drivers doing stupid things!!
 

has anyone observed other drivers doing weird things while at the wheel outside of on their telephone or eating something?
I had a lady undertake me on the inside lane on HWY 1 going towards Vancouver. She was leant across the passenger side, had the sun visor down....and had a pair of scissors up her nostril presumably trimming nasal hair. Can you imagine if she braked she would kill herself!!!!!!!!

Pulled up behind an SUV at some lights. The occupants and driver were busy watching Star Wars on large pull down screen that covered half of the windscreen

Any other experiences?
and why do Chines drivers carry a box of tissues in the rear window of their car......Whats that all about??

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

How long have you been here? This has not been uncommon.

I was in a parking lot and an oriental lady wanted to park between two vehicles. The gap was narrower than her car. This was not going to deter her. First try, she got about half way in and reshaped the panels on 3 vehicles. Second go she got a bit further, but I guess figured she'd not get in would try somewhere else. She spoke little English and could not understand why she could not 'leave the scene' She honeslty thought she had done nothing wrong. How the hell she thought she would get out I'll never know.

Every time I drive there is often more than one incident with some idiot who cannot drive, or pedestrians who walk out 'claiming right of way' regardless of whats coming.

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We were on the same road about 4 weeks a go and the guy in front of us was driving along in his truck conducting music with a stick !!!!!!!!

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I have been here 18 months and still find it incredably bizarre.
Like if people wandered over the road like that in Nottingham it would be carnage.
I had a rental car here in BC and parked that. When I came back the passenger door crushed in. I wonder if it is the same idiot you saw????

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

idiots are every where, nearly every time I get on the roundabout someone cuts me off!! they are in the wrong lane, I used to think maybe cos I was not used to the rdbts I was wrong, but been re-assured I am in right lane.

People on mobiles are my biggest pet peeve in both countries, but here in UK it's a big fat no-no.

We were in Athens a month ago, motorcyclist..no helmet, smoking a cigarette, talking on mobile AND driving on side walk as he couldn't be bothered to wait in traffic!! Glad I was on BIG city bus there

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Beware ~ As a driving instructor in the UK we teach (believe it or not) "Pedestrians have right of way in EVERY situation" The same law applies in Canada...... If you hit a pedestrian YOU will be under investigation

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i love the way people become invisible in their cars at traffic lights... no, i cant see you picking your nose rooting round in there like a truffle hunting pig. :ohmy:

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Except that this is not the law in either country:blink:

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IMO Canadians (or at least Maritimers) are some of the worse drivers I have ever encountered. Dont let it wind you up, just go with it as it never gets easier to deal with!

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My pet peeve is people driving with their dogs on their laps (driver's):eek:

The biggest dog I have seen in said position is a fully grown Lab:ohmy:

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

Have to say that I also see loads of drivers with dogs on their laps :ohmy: One driver has his dog leaning out the window - the dog wears sunglasses :cool:

Back in Aberdeen, Scotland I used to see drivers shaving or applying make-up during the morning rush hour. Well, it did take about 15 minutes queuing to get through the roundabout :rolleyes:

Of course drinking and driving with a Timmies in your hand also seems compulsary, but most people do drive automatics so what else are you going to do with your right hand ;)

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Oooooooooo oh yes it is! There are several examples of You "must" give way to the pedestrian in the UK highway code

The one that comes straight to mind (cos I refered to it all the time) is rule 170 .........

But in any case ~ Law or not, pedestrians have right of way..... You are simply not allowed to plough them down because they "appeared" not to look correctly.

But give a thought for us immigrants that just move into a foreign country swap our foreign license for a local one and really should know the rules but don't ~ They then talk on phones (cos it's ok where they come from), drive with dogs on their laps (what's the issue?) and never see stop signs (cos they don't have them "back home") ~ Oh yeah ....... anyone driven down the wrong side of the road for a mile or two?

Fun isn't it??

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

Which is very different to what you said in your original post where the word "Every" was used.

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

I drove 20 yrs in Ont, moved to UK and still drive on left for the first 2 days of being home. Is ok if I am at farm no other traffic, but when I hit Belleville they frown on me being on their side. So now I try not to drive until jet lag ceases a bit.
BUT as soon as I return to UK I do same thing, after 9 yrs I still walk to the left hand side of car to drive, and get in on right hand side of my husbands car til he reminds me "I'm driving" old habits die hard.

Reading books, applying make up, texting, talking on mobile, have seen it all. I want to say to these people YOU MORON YOUR ARE DRIVING NOT AT HOME, GROW UP. The person they hit could be someone I love or ME!
So if anyone here is guilty of these driving errors/crimes STOP IT.

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It's been a bad weekend for cyclists in Ottawa at the hand of stupid drivers

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Dr...152/story.html

I was told by a paramedic that it had happened at about 0830 on Sunday as they were carrying a buddy out of the woods with a tree branch still in his leg....

Guys i was riding with drove past the 5 rodies on the way to the woods, and this all happened on roads we commute on outside our work....

Since then have encountered 2 other staggering displays of stupid driving, almost got T Boned at a junction as a car crashed a red! and more stupidity on the highway with a driver that did not understand the concept of a lane closing, (due to another Fatality! - http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Ea...164/story.html )

So all in all , pretty Shit driving round here, don't know if i am safer biking in or in the truck! :confused:

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

Mmm... I was quite surprised about how much courtesy drivers here will give pedestrians. If you happen to be a pedestrian crossing the road then 90% of the time the cars will stop. This *never* happens in NZ.

That said, Canadian drivers can be quite aggressive - sometimes the way the road works appears to encourage it.

The thing I really didn't like was learning how to handle unprotected left turns at lights. Whatever happened to good old filter lights?

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

Does not stop them being idiots though. Walk out in front of a vehicle 'it's my right of way', its likely to do the pedestrian a lot more harm than the vehicle. Jaywalking is also an offence in many states & provinces. It has always puzzled me how a pedestrian committing an offence can have right of way. There is also such a thing as common sense, which an awful lot of people seem to be lacking.

Under marine law a vessel under power has right of way over one under sail. Who's going to sit in their sail boat in front of a 250,000 ton tanker and claim right of way. Same goes in the air, a ballon has right of way over a aircraft under power. Claim your right in front of a 747 and you'll pretty soon find yourself at 40,000' and moving a lot faster than ever before. Common sense dictates ones actions.

Some countries it's a whole different story, in Bangkok, pedestrians make great targets!

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

Not at all ~ Pedestrians have right of way in EVERY situation...... There are several examples in the highway code.

Have a nice day ~ Chilling out somewhere

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

Right of way is something you give not take.;)

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I see we'll have to disagree on that:thumbsup:

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Well, apart from no-one ever sticking to the speed limits (doing 70km/h in a 50 zone still makes you the slowest driver on the road!), and giving about a nanoseconds indication before turning (if any indication at all), the drivers around Abbotsford don't fare any better.

I have seen someone someone reversing back down the sliproad of highway one (presumably changed their mind about where they wanted to go), not once, but 3 times!

Eating a bowl of cereal whilst driving

Dogs on laps

A calf (as in baby cow) in the back seat of a pick up

People who just pull out and look at you like you did something wrong

Yesterday, someone was parked by the side of the road then decided to pull out right in front of me with no indication. They drove about 20 metres then stopped, again, with no indication.

No wonder car insurance is so bloody expensive! :frown:

Edit: Oh, and people reading a book / newspaper as they drive.

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

same goes here in UK, no one ever uses their blinkers and the worse tail gaters I have ever seen, my husband is a baaaad tail gater...drives me nuts, I am far from perfect driver, but I do try to stick to speed limit, don't tail gate and always make conscience effort to use my blinkers.

Maybe city drivers are more careless in areas, where I come from, if a dog crosses the road we give it right of way, we always signal, and mostly stick to speed limit. Cops get bored where I come from, so traffic is where the sneaky buggers get ya!

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If you can forgive my sweeping generalization, what i've noticed is that:-

Bad drivers in Canada are usually simply incompetent behind the wheel - they will cut you up because they didn't even look.
Bad drivers in the UK know exactly what they are doing but don't care - they will cut you up and laugh in your face as they do it.

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

Apparently not, says my OH who used to be a driving examiner in the UK. Pedestrians have to give vehicles reasonable chance to stop. When not using a proper crossing they don't have right of way. Whenever there is an accident with injury, vehicular or pedestrian the police are involved and investigate. Pedestrians in the UK have the burden or risk far more than here.

However it is not considered good form to just run people over willy nilly.

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

Agreed to a point but the rules are the rules ~ One example

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAn...code/DG_070332

Second bullet point of Rule 170 quotes the pedestrian has priority

I think that really sums it up ~ Afterall I bet we've all stepped out at some point and hoping that the driver isn't reading the highway code at the time LoL

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

At a junction (and only if they are already crossing), just like they do when on a "crosswalk", they do not have priority anywhere else.

I still haven't seen any legal authority to support what you originally stated, that they have priority "every" time.:p

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People do not use their indicators where I live, annoys the hell out of me.

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It is a shame drivers don't read this, or perhaps the police don't enforce it!

http://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing..._penalties.pdf

I love the one 'Drive on a sidewalk $81 fine' , I guess then pedestrians should have right of way

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

Mu Lud ~ I refer to the answer the honerable gentleman gave earlier :D

Shall we agree to kind of agree ish to disagree LoL :thumbsup:

Still cant just plough em down tho :eek:

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Yet another example of how special Canadian drivers can be

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/dr...936/story.html

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Dude, the guy was an immigrant :thumbdown:

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Dood, and you worked that out how? :thumbdown:

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Coz Canadians would have had the screen on the dash of course.:p

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i have a daily award to the most clever piece of driving i see each day. (sometimes I win)
also includes pedestrians, skate boards and cyclists. i might even hook up a camera and film the joys of a daily drive and the never knowing what will happen next fun.

(today i came head to head with a fool cycling up highway 1 the wrong way :blink: and then 3 kids skateboarding down the outside lane of highway 5a)

and i've been banned by the wife from telling the locals what i think about the driving ability of many of there fellow citizens :lol: even though my driving test man agreed with me !


and only yesterday i was invited to the lake by the locals who live in the basement, but he said he would drive as he's not sure if i'm ok at driving in canada . :lol: i laughed and walked away.

Re: drivers doing stupid things!!
 

The worst thing I have seen was someone driving a car with a toddler on his lap...

The kid was wriggling around and trying to stand up and the driver was fighting to keep him still.

I was pretty horrified tbh, because not only was it distracting for the driver, how the heck could he steer with a kid squirming around all over the place. And if he hit something, that kid would most probably be pinned against the steering wheel and killed, if the airbag didn't go off and kill the kid!