......RANT.......
Turbo Mini Forums

Why is it half of the population (or so it seems) feels the need to drive their cars about in perfect visibility conditions with their sidelights and FRONT FOG LIGHTS on permanently..........

WHY!?

I have had my current car for 1 year. Never used the front foglights on it....had my last car for 2.5 years before that....think I used them once in that time.....wait for it......in some FOG!!! Now theres a novel idea.....

I just don't get it.....is it to warn other road users that there is a good chance that there is a pratt driving this car coming the other way???

And before anyone writes me off as a grumpy old git I am 24 and not usually that grumpy!!

At least they've got lights on. It was foggy travelling to Gainsborough this morning and there were plenty of cars with no lights.

I'm 34 and I am a grumpy git

That wasnt fog neil it was smog!

only kidding! it was just as bad going to lincoln this morning, fortunately i go early enough to hardly see any cars!

i think i'll add my rant!!
how come every time i go round a roundabout some muppet pulls out in front of me and then wonders why i'm pissed off!!
its happened to me so many times these last few weeks i feel like i have a big neon sign telling the m tio do it on the front of my car!!!
anyone else get this?
rant over
DAN :)

yeh dan i know what you mean.

My turn

People who sit on your bumpers, now.......

I have no problem with endless speed on the open road but one thing i dont like to do is break the speed limit too much through villages for two reasons, if I get points on my license for doing 35mph it would be pointless and secondly i dont wanna kill a kid.

When I go up too 35 mph thern brake hard to 20 mph constantly through a village the car behind my with fog lights on then overtake me, the end of the village comes and I am then risking my life trying to over take this car on short straights followed by blind corners because this div in front with fogs still on wants to do 50mph for 4 miles until the next village when they continue to do 50 through that village.

God

rant over

Edited by Mini Stevo on 14th Oct, 2004.

Cheers, Stevo

A ha, there is an easy solution to people sitting on your back bumper.....

Take one car with either a bias brake pedal box (like my 205) or with the standard rear brake pressure reducing valve removed and an adjustable one in the car (like my old Mini).

When said idiot decides to tailgate you, take the following steps.

1) Slow down to approx 25 mph, and select a gear to put the engine up the revs a bit so its in the power band. 2nd is usually a good choice.

2) Adjust your brake bias so it is as far back as it will go.

3) At the same time, brake hard with your left foot while giving the car full throttle with your right.

This will cause your brake lights to come on, your rear wheels to lock up, and plenty of smoke to be caused from your tyres, but without you actually slowing down at all.
Matey behind will usually by now have sh!t himself and stood on his brakes/locked up and skidded into the kerb/verge/ditch.
Release brake after 1 sec or so and voila you will usually find that idiot behind suddenly doesn't feel the need to tailgate you any more.
It also helps to have something with some poke so that when you get out onto open roads again you can leave matey for dead.

Harsh, but fair I reckon.

Tailgating annoys me as well. A mate had a mini with switch in his brake lights so he could turn them on without pressing the pedal.

Another thing that winds me up is lane discipline at roundabouts. People that cut across the inside lane of a 2 lane roundabout when going straight on then try and cut in front me. It's trying to overtake on a roundabout I suppose. Grrr

And another thing - the 'thanks for slowing down' and 'your speed makes a difference' signs on the A631 between Gainsborough and Bawtry. Course we've slowed down, there's 4 sets of bloody SPECS cameras on that road now. Feckin Eejits

I like this thread

Edited by Tom Fenton on 15th Oct, 2004.

ahhhhhhhhhhhh dont even get me started on roundabout etiquette!!!!!!!!!!

my pet hate is ppl (generally older ppl) who wait til the lights have gone green before taking the handbrake off, checking mirrors, stalling, flooding, and then the bloody lights go red again and the whole process starts over..

on the subject of old people 70+ i hate the way they drive around at 20 mph everywhere, they can't even see over the wheel! dangerous drivers if you ask me, they need to get a full medical or retake their test to make sure they are still fit to drive (no offence to anyone who may be reading this aged 70+ that can actually drive properly still!)
DAN :)

Drivers over the age of 70 (I think) DO have to have a medical every 2 years I think to stay on the roads. I don't disagree that some of them may be dangerous but its quite interesting actually that it reverts to the 17 yr old status- some 17yr old drivers are safe and careful and don't have accidents whereas they get tarred with the same brushes as those that do. When I was 17 in my first year of driving I didn't hit anything or anyone. My insurance would still have been £1200 on an 1100cc Mini Clubman Estate if I had not been put on another policy as a 2nd driver. My grandad will be 92 this year. He still drives about (as does my 89 yr old gran) in their 2.9 V6 Granada. (I took it for MOT last year.....what a hoot!) Talking to him, he has told me that there is now only 1 insurance company that will cover him due to his age, and so they can pretty much charge what they like and theres nothing he can do about it. I think he said it was £700 this year. To his credit, he has not had a bump or scraped his car in the last 39 years or something equally unbelieveable to those of us who are not yet 25 yrs old.....
OK he does trundle through town at 25mph, but how dangerous is that really? On the open road he will do 50 in a 50 and 60 in a 60, same as all the rest of us should do.
So my point is, don't tar all elderly drivers with the same brush either, as I bet it annoyed you when you first started driving and you got branded a boy racer whether you were or not.

Edited by Tom Fenton on 22nd Oct, 2004.

good point, its true, i must admit, when going through a town or residential area i can live with 20-25mph, its the ones that continue to do these speeds on national speed limit roads, especialy country roads, i always wonder what would happen if you came over the brow of a hill at 50 to find someone sat in front at 20-25 it could end up nasty,
i never realised that insurance was such a problem at an old age too! consider me taught!
maybe we should all join together youngg and old and kick some asses at the insurance companies!!
DAn :)

Interesting point on the older driver insurance. I had no idea.

How about people who chuck litter and fag ends out of their car windows, or numpties who match your speed when you try to pass them on a motorway?

Good job I'm perfect...

Its one I found interesting when he told me about it certainly. (Older people car insurance)
I think it is only SAGA that will insure him now. OK, I realise that he is probably in a very small minority, he will tell you himself he is lucky to still be as fit and healthy as he is at 91, let alone still to be driving about.

As for litter and fag ends, that annoys me as well. The only thing I will chuck out of the window is occasionally the spider that lives in my wing mirror. There is one under the dash somewhere and by god he is gonna get it if I can ever catch him.........

And people matching your speed on the motorway.....grrrr.....however a mate of mine has a handy solution to this.....he has a golf g60 with a bit of an overfuelling problem.....changing gear quickly usually results in a satisfying "BAPP!" noise and a good sized flame. That seems to put most people off apparently.....

A while back we were going over to Manchester on the M62 in my mini 1000. I pulled out to overtake a car doing 65 in the middle lane, he let me get level then matched my speed and I couldn't get past him.

I pulled in behind, and he sped off, straight past a police car that followed him an pulled him :)

For once, there was a copper when I needed one!

I like this rant !!!!

i have spent most of my adult life behind a steering wheel and this is a general topic of conversation for me .

RIGHT

Anybody who is scared of changing lanes on the motorway shouldn't be allowed on there !

Anyone who doesn't know what the fog light is (let alone how to turn it on and off) should have there licence revoked !

Anyone who dosen't get in the correct lane at roundabouts,junctions,roadworks etc and push in at the last second .... should be shot

Lorry drivers who spent 15 mins overtaking each other on dual carrigeway doing 0.5 mph difference in speed .....

etc

the list goes on and on ..... i think the main problem is that people seem to think that having a drivers licence is a basic human right .I see it more as a privalige ,any idiot with plenty of cash can continually retake there test until they randomly pass and are then free to ruin the roads for the rest of us

and relax

sorry about that didn't mean to go on too much

will probably explode !!

I do feel like i am speaking with some authority as i recently worked out my mileage so far ....

700,000 miles in 13 years

only ever had 3 points and that was 5 years ago
only caused 2 accidents (one of which only involved me!)

incedently i drive with my side lights on !!

idiots tend to need all the help they can to see other vehicles !!!

and relax

jonny

will probably explode !!