hours ago, Babylon said:

Is that it? I was expecting more ha.

 

Seen people so many times with no lights wearing just black cycling home from work. They want to kill themselves it's up to them.

 

 

Exactly my thought! 

 

And given the driver was stationary and stuck in traffic, why was he so eager to inch forward the few feet I don’t know.

 

Yes there are some silly cyclists... but there’s a larger proportion of idiot drivers.

[adam1]

On M1 between j21 and services. In lane 2. Car in lane 3 starts to go past me. Indicates left then proceeds drift into me. I had to use my horn. I couldnt go left (lorry) and I felt that braking still would have resulted in a collision and so it required both parties to react. I know you shouldnt use your horn but this was an exception. Other car swerves back. He then tries the exact same manouvre whilst I am still next to him. Oh and his passenger gives me the finger.

 

Seriously. Wtf.

 

[potter3]

5 minutes ago, adam1 said:

On M1 between j21 and services. In lane 2. Car in lane 3 starts to go past me. Indicates left then proceeds drift into me. I had to use my horn. I couldnt go left (lorry) and I felt that braking still would have resulted in a collision and so it required both parties to react. I know you shouldnt use your horn but this was an exception. Other car swerves back. He then tries the exact same manouvre whilst I am still next to him. Oh and his passenger gives me the finger.

 

Seriously. Wtf.

 

 

That's exactly when you should be using your horn.

[adam1]

10 hours ago, potter3 said:

 

That's exactly when you should be using your horn.

You see I was under the impression that you shouldn't use your horn on the motorway.

 

Whilst the intended purpose of the horn is to notify others of our presence (hence I used it correctly), people I know state that you shouldn't use it. I have looked but cannot find any rules on the matter.

[Uranyl Yellow]

5 hours ago, adam1 said:

You see I was under the impression that you shouldn't use your horn on the motorway.

 

Whilst the intended purpose of the horn is to notify others of our presence (hence I used it correctly), people I know state that you shouldn't use it. I have looked but cannot find any rules on the matter.

Can't say I'm aware of any rule that says you shouldn't use the horn on the motorway, and to be honest if any such rule existed it would be somewhat nonsensical. You're not supposed to use the horn if you're stationary; or out of aggression; or in a built up area between 11:30pm and 7am. They are the only guidelines I'm aware of. The guy you mention sounds like a tool that was either not paying any attention whatsoever (if he'd just driven past you he should have been well aware of your presence), or was drugged up.

[Footballwipe]

People with dashcams stuck on their windscreen who can't drive. 

 

I bet they don't upload the moments when they're a danger and ignorant to the road on YouTube do they?

[Carl the Llama]

3 hours ago, Footballwipe said:

People with dashcams stuck on their windscreen who can't drive. 

 

I bet they don't upload the moments when they're a danger and ignorant to the road on YouTube do they?

 Nah they do, they simply don't realise they're the cause of the incident.  Youtube's full of self-incriminating dashcam footage submitted by selfish, oblivious road users who think they're highlighting somebody else's mistakes when in reality the footage shows they've floored it onto a roundabout and nearly taken out another vehicle which wasn't anticipating their ridiculous speed or they've deliberately sped up to close a gap that another road user was legitimately planning to merge into.

 

On 20/12/2017 at 22:40, Jon the Hat said:

To be fair driving 70 in a 30 is never cool and makes you a complete twat.  The vast majority of people who speed are not doing that, they are doing 80 on the motorway or 50 on a clear 40 road.

If they're doing 80 on the motorway and get done then I have no sympathy, you're already permitted up to the 77 mark so the extra 3mph isn't going to drastically improve your life.  In fact I'm dubious there are even that many people doing that: I tend to hover around 70-75 on the motorway and when cars pass me it tends to go one of 2 ways: Either they try to pass despite travelling at essentially the same speed as me until I get tired of them hanging alongside me and slow down to facilitate the pass because they clearly need to be the car in front but they aren't willing to leave the 10% leeway over the legal limit for the brief stretch of road it would take to pass me... or they go flying past at well above 80 because they're too cool for speed limits and road safety.

[StanSP]

20 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

 Nah they do, they simply don't realise they're the cause of the incident.  Youtube's full of self-incriminating dashcam footage submitted by selfish, oblivious road users who think they're highlighting somebody else's mistakes when in reality the footage shows they've floored it onto a roundabout and nearly taken out another vehicle which wasn't anticipating their ridiculous speed or they've deliberately sped up to close a gap that another road user was legitimately planning to merge into.

 

If they're doing 80 on the motorway and get done then I have no sympathy, you're already permitted up to the 77 mark so the extra 3mph isn't going to drastically improve your life.  In fact I'm dubious there are even that many people doing that: I tend to hover around 70-75 on the motorway and when cars pass me it tends to go one of 2 ways: Either they try to pass despite travelling at essentially the same speed as me until I get tired of them hanging alongside me and slow down to facilitate the pass because they clearly need to be the car in front but they aren't willing to leave the 10% leeway over the legal limit for the brief stretch of road it would take to pass me... or they go flying past at well above 80 because they're too cool for speed limits and road safety.

pretty sure that 10% leeway thing doesn't exist. Not by law anyway. 

[Uranyl Yellow]

4 minutes ago, StanSP said:

pretty sure that 10% leeway thing doesn't exist. Not by law anyway. 

It probably doesn't exist as such - I think the issue is that car manufacturers are legally obliged to ensure that the car is never travelling any faster than is indicated on the speedometer. As such speedometers are overclocked by an arbitrary amount (probably around 10%, but depends on the manufacturer). When I have my GPS navigation on, it generally indicates a speed of 10% less than what is indicated on my speedometer.

[Bellend Sebastian]

9 minutes ago, StanSP said:

pretty sure that 10% leeway thing doesn't exist. Not by law anyway. 

The 10% 'leeway' if you want to call it that was to allow for the less than total accuracy of speed cameras, radar guns and whatnot. If you're clocked doing 10% more than the speed limit there shouldn't be any doubt as to whether you're actually breaking the limit.

 

Anecdotally, some police forces supposedly only prosecute at 20%.  Certainly in Leicester, all the people I know who have been caught were doing 48 in a 40, 36 in a 30 etc.

 

I'd be gutted if I ever got done. Humiliating

[adam1]

12 hours ago, Uranyl Yellow said:

Can't say I'm aware of any rule that says you shouldn't use the horn on the motorway, and to be honest if any such rule existed it would be somewhat nonsensical. You're not supposed to use the horn if you're stationary; or out of aggression; or in a built up area between 11:30pm and 7am. They are the only guidelines I'm aware of. The guy you mention sounds like a tool that was either not paying any attention whatsoever (if he'd just driven past you he should have been well aware of your presence), or was drugged up.

Funny you should say that. I looked at him when I ended up overtaking him (he was coming off at the services). He was in his early/mid twenties and was hunched close to the steering wheel old man style and his face looked blank....

 

8 hours ago, Carl the Llama said:

 Nah they do, they simply don't realise they're the cause of the incident.  Youtube's full of self-incriminating dashcam footage submitted by selfish, oblivious road users who think they're highlighting somebody else's mistakes when in reality the footage shows they've floored it onto a roundabout and nearly taken out another vehicle which wasn't anticipating their ridiculous speed or they've deliberately sped up to close a gap that another road user was legitimately planning to merge into.

 

 

I have had this done to me several times recently. I get out regardless of their stupidity and then get flashed at....

[Spudulike]

Got a nice dent in my drivers door by some inconsiderate prat in his 4x4 in a car park yesterday. He couldn't have possibly opened his door without hitting mine

 

Some of these vehicles are just too wide to park in most standard spaces. This particular selfish git left me with almost no room to open my drivers door which isn't helpful when you have a dodgy back. It wasn't as if the car park was anywhere near full and could easily have found a space well away from other cars. Suppose that would've meant walking a few yards further.

[Carl the Llama]

9 hours ago, StanSP said:

pretty sure that 10% leeway thing doesn't exist. Not by law anyway. 

It's not enshrined in law but:

 

Quote

 

What is the ‘rule’?

The ‘rule’ itself is quite straightforward: if the speed limit is (for example) 30mph, the rule states that you won’t get a speeding ticket unless you are going 10% plus 2 mph faster than the limit.  In this example, this would mean that you would have to be travelling at 35mph or faster in order to receive a speeding ticket.

However, most people will have heard tales of friends and colleagues who have been given tickets for exceeding the speed limit by much smaller margins – in some cases by only a couple of miles per hour.  What happened to the rule in these cases?

The truth is that the “10% plus 2” rule isn’t actually a rule at all: it is merely a guideline.  The ‘rule’ originates from speed enforcement guidance issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers[1] which sets out the strategy that police forces should use when enforcing speed limits.  At paragraph 9.6 of this document, a table is provided which sets out the recommended outcomes for different levels of speeding:

Limit	Device Tolerance	Fixed penalty when education is not appropriate	Speed awareness if appropriate From                      To		Summons in all other cases and above
20 mph	22 mph	24 mph	24 mph	31 mph	35 mph
30 mph	32 mph	35 mph	35 mph	42 mph	50 mph
40 mph	42 mph	46 mph	46 mph	53 mph	66 mph
50 mph	52 mph	57 mph	57 mph	64 mph	76 mph
60 mph	62 mph	68 mph	68 mph	75 mph	86 mph
70 mph	73 mph	79 mph	79 mph	86 mph	96 mph

 

The guidance recommends prosecuting drivers only where their speed exceeds the thresholds set out in the table.  It also sets out whether you are more likely to receive a fixed penalty, a speed awareness course, or a court summons.

A closer analysis of the table will reveal that the “plus 2 mph” relates to device tolerance, to take account of the fact that the speed guns used by the police are not always 100% accurate.  However, paragraph 9.7 of the guidance reveals that, at speeds below 66mph, the tolerance level is +/- 2mph, whereas for speeds above 66mph the tolerance level is +/- 3%.  This distinction is evident on the 70mph row on the table, where the fixed penalty threshold is 79mph, rather than 78mph as would be the case if the 3% device tolerance figure was not used.

What effect does the guidance have in practice?

The guidelines themselves state very clearly that they “do not and cannot replace a police officer’s discretion”,[2] and express reference is made to circumstances in which an officer decides to depart from the guidelines set out in the table above.  Therefore, you should not rely on the table as a set of ‘replacement speed limits’, as you may still be prosecuted.

The main speeding offence is contained within s89 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, which clearly states:

“A person who drives a motor vehicle on a road at a speed exceeding a limit imposed by or under any enactment to which this section applies shall be guilty of an offence.”

In court, this is the standard to which drivers will be held, and you will notice that there is no reference here to any threshold other than the signposted speed limit.  According to the statute, if you are even 1mph over the speed limit, you can legally be convicted for speeding if a police officer considers it appropriate in his discretion.  No reference is made to the guidance in the statute whatsoever: it has zero legal status.

What is important, however, is the column of device tolerance figures in the table above.  All the police need to do to convict you for speeding is prove beyond reasonable doubt that you have exceeded the speed limit.  However, given that the speed guns used by the police have a tolerance of +/- 2mph (or +/- 3% for speeds over 66mph), it is doubtful that they would be able to convince a court that a recorded speed of 31mph (for example) is a truly accurate reading: the driver in this example could actually have been driving at 29mph, which is clearly within the speed limit.

However, drivers should be aware that the Scottish police have decided not to follow the guidance at all, and will prosecute drivers for exceeding the limit by even 1mph, regardless of any device tolerance.[3]  There is also talk of a review of the guidance, which was first issued in 2011, to take account of developments in speed enforcement technology.

It is questionable whether the device tolerance figures outlined above apply to the average speed cameras widely used across the motorway network to enforce speed limits in road works, which calculate a driver’s speed based on the time it takes for their vehicle to travel between two points set a measured distance apart.  The manufacturers of SPECS average speed cameras suggest that their equipment only has a margin of error of 0.1% due to the fact that they measure speed over a longer distance than conventional fixed speed cameras.[4]  This clearly makes it easier for the police to prove that a driver was speeding in the even the most marginal of cases.  This may explain why Bedfordshire police made the decision in 2015 to apply a zero tolerance approach to speeding on the motorway.[5]

Conclusion

Whilst it is obviously advisable to stick to the speed limit, if you are caught speeding it is not the end of the world.  With the expertise of a Road Law Barrister on your side, you have the help you need to get the best possible outcome in court.  Back in March, we represented Mr C in Leeds Magistrates court.  He had been caught travelling at 56mph in a 30mph zone, and faced the prospect of at least 56 days disqualification, according to the sentencing guidelines.  However, having heard persuasive submissions from his Road Law Barrister, and having received evidence in support of these submissions, the Magistrates decided that 6 penalty points would be an appropriate sentence in this case.  Mr C therefore left court with his license and livelihood intact.

If you are caught speeding, or are arrested for any other driving offence, then please do not hesitate to contact us today for your free consultation.

http://www.roadlawbarristers.co.uk/2016/08/speeding-what-is-the-10-plus-2-rule-and-what-does-it-mean/

 

tl,dr:

[StanSP]

i know. that's why I said I'm pretty sure they're not law. 

 

[Rob1742]

14 hours ago, Spudulike said:

Got a nice dent in my drivers door by some inconsiderate prat in his 4x4 in a car park yesterday. He couldn't have possibly opened his door without hitting mine

 

Some of these vehicles are just too wide to park in most standard spaces. This particular selfish git left me with almost no room to open my drivers door which isn't helpful when you have a dodgy back. It wasn't as if the car park was anywhere near full and could easily have found a space well away from other cars. Suppose that would've meant walking a few yards further.

I don’t condone what happened here obviously, but parking spaces are ridiculous size in many car parks.

 

I park my 4+4 way out of the way whenever I can, but you worry whenever you park in any new town etc that you can find a space big enough.

 

Its the same worry for me, if I ever have to park in a space surrounded by others, you worry you will come back to a dent. 

 

Sympathies with you, clearly they should have parked well out the way like I do, but really they should provide larger spaces as cars appear to be getting bigger. 

 

As an example, you look at old Ford Orions etc ( I pick this as I saw one the other day). It was a fairly average size car, yet it now appears tiny. 

 

Cars are getting bigger, there are certainly more larger ones about, yet spaces seem to be getting smaller, or at least not getting bigger to accommodate 

[Buce]

2 minutes ago, Rob1742 said:

I don’t condone what happened here obviously, but parking spaces are ridiculous size in many car parks.

 

I park my 4+4 way out of the way whenever I can, but you worry whenever you park in any new town etc that you can find a space big enough.

 

Its the same worry for me, if I ever have to park in a space surrounded by others, you worry you will come back to a dent. 

 

Sympathies with you, clearly they should have parked well out the way like I do, but really they should provide larger spaces as cars appear to be getting bigger. 

 

As an example, you look at old Ford Orions etc ( I pick this as I saw one the other day). It was a fairly average size car, yet it now appears tiny. 

 

Cars are getting bigger, there are certainly more larger ones about, yet spaces seem to be getting smaller, or at least not getting bigger to accommodate 

 

Oadby Sainsburys has a designated area with wider bays for wider vehicles.

 

Mind you, it just gets used by morons who can't park their hatchback in a normal space.

[Steve_Walsh5]

Or you get idiots like this who think this is acceptable. 

 

This was in the car park at Blaby last week.