Two different but equally alarming observations of dopiness on the M40 in Buckinghamshire the other evening.
1.
In fading light, when almost all the other vehicles had lights on, a twilight-grey Audi A6 was trundling along at 60ish in lane 3 of 4 with acres of empty space to its left and not a light in sight; in other word, getting on for invisible. As I passed, I looked across to see its driver (40ish, female and alone in the car) evidently engaged in a conversation on the phone that required a good deal of gesticulating. She seemed still to have a hand on the wheel, but plainly not much mind on the job - not the one of driving anyway.
If challenged, I'm sure she'd have insisted that her hands-free device made this safe. I would disagree.
2.
The other car was a Volvo S60, and this one was showing some lights - just not enough; the offside tail light wasn't working. Unremarkable, except that I know a bit about the S60 and not only does it have two bulbs for each tail light, but the computer (even the bare-bones one in my S model) gives you an unmissable and specific warning when one of them fails. So this driver (youngish, male, didn't look dim or impoverished) had been ignoring the message about the first bulb long enough for the second one to go. At this point, the message would have changed to 'Multiple lamp failures'. And he still didn't fix it.
There have been threads here about the difficulty of changing bulbs on modern cars, but an S60 tail lamp bulb costs about 80p and can be fitted without tools in about two minutes. And Swedish cars (the makers' marketers tell us) are supposed to appeal to those of a higher IQ than the average car buyer!
There. Feel better now. Nice cup of tea...sit down. Aaaaah.
}:---)
Edited by Pugugly on 27/09/2008 at 18:39
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I've pointed out failed lights before, only to be greeted with the response 'It'll be picked up at the next MOT'. The same with washer fluid. I don't bother any more.
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You can sneak up on people who are on the phone and clearly distracted and give a good blast of the horn to surprise them.
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>>You can sneak up on people who are on the phone and clearly distracted and give a good blast of the horn to surprise them.
Lol
Now that is funny, but probably very naughty too!
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I saw someone sneak up on a van driver who was on the phone today - fortunately it was one of N Yorks police finest in his Volvo at the roundabout in Pickering.
Van had approached a roundabout from say 6 o clock to turn left to 9 oclock, police car was parked in a layby on approach at 3 o'clock. The driver obviously missed him as he was on the phone. He must have kicked off too as when we walked past he was cuffed and pinned against the side of the van.
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... He must have kicked off too as when we walked past he was cuffed and pinned against the side of the van....
daveyjp,
Good thing you didn't try to take a picture, or you'd have ended up in th back of the van as well. :)
Good to hear of a mobile phone user getting nicked - deserves everything he gets.
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Similar thing on M5 this morning.
Driving north at about 8.30am near Worcester - thick fog. Passed a couple of cars without any lights on - let alone fog lights.
Just asking for an accident to happen.
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i know this has been mentioned before, but relevant here....how many people think that one click on their light switch fulfils their responsibilities for turning on lights?
so in driving rain or fog there's a whole army of numpties with sidelights on, which don't make the slightest bit of difference
bring back 'dim/dip'...that was an excellent idea....at least then when the planks moved the switch only once, there was a light you could actually see
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I see so many cars nowadays with only the third middle brake light showing. Both side brake lights out. Either they don't bother to check lights or they get MOTs done where a blind eye is turned for the sake of a quid or two.
Edited by scribe on 28/09/2008 at 13:04
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I was behind a woman driver last year going around a major City one way system and wondered why her driving was so erratic.
When I got close I realised that she was applying her make up via the passenger side sun visor mirror and forgave her.
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Never understood why or how people speed past me with no lights in fog or rain so heavy that it's impossible to see more than a few tens of meters ahead with or without lights.
I must have missed the driving lesson that involved using the force!
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 28/09/2008 at 13:21
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Quote:...""So this driver (youngish, male, didn't look dim or impoverished) had been ignoring the message about the first bulb long enough for the second one to go. At this point, the message would have changed to 'Multiple lamp failures'. And he still didn't fix it.""
Perhaps both bulbs failed at the same time or in quick succession. I remember a friend was about to set off on a journey, only to find the headlights didn't work. We fiddled with the fuses, thumbed through the handbook, scratched our heads for ages. I think the RAC were called, and the engineer found that both bulbs had gone at the same time. Two new bulbs cured the problem.
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I think the RAC were called and the engineer found that both bulbs had gone at the same time. Two new bulbs cured the problem.
This just proves how a few simple old fashioned tools could save the day, a simple circuit tester, i don't mean a multi meter just a screwdriver with light inside sharpened to a needle point (not the light..;), can make this type of fault so easy to trace.
Not saying i would have found the faulty bulbs mind as now everything has got so blessed complicated and computerised/digitised we sometimes fail to look for an obvious fault the old fashioned way.
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Beware of sneeking up and blasting the horn, some drivers will jump and do something un-predicable, like jumping on the brakes or immediatley heading for the inside lane. Regards Peter
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>Perhaps both bulbs failed at the same time or in quick succession.
A valiant plea in mitigation, SS - but even if this was the case, our driver still drove off with the computer telling him he had a multiple bulb failure. And if he had no spare in the car, it would have been a simple job to move one good bulb from the left cluster to the right, so he'd at least have had a light on each side until he could replace them both properly
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Another good reason to make motorcycle riding compulsory; give people a sense o vulnerability. One of my "usual suspects" was stopped by the Police the other day, not only content with overtaking a Police car in a 30, he nearly clipped a kerb on an island, he had no brake light, no indicators - I was surprised he only had a ticket to fix the faults, seems the cops were in a hurry as well.
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