The Worst Drivers

headlamp · World Chat Champion Joined: 26 Nov 2003 Karma :

Being a Londoner, I do the majority of my riding in town, either into the West End, or round the North Circular Road. Consequently I encounter lots of drivers who are 'unfriendly' to bikers, I guess I mean assholes.

To get from A to B in London you do a lot of filtering, and on the North Circular that usually means between lanes 2 & 3. You encounter cars that decide that they need to be very near the white lines, hampering progress. A friendly rev of the engine appears to do nothing, then a hoot and they still will not pull in just a bit to let you pass. I find that Mercedes drivers (every model!) and BMW drivers, usually 5 series are the worst offenders, however Lexus drivers - usually sad people who wish they were driving a Merc but can't afford one, VW Golf drivers, either boy racers or people training to drive Mercs, and Volvo drivers are pretty bad. Question

What are other people's experiences with er, wanky drivers and whom should we watch out for.

WheelieKing · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 09 Sep 2003 Karma :

my experience is with school-run mums (not like that Wink

) who can't see over the steering wheel and blokes in sports cars i.e MR2s who just can't be arsed to look

MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

Usually peeps in nondescript cars are okay. People in 'nice' cars (mercs, BM's etc) tend to be idiots. Usually theres a freudian explanation! Smile

____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

Danny · Ask Me About Stoppie School Joined: 26 Jan 2003 Karma :

I find that people in very expensive sports cars tend to pull over when I am filter though, but I think that is just because they are scared of me scratching their car. I even had one person in an expensive 4x4 pull his wind mirror in for me. Exclamation

/Freudian explanation (with dodgy Austrian accent)/ dzzee people in fanzy cars think of their cars as sexual partners and are therefore feel threatened when a vehicle is able to perform better than theirs i.e. a bike can make progress through traffic. So dzzee frustrated drivers must stop the biker to make himself feel better. /freudian explanation (with dodgy Austrian accent)/

Bendy · Mrs Sensible Joined: 10 Jun 2002 Karma :

NSR125-Kid-UK · Attention Whore Joined: 03 May 2003 Karma :

I just rev my pizza bike up and they're so busy laughing that they have to pull over and stop

. Works for me! Very Happy

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MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

Danny · Ask Me About Stoppie School Joined: 26 Jan 2003 Karma :

What does that say about people with litre class motorbikes. Wink

MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

Bikes are a lot smaller than cars. If you had the money/could afford the insurance... GSXR1000 ?

Put it this way, I don't have a Busa, don't want a rocket III and don't want a car unless I *really* have to!

Its better than me owning an articulated lorry! Smile

____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

R1stu · Shrek! Joined: 12 Mar 2003 Karma :

Down south here our drivers tend to be better. When I am going along the roads (mainly DCW) they seem to move over in plenty of time to let me overtake/filter.

Only on a few ocasions recently have I felt like putting my foot through the door of a passing car!
____________________
Carbon closet tart! https://www.bikepics.com/members/r6stuk/02r6/
Stolen bike. 2000 R1: https://www.bikepics.com/members/r6stuk/00r1/
Current bike 1991 Honda ST1100 Pan European, 1986 Honda cb350sg (Finished)

Mrs_Hippy · The Pink Lady Joined: 07 Jul 2002 Karma :

I had a bus this morning stop and wave a padestrian across the road on a corner as I was coming up outside of him. (Plenty of room in teh turn right lane)

1 - you cant see throught a buss
2 - there is acrossing 200 yds down the road!

Robby · Dirty Old Man Joined: 16 May 2002 Karma :

Another little thing in cars is that you do naturally move around in the lane a bit according to road conditions (like holes in the tarmac or rough surface), corners, the size of the vehicle in the ajacent lane. You don't drive along always thinking about leaving a bike sized gap, and you don't know the bike is there until you see them in your mirrors - unlikely on a busy multi lane road unless you spend more time looking in your mirrors than at the road - or unless you hear them.

Yesterday I drove up to Ealing and back, from mine its about 120 mile journey. About 10 bikes filtered past me on the combination of M25 and A40. I heard one of them, which looked like an 80s kawasaki with a stubby underengine exhaust, no cans. It was very loud, and I heard it about 4 feet behind my car.

So basically you don't know a bike is behind you until its right behind you, and then before you move over to let it through you need to check its safe to move over, which can take a second at night when all you can see in your mirrors are lots and lots of headlights.