Driver error

[mcflux]

Don't you hate it when you make a stupid mistake in traffic and wish you could disappear? I did one such mistake today:

In traffic, I was stuck behind a series of cars doing 80 in a 100kph zone. Road was a divided highway with two lanes going each way. Anyhoo I noticed a gap in the traffic going past by doing a quick check of the rear view mirrow and a quick glance over my shoulder. As I pull out I hear a "BEEEEEEEEEP!" and think to myself "wtf?" and instantly glance in the rear view mirror. Nothing. I look to my side and just out of my blind spot is a *really* ****ed guy in a rodeo doing 100kph in the emergency lane alongside me :

I felt like the biggest idiot, because if I had turned just that little bit more while looking over my shoulder, I would've noticed that there was a f**king 4WD sitting right there. I pulled over about 500m up the road and had a breather, gathering my thoughts :(

Continuing on my way, I stuck in the left lane testing out cars going past in the right land, by varying my speed from 5-10kph below the limit, and checking my mirrors/over my shoulder as cars would pass. I came to the conclusion that I checked the rear mirror just as he'd gone out of sight (I had skipped my driver's side mirror for some reason) and taken a glance slightly backwards over my shoulder, but not enough. The rodeo must've been doing about 10kph faster than me at the time in order for this big stuff up to occur.

Luckily, he's safe and no-one else was affected by my stupid mistake (I wasn't charging thru traffic, it was a nice n easy "merge" that went wrong). Despite that, I'm sure I ruined his day.

In a way I wish he'd pulled off the road where I did so I could apologise, but then again he probably would've punched my head in given the chance, he was seriously ****ed! :

So, who else here has had a near miss recently? Care to share your story?

Take care on the roads people. I'm going to be driving with extra caution (or should I say "up to scratch"?) for quite a while now...

-Dave-

[Paris Hilton]

Argh I did the same thing, Except I was stationary, and was waiting behind a Volkswagon Golf, lights were green and they were stopped over waiting for other traffic to clear before they crossed the intersection to turn right....the light turned orange, and I was half way in the intersection behind this car...so I just had a quick glance in my right hand mirror, (which wasn't adjusted, so I saw sfa) and pulled out...BEEEEP wtf? It was 11pm at night in the city, so I got out of there as quick as I could :(

[JC]

Dave - I had a similar incident coming home the other night, but luckily I noticed the toher car just I started to pull out in to the right lane. If I hadn't noticed him (her, actually), I would've put him into a wall. This happened on the Parkway, which is 100km/h dual lane divided road (concrete wall divider). I was doing about 105 in the left lane, looked in my mirrors, did the head check - nothing there and nothing coming for quite a distance. I decided not to pull out at the time, but about 15 seconds later though it was time to , as the car in front started slowing to take an exit lane. Having previously checked, I just did a quick glance, AS I started merging. It was then I noticed a lancer coming up fast, so I pulled back in, and as she went past me, I pulled out and tailed her - she was doing 140, so it was no wonder she was not there one minute, and there the next. Still, taught me to be more careful!

[mcflux]

Yes, I've become a bit complacent lately. I was previously not used to city driving but have done quite a bit of it this year, and until today I was feeling pretty relaxed in heavy traffic. I'm not saying my confidence is shattered, but hopefully this has kept my complacency in check!

I've grown up (and predominantly drive in) the country. This morning on the way to work (30km trip) I passed about 5 cars. It was a busy morning! Sometimes I can drive to mates places and not pass a single car. So Melbourne and the highways are quite different for me :monkes: :alien2:

Good on ya for being observant JC ;)

-Dave-

[Magical_ED]

Me being on my l's and being in a 100km/h zone, people obviously do catch up quickly. To the story. i was happily driving along, doing the right thing, indicate to merge (end of overtaking lane), and saw a 4wd in the rear view mirror, as soon as i indicate, and check my blind spot, i start to merge, but the silly in the 4wd decides "HMMMM an l plater i'm gonna speed up when he is merging", so she did that i had to get out of it, and then swerve back over, finally the stupid backed off and let me in, with a quick one finger salute i was back up to speed, also my parents gave her a few nice gestures. Anyway, she kept harassing me on the single laned road, so naturally i decide screw this, so i slowed down from 80, to 60km/h, then when she backed off i would go back up to 80, then she would come up so i slowed down again. (no other cars just me and her). finally it came to another overtaking lane so she sped past me, with a few nice words out the back window from my dad, and another one finger salute she was gone.
It really gives me the sh!ts when fully licenced drivers dont respect learners and dont give them room, they dont understand that they are nervous and are sometimes unpredictable, she is lucky that i at that stage had 48 hours under my belt so was starting to get the hang of driving. I know i am not perfect and all, but i mean geez, she could have given me room to merge.

[mcflux]

I'm guilty of sitting in people's blind spots, but that's when I'm on cruise control and passing a car in mild-heavy traffic at about 0.1kph faster then the car I'm passing.

The point to my thread isn't road rage, etc (and I'm not suggesting it's heading this way), it's more of a confession/apology for things that people here have done to others (accidental!)

-Dave-

[santoitaliano]

Originally Posted by Magical_ED

Me being on my l's and being in a 100km/h zone, people obviously do catch up quickly. To the story. i was happily driving along, doing the right thing, indicate to merge (end of overtaking lane), and saw a 4wd in the rear view mirror, as soon as i indicate, and check my blind spot, i start to merge, but the silly in the 4wd decides "HMMMM an l plater i'm gonna speed up when he is merging", so she did that i had to get out of it, and then swerve back over, finally the stupid backed off and let me in, with a quick one finger salute i was back up to speed, also my parents gave her a few nice gestures. Anyway, she kept harassing me on the single laned road, so naturally i decide screw this, so i slowed down from 80, to 60km/h, then when she backed off i would go back up to 80, then she would come up so i slowed down again. (no other cars just me and her). finally it came to another overtaking lane so she sped past me, with a few nice words out the back window from my dad, and another one finger salute she was gone.
It really gives me the sh!ts when fully licenced drivers dont respect learners and dont give them room, they dont understand that they are nervous and are sometimes unpredictable, she is lucky that i at that stage had 48 hours under my belt so was starting to get the hang of driving. I know i am not perfect and all, but i mean geez, she could have given me room to merge.

oh that is oh so familiar.. fully licenced thinking they have the right of the road.. grumbles off to myself...

[LUXO_8]

yeah ive done this before, i think anyone that says they havent is BS'ing you, or hasnt driven in peak hour traffic.

it really annoys you though, on the other token, when you get people that will just constantly sit in your blind spot.

i try and be aware of where i am on the road so im not sitting in someones blind spot.... that way they know you're there..

[InitialD]

Originally Posted by MADNC_8

it really annoys you though, on the other token, when you get people that will just constantly sit in your blind spot.

Yes i agree! this happens to me ALOT!! especially on Bell st and plenty Rd since i drive it close to 5 days a week.

People LOVE sitting in my blind spot, and what s me the MOST is when you have to speed up to get into there lane (80 in a 60 zone) to pass them and they speed up aswell!!! and then get ty at you for getting in there lane!! I use to love driving the old Zk or ZH as they didnt come near you :P Just got out of your way but ive noticed with the EA people just do it alot!!

[Yaw]

Mate I have a Ford Escape I got in February. As daggy as they look buy yourself 2 x $2.00 blind spot mirrors from supercheap. They have been invaluable to me, the escape sits a lot higher than I was used to and also have to keep an eye on things lower than myself, such as cyclists and children. Those little daggy looking mirrors allow you to see that stuff.

[galaxy xr8]

It happen's to all of us mate, we just need to remember when someone else does this to us to try and not get so heated over it, road rage is one of my pet hate's, I've been in a couple and I wish I had never been in one, we all need to slow down and realise we all make mistake's.

[TIRED6]

I have had a few L' plate near misses. I had a mazda coupe up my inside when i was clearly turning to the left. I had also had a couple of Holdens try race me or cut me off. And i get a constant flow of P' platers in bloody Holden, they must think they have some sort of magic powers. Duh.

[Feathers]

Mine wasn't so much nearly having an accident, or causing one.

Just after getting the BA and changing my custom plates onto it, I was driving around, getting used to it (after not having driven a manual for 5 years) and at every set of lights stalling it.
I'd get all these looks for having a nice car and custom plates, and I couldn't drive it. I just wanted to disappear :

[dogbreath_48]

Yeah i've been there. It can certainly happen pretty easily when people sit in your blind spots.
If i'm not 100% sure i leave my indicator on for a while and slowly merge across - if they're too 'important' to let a fellow motorist into their lane then f* em.
By the same token i try not to sit in peoples blind spots for too long (not to say it doesn't happen) - sometimes this requires me to exceed the posted speed limit! Someone arrest me, i must be crazy!

But i know the feeling you mean, the wanting to dissapear one! Just think, when someone else does something, let em off! (unless of course it's completely retarded or irresponsible). It can happen to anyone.

-Stu

[seano14]

yes. i had an incident.

going along a road at 80kmh a car pulled out infront of me fairly close out of an adjoining road. as there was one of those little overtaking lanes on the left (ie for cars to use if someone is sitting in the lane waiting to turn in)

as the car was a little hyundai 4 banger thing i just kept at my speed and went into the left side lane to go past it. however the car sped up quicker than i thought and i almost ended up running out of lane trying to get past.

hindsight is the thing, i should have just pulled out and slowed up, but it was one of those things i felt commited to do.

worst thing was there were roadworks 2kays up the road, expected an altercation but just a beep from the horn was all.

felt really bad about the whole thing for quite a long time

[Psycho Chicken]

I'm pretty sure we've all done that at some point. I did it a few times after getting my P's, got beeped every time, I do a head check every time now, unless I'm 100% sure there's nothing behind me, which I spose is a bit lazy.

Was on the recieveing end of it once, learnt from that not to hang around in people's blind spots.

[Pilch]

sounds like some smooth driving there Dave : I now know not to go anywhere near your blind spot.

I've done some pretty stupid things in my short time on the road, and even though you I do it completely innocently, I feel SO BAD afterwards. Luckily I've never caused any accidents, just some harmless reality checks..... been on the bad end of some other peoples stupidity also _

One thing that recently brought my knowledge of the road up to speed is the rider training and licence test required to get a Motorcycle licence..... it's all about awareness of other motorists, and setting yourself up in the right position on the road..... preparing for the unlikely, etc. so you are in the best position to take evasive action. It's made me a much more respectful road user!!!

[T_Terror]

Thats what "sorry waves" are for mate.

Ive gone nuts a few times at stupid mistakes made by other drivers but teh sorry wave just makes it alright.

I always do it when im in the wrong too.

[RED_EL_XR8]

I'd have loved to quote this thread to all those who were stating in the insurance thread that they were such good drivers they could never have an at fault accident.

Insurance covers us for these foo-pahs, and even the best of us make these kind of mistakes sometimes! :

[mcflux]

Yep, did the sorry wave to him, about three times! I think he misunderstood them as either "DGAF" or some kind of Bosnian death salute because they only made him worse! And mouthing "I'M SORRY MATE" must've registered as "F**K YOU" to him too :(

Yeah, I'd hate to ride a bike thru traffic! Unless I was one of the guys off Jackass wearing a full suit of armour :

Those blind spot mirrors are orright I should probably invest in some.

-Dave-

PS Pilch, if I was to run into you, I don't think the XC would be that phased. Classic >> Plastic after all!

[bindi]

I was thinking about the near misses I've had and caused in all my years of driving, and for some reason they escape me? I know I've had them, and gone redder than my hair with embarrassment. _

But just an hour or so ago I was driving home from doing some shopping. I was on the roundabout, turning right, when a woman almost wiped me out... and she looked REALLY guilty as she slammed on the brakes at the last second and I just managed to avoid her. I smiled, hoping that she knew that I knew exactly how she felt!

And I almost got knocked over by a taxi going very fast as I was about to step onto a crossing.

Ok that's two things in a matter of an hour. I'm keeping my eyes open for the third thing now... :Up_to_som

Yes, those little sticky mirrors you put on your side mirrors are brilliant - they get right into the blind spot. I don't rely on them though, still do the look over the shoulder.

That's the only good thing about the EA at the moment! :yeees:

[PULLY6]

You guys should come over to SA! That sort of thing happens all the time. However, where the eastern states have always had to let in a merging car, SA drivers find it an invasion of their piece of road.

I just drift gently into their lane, and the offending car has to slow down to avoid hitting my car!

Either that or I dart back and forth in my lane (V8 supercars warm-up style), that serves to get rid of any cars within 300m of me :P

[Sourbastard]

Originally Posted by PULLY6

You guys should come over to SA! That sort of thing happens all the time. However, where the eastern states have always had to let in a merging car, SA drivers find it an invasion of their piece of road.

I just drift gently into their lane, and the offending car has to slow down to avoid hitting my car!

Either that or I dart back and forth in my lane (V8 supercars warm-up style), that serves to get rid of any cars within 300m of me :P

Yeah I saw your technique up close Saturday. The "I dont like this Lane anymore" Technique.

[mcflux]

Originally Posted by sourbastard

Yeah I saw your technique up close Saturday. The "I dont like this Lane anymore" Technique.

That's a technique?!? I thought it was a "condition"! :

[FordFan86]

Originally Posted by sourbastard

Yeah I saw your technique up close Saturday. The "I dont like this Lane anymore" Technique.

Bwhahahahahaha
Didn't like the lane, or the gutter, or the double solid white lines... list goes on...

[iCat]

I almost merged onto something very low and flat - I don't know what it was, some sort of expensive European sports car - ferrari maybe? Gave me a hell of a shock (him too I reckon!), but I just could not see him easily because he was so low. I felt pretty stupid though. I now do 50 thousand mirror and head checks before I change lanes.

[MITCHAY]

I almost cleaned up a taxi today although he was driving like a ******** it still would have been my fault. Wouldnt be the worst thing in the world though lol. (just joking). Ive been actually quite good ive havent made that many mistakes. Not saying im perfect or anythn cause no one walking this earth is. I have though however had a lot of close calls on account of someone elses stupidity.

[whippet_zetec]

My error was back in 2000 when I was living in Perth.

Cruising down the highway from Kwinana in morning peak it was mid year, cold and the weather had been overnight rain so the road was a damp. I was in that cruise mode sitting in the right hand lane, remember this was the time petrol prices boosted to the $1.00 a litre and everyone was freaking, well on this particular morning i saw the service station on the other side of the highway had petrol at $0.81.

This took me by such suprise I never noticed that the lights up ahead had turned RED! A quick oh , jammed on the brakes (a little too hard) locked em up, and thought it was nearly all over red rover, I must have missed the back of this taroago van by mere millimietres (I remember the colour it was a red/maroon), scooted acrross the left hand lane into the siding where it was dirt and grass did a full 180 turn and stopped, windscreen wipers going......now then I really did want to hide.

I stopped there for a good 2-4 minutes just thinking about what had just happened. Not only did I miss the van, but I, by some miracle also managed not to clean someone up in the left hand lane as I skidded accross it, it could have also been much more horrible if it had occurred in a populated area and not such a big run-off on the side of the road was available.

The car...my commodore ute......has anything like this happened before or since?....nope thank god and I have been way more careful since.

[merlin]

I think I have had a near miss every day this month - June seems to be an unlucky month for some reason.

I'll be in the right lane overtaking someone in the left and they will put their indicator on and procede to merge into me...luckily I pay enough attention to speed up or swerve into the emergency lane.

I used to get angry but its just so common now that it dosnt even phase me anymore. _

[MITCHAY]

Originally Posted by whippet_zetec

My error was back in 2000 when I was living in Perth.

Cruising down the highway from Kwinana in morning peak it was mid year, cold and the weather had been overnight rain so the road was a damp. I was in that cruise mode sitting in the right hand lane, remember this was the time petrol prices boosted to the $1.00 a litre and everyone was freaking, well on this particular morning i saw the service station on the other side of the highway had petrol at $0.81.

This took me by such suprise I never noticed that the lights up ahead had turned RED! A quick oh , jammed on the brakes (a little too hard) locked em up, and thought it was nearly all over red rover, I must have missed the back of this taroago van by mere millimietres (I remember the colour it was a red/maroon), scooted acrross the left hand lane into the siding where it was dirt and grass did a full 180 turn and stopped, windscreen wipers going......now then I really did want to hide.

I stopped there for a good 2-4 minutes just thinking about what had just happened. Not only did I miss the van, but I, by some miracle also managed not to clean someone up in the left hand lane as I skidded accross it, it could have also been much more horrible if it had occurred in a populated area and not such a big run-off on the side of the road was available.

The car...my commodore ute......has anything like this happened before or since?....nope thank god and I have been way more careful since.

Lo once i was busy concentrating on petrol prices an ran a red light. Lol lucky it wasnt busy. It was so stupid.