In thinking that owning a 4X4 is not an excuse to drive like a twunt!!!

[lucyellensmumagain]

Just had a call from my DP (hands free!!!) who is explaining that the motorway is like an ice rink and that he is driving at about 30mph at max. He is in a van. About three times he has exclaimed about idiots zooming past him in 4x4s!! Yeah ok, so you might have more traction in a 4x4 but isn't this to help you pull away and drive more safely - it is not a green light to drive like a twat, your stopping distance is still going to be compromised in the snow, you could still lose control - kill yourselves if you must but FFS, my DP is trying to get home in one peice you selfish waste of spaces, i loathe people who drive like this, they are putting other peoples lives at risk for what? getting home 20 minutes earlier!! brain dead

grrrrr had to get that out!!

Out for a walk today, saw a 4x4 which had been reversed into a ditch and could not get out, regardless of four wheel drive, traction, ABS, whatever - Suck. On. That.

YANBU!! The road I live on is very narrow with 90deg bends, and we live on one of the bends. I was parking DH's car clear of the bend, when a 4x4 came zooming around the corner, narrowly missing DH's car!
He stopped in the parking area for the bungalows opposite, dropped someone off and then came zooming out again, slipping and sliding in the process

Idiot

yabu if you don't spare a thought for those land rover owners in many counties who volunteer to be on call at times like this to help people

eg: Suffolk Rover Rescue

YANBU today on way to work and on way back i was tailgated by 2 seperate 4 x 4 vehicles who thought thy could bully me in going over 30 on a v snowy road.

I saw a landrover stuck sideways on a hill between 2 banks. It had skidded and got stuck. Fire engine in attendance to get it out Ha Ha

nappyzone I had that last night on way to vets, had car sick cat in car, twisty road in places, dark and icy and I stuck to 40-45ish, OK it was in a 60 so I was going slow but if they're such hot drivers why don't they just overtake on the straight bits? Clearly way to dim to realise that their stopping distances are going to be longer than mine as their car weighs more than mine. Or just don't care.

I may be a lone voice here. But I saw plenty of twunts out on the road today....and they were in normal cars. Dont think 4 by 4 drivers have a monopoly on driving like idiots.

Equally dangerous are people who drive ridiculously slowly/ break abruptly and clearly have no confidence in snowy conditions. If you are going to be a nervous driver in snow...dont drive!

they just scare me .

YANBU.

Some people don't seem to acknowledge the icey roads. I don't know why. But it is selfish.

I agree with that mistletoe - we were behind someone at the weekend who was doing what you describe, DP said they'd have been better staying at home. It makes life more difficult when those around you are driving inconsistently.

Isn't driving like a twunt usually a requirement to buy a 4x4 ? With additional twuntishness if you live in a built up area?

have to agree that I don't think 4 by 4 drivers have a monopoly on this, think the people driving like idiots is fairly evenly balanced across the car types. We've found the overly nervous drivers just as dangerous, as they seem to make really bizarre and erratic decisions when driving at the minute, suddenly breaking, driving really slowly on the outside lane of the motorway because they're too scared to move to a different lane etc

agree that people need to at least read about how to drive in these conditions before they head out in them

mistletoe you're not a lone voice!

how mean to laugh at someone stuck in the snow though

I must learn not to take this anti-4x4 stuff personally

I do think driving a 4x4 makes you feel indestructible. DP used to have one of those Freelander thingies, so not a massive one, but I definitely noticed a change in his driving. He has always been sensible but he got too overconfident sometimes. And in snow as well, people driving 4x4s think 'Yes! finally, conditions where having this type of car is actually an advantage' and then go too far.

(surely a freelander doesn't count as a 4x4?)

Possibly Brahms, although I think quite a number of people driving them (particularly the school run mums) actually belong to the group tiredfeet describes: people who aren't very confident in their driving ability. People who are nervous or just not very skilled at driving can go for the 4 x 4s because they think it'll keep them safe.
Far safer to learn to drive more skilfully and confidently (though not over-confidently)

"Isn't driving like a twunt usually a requirement to buy a 4x4"

Erm some people do genuinely need a 4x4!

They are not bad in mud actually, Mitchy

YABU!

I have an X5 - it's bloody massive and has traction control / hill descent - everything. it's amazing what decent 4x4s will cope with.

No way would I take it out today... but that's me personally and I've no reason to drive. (Did that whoe panic shopping yesterday! so fully stocked up! )

Personally, I quite enjoy the 'anti 4x4' feeling on MN... We are the root of all evilness!!

I think if you can go much over 30mph in it with your foot flat down it is some sort of posh imitation of the Real Thing

Feck.. mine's not posh - I've curbed the wheels far too many times!!

It's not people driving slowly in snow that is the problem- it's the people behind who are so desperate to go faster that cause the problems. It is important to acknowledge that it is snow and it is slippy and people do not want to risk the lives of themselves or their children. There's so need for it. A bit of patience and consideration wouldn't go amiss.

When the roads are clear, and gritted and someone is crawling along at 10 miles an hour - I have to disagree and say it is dangerous! That combined with lane hogging, unpredictable manouvres and sharp braking is not safe driving!

And there were plenty of 'twunts' not in 4 by 4's driving like that today.

If the road is not clear/ icy, I totally agree - patience is totally required. The roads in central london were totally clear today.

LucyEllen's on about icy roads, though. I agree that people driving 2 mile an hour on normal roads are just plonkers.

Today someone skidded out and nearly hit the taxi I was in- he was on the phone and driving a 'normal' speed. He had toddlers in the back. The taxi driver told him that he obviously disregarded his children's lives and that he would report him to the police for driving like an idiot on compacted snow. Good on taxi man.