h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Where should overtaking drivers pull into then?

PP

Perhaps into a safe place that doesn't cause other drivers to change course or speed ... you know the sort of thing that they mention in the Highway Code, the sort that examiners fail learners for if they transgress on their driving tests ...

Standard advice I recall, is to only pull back into the lane when you can see ALL of the vehicle you've over-taken in both your wing, and rear-view mirrors. If you can only see part of the vehicle, then you're too close.

on the driving theme - is there an internationally recognised hand-signal (that won't get me arrested) for people who zoom up behind you in a 120 zone. The inside lane has several lorries at regular intervals, I'm already doing 130 behind several cars who are (like me) wisely not weaving in and out of the lorries.

Anyway, the hand signal is needed for the eejit in the beemer who zooms up behind me, slams on his brakes then flashes me constantly...


What does he want me to do? pull over under one of the lorries?

Speaking of driving, driving examiners who fail you because you make carefully controlled, perfectly safe rolling stops at completely barren intersections.

"Perhaps into a safe place that doesn't cause other drivers to change course or speed".

Yup. With you on that one.

I was always taught to leave enough space for an overtaking vehicle to pull into. When they start overtaking, just ease off. New space. Presto.

PP

Well, if you look at Post 6140 it says "randomly pulling into your lane in front of you without any kind of warning!"

So if they're not indicating, how do you know to make room for them?

Drive defensively. If someone is overtaking, there is a pretty good chance that they are going to want to pull in at some point.

Aggressive and ignorant driving is a pain in the bum, but it happens all around us all the time.

(It may be obvious that I have a slow day at work today). Pety hate - being bored at work and utterly lacking motivation to get off my butt and go and cut someone up.

PP

Doesn't change the fact that people ought to indicate when changing lanes. Sheesh.

Or even, a little bit before they start changing lane.

'The inside lane', shouldn't that be the outside one, the furthest away from the opposide-direction traffic?

And another petty hate: forgetting which petty hate you intended to post when you hit the 'reply' button

(Shouldn't we start a PH thread only for driving complaints?)

Apologies if this has been mentioned already:

People who leave long-winded, redundant messages on your digital telephone answering machine, eventually concluding by incoherently muttering their telephone number and/or name, forcing you to replay the entire message over and over and over...

And people criticise me for actually enunciating properly! I say my name/address/phone number whatever slowly so whoever I’m calling has time to write it down should they need to, and I repeat my phone number twice.

It's good manners.

Really gets my goat!!!

English speaking people who demand you use the 'Phoenetic Alphabet' when spelling a word.




GT

Especially over the phone, some letters can sound remarkably similar. It beats yelling "No, B, not P!" fifteen times until they finally get it...

People writing all over library books. I've got this one person (same handwriting, same pen) who's written all over the pages and actually crossed out stuff he doesn't like.

Doesn't help that the guy seems to be a fundamentalist Muslim and Taleban supporter. To a paragraph detailing the execution of a woman who walked to market unescorted he wrote "Good. [Female dog]"

Dang.

Library book defacers are scum!