What are your biggest driving pet peeves?

[DrivingCrazy]

inspired by the fact I encountered one of mine this morning! What are your biggest pet peeves on the road?

not necessarily something that is breaking the Highway Code etc, but just something irritating! Or something you’d change about the current system!

here’s a few of mine:

Lorries overtaking on a duel carriageway that is uphill, resulting in a huge queue that feels like it lasts ages!

Cyclists on back roads who don’t duck into the passing places to let cars go past

People who drive at 10mph under the speed limit in a 50, but carry on at that speed in a 30!

People who wander aimlessly around a car park with no sense of danger and don’t look for cars moving around

Dogs on long leads right next to the pavement - gives me anxiety that it will run right out into the road

Slightly different tangent but another one is that over 70s should have to sit a very basic driving test each year (not like the one a new driver sits, a much more simple ‘are you safe on main roads’ type test) and it should not be based on a self assessment

Looking forward to hearing what other people hate on the road! Just a bit of fun on a miserable Monday morning :)

A couple specific to where I live. I think the second one needs a diagram.

There is a side street that opens on to quite a busy road. When I am at this junction and look left there is a pedestrian crossing, a busy one. But cars coming from the right queue up across the side road. Cars from the left are also stopped by the pedestrian crossing so why won't they let me turn right?

Other drivers flashing full beam in thanks at night. Just don’t. There is no need at all.

People who don’t understand how to zip merge and those who stop to let people out, even though there’s only one car behind them and nothing coming the other way, potentially causing an accident. when it would have been safer and quicker to just carry on and let the car pull out onto the empty road.

I’m very mild mannered & tolerant but get me behind the wheel…. ! So many total idiots on the roads! I hate mini roundabouts. There’s one near us where cars just fly down & the drivers don’t even glance to the right. Accident waiting to happen! Can’t be doing with folks not indicating or doing it right at the last second. People not thanking me for waiting - I shout “ You’re welcome”! People not sticking to the speed limit, especially if they are going too slowly. Pedestrians who walk out into traffic without looking or are engrossed in their phone. Taxi drivers! Obviously not tarring them all with the same brush but the local ones are generally twats!! DH is a cyclist so I tend to empathise rather than criticise although naturally you get some that need to learn the rules of the road & some consideration! Phew that was cathartic! Thanks OP!

People who use one track lanes but can't reverse to a passing spot if needed. No I won't be reversing downhill and round a corner just because you can't reverse 2ft back! I might reverse back then stop just to show off and annoy you further though.

People who won't take their car through mud. I'm looking at you Porshe drivers!

People who don't have a clue what size their car is.

Driving 40 everywhere. Going through a 30? Drive at 40. Going through a 60? 40. This happens constantly where I live and it's infuriating!

Lack of indicators on roundabouts. People who have no idea how wide their car is and can’t get through huge gaps.
Theres a narrow lane by me with a tight bend. If cars keep to their side of the road, there’s enough room for both to pass at the same time (you don’t realise another car is coming until you are on the bend) The amount of people who come round practically in the middle of the road, who don’t seem to realise they are miles from the kerb is shocking. Then they look astonished to see another car coming the other way that they are basically about to hit.
I hate to say it, but it’s women who are the worst with spatial awareness from what I’ve seen.

People who take so long to make a decision about whether to pull out at a junction. By the time they do, the car is upon them. This is often older people so is probably to do with their decision making process maybe declining with age.

Groups of Lycra-class cyclists who make no attempt to either split into more manageable chunks for overtaking, or purposefully look back and then move more into the middle of the road.
As a horse rider, I’m always looking for places to pull in to allow drivers to pass as I hate holding up the traffic. Cyclists don’t seem to feel the same 😂

Another one from my morning commute - drivers who dither at traffic lights, as if the green light has come as a huge surprise to them. Especially so if it's a busy junction and the lights only let a few cars through. I was always taught that amber means get ready, green means go - not start thinking about putting your car in gear when it turns green. No wonder busy junctions get clogged up.

This is more of a pedestrian one but I turn right from my side road onto a fairly busy 30mph A road; paradoxically easier in the morning when the traffic travelling north is rammed, trickier when everything's moving at 30mph. Just to the right of the junction is a bus stop and it's the people who float about on the pavement restricting my view that do my head in. Why they can't stand well back I know not.

Yes, driving home for 2hrs in the dark and I get blinded for a few seconds at least twice by lorries on the other side of the motorway. It doesn't help that tailgaters also do it to get you to move out of the way so if it happens in the rearview mirror you get distracted looking behind you trying to figure out if an emergency vehicle needs to get through or something. It's bad enough with normal cars and the LED bulbs but lorries are completely blinding.

As a blue light response driver - people who stop dead when I’m behind them on blues, people who sort of make an effort to pull left but continue at speed when on blues, people that stop opposite a traffic island when I’m on blues and people that pull to the right when I’m on blues. It’s a constant struggle.

People who pull out straight infront of you and then 30 seconds later stop to turn off
Cyclists
People who drive to slow
People who dont indicate
People with lights brighter then the sun
People who park over the lines in carparks

Men that can't possibly be behind a woman, doing the speed limit. They have to show how big their bollocks are by overtaking me! 🙄

I’ve had multiple issues on the motorway with the same lorry company called Eddie Stobart: tailgating, erratic drivers and one driver smashed my wing mirror whilst overtaking. The bizarre thing is these incidents have occurred in completely different parts of the country, months or years apart. It’s become a long running joke that whenever we go on long motorway drives we look out for the Eddie Stobart lorry and 90% of the time, wherever we go, we see one!

Thought of another one today. Braking all the time.

Yes. And drivers who stop to let a car cross into a side road when I am crossing it!

Look in your mirrors and look around to see if there are pedestrians around!

Although I let a car out the other day when there was nobody behind me. I did feel a bit of a twit when I belatedly checked my rear view mirror.

you were just being nice and you didn’t hold anyone else up at least!

Driving instructors who don't teach pupils to use indicators/headlights correctly. There are loads round here that this applies to. I follow them all the time.
People doing 10mph under any speed limit. Again, happens all the time round here.
Elderly drivers who are a clear danger on the road. Resitting tests should be compulsory at 65 and every 2 to 3 years thereafter.
Cyclists who don't think any road rules apply to them.
Women standing by the kerb to cross, with the pushchair in front of them, virtually hanging over the kerb. Same with dogs on leads. Put them to the effing side!!!
Nobody knowing what to do at (the useless) bird shit roundabouts. It's a roundabout, it has the same rules as a normal one, you don't need to slam on and dither about!
LED headlights.

Potholes

Lorries / HGVs right up my bottom like the one earlier. Not needed you’re not going to get there quicker. And it was quite unnerving having a number plate and grill so close up in my mirror.

people who pull out in front of me so dramatically reduces stopping distances and everyone has to slam on the break.

no headlights when they really should be on.

Mini-roundabouts

They are pointless and do not serve as roundabouts in places where there is a constant stream of traffic from all directions - it's never anyone's turn.

They are just stupid.

People who don’t understand right of way when you are on the main road keep going

annoying leaner drivers on mopeds weaving in and out and revving

pavement parkers and people parking on double yellow lines. Where are the traffic wardens

Pootlers who drive ridiculously slowly & indecisively and cause delays for everyone else. They shouldn’t be on the road.

I’m a very experienced, very confident driver and I drive a powerful German car. There is nothing more frustrating than being stuck behind some idiot who thinks 35 is a reasonable speed on NSL roads. I always put my foot down & overtake them at the first opportunity & usually get flashing lights & a blaring horn in response. Muppets. 🙄

And in dark winter nights , the number of drivers of black or dark grey cars with no lights on. Sometimes the automatic headlights are on but they forget to put on the tail lights

Or worse the ones who've come onto the roundabout a few exits prior and specifically have their right indicator on despite coming off at the next exit meaning I'm sat there thinking they're carrying on around the roundabout for nothing. Arrrrgh!

Interesting comments on here about cyclist actually doing what they are meant to do and advised to do that annoys drivers.

Curb hugging is actually very dangerous as in encourages drivers to overtake too close. As a driver and cyclist I hate seeing curb hugging cyclists as too risky, they are usually very nervous inexperienced cyclists.

Cycling on a back road and not slipping in to gaps in between parked cars… this is just again dangerous and encourages close overtaking and weaving of a cyclist. But also this attitude is just typical of an entitled car driver. Why? What is wrong with driving behind a cyclist until it’s actually safe to overtake? Car drivers do not have ownership of the road. It’s a shared space.

As a driver my pet peeve is tail gating and people braking all the bloody time when there is no need. I also hate weaving drivers on the motorway and middle lane hoggers!!

Out of interest, which makes of car need you to put rear lights on separtely from headlights? I don't think I've ever (in a very long and varied car-owning history) experienced that.