The little things that annoy you

[MaryPoppins]

Blah.

I'm not buying your road indent argument..bet you're one of those middle laners that just coasts along, forgetting the rules of the road.

[Spacecadet]

I'm not buying your road indent argument..bet you're one of those middle laners that just coasts along, forgetting the rules of the road.

I think this quote from the RAC sums it up:

Nervous drivers are more likely to make mistakes, according to the RAC, which ups the ante even more. It helps explain "middle laners" - those disenfranchised motorists who cling to the belief that as long as they stay out of the "slow lane" they at least have some stake in the motorway social hierarchy.

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Unwritten rules of the motorway

[MaryPoppins]

Idisenfranchised motorists who cling to the belief that as long as they stay out of the "slow lane" they at least have some stake in the motorway social hierarchy.

I don't really believe it's that much of a conscious thing with most MLer's. I think they just tootle along, completely unaware of the world around them.

[northernladuk]

One that struck me today. The people that pull up to the first pertrol pump in a garage when the one in front is free and you are waiting behind them. I mean WTF is that all about? What are they thinking when they pull up. Surely you have to actually think to pull up at the nearest one and not go forward?

[gingerjedi]

Nervous drivers are more likely to make mistakes, according to the RAC, which ups the ante even more. It helps explain "middle laners" - those disenfranchised motorists who cling to the belief that as long as they stay out of the "slow lane" they at least have some stake in the motorway social hierarchy.

That may explain one of the reasons but if you drive a car with wide low profile tyres you will experience 'tram-lining' when driving in ruts caused by lorries. I rarely sit in the inside line because this effect causes the car to veer from one rut to the other as the 'track' is wider than the car.

Which is what 'shoes' said isn't it?

[Paddy]

Yes, those that are self righteous and preachy but not about any laws they happen to be breaking. 'Look at me! I nearly took the front off of your car whilst flying across all 3 lanes before immediately flying across all 3 lanes again to pass another person in the middle lane! Everyone else is an idiot and not as skilled as me!!!'... as they swerve all over the road.

I am often to be found in the middle lane on the motorway, the reason for this are the indentations left by HGVs in the left hand lane. On most motorways, and particularly uphill (buy a gcse physics book) the left hand lane has indentations forming 'tram lines', making that lanes road surface 'wavey' from left to right. The dimensions and characteristics of your car determine how you are going to be affected by this road surface. Often the wheels don't sit perfectly in the tram lines making the car difficult to control.


To the people with a problem with middle lane driving :

If I am in the middle lane don't try and worry your little head struggling to work out why, just overtake in the empty lane to the right if you are travelling faster than me. I will pull into the left hand lane temporarily if the road surface is recent and tram lines have yet to appear and someone is approaching and wanting to overtake, but don't assume you know best and that cutting in front of me nearly taking the front off my car is in some way an experience that will educate me when it is you that needs the lesson. Oh and my choice of lane also depends on whether the motorway is turning to the left or the right and on the traffic and road layout, but that's enough complicated stuff for now for you to absorb.

So you are self imposing at 70mph limit with an un-calibrated speedometer that by law muster over-read by at least 3%. You also get satisfaction by holding up over drivers that could be off-duty police, firemen, ambulance men or lifeboat crew on the way to emergencies not to mention doctors or somebody taking an emergency to hospital in their own car.

Just exactly how does speed kill? Or do you mean speeding and tailgating or 17 year olds unable to steer around a corner?

[doodab]

People routinely move at over 500mph or faster (relative to the surface of the earth) with no ill effects, and in fact relative to the sun we are all flying along without a care in the world. Speed DOES NOT KILL.

Rapid deacceleration isn't advisable though, and neither are high speed impacts with big, hard things.

[TimberWolf]

People routinely move at over 500mph or faster (relative to the surface of the earth) with no ill effects, and in fact relative to the sun we are all flying along without a care in the world. Speed DOES NOT KILL.

Rapid deacceleration isn't advisable though, and neither are high speed impacts with big, hard things.

Chances are that high speed with respect to ground will be a pertinent factor in a collision though, rather than speed relative to the sun or other celestial body some distance from the road surface. Hardly any car crashes involve hitting the sun.

Re collisions. Ignoring the life preserving metal jacket that is the car body. Would you prefer to bounce off an obstacle, with much of the kinetic energy preserved, or stick on impact and transform that kinetic energy into other forms? Clearly dissipating that energy inside the body is not a great state of affairs, but then again neither is bouncing off perhaps doubling the change in momentum.

[MaryPoppins]

Hardly any car crashes involve hitting the sun.

[doodab]

Hardly any car crashes involve hitting the sun.

Hardly any car crashes don't involve a driver.

Excessive speed is indeed a factor in many accidents, but excessive speed is not the same thing as speed itself.

In fact, this appears to indicate that the true risk factor is your speed relative to the average speed of the traffic around you, and it's actually safest to go very slightly faster than the average speed of the traffic stream. This makes a certain amount of sense, as two cars with a relative velocity of zero will not collide whatever speed they happen to be moving at relative to the road.