Why is it that when you pull out to pass a slow truck or other vehicle some twonk always speeds into the inside and drives flat out to get up the inside even though they can see they have no hope of passing you, then stand on the brakes ? … It’s usually some idiot in a dump truck or container truck.
Pat Hasler:
Why is it that when you pull out to pass a slow truck or other vehicle some twonk always speeds into the inside and drives flat out to get up the inside even though they can see they have no hope of passing you, then stand on the brakes ? … It’s usually some idiot in a dump truck or container truck.
just like home then pat 
nick2008:
Pat Hasler:
Why is it that when you pull out to pass a slow truck or other vehicle some twonk always speeds into the inside and drives flat out to get up the inside even though they can see they have no hope of passing you, then stand on the brakes ? … It’s usually some idiot in a dump truck or container truck.
The standard of driving in America is a hundred times worse than the UK. The 10% of incredibly poor and reckless drivers in Britain represent 60-70% (at least) of American drivers. After 5 and a half years of battling down through New England and the eastern seaboard it still shocks me in a daily basis just how terrible, reckless and dangerous these fools are and it highlights on my visits home just how much better the over all standard of driving is in the UK with drivers of all vehicles.
robinhood_1984:
nick2008:
Pat Hasler:
Why is it that when you pull out to pass a slow truck or other vehicle some twonk always speeds into the inside and drives flat out to get up the inside even though they can see they have no hope of passing you, then stand on the brakes ? … It’s usually some idiot in a dump truck or container truck.
The standard of driving in America is a hundred times worse than the UK. The 10% of incredibly poor and reckless drivers in Britain represent 60-70% (at least) of American drivers. After 5 and a half years of battling down through New England and the eastern seaboard it still shocks me in a daily basis just how terrible, reckless and dangerous these fools are and it highlights on my visits home just how much better the over all standard of driving is in the UK with drivers of all vehicles.
Do you think if they had the Tacho it would improve ■■ the fact that speed etc would be recorded and the hours worked recorded ? just wondered
nick2008:
Do you think if they had the Tacho it would improve ■■ the fact that speed etc would be recorded and the hours worked recorded ? just wondered
No, it makes no difference. The problem is at root level, how they’re taught from the very beginning in cars to drive and the fact that something like 95% of cars are automatic and as a result requires less awareness and forward planning to drive. Car drivers in the US are diabolically bad and unfortunately many who later become truck drivers carry on in just the same fashion. Truck drivers aren’t as universally bad as car drivers are, but those drivers of trucks that are dangerous are just as likely to be driving with an elog as a paper log book. The problem isn’t recording them doing things, because they don’t even realise they’re doing anything wrong in the first place. The vast majority of Americans drive atrociously but are entirely oblivious of the fact because its the way its always been. Its only when people from other countries come in and witness it become apparent. The whole driving culture on this continent never evolved past the free for all that probably departed Britain and some western European countries decades ago in the early days or motor vehicles.
At the end of the day, if the entire American population wasn’t handed a driving licence at the age of 15 or 16 as an almost matter of course and actually had to drive to a competent level to get the licence then that would be a starting point. They start off badly and only descend from there. You know there’s no hope when you see police cars swerving from lane to lane with no indicators and like they’re avoiding something, or driving along at night with no lights on, because most Americans think they come on automatically because their dashboard lights up with the ignition and they take their automatic day light running lights to be headlights, failing to ever realise for the duration they own the car that their rear lights are not on. But why bother thinking of things like that, when you’re in lane 3 of the I95 in Connecticut, you’ve just realised your about to pass your exit because you have your phone in one hand and a bagel in the other, so with an erratic flick of the elbow you launch across three lanes of traffic while braking, totally oblivious to that truck doing 65mph that has to emergency brake to avoid killing you…again and again and again and again.
I did notice the cab driver was a bit erratic, we just thought it was he was unable to see fully over the dash that we were heading for the ditch .
As for the day light running lights I cant understand why they only made the front lights light up 
we seem to have the same problem here with that …
Ah well at least the Amish have the right attitude
I have good friends in the US who I visit once in a while when the job gets me that way and while they’re both highly educted with masters degree’s and the like, they can’t drive to save their life. The last time I visited, they came to collect me at a truckstop a few miles from their home and the ride back down the Interstate was as hair raising as a roller coaster ride you thought you were about to be thrown out of. Weaving in and out of traffic, cutting up trucks doing 70mph, passing on the right, the left or any which way, erratic braking and harsh acceleration that almost gave whiplash. In my every day job I get incredibly ■■■■■■ off and wound up by it because it happens a hundred times a day but while sitting as a passenger in a car, that was doing the same to other trucks and cars it was blatantly obvious to me that they’re not trying to be reckless or big and clever, they think what they’re doing is normal and have no concept of the danger they’re putting themselves in to or the huge menace they’re being to trucks who have to constantly take avoiding action on the interstate. Quite how I don’t see dozens of fatalities each day I don’t know, I suppose its like Turkey and other such places, its chaos but because they’re all as bad as each other, it sort of works. The thing is, I just can’t bring myself to drive as badly as they do to fit in, it feels wrong when you’ve been taught to drive in a country such as Britain where things are done properly most of the time.
My once vice is that in much of MA and CT I’ve trained myself to sit in the middle lane, which goes against the grain for someone from the UK but when you have such idiots on the road who merge from slip roads doing 35mph and there are slip roads every 2 miles you just can’t afford to drive in the correct lane otherwise you’ll be stopping every two miles and if you indicate to try and move out to lane two, the car behind will accelerate on purpose just enough to box you in and then slow down to match your speed again.
Seen it all but look on the bright side, the standard of driving in Eastern Connecticut just rose a few points because I’m back!
Best one yet … On 78 in PA yesterday some idiot driving for CRST was hogging the middle lane, on his back doors to the right a sign said ‘DO NOT PASS ON THE RIGHT’, I of course had to have a rant at him on the CB then pass him on the right, to which his reaction was not polite, luckily he was outnumbered by the drivers who also found him stupid 
You’ve lived there several years now Pat, have you found at why the hell so many of them choose to sit in the middle lane despite being the slowest traffic on the road. I know they have no lane discipline and passing on the right is legal in many/most states but FFS, surely a nation who supposedly put a man on the moon can educate a population in simple driving. Its bad enough that so many cars do it, but when you get a big fleet moron on a truck limited to 60mph or there abouts sitting in the middle lane when the traffic flow is 65-75mph its a bit much. So much unnecessary congestion is caused in the US by this sort of driving and the bottle necks and back logs that build up behind them.
One of my favourites is when you see a car in the distance on the right lane, no other traffic on the road so that’s where they’re supposed to be, then out of the blue, for no reason at all, they flick the indicator (or not) and swerve in Nascar fashion to the middle lane, or perhaps even the fast lane and proceed to trundle on at the same speed as before for several miles, then at the last second veer hard right across X amount of lanes right as an exit off ramp is about to end exit the interstate. WHY?!?!?!
Can we have donations please, to help out the mentally retarded American population. $10 will enable one American to go down to Walmart to purchase one brain cell to bang against the one that they already have.
Had some arse coming through Lloydminster AB today in his little tipper try coming up the inside of me (I was just under 14ft wide) then try and take my lane and started to wave HER arms at me because I wouldn’t let her in. I very politely pointed out over the CB if she would sit in front of me with the indicators instead of the side I would be able to see them!!!
Not to mention the daft bint at the other side of me in a minibus who insisted sitting about 6" off my out riggers!!!
When you consider the driving test especially here in Ohio a deaf, dumb and blind monkey could pass it…30 multi answer questions…drive into one box and then reverse out of box round post into other box …then drive twice round block and there you go…a pass. done my reverse on the car mirrors and the examiner was quite surprised and end of test said never seen it done like that before and overall did not drop a single point. Well on a better note those who know wife is recovering from cancer and the last 2 scans were still all clear.
ray
flyer747:
Well on a better note those who know wife is recovering from cancer and the last 2 scans were still all clear.ray
Glad to hear that
Ray, your comment about deaf dumb and blind is not far from true…
I have noticed that at the drive up ATM in our bank there are braile instructions, this is on the drivers side obviously, also all the controls on my old Ford Focus had braile LOL
Just seen this forum “pet hates and groan” and its quite frightening,thank god i live and work in Scandinavia,i can drive for 6 hours and apart from a few small towns i can see maybe 5/6 cars /trucks,ok we have the snow,hills,bad roads,mountains but i would rather be here than over the pond,
Chris
my rant is about the frigging driving from locals round the Manitoba bible belt area …ahhhhh they think its ok to pass me(im at 100kph) doing 105 then slow down once past and then turn left/right ,no kin indicators …at least twice a day 5 days a week.
After 4 years o running 3 roundtrips a day through this area i now recognise some o the offenders cars and slow down as they overtake as i know whats coming!
some o the local truckers are just as bad …you are sitting at a stop on a gravel road waiting for traffic to pass and as sure as bears ■■■■ in the woods one with a 52footer will try and turn in and end up wae his trailer near running over my hood.blocking the kin road until i reverse back 
…rather than letting me out and on my way ,they try to make a turn that stevie wonder could see aint going to happen with another truck in the way …bunch o kin swamp donkeys …one bad day i am going to say ■■ it i aint reversing then it will get interesting as the chilled out canadian will give way to the wee scotsman with a chip on both shoulders and a lump hammer down the side o ma seat.
jimmy
What boils my ■■■■ in particular around Calgary is cars and some trucks at night driving on full beam headlights, don’t matter if it’s city or rural, they don’t dip. I reckon when they buy a car it’s been left on full beam and they’ve no idea there’s a switch to dip.
And now it’s even worse with these new LED spotlights they’ve got out now.
Drives me ■■■■■■■ wappy every night I’m working.
neilg14:
What boils my ■■■■ in particular around Calgary is cars and some trucks at night driving on full beam headlights, don’t matter if it’s city or rural, they don’t dip. I reckon when they buy a car it’s been left on full beam and they’ve no idea there’s a switch to dip.
And now it’s even worse with these new LED spotlights they’ve got out now.
Drives me [zb] wappy every night I’m working.
I know what you mean,i was bought up /draged up in innisfail,i was a lot around Calgary,
Chris