Driving Fail Viewers Edition 42 | They Just Stopped!

[@ashley_neal]

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[@Theactivepsychos]

Why the smart motorway comment? They are the safest roads in U.K. “The latest data shows that overall, in terms of serious or fatal injuries, smart motorways are our safest roads. We're continuing our work to make them our safest roads in every way.” National Highways.

[@mixerfistit5522]

​@@Theactivepsychos smart motorways introduce an unnecessary risk that doesn't (or at least shouldn't) exist on normal motorways (specifically the ones that employ the hard shoulder as lane 1 - gets are others where the speed changes to match traffic conditions but do not use the hard shoulder)

[@Theactivepsychos]

@@mixerfistit5522 if you remove 10 deaths but introduce 2 is that not better? They are the safest roads in the U.K. safer than normal motorways. Let that sink in.

[@mixerfistit5522]

@@Theactivepsychos how are they removing those deaths? By using the hard shoulder as a live lane or by managing the speed during periods of high traffic?

[@Theactivepsychos]

@@mixerfistit5522 the data just shows there are less accidents than on regular motorways. They are reducing the amount of injuries _and_ deaths caused by accidents. What does it matter how and why. They just ate. Maybe there are more “lack of hard shoulder” accidents but these are fewer than the “with hard shoulder”. It’s a bit like brakes. Without really good brakes more pedestrians get injured or die but with good brakes the injuries and deaths tend to be for driver and passengers. The people dying has changed but it’s been reduced. That’s what’s happening here. The people who are dying are now those not taking the left hand lane seriously. They are either avoiding using it or going too fast. That said, there are less of these deaths than the number prevented through more dense traffic in the “live” lanes.

[@PedroConejo1939]

4:12 That lane 3 nonsense by the red shed, lane hogging and then speeding up is such a common experience for me. Conversely, I get tailgated in lane 1 when there's absolutely nothing inhibiting an overtake.

[@RichO1701e]

Yep, follow the leader mentality bcos thinking while driving is too much like hard work for some 😂

[@Rroff2]

I'm finding it happens to me more and more and like Ashley said often seems to be due to people finishing their text message or conversation either on the phone or in person and then resuming to the speed they nominally drive at without any consideration for the traffic around them. In some cases quite unsafely. As I come alongside them I often notice the sneaky phone against the centre of the steering wheel...

[@bertjesklotepino]

As a dutch guy this happens over here as well. What i do to get the person behind me to overtake me is simple: reduce the speed. When people overtake him and you with 40 kilometers per hour difference, they will notice. They may show the finger, and point it to their forehead, but who cares?????? Once they are infront, they will disappear, and you can again speed up to normal driving speed. PS: I am a truck driver. It often happens to me in the middle of the night. A truck tailgating for kilometers on end. This method always works. It even works with small cars. Obviously you do have to check for other traffic, that is to say: You do not want to create a traffic jam by slowing down to crawl speed. The slowest i had to go was from 80 kilometers an hour to 50 kilometers an hour. Just to convince the "person/professional driver" behind me to overtake me. Some people may say that that is ridiculous, and causing a bigger danger, but i do not share that opinion. The person behind me who can not look through me will ALWAYS be too late when i have to slow down rapidly. PLUS: Merging. People need room to merge. Imagine if i want to leave the motorway and people want to come onto the motorway. A Cloverleaf intersection basically. If 2 trucks hug each other, nobody can change lanes if 2 trucks also hug each other on the other lane. But if you keep your distance, everyone can merge happily and traffic keeps flowing. No need to show brakelights to scare the one behind you. Just turn off the cruise control or let go of the accelerator pedal. The one behind will get annoyed and will overtake. And the finger they show? Who cares?

[@johnb8956]

The people who queue up to tailgate each other really are another breed. What can possibly be going through their heads?

[@bertjesklotepino]

@@johnb8956 better not to examine what is going through their heads. It is only a waste of time. Some are only occupied with themselves. They do not care about others. You're never going to change that no matter what you do. Unless we can detach all of them. Detach them from the media and alike, i mean. To focus on more important stuff like their own health for example. But, that is going to be a challenge. Personally i do not spend a moment of my time on dealing with that thought. I just get rid of the problem by acting. I have not yet experienced it (knocking on wood) but some have experienced the following: Being overtaken by a tailgater who shows the middle finger, and then a few miles up ahead the tailgater is wrapped around a tree. This is not what i would want to happen, but sometimes it might be the best sollution. Better to have that happen than to have such a "person" collide with another person and killing that person while they themselves survive. In my opinion.

[@kiradotee]

8:07 it's even more comical when you realise the 2 cars the person overtook are turning left at the lights, so even if they didn't overtake they would end up exactly where they are at the lights right now.

[@ibs5080]

At around 8:21, not going fully around a mini roundabout is so commonplace now that if you do it correctly, it can actually catch other drivers out. It also ties in with one of Ashley's opening comments that if you do things correctly, other drivers can actually get angry at you.

[@PedroConejo1939]

Completely agree with that. I've nearly been T-boned by an SUV (naturally) that cut the mini-roundabout when I went around it when turning right.

[@khalidacosta7133]

Cars have gotten much, much larger. While some drivers obviously take the biscuit, with a fair few mini roundabouts, I have to drive over the roundabout, otherwise it would mean hitting the kerb... and nobody likes a bent chassis.... :-/

[@ibs5080]

@@khalidacosta7133 There is certainly that element but as you also say, some drivers totally "take the biscuit" as in that clip. I could at least forgive a driver for going slightly over the mini roundabout but at least made some effort to minimise that if they had a large car and the mini roundabout was tight. I find it difficult to understand however a driver getting angry just because someone actually made the effort to go around properly and it shouldn't be something that catches another driver out either.

[@engineeredlifeform]

Yup, it seems if you don't straight line it, and stay in the left lane, people assume you will turn left, and not take the 2nd exit. Which also means they don't look at your indicators.

[@julianblock5436]

Yes, I've been cut up by a car behind me going straight over a mini roundabout and attempting an overtake while I was swinging left to go around it properly.

[@happy_burger]

People "like this" don't really care about getting somewhere faster. They are just showing "who the boss is here". If you aggro them, they always have time to stop and chat :)

[@JohnM...]

Same as taxi drivers. At lights, they don’t mind sitting right up your chuff, but try that with them and they bloody hate it. Taxi drivers are chronic ‘line creepers’ too.

[@robg521]

5:30 red Landrover. Drivers like this are infuriating, you try to do the correct thing and you end up stuck in no man’s land making it look like you are the one causing the hold up.

[@PedroConejo1939]

My driving experience in a nutshell.

[@highdownmartin]

Red pretend Landrover tonka toy.

[@Ultrazaubererger]

I get drivers like this all the time. They'll be cruising at 10 below the speed limit for miles but just when you try to overtake them they speed up to match your speed. Once you've passed them (sometimes needing to go 10-20 over the limit, not recommended btw) they go back to 10 under. From their reactions you can tell most of them don't even realize it because they are somewhere else mentally and their subconsciousness takes over. Every time this happens I want to bash the drivers head into their tachometer so they realize it's there and should be looked at from time to time. It's extra infuriating because the roads I frequently travel are one lane most of the time, with short sections of double lanes for overtaking so you have to decide if you want to break the speed limit to overtake or sit behind doing 10 or more under.

[@nekotranslates]

Best thing to do is to actually be going the speed limit in first place - 70-80mph is what you should be doing on motorway

[@Ultima2876]

@@nekotranslates it’s a limit, not a target.

[@RushfanUK]

8:42 If I was driving the Golf I would not have pulled over and allowed the other driver to continue to drive the wrong way down the dual carriageway.

[@horrortackleharry]

I might have just doubted myself for a split second- you can be 97% certain you're in the right, but it's not worth having a fight or crash if it can be avoided.

[@middler5]

Flashing his lights he thinks he's in the right. I'd have been trying to get his attention too from the cam car.

[@kiradotee]

Yep. It's illegal and dangerous. If you want to carry on this way mate I'm calling police.

[@PedroConejo1939]

Depends on the speeds involved. That was at the top end of 'try to dissuade them'. On an NSL dual-carriageway or motorway, I'm ducking out. I have experienced that too.

[@NickHudson2]

8:42 I‘m with you Ashley the driver heading straight for the Golf is in complete denial that they’re in the wrong,the give aways for me were how quick they were to flash their lights and the quick getaway when the Golf moved over. That last clip though I thought you were going to say that it was unusual in that lane one was actually being used by most of the traffic at that point 😂

[@kenbrown2808]

I live by the rule, "if the car ahead stops for no reason, there's probably a reason." it's helped me avoid a few awkward situations in my driving life.

[@kenbrown2808]

@selseyonetwenty4631 yes. There are any number of reasons a road user might stop suddenly. Some of those reasons might overlap onto other road users, which is why i live by that rule.

[@petesj26]

Nowadays it could be a technical fault also. I have had a collision avoidance system stomp the brakes on for me a couple of times. There isn't much you can do in the panic of it activating other than come to a halt and restart....

[@CycolacFan]

After being stuck in M25 stop start traffic for well over an hour I got cramp in my foot and hit the wrong pedal. That was terrifying…

[@kenbrown2808]

@@CycolacFan I have driven antiques in parades, and I have decided there should be a law that nobody can be on foot in a parade, unless their inseam is longer than 16 inches AND their attention span is longer than 16 seconds. I invariably reach the end of the parade route with my clutch leg feeling it has had its workout for the month.

[@CycolacFan]

@@kenbrown2808 that’s going to be a short parade… 😉

[@blotski]

08:39 "Ce cretină!" Brought a smile to my face to hear my mum's language (Romanian). Don't think I need to translate it for you.

[@organiccold]

Can't understand how there are so many bad drivers in the roads. Regarding red light jumpers, here in Southampton is really bad, to the point that i slow down in the green light to male sure no one is jumping a red, saved me a couple of times

[@bellerophonchallen8861]

skip lorry drivers are a law unto themselves. I had a skip delivered last year and the driver backed his truck up a narrow access, round a tight turn at the top, got out, hooked up and unloaded the skip, got me to sign the paperwork and drove off, all the time smoking a cigarette, holding a conversation on his phone and intermittently drinking a large coffee. That manoeuvre was all in a days driving!!

[@kiradotee]

6:46 and more importantly, if you just came off the motorway or a dual carriageway, chances are, it'll take a minute or two to keep going straight and you'll rejoin it again (with some exceptions where there's only an exit and no joining slip road). And that'll be 100 times safer too.

[@ibs5080]

I commented in a very similar fashion

[@amarinth9616]

Exactly. Most of the time a motorway exit will lead to a roundabout from which you can get straight back on it. And if the exit puts you onto a different A/M road, you can usually come off at the next exit and double back. I think people react this way, because they've never thought about what to do in situations like these, so they panic and make rash decisions.

[@kiradotee]

@@amarinth9616 or they're "in a rush / already late" and can't bare to be even one more minute late. Or perhaps afraid to leave their comfort zone to discover what lies after that exit (whether another joining slip road or not, traffic etc). 😂

[@MohibullahWaseem]

That junction can be joined back on 2 mins down the road...

[@CalumOH]

I am on this motorway everyday. This is Glasgow heading towards the city centre from the west. The driver is in the far left lane and they decide to go left off the motorway. The lane never ended so it wasn't as if they were caught off guard. What I expect has happened is they haven't realised their turn is the next one which is further upahead and is the lane cutoff. However even if the driver took the exit they were going to in the video, they would end up almost exactly the same place, just slightly further down the road.

[@jonrellim]

Why is the mistake at 10:25 by the red car overtaking? In my country, when emerging you should give way to ANY traffic on the main road, including pedestrians on the sidewalk, but also traffic that is overtaking on the side of the road you intent do be on.

[@fuzzy-daddy83]

It's the same here in the UK. If there was an accident, it would have been the cammer at fault.

[@middler5]

It's a mistake to overtake at junctions. Sometimes it happens if you're not familiar with the road and the road is hidden, not much can be done

[@nuntius1933]

@@middler5 - but it's not a junction as denoted by the continuous fog line. It is just an access way serving a car park, for all we know private property, no different from a farm or house entrance.

[@shm5547]

I agree - whilst it was a poor place to overtake, the mistake was far more on the driver pulling out of the car park.

[@DemiGod..]

Are you saying that the overtaking car would have been blameless if there was an accident?

[@1over137]

6:12 not much point in the horn, once they are out the only thing you need to do is brake. Using the horn at that stage only makes things worse. Expect it to happen, react when it does. No horn unless you think you can actually stop them before them come out with a beep. Personally, I usually wave them out afterwards with a slightly sarcastic but polite, "On you go then, you've started so you might as well complete while we wait on you."

[@rogerkearns8094]

I agree, no point - unless one is inviting a punch-up, I suppose.

[@DemiGod..]

Better to keep your hands on the wheel when you brake rather then using one hand for the horn.

[@will4may175]

I see a lot on motorways that have sections with chevrons and a sign saying keep x2 apart, yet most of vehicles are less then 1 away.

[@robg521]

7:40…. If possible always reverse park. It illuminates the danger of reversing back out unsighted into moving traffic

[@rogerkearns8094]

Yes, I don't know why people won't just do that. (It makes it easier to get in and out anyway, as one's steering is less restricted.)

[@Dedubya-]

@@rogerkearns8094 It;s so they can load up their boot with all the shopping bags probably.... and laziness of course :D

[@rogerkearns8094]

@@Dedubya- Perhaps, but I manage that, ok. Moreover, I reverse in _because_ I'm lazy - it's more work otherwise. Cheers :)

[@kiradotee]

7:22 I would be strongly and assertively shouting "can't park there mate" in that moment!

[@david-reason]

Hi Ashley, I always enjoy your videos and your calming voice. I'm a Brit who lives in Bangkok, Thailand. I have driven all over the world (UK, most of Europe, USA, Cyprus, Kenya, S.E. Asia) plus had an HGV 1 for many years, thanks to the army. The calm voice in my head when in a HGV was an ex Shell tanker driver/my instructor, at the Army School of Mechanical Transport near Beverley on Humberside. Here in Thailand too many people die due to speed, haste and poor training. In Asia generally, the ratio of cars to motorbikes/scooters is also a huge factor. It's yet another style of driving I've had to learn over time. Cheers from Thailand.

[@PeterMaddison2483]

Leconfield

[@toddburrows5191]

Hi Ashley, the clip at 9:59 is the M1, M69 junction at Leicester and I can tell you it is an absolute hotspot for problems. The most common are what the corsa did at the 2nd exit (didn’t expect the 3rd) also after the second exit you get many cars coming from the M69 making a poor emerge because they are hidden behind the car in the outer lane and finally once onto the slip road to the M1 that the viewer took the road thins into one lane almost immediately and that usually causes problems. It’s a very busy roundabout and completely chock-a-block at rush hour every day.

[@NICKYVTEC]

Lucky no one was going down the M69 as usually all 3 lanes are used to go straight on.

[@ibs5080]

At around 9:27, even if the black car didn't think the van would take the same exit, they should not have returned to the right hand lane so suddenly in case the van did indeed take the same exit. There was plenty of space on the left to exit the roundabout safely to give the benefit of the doubt as to the vans intentions. Having said that, the van should have been giving a left exit signal.

[@Species1571]

Depends on the lane markings, if you are exiting from lane 2 into lane 2 and lane 1 should not be going past that exit. Signal would benefit anyone entering at the next road, but at this speed probably not useful.

[@gunnern1]

7:40 is a perfect example of why I never park front-in. I either drive through a "double" to be front-out, or reverse into the space.

[@ibs5080]

Exactly the same for me

[@pocky1scot1]

Because if you had to reverse out you wouldn't look first? Doesn't make a lot of sense.

[@gunnern1]

@DrunkenMusketeer in that particular situation caught on camera, I most definitely would have spotted the car passing behind. But let's imagine for a moment that the car reversing were parked between two big vans, and the driver would have had a hard time seeing traffic movements. And regardless of whether I "would" or "wouldn't" have spotted the camera car, maintaining situational awareness moving forward is always easier than if you're driving in reverse. I know people who park front-in because they are uncomfortable driving in reverse. But in my opinion, if you are uncomfortable driving in reverse, then it's just a better reason to park front-out. Reversing into a space is always easier than reversing out.

[@gr3ywolf144]

I was the driver in this clip, and had not long since passed my test - the driver of the parked vehicle didn't look until I sounded the horn. I try not to use the horn unless absolutely necessary, as in this case.

[@DrRusty5]

I always seek to reverse park in carparks. I do feel that this makes it much safer when leaving and perhaps should become the norm.

[@OB1KXB]

reverse parkers are usually quicker out of their spot, so the danger of an actual collision if they havent seen you is much bigger

[@darren25061965]

The reason most people park forward in spaces is that the vehicle is much more manouverable at low speed in reverse, particularly in the confines of tight car parks. Its the same reason parallel parking is done in reverse.

[@Kaiser-ks3yq]

another reason to reverse park is that it's actually (slightly) more efficient, as your engine is hot when you arrive at your destination, so it's more fuel efficient, so you can manouver around to park, then when you set off, your engine is cold (and therefore less fuel efficient), and you only have to pull forwards to get out, then once your out, you cruise at i.e. 30mph for a while while the engine heats up, and cruising is much more efficient than maouvering around a car park, so you do the less fuel efficient thing (parking) when your engine is most efficient(hot), and the most fuel efficient thing when your engine is least efficient (cold)

[@flemit35]

reverse parking can't be the norm as it stops you accessing your boot, no good in a supermarket.

[@markwright3161]

@@darren25061965 What do you mean 'park forward' in spaces? That sounds like drive into the perpendicular space like the Nissan did in the car park clip, but your explanation for a vehicle being more manoeuvrable is actually more applicable if you reverse into a perpendicular space. Cars aren't more manoeuvrable in reverse, you have the same steering lock etc as when you're moving forward, (unless your steering has a huge amount of play or alignment is out massively). You maintain manoeuvrability when parking by keeping your steering wheels (front wheels for a car) in the open space for as long as possible, so not between the neighbouring vehicles as is the case if you drive into the space, nose first. If you need to adjust the angle, you have more than the width of the space to do that in when reversing in, whereas nose in the width of the space is all you have to adjust in, and that's why, when you don't have an extremely wide road in front of the space to swing into the space from, you will always have to shuffle at least once when driving nose in to get centred in the space, where in the same 'road space' you could easily reverse in in one if you align yourself right to begin with. The only way you can align yourself to get into a perpendicular space nose first in one go is if you start over a car's length from the open end of the space, not something you will be able to do in many car parks. That is also why you reverse towards the kerb in parallel parking, your manoeuvring is limited by how close your front wheels are to the kerb, by reversing in you can get the rear wheels tight to the kerb then slide/steer the front wheels over to meet them once you've got the rears where you want them. When you steer nose first in towards the kerb, you can only go as far as the kerb with your front wheels, and that leaves your rear wheels in the road until you can drive forward a couple of car lengths to get them to slot in behind the fronts.

[@justinadcock4536]

9:43 that was quick decision making and actions for reversing.

[@tomjones1506]

Sadly I see too many of this company doing the exact same thing.

[@ibs5080]

At around 10:28, that's an "old chestnut" of a situation that should not have caught the cammer by surprise if (as Ashley mentioned) they looked left earlier. Always check both ways even if you are turning left! Of course the overtaking red car was also in the wrong and it's one reason I very rarely if ever overtake on a two way road unless it's a slow moving tractor, cyclist or whatever and with full observation.

[@nuntius1933]

Yes and no. So far, your second point has failed to garner support. Were most of your roading network configured as 2-laned progress would be painfully slow.

[@ibs5080]

@@nuntius1933 To be more specific, if it's a vehicle in front simply going "somewhat slower" than my own desired speed on a two way road, I will simply hang back, chill out and enjoy the ride rather than get all geared up for an overtake. Of course if it's a tractor, cyclist or whatever moving much slower than my desired speed, then yes I will look for the first safe and legal opportunity to overtake. But I see so many drivers overtaking on two way roads just because the vehicle in front is going "a few mph" slower than they themselves desire...or because they want to speed.

[@nuntius1933]

@@ibs5080 - chilling out is all well and good, if you (and others) have the time. I bought a new dash cam and as a front seat passenger unboxed it and tried it out and on a particularly twisty section of road we came up behind a little car doing well under the speed limit, even for the prevailing conditions. Before long we had collected a queue of cars. The video was 10 to 15 minutes long ( and I still have it somewhere) before we reached the next town when they pulled over and we could make out a very elderly couple. With limited passing opportunities by driving slowly you realise you are dictating everyone else's speed and to my way of thinking that is selfish. And I am no young hoon either - been driving since '68.

[@cplcabs]

Whoever thought of smart motorways needs to be demoted to bin emptier. Absolute ridiculous concept.

[@CraigNiel]

5:17 Which is exactly why I would have pulled back into lane one to continue my journey. I've seen this happen far too often to fall for it again. You go to overtake and they speed up forcing you to then slow down and try to tuck back in or speed up to get past (breaking the speed limit), either option is not safe in my opinion. The safest option by far is to go back to lane one (as you're supposed to if it's clear) and put distance between yourself and the car that is obviously not paying attention.

[@spychopath]

I would do the same. I follow a simple rule with respect to moving left; do it whenever the lane is clear two seconds in front and behind, and when you anticipate no hazard developing. Both criteria are met here, so I move left.

[@DGQ1Q2]

I agree. The funny part is staying in lane 1, .you will advance more freely. Sometimes we can see inclusive 2 hoggers ine in lane 3 and another in lane 4 LoL. I advanced a lot in lane 1 than the rest of the traffic.

[@williamstrachan]

@@spychopath I do this, many people don't realise that 3.5T commercials have a lower speed limit than cars on a DC though so they do get a bit impatient. I try to slot over when a truck indicates it's clear (rather than just shoving into their braking space) to let a few cars past before my next overtake comes up, then indicate early and usually a car lets me back out... usually. Sometimes they accelerate into the gap that formed when they didn't notice the other cars ahead accelerating past me, and get shirty like I'm at fault for them not seeing the situation 😂

[@nuntius1933]

7:03 - happened to me recently, also at temporary traffic lights. But to cap it off, and with a certain inevitability about it, an oncoming double-decker bus with following traffic suddenly appeared. The panicked jumper found him/herself trapped between the right hand kerb and a line of cones. The only escape was to force a passage through the cones into the road works. Typically, no one was actually working there at the time.

[@spychopath]

It's not the "only" escape. They could have done the reverse of shame.

[@nuntius1933]

@@spychopath - they were major road works and a long way to go!

[@spychopath]

@@nuntius1933 MOAR SHAME THEN!

[@stephenhayes6145]

Ashley just like yourself I come across this everyday as I also drive on the road for a living, which in itself causes huge problems. But my main issue is with those who drive poorly on purpose and blame you for their dangerous driving when challenged

[@williamstrachan]

Yep! Had this, suggested to a guy that him stopping in a "KEEP CLEAR" marking was blocking loads of traffic, he suggested I get out of the car and tell him. Absolute fuckin state of people. It's fine to say "yeah, sorry, cocked up there" and just get on with your life, but then when a gap opened up in front of him he sat stationary in the KEEP CLEAR for an entire cycle of the lights just to demonstrate he is actively not a sane person 🤷‍♂

[@UnbeltedSundew]

I think a lot of people get confused what the goal of driving is. They think it's, "Get to my destination as quickly as possible." When in reality it's, "Get to my destination safely and without incident."

[@spychopath]

4:00 Ashley forgot to say; "Nicely sorted by my viewer".

[@ricequackers]

The red Land Rover situation has nothing to do with smart motorways, just dumb drivers. Too many seem to regard lane 1 as the "loser lane" instead of the driving lane. I personally find the quickest way around the M25 is to just cruise at the speed limit in lane 1 since it's typically the clearest and fastest lane.

[@PedroConejo1939]

M40 works that way too. At night, most three-lane motorways are reduced to two by this thinking. I love using The Lane of Infinite Braking Distance. Awkward when you meet a slow lane hog though - especially if you're towing.

[@joaoramalho1409]

7:12 The “Can’t park there mate.” sentence never made so much sense.

[@Kyle-zt9cz]

At 2:00 I'm literally saying in my head "come off the gas, come off the gas, slow down and just let them in" I don't understand why people can't just ease off when they see someone making a poor decision instead of just making it worse

[@R04drunner1]

Hmm, 08:46 brought back a memory. I had this happen to me. As I came off a roundabout onto a dual carriageway, a car came out of a service station to my left and turned right, then started to accelerate! I took lane 2 and kept flashing my lights at the oncoming driver. At first he flashed back then stopped and I could see the look of panic on his face as he realised his predicament! Thankfully, I had forced him to slow down and stop so nothing worse happened. First and only time I have played "chicken" on the road, but it was to save the other driver. Thankfully it worked. 😅

[@horrortackleharry]

With the motorway footage starting at 4:08, there's no way I would ever venture over into lane 4. It's just a horrible position to put yourself in- and it's always a magnet for all the insane drivers anyway. Just avoid.

[@DemiGod..]

It is legal to pass on the left aslong as done in a safe manner.

[@groundcontrolto]

Fun one this morning. Driving home up a hill which has speed bumps just before a blind bend to a narrow bridge. Ended up behind a slow moving cyclist but my turning off wasn't far away so I held back. The 4x4 behind me decided to overtake us both just as a pair of cyclists riding side by side came over the bridge followed by another vehicle. The 4x4 had nowhere to go and got passed by the cyclist they were trying to overtake. Sometimes wish I had a dashcam.

[@cplcabs]

these days with all the crazies about, you should have a dashcam

[@Ultima2876]

Don’t forget to use the code when you buy a viofo for 5% off 😝

[@laceandwhisky]

I keep trying to get my daughter to send in her HGV driving clips where she gets brake checked often, cars pulling out and much more.. but her clips all get up loaded to the police, she never checks to see if prosecutions have taken place but says she can't put them online till the case has been sorted

[@TheDantheman12121]

When I first started driving motorways and being in right lane was the bane of my existence but never once did i do what that P plate driver did. It never even adds that long tbh.

[@Dudleymiddleton]

The art of muppetry will never die, unfortunately! I wish more drivers would get it into their heads that they are in charge of lethal heavy machinery moving at speed!

[@kenbrown2808]

what I see in car parks is 90% of the car park users are totally oblivious to what anyone else intends to do. it's like they turn their observations off if they're below 10 MPH.

[@ibs5080]

From around 5:10 to 5:30 is a prime example of the disruption that outright lane hogging can cause. I actually came across a very similar situation coming home from Grand Designs Live on Thursday. Four lanes in my direction, I'm doing around 70 mph (verified by gps) and I'm in Lane 2 overtaking a slower vehicle in Lane 1. Slower vehicle in Lane 3 not overtaking anything and faster traffic (over the speed limit) coming up in Lane 4. So once I cleared the slower vehicle in Lane 1, I moved back to Lane 1 myself and passed the slower vehicle in Lane 3 with an extra lane of separation between us, namely Lane 2. I considered this safer than having to wait for Lane 4 to be clear of speeders and then move from Lane 2 to all the way over to Lane 4, overtake and then move all the way over to Lane 1. Did I do the right thing?

[@Alan_Clark]

I think you did the right thing. According to the "smart motorway" page on Wiki, "A 2022 survey found that 73% of drivers will not use the leftmost lane on a smart motorway. This is an increase since 2019 (56%)." This might explain a lot of Lane 2 hogging, although in this case the offending car is in lane 3, which is harder to explain.

[@PedroConejo1939]

@@Alan_Clark It's a regular middle lane hog who has transferred their practice to a smart motorway where most drivers avoid lane 1. It shows how pathetic lane hog thinking is.

[@ibs5080]

@@Alan_Clark Thank you for your insightful reply. I should have also mentioned this wasn't on a smart motorway as there was a very decent full width hard shoulder.

[@rath6599]

Just your average motorcyclist here, I think that's the correct thing to do. If a vehicle in a faster lane is going below the limit for no reason, they're fair game to undertake, especially if you have to negotiate two lanes to overtake them. Just remember to go by them at good speed to reduce the time you're beside them and in their blind spot.

[@cargy930]

@@PedroConejo1939 I'm not sure there's any actual thinking involved with most lane hoggers!

[@joshkirkham4281]

2:24 props to the cars reactions, the cyclists were almost invisible

[@will4may175]

Having lights on a bike goes only two ways nowadays, either WAY too bright and angled straight at drivers faces, or none at all, mostly none.

[@shm5547]

yep, just like kids running out between parked cars, you need to pass stationary traffic near a crossing with care.

[@garyboyle695]

​@@will4may175 Really, as most commuters I see have lights that are angled down so they can see the road. And most have lights.

[@will4may175]

@@garyboyle695 I am on the road from 4am monday until late friday and even saturday, so maybe I just see a lot more, or it might be I frequent more rural roads than in built up areas. But many do have their lights pointing straight forward, the first clip on here if you look he has at least two lights, one is ponting at the floor but the flashing one even lights up the road signs and traffic lights in the distance. So imagine facing those and trying to see past them down the road you will still have that bright spot in your eyes after they've gone, the same happens with badly setup led car headlights, which there is way too many.

[@Ep1cure]

Doesn't matter which country your in, whether you drive on the left or right. As a pedestrian, rider or driver. Look both ways before crossing the give way point or curb. It is possible for the unexpected to happen.

[@mcdon2401]

I look both ways before stepping onto a pavement, it's that ingrained... and unfortunately necessary these days.

[@ibs5080]

​@@mcdon2401 Myself too. It's interesting how one's own "roadcraft" can carry over to "pedestrian craft" on foot.

[@edwardlack2578]

2:25 tries to get across the road when the cars clearly have a green, with the left lane flowing, then goes to give them abuse when he should really be dead. Classic.

[@edwardlack2578]

Also, 8:45, they deffo thought it was a 2 way road. Look at the light flashing they did. No way I would've moved over to allow them to carry on driving the wrong way.

[@ibs5080]

First clip, I'd also add the silver car had no lights on at all and visibility was quite poor. That alone would have already had me on high alert.

[@p.a.1675]

Was just going to comment on that. Same thing with the second last clip. It's sort of a body language.

[@ibs5080]

At 9:39, fully acknowledged that large vehicles need more space when turning and just as in this clip, may need to "borrow" part of the other half of the road. But this lorry driver took the corner far too fast. Should have taken it much more slowly to give the cam car options in good time. As it was they had to reverse in a big hurry to avoid getting swiped. What if reversing wasn't an option?

[@alexdavies1009]

The positioning of the cam car also plays a part in this - why are they waiting so far back behind the give way lines? To the lorry driver, this looks like they're being invited to turn in, had the cam car been at the give way lines, the HGV would have had to wait for it to be clear before turning. Also, although it looks close, I can guarantee the HGV driver would have been checking their mirrors as they came around the corner to ensure they weren't going to swipe the car. They have to negotiate turns like this everyday.

[@jamiemittermuller6470]

The cammer wasn’t paying attention to the caravan, you could see the caravan moving to the right. It’s also widely used instead of the indicator. These video make me appreciate how I was taught

[@mikehunter2844]

5:10 I would have stayed and passed in lane 1. Why make multi lane changes when you you don't have to. In heavy traffic lane 4 would become a bottlekneck.

[@DemiGod..]

Some people follow the rules no matter what

[@saundersdachicken6197]

@@DemiGod.. I would have stuck to lane 1. If there were 10 lanes and a hogging lane 9 in heavy traffic some would still move all the way to lane 10 and back again. They would be convinced it is the only legal and safest way.

[@GlidingTobster]

At 10:00 - having no lights on in grim conditions like that is a red flag that they're going to do other dangerous things too.

[@DontPanicDear]

The last clip. This is the perfect demonstration of why I have both hands on the wheel and look where I’m going! If the following driver had been a lorry driver on tinder, that stop wold have been fatal. Statistically, drivers do crazy things like that somewhere every hour of the day. You might drive for 50years and never see one, or you might be caught up in their actions 1/2 mile from home today.

[@mismagiuz]

People in car parks it's like they forget every single rule that they've learnt, no stopping at give ways/roundabouts, not looking when reversing etc. You have to be incredibly careful in car parks these days

[@tom13king]

6:51 There's a 4-way set of temp lights near where I live that take 3-5 minutes to cycle. I was stopped at them and someone pulled up behind me, after a couple of minutes flashed me for about a minute and then got out of their car to come over, but then the light went green and they just scurried back to their own car lol. There wasn't even anyone behind her so she could have just gone round me.

[@jontownsend8090]

My wife had a situation similar a few years ago. The vehicle stopping on lane 1 of a duel carriageway, lucky for her, the other lane was clear to be able to avoid a crash sandwich.

[@annonomous2158]

People who don't like Smart Motorways just don't understand how they are intended to work. The issue isn't the motorway itself, its a significant number of drivers not understanding how they are supposed to drive on normal motorways, let alone smart motorways. This then snowballs and rolls into more people driving poorly, because they are mimicking the bad drivers, and so on and so on. Most people don't know how to merge when a lane is closed at roadworks, let alone smart motorways. Use the full length of the road and merge in turn. It's not hard...

[@saundersdachicken6197]

Agree They say there's no hard shoulder to avoid a collusion. The furthest right lane doesn't have one either. Neither do dual carriageways!

[@JohnBall-cd4cg]

The best (by which I don't mean positively) one was the clip that was widely shared from the M60 smart motorway north of Manchester from 5 years ago. Lanes 1 and 2 are going off to another motorway at a junction, and are heavily congested. Lanes 3 and 4 carry on the M60, and lane 4 has just opened after a closure. Several cars use the more vacant lane 4 as it opens. Prat in an SUV spots this, thinks they're doing something wrong and moves into lane 4 to slow them down to the same speed as the congested cars in lane 1 and 2. Prat behind him agrees, and they proceed to inch forward at the same snail's pace of lanes 1 and 2, leaving a huge gap in lanes 3 and 4 in front of them. Drivers behind get frustrated and exit the cars to rant at them, to little avail. All because they couldn't understand that the lane had reopened and that they shouldn't have to go at the exact speed as congested lanes heading to a different motorway.

[@Moby41]

yaaay a new vid!! Any plans to release some more HGV stuff, Ash? I really enjoyed that series!

[@dopiaza2006]

Ashely - go to any single digit bradford postcode, especially on a Friday. Red lights are for decroation there. The 'parking' is quite amazing too.

[@ibs5080]

At around 7:11, yes I would have gone around the very badly parked VW Golf a lot sooner, given I would be turning off what looks like a high speed road. Either by going around the front of the Golf or if that path was blocked, I'd mount the low curb if necessary and go around behind the Golf. Yes I know it's illegal to mount the curb but given the situation and if I saw in my mirror fast approaching traffic behind me, I would most certainly mount the curb if that was the only option to save the day. I would also hope that if police were around they would have greater issue with the badly parked Golf and understand why I mounted the curb if I had no other option to get off the main road quickly. I cannot imagine what the Golf driver was thinking by parking in this way.

[@The18107j]

The last video is the reason I give a full 3 seconds when on the highway. You never know when the car in front will suddenly stop, and the distance closes very quickly.

[@davidpowell8249]

7:47 "How often do we see this in car parks, people reversing without looking" - so many cars have humongous C pillars these days, and that makes any car reversing out of a space a potential hazard. Likewise, SUVs, pickup trucks and vans often park next to saloons, hatchbacks and estates, blocking their view when they try to leave the space. If there's no oncoming vehicles, I will drive on or over the center line in car parks to give vehicles emerging from spaces a better chance to see me, and allow me extra time to react if they don't.

[@PBMS123]

9:32 this one is easy to determine in Australia because the round about rule is you must give way to someone already on the round about. The Toyota 86 failed to give way to the people in front of him that were already on the round about, stopped. This is obviously to protect slower moving vehicles etc when they pull out with no cars in sight and another car coming from the right entry doesn't slow down and crashing either into the back of the truck (car turning right into the back) or into the side of the truck that is in the round about. None of this giveway to the right garbage, that means someone sits at a round about waiting for someone 100m down the road to the right approaching the round about.

[@frogandspanner]

10:25 That is not technically a road junction, being to a car park (Seal Sands) not part of the highway, and there are no junction warning signs on the road, so overtaking is acceptable along that section of national speed limit road. (There _is_ a tourist facility sign, but that is not a junction warning sign). The cammer should have been more careful when entering the highway.

[@saundersdachicken6197]

Correct. Some people think it's illegal for the red car to overtake. And yes that is not a junction. If it was then every house that has a driveway would be a junction.

[@ibs5080]

At 8:55, yes it does seem that the oncoming wrong way driver thought the Golf was in the wrong. By virtue of the wrong way driver flashing their lights repeatedly as well as just carrying on down the wrong side. I wonder then if they were not familiar with the area and either missed some earlier signs or misunderstood their sat nav.

[@kdmq]

10:29 In Ontario, Canada, drivers overtaking have full right-of-way over anyone entering from a driveway or a crossroad. This, of course, is not an excuse to recklessly overtake in locations with many service entrances, but if you are pulling out from a stop sign on a country highway, you often need to yield to overtaking vehicles even when turning right.

[@ibs5080]

At around 7:40: 1. This is one reason why as much as possible I either reverse into car parking spaces or find a spot where I can drive forwards into a front row. Of course, reversing into a space can have its own challenges and you still have to be observant when reversing in 2. This clip is also one reason that as a pedestrian, if I see a car in a parking space with it's reversing lights on or hear the engine on (notwithstanding EV's which are silent) I will cross over to to the other side of the driving lane, after first looking both ways. 3. The on screen discount for the dash cam looked as though it applied to the KFC drive through! 😊

[@PedroConejo1939]

One of the joys of driving an estate car is that it can be extremely difficult/damaging, if not impossible to load into the back if you reverse in.

[@johncranna]

@@PedroConejo1939 it may mean having to walk from the front to the rear with each bag but it is far, far safe to reverse in and go out forwards for the slight inconvenience. Creating a collision with car or pedestrian is something to avoid at all costs.

[@PedroConejo1939]

I did wonder whether that dead stop on the motorway was a malfunctioning automated emergency brake event that I've heard about. I don't know if it's a myth or not.

[@ashley_neal]

I thought about a medical episode also!

[@marcussmith6523]

I had this happen in a Sharan, stopped all by itself when I was on cruise and lane assist enabled on an empty dual carriageway at 70 mph.

[@frogsplorer]

I’ve been meaning to pick myself up a 2021 car hopefully without all these crazy over-engineered systems

[@marcussmith6523]

@@frogsplorer If you google for Skoda Phantom braking you will see a few Briskoda threads about it, frightening when it happens at motorway speeds. The car does give an audible warning just before it does it if cruise control is on. At lower town centre speeds no warning as you wont be on cruise. Many newer VW group cars are prone to it.

[@PedroConejo1939]

@@marcussmith6523 At least I know it's not a myth now. Serious yikes there.

[@ibs5080]

At around 4:03, that's what I call a "scissor swap" lane change whereby vehicles in two different lanes want to swap lanes. You can sometimes use this to your advantage when you want to change lanes in traffic and notice a vehicle in the lane you want to get to wants to be in the lane you are currently in. When timed properly, the two of you can "scissor swap" lanes with minimal disruption. I will say however, the example in this clip is how not to do it, with the lane changes being done too late in relation to the lane splits.

[@p.a.1675]

I like how uneventful this was. Two drivers made a mistake and all solved in no time with only little impact on other traffic. Well done to the cammer.

[@kenbrown2808]

of course in Washington, even if the other driver wants your lane, they will still close the gap to prevent you changing, even though your change would make their change easier.

[@petesj26]

It's the hangar lane gyrotary, everyone is much too used to people taking the wrong lane and taking the wrong lane themselves......

[@smilerbob]

Nice collection of videos there Ashley and some interesting points. I wonder if the vehicle at the end had an engine management light appear and panics or sees the “Queue Ahead” sign so stops to check the map on the phone 🤷🏻‍♂️ And was that horn at 8:33 a little excessive? Maybe

[@kiradotee]

Wasn't excessive at all. The plonker on a moped should have been paying attention and given way 100% in that instance. I say that as someone who rides a motorcycle every day. Fully support the amount of horn used by the car driver here.

[@smilerbob]

@@kiradotee Agreed the rider is a plonker, not saying anything different, just the amount of attention the rider paid to the horn and as someone that lives near a main road, the extra long horn use is something that isn’t always needed and can become a nuisance in residential areas, that is all There will always be differing views and fully appreciate and respect that 👍

[@picklestheswift]

I thought possibly the queue ahead too or they are not used to the car? Even so such a dangerous thing to do!

[@kenbrown2808]

one of my repeated observations is "he braked so hard his horn got stuck." and yes, the vehicle at the end may have had a malfunction. I have been in more than a couple situations, where things were fine and then the fire in the engine went out. my dad had one where everything was fine and then the engine quit turning. that's a situation that usually leads to an abrupt stop.

[@kiradotee]

@@kenbrown2808 haha I fully agree that if someone uses the horn instead of brakes should probably look at themselves. 😂

[@andrewwebb3431]

7:10 is just outside Newmarket in Suffolk close to where I live. There are always issues on that road as the jockeys/owners/trainers just park their cars anywhere if they're going to the racecourse or training grounds. There's at least one collision a month at that very junction almost certainly because vehicles have been dumped without any regard as to whether it's safe to park there or not.

[@rufusgreenleaf2466]

Dominance is a huge factor on the roads, because we can't speak to each other we use our vehicles as body language to show our intentions. "That person overtaking me probably thinks i'm weak, i need to show them how angry i am and that i'm not weak. I need to show them i can stand up for myself." It's no different to the animal kingdom. When we can't communicate verbally, The world suddenly becomes a game of survival, who's the strongest, who's the most dominant, who is the perfect mate. That's why a lot of dominance on the road is by men, it's in our nature. It takes control to overcome this and drive sensibly.

[@SurgeDashcam]

People speeding up when I'm overtaking them with cruise control on happens so damn often and it's getting quite frustrating.

[@garybarnacle808]

Where I live is a 20MPH zone with a set of trafic lights, In the early hours of the morning a number of HGV's travel past my home at moterway speeds, and ignore red trafic lights.

[@ibs5080]

At 1:03, good point about "You try to do the right thing and get abuse". As well as the fact that some drivers don't look beyond the back of you own car and hence don't always understand why you are doing something a particular way.

[@Fazer_600]

Happened to me yesterday at a set of lights for a ped controlled crossing. they're normally green but can catch you off guard because they're used so infrequently

[@smilerbob]

A road near me is used by heavy vehicles and one company in particular had a yard down the road. There is usually a queue of cars at the end but the lorries in question are a distinctive green colour and easy to spot coming along but despite waiting for them to turn with traffic in front you will always get one (not always directly behind) giving a beep and arm gesture to move. Always sit in traffic down the other road as well. Oh well, at least I arrive at my destination relaxed

[@jeremystanger1711]

I disagree here. The driver behaved quite erratically by stopping so abruptly and so far away. Slowing down and being ready to stop if necessary would have been more appropriate here, and I think the driver's behaviour showed a total lack of awareness of the cars behind.

[@PedroConejo1939]

@@jeremystanger1711 That's not my take on that at all. Both cars were approaching a T-junction, both should have been prepared to slow and stop but only one was. I get why the cammer pulled up a bit sharpish due to the entrance on the left. A quick judgement call, that entrance was a school. The Clio was too close and driving according to what they thought _should_ happen, not what _could_ happen, and even then, they were wrong. The only thing I would have done differently as the cammer would be to slow before they did, to control the car behind - which shouldn't be necessary but clearly was.

[@David-sw2fn]

@@jeremystanger1711 I agree that the cammer accelerated too strongly and their speed was too high. Probably should have been slower on approach as they had to come to a fairly abrupt stop. Car behind guilty of a bit of rear bumper watching though.

[@jdmsnowmonkey7913]

Regarding the collision at 9:26, I think the GT86/BRZ was entirely at fault. The van's way ahead onto the right lane of the exiting dual carriageway seemed to be blocked by a car waiting in the queue for at the lights on the roundabout (the car shouldn't've have been there if it was blocking the flow of traffic from the right), but I think what happened is that the GT86 driver might've thought the van was waiting to go right around the roundabout instead of carrying ahead onto the dual carriageway, and just didn't check their mirrors to confirm this before swinging into the right lane.

[@kilerkg]

I was under the impression it was the responsibility of the car pulling into the road to make sure it was clear, not the overtaking car?

[@geolawie]

But also you shouldn't be overtaking at junctions? Shared responsibility all around

[@user-mv5zt8qd9l]

Shared fault: don't overtake if you're at risk of coming into conflict with another road user.

[@enric_ortuno]

8:39 'Che cretino!!' I understood that, finally studying Italian pays out 😂😂

[@johnawalker9261]

Smart motorways work in my experience, it is poor education of the drivers that makes them “fail”.

[@ibs5080]

Yes I'm glad there is not going to be any further roll outs of so called Smart Motorways. Just a shame that any existing ones won't be reverted back to regular motorways, as well as the cost and disruption that was caused in converting them to "smart" in the first place.

[@mikejennings6887]

Luckily we don't have even an inch of ANY motorways (SMART or not) in Dorset, but I will have to be using some of them later this week!

[@bryansmith1920]

Mayhap @ 69yrs old and an ex LGV driver I'm not surprised anymore, just sad that driving test pass standards have fallen to the standards of the US

[@ibs5080]

At around 8:10 I really don't understand how anyone could be perfectly happy to drive in this manner and conduct such risky overtakes. Often just to get to the next set of lights or traffic queue a few seconds earlier.

[@Rockhopper1]

I was disabled on duty, and now sadly have to drive a motability vehicle, which requires space at the rear so I can get my wheelchair in and out. My new vehicle has a prominent wheelchair sticker on the back, since driving, I have noticed how much road rage, hate and get-in-front attitudes there are. I have been the victim of three road rages in one week, and nothing in my driving has changed, it feels like drivers are locking on to their badges and think they have more rights on the road. I challenge you to drive with a wheelchair symbol on your rear window, and watch the attitude change around you,

[@PedroConejo1939]

I'm toying with the idea of getting some small blue, reflective numbers to discreetly place on the back of my car - something like DP27 (meaningless) but possibly enough to give pause for thought.

[@DemiGod..]

I drove a class C road legal mobility scooter on the road for a few months covering 3000 miles on the road, most drivers were really good, only had one road rage incident. A driver in a large car was following the scooter as I entered a narrow road. Was going to pull into a passing place after a car already in it to let him past. The driver thought I wasnt going to let him past, got angry , put his foot down shooting past my scooter with inches to spare, cut infront of me forcing me to stop and screamed his head off, something about the disabled. Put a polite notice on the windscreen of a range rover blocking the entrance I used for the mobility scooter, infront of a notice on the gate to leave it clear for disabled access. He then went out of his way to block it very day even though plenty of parking places .

[@ianmason.]

@@PedroConejo1939 In the UK under the construction & use regulations retroreflective surfaces count as "lights" and come with the same restrictions as actively illuminated lights. So you must only show white to the front, red to the rear, and blue retroreflective 'lights' will be restricted to use by the emergency services in just the same way as conventional lights. Afraid you'll just have to opt for red numbers.

[@MRDNRA]

Clip at 54 seconds - pretty much the same thing happened to me the other day, when turning off a roundabout, when there was a learner driver ahead of me travelling slowly, causing me to brake. Car behind me (think it was a BMW though not sure), hooted their horn at me in effect for NOT rear ending the learner driver.... maybe it's a bit cynical of me but I guess some people would rather try to cause (or have) crashes causing them to get nowhere rather than avoid them and get somewhere.

[@hendrixinfinity3992]

I learned to drive in the lake district. Was trying to turn right into a car park and the turn right box wasn't quite big enough to get me fully out of the lane. Got bipped when I didn't immediately turn into traffic, a gap only big enough if I quickly accelerate, and then bipped again when there was a gap. Had my learner plates on and everything. Dad gave them the Vs. Obviously the driver was in an SUV.

[@DavidWillanski]

I've seen two people reversing without looking, right into each other.

[@DavidWillanski]

7:40 I once saw two people both reverse without looking and back into each other. Of course they each said the other was 100% at fault!

[@williamstrachan]

The situation at 5:26 happens to me incredibly often, in a speed limited van. They have a top speed of 64-68mph (couple of different vans, amazingly bad speedometers, limited to "68" but GPS invariably shows lower) and like the cammer I'll change from L1 or 2 to 4, get between the 3/4 position like the cammer here - easy to back off a tad, indicate left, slot in behind... - or I'll actually be 3/4 ahead of them and they'll match my speed, and I end up hung out to dry like a wanker, holding up people that are trying to do an actual 70 that have since caught this procession of BS, and unable to move left (idiot in the way), slow down (impatient people behind in the way) or speed up (limiter)... To address 6:00 discussing smart motorways (ahem, all lane running, even - SMs also include variable speed limits afaik), I am not a fan. Like, if drivers were far more competent, they might be good, but at the same time traffic volumes would be so low at that level of competence that they wouldn't be needed at all... as it is though, people are not good enough at driving/paying attention to the road, so they are frightful. I watched a guy almost rear-end a static car, driving past the red X, not seeing the matrix signs stating "stranded vehicle", passing the driver (who was WAVING from behind the Armco a few hundred metres upstream of the car), and FINALLY coming to a stop in a great hurry about 5 metres short of hitting the broken down car. He was matching speed with traffic though, which saved him from a nice solid 70mph impact, and saved me from having to witness quite a few things I'd rather not witness, as I was roughly level with him, though 3 lanes away... if he'd continued at 70 he would have hit something probably 200m before I arrived there, and... yeah, that would have been a "fun" day. Behaviour changes are one of the least effective/more desperate methods of improving safety. Better to design things so that situations can't happen, than expect everyone to be capable of avoiding it happening and then doing so correctly...

[@ibs5080]

I totally sympathise with the scenario you described in your first paragraph. Sometimes you are put in a very awkward situation due to others unthinking driving habits. Although I drive a regular car and not a speed limited van like your good self, I've been in similar situations, albeit with greater options (though might involve some mild temporary speeding). Anyhow, that was a very well written post.

[@DavidBhoy1967]

I get your frustration but I don’t think you should ever be in lane 4 with a van that has a top speed limit like that unless it’s some type of unavoidable or emergency situation.

[@williamstrachan]

@@DavidBhoy1967 It holds nobody up but for the actions of other road users (blocking me out there). I keep left unless I'm overtaking, and I only go into lane 4 when I've started to eat into the 2 second gap behind the person in lane 3, I don't hang out there forever. I do have a schedule to keep, I sure as hell ain't plodding motorways in a van for fun 🤷‍♂ (Also - often it is the case that these people are varying their speed, slowing down to almost 56 as they pass lorries, speeding up to match whoever is overtaking them, etc. Much more workload to deal with.)

[@DavidBhoy1967]

@@jwalker7567 hiya, not sure if you are talking about a 70mph zone? If it’s free flowing, there’s no excuse for all three lanes to be occupied by drivers going 50-60. Stick to lane 1 if you want to go that speed.

[@delcat8168]

The car going the wrong way on the dual carriageway... Once it had stopped, surely it would have been sensible to get out and tell them they were going the wrong way rather than just letting them continue and maybe kill someone?

[@houndbite2]

7:39 - This is exactly the reason i think forward bay parking shouldn't be taught, and should honestly be abolished with entirely, these people need to start learning how to reverse into a spot instead of parking straight into it when they have 0 observational skills, and 0 sense. It takes an extra 10 seconds to line your car up and reverse it into a space. I see this constantly, and it's exactly the reason I refuse to forward bay park ever. You're looking forward when you enter your car, not backwards. So why park in a way that obstructs your view and is actually dangerous, especially with the pensioners that i see constantly doing this, which is a whole other thing entirely, and i wouldn't wanna get started on that. But retest every 2 years once someone turns 65 or 70, and DVLA needs to be stricter with taking licences away.

[@FireVixen164]

The situation at 9:08 is similar to the worst mistake I ever made driving, just after passing. I was following SatNav and realised I should be either taking the off ramp or not (I don't remember which was right now) just as I was passing it, and instinctively tried to switch at the last minute. I had to do an emergency stop in the cross marks to avoid going into the barrier, and had the horrible thought of having to rejoin motorway speed traffic from a stop. Thank god there was a suitable gap in traffic to take the off ramp. But have pity for new drivers making mistakes, we're not all stupid enough to just make it worse like this person!

[@Zeyr01]

Loss of steering or health emergency is the only acceptable excuse for that last clip. Other than that I'll never understand just stopping in lane 1 when there is a perfectly good hard shoulder to use.

[@marcussmith6523]

Probably phantom braking, happens occasionally.

[@danthedroneman5771]

Driving to Wales from Manchester one evening, I was in lane 3 doing just under 70mph with slower moving traffic in both lanes 1 & 2. The vehicle in front did exactly what that car did at 11:00 and despite braking with them to anticipate a slight reduction in speed, they came to a complete stop which is something you simply don't expect in lane 3. I was so close by this point, and knowing there was a car in lane 2 next to me just seconds earlier, I had no choice but to move into lane 2 and hope the outcome was better than hitting the back of a stationary vehicle at 50mph. I was sure I was going to die and even had my eyes closed for a brief moment as the back of the car was metres away. I put the majority of the positive outcome on the Volvo XC60's handling capability. I don't think some other cars could have taken the swift movement as well as this one did.

[@archechme]

7:49 all common sense and spacial awareness is completely eradicated when people enter car parks

[@pauljenkins2501]

Regarding "smart" motorways, I sometimes have to use the south side of the M25 where there are long sections of 4 lane running. I hate it.

[@Andy-xt3mh]

I'm very glad they are discounting the STUPID motorway project.

[@armanddesarrierespays719]

What's it like where I live if you jump a red light? Either it has a camera that'll flash you and you get a nice big fine in the mail or there's a cop nearby who will pull you over. No one jumps red light around here.

[@doctorsocrates4413]

Smart motorways are the worst thing to happen to uk roads...it kind of suggests that as the volume of traffic has multiplied over the decades that we are in fact running out of roadspace ..since the 50s we have never constructed roads with the future in mind..build more lanes or reduce the vehicles.

[@livester17]

I work in Blackburn. You really need to take a trip over and witness some Red Light jumping shenanigans and the total disregard for giveway junctions.

[@Mattie1979]

Reading is extremely notorious for red light jumpers. When I'm waiting on a padestrian crossing my light is green and the traffic light is red and I've seen on a couple of occasions HGV's go through their red light.

[@ryanmitcham5522]

10:25 In this clip you're incorrect to phrase it as if the red car has the lion's share of the blame. The highway code *recommends* not overtaking near junctions for exactly this reason, but it's not illegal. However the *law* stipulates drivers *MUST* give way to all traffic when joining a road (all traffic, so yes both ways, either side of the road, including overtaking traffic). This is a legal requirement, not just a recommendation. So we have a recommendation vs a legal requirement. It was certainly a mistake for the red car to overtake there, but the cammer is to blame for not carrying appropriate observations before emerging, as *legally* required.

[@user-mv5zt8qd9l]

Gonna have to take issue with your assertion that any part of the HWC is a "recommendation." Even if a rule isn't directly backed by legislation, you can still be prosecuted for ignorance and defiance. Overtaking when there are vehicles waiting to emerge is at best reckless. Let's not also forget the part where drivers are expected to drive in such a way that accommodates other people making mistakes sometimes. Overtaking through junctions is very much not defensive driving.

[@goodguykonrad3701]

I don't have a dashcam but I'll share a driving fail I had recently that was, fortunately, a non-event, but could have been really bad. It was at a roundabout where one dual carriageway joins another. It's not traffic light controlled and there are two lanes: left lane for going left or ahead; right lane for going ahead or right. It's often a fairly fast flowing roundabout. It's where the A1307 meets the A14 heading south-east towards Cambridge, around about J24 on the A14. There was a lorry solely in the left lane and I went alongside the lorry in lane 2 to go ahead. We both flowed onto the roundabout as there wasn't traffic approaching from the right and, stupidly, I stayed in the lorry's blindspot. I hadn't paid attention to check if the lorry was indicating, and for whatever reason, I decided I was going to overtake them, thinking we were both going ahead, on the roundabout. I was in the lorry's blindspot the whole time, and they were going right from the left lane. I overtook them, making my exit, and I have no idea how I wasn't hit. I wouldn't be surprised if there were just inches to spare between my back bumper and the cab of the lorry. It's worth pointing out that the lorry driver made a poor decision to go right from the left lane without taking up space in both lanes. I don't know if they were indicating right but if they weren't, they should have been, and either way they needed to use positioning to show their intent. Most important though is that none of us ever assume we won't make a mistake. Always anticipate the actions of others and also that we might, how ever rarely, make a rash decision that we need to be able to react to. In addition to that, driving is allowed to be enjoyable and relaxing, but it is important that it remains a mentally active activity and not a passive one. Always be vigilant.

[@lamebear6669]

There’s a mini roundabout near mine and every time I go all the way round, I get beeped at from other drivers emerging from my right (whom I gave way to) zooming into the roundabout once I’m already there and get to me because I didn’t just cut the roundabout and get over quicker. It’s so frustrating.