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Other BMW drivers are the only people that let out other BMWs - and then only a few. :-(
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Happy to let them out; it's letting them in I'm less keen on!
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That's nothing to do with the car, they think you are a fellow dealer.
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Yes any fellow vrS drivers will get a wave, or flash of the lights.
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Only time I have experienced this was when I owned a Reliant Rialto. They also wave furiously at other owners, maybe a cry for help?
My ex wifes old Talbot Avenger was always being let out, either because she was pretty or maybe because those cars look rather dainty and inoffensive, which could also be a reason.
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the only time I've had any raction like this was drriving the Caterham 7 or the Imprezza Turbo.
Driving a mondeo just doesn't get the same reaction
--
I read often, only post occasionally
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Series Land Rover owners are well known for waving at passing fellow masochists, the thought was initially that it was friendly but now it has to be presumed that they are trying to keep the windscreen demisted which the demisters don't or they are warning you to keep clear because of vauge steering.
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Should of put this in my question but does anybody get this reaction when driving a Ford Ka as they are "character cars"?
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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I am amazed at how few fellow Forester drivers will share a friendly wave. Most stare straight ahead clearly reluctant to acknowledge that more than one person has had the good sense to choose one of the best vehicles on the road. One guy (bearded and looked like a Liberal Democrat university lecturer) managed to look at me after I waved, with a face that contained much disdain.
It could be me...... but Adam, Borasport and Blue Haddock will aver that I am reasonably normal.........here's that £5 I owe you lads.
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Similar to above - I let most out except BMW drivers.
This is only based on the fact that having treated BMW owners the same, they seem to be the only drivers that never thank me for letting them out - so I never let them out now. (I know this is tarring all BMW drivers with the same brush but having observed it over a period of time it was more than coincidence that none of them bothered even acknowledging the courtesy shown them).
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An awful lot of people don't acknowledge courtesy or anything else. I always try to wave or flash the hazards or something, but in fact there are times when one's hands are too full to make another signal. So perhaps some of them would if they could.
I haven't noticed any correlation between make of car and arrogant or ill-mannered conduct. Just expect it in about 40 per cent of cases.
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>>I haven't noticed any correlation between make of car and arrogant or ill-mannered conduct.<<
The Audi marketing boys did - remember the yuppie test driving the A4 ad ?
Most of my colleagues drive 3 series with a couple driving them for the 1st time after A4's and X types - they all comment how they are let out of junctions a lot less than before.
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>>And of course, BMW drivers are also regarded as being more aggressive than the average. You will definitely find yourself given less quarter while behind the wheel of a 3-Series.<<
Apologies - I meant to post the above extract from web site test drive.
Anyway this is about same model chivalry - not BMW bashing - sorry Martin - I'm staying on thread.
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You'll be waiting a long time for me to let you out of a junction if you're in an "SUV" and we're not in the countryside. The reason is not least that by letting out a chelsea tractor around town that I'll no longer be able to see what's happening ahead.
I often see a Fabia the same colour as ours on the way into work - it's quite distinctive and we often wave at each other!
-- You know, it\'s not like changing toothpaste
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Espada, you shouldn't let on that you're in on the Subaru secret, still less expect anyone to aknowldege it.
If I see you wave at me round North Manchester, I'll be forced to get out and kill you there and then.
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Well, Thank goodness Motorcylists aren't as particular as Type S eh ? Cheery wave from ninety percent yesterday on my little mini tour, including a guy on a 125 sized trailie and one of those rather odd feet forward/scooter cross bred things - you meet the nicest people on a Honda/BMW/Kawasaki/Yamaha etc - and don't tell me that none of those motorcyclist didn't realise they were waving at a BMW - distinctive it (so) is.
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Wow - yet another grammatical faliure. none = any !
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You are right PU!
Not being patronising though I like the young lads with Rossi re helmets on 50cc stepthrus and L plates, they wont wave or nod first, instead they seem to shrink into the scooter in an embarrased kinda way as they pass though if you nod to them you can almost feel the warmth bouncing back, like 'gee I have been acknowledged by a guy on a big bike'.
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Anyway this is about same model chivalry - not BMW bashing - sorry Martin - I'm staying on thread.
Er... sorry to carp type s but I thought the thread was about people driving the same model acknowledging or giving way to each other, not a lot of bigoted morons reacting to the perceived popular image of drivers of some model.
Whether you give way to someone or not depends on circumstances, and there's a lot of leeway in both directions. Nothing more galling than not giving way to someone coming out of a side street and then being baulked so you have to sit in front of them for a minute and a half, with both of you studiously whistling and looking in all directions but one... After a few years of metropolitan snarlups you learn that more or less civilized behaviour is best for the traffic flow, therefore for everyone... but the same experience teaches you to firmly take your road and do it quick so you don't annoy people. All depends on circumstances.
This sort of thing isn't everyone's cup of tea. My late father hated driving in London and did it less and less as he got older. Didn't like being sneered at by urban whippersnappers.
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Thank you Lud for pointing it out about the thread going slightly off topic.
What i mean is: if you were to drive a Ford Ka like myself would you be more curtious to a fellow Ford Ka or not?
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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As Lud says
'I haven't noticed any correlation between make of car and arrogant or ill-mannered conduct. Just expect it in about 40 per cent of cases.'
I have to say I let people in that I feel, or hope deserve to be let in. The behavour of the car is very important. I have a bug bear about people not indicating at junctions, but it is very hard to decide who is indicating or not before I let them into my lane if turning from a side road. I feel guilty if they are indicating but I have not let them in, conversly I feel angry I have let them in but they have not been indicating.
I have been going through my mind about what someone said on a fiat forum about how when he was driving in his doblo he overtook a high performance car of some desciption. He then found the need to crow about it on a public forum. I feel this is due to his inferiority complex about driving a fiat doblo. It stands to reason that he would only let in other doblo drivers because he thinks the car has character. He would not let a high performance car out however!
If I saw a car I associate with middle class, middle aged road users that I don't think are agressive drivers I try to let them out. The cars include Honda Jazz, Toyota Yaris etc. However I have to learn than these people don't always signial. I drive a P reg renault clio, and I aussme these shape cars are getting rarer. However I don't let drives of other renault clios out since I assume they are chav scum who run around in bangers and thus who's road manners will not be up to much.
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I tend to let people out who I don't think are going to cause me any problems once I've done so.
In heavy traffic where nobody is really going anywhere anyway, I'll let most people out (Well, only the one car or I'd be there all day).
In reasonably free-flowing traffic the last thing I want is a dolt in an underpowered asthmatic 1.2 dithering around in front of me so I tend to only let out people in cars decent enough that they won't get in the way.
Obviously, this doesn't always work, as anyone who has spent 6 miles along a perfectly empty A road stuck behind a guy in an Audi A4 3.0 Quattro Sport doing 35mph will tell you...
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It is very annoying to let someone in from the left only to find they arte doing an immediate right and having to sit behind them while they wait for a gap in the on coming traffic.
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I've been observing this over many years.
Classic car owners of course acknowledge each other when passing another of the same model, even if they pass every day. But there is a social hierachy between models of classics, and owners tend to be a bit stuffy about acknowledging other models, let alone makes. I used regulary to pass a Triumph Dolomite when driving my 2000, but the girl at the wheel refused to respond. On the other hand I always got a friendly wave from a chap in a Ford Escort. Drivers of TR sports cars never acknowledge any other Triumph.
It's been observed in the Volvo Owners Club that 240 owners never acknowledge each other, even though some of them (the cars) are now over 20 years old and clearly "classic" whatever that might mean. I once deliberately parked in a car park next to another one that was identical to mine - same model, year, colour.
The owner was not amused, and didn't want to talk. He said he was hoping to keep it for a long time and clock up a high mileage, but he wasn't imterested in swapping experiences. He was a fellow club member, but appeared to live in total isolation.
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Obviously, this doesn't always work, as anyone who has spent 6 miles along a perfectly empty A road stuck behind a guy in an Audi A4 3.0 Quattro Sport doing 35mph will tell you...
This irritates me too, when I see a fast car going at a very slow speed when it's safe to go 20mph faster. Why on earth did the person buy a fast car??????
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>>Why on earth did the person buy a fast car??????
Because they wanted to and its a [mostly] free country.
Not that that particularly excuses selfish/rude/inconsiderate driving of any sort. I can't say I particularly understand it either. Sometimes I'll drive slowly - tought week, lost, or just relaxing - but who wants to do it with an irate driver on your tail ? Why not pull to one side to make it easy for them to go past ? I'm sure I don't understand being in the middle of the road holding everybody up.
Mind you, its only slightly less mindless than the fool who climbs all over my tail pipe when there is no possibility of an overtake.
There are an awful lot of prats on our roads. People take cars, driving and themselves far too seriously.
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IME it´s very rare for German drivers to acknowledge any courtesy from a fellow driver. I´m used to it now, so any kind of wave/acknowledgement is a nice bonus weirdly enough.
Barchetta drivers always wave at each other. Sympathetically...?
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Tipperary drivers wave at each other just because they happen to be sharing the same stretch of road. Unless you drive a Dublin-registered car, that is ;-)
There are so many Puntos about that they never get any recognition, but the Skoda (and there are lots of them, too) frequently gets another Skoda driver eager to share tales of how good they are, or a prospective buyer asking about how good they are. Which might explain why you never see Skoda ads on Irish television...
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>>Why on earth did the person buy a fast car?????? Because they wanted to and its a [mostly] free country.
They sit next to you at the lights. You can tell without even looking that they are poor drivers. When the light changes they out-accelerate your humbler jalopy and then settle into a weaving waddle 10 miles an hour below the limit. Used to send me nearly apoplectic when I was younger and drove 2-cylinder Citroens with no acceleration but good brakes and roadholding. They still do it of course. The other thing they do is brake going downhill although the road is straight and clear, then accelerate up the slope ahead leaving you screaming along in third trying to get some speed back.
There's no good reason for either of these driving habits, which are very common. If there was a proper driving test such drivers wouldn't be able to pass it. Meanwhile they get in our way and endanger our mental health.
That's society for you. But would any of us be happier if we were the only creature in creation?
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I usually make a point of letting cars out of side roads, regardless of their make and model- cheers them up, cheers me up. I do make an exception for SUVs on the school run with one parent and one child- for no other reason than they annoy me because they clog the traffic up so much (it's a purely personal thing, I'm not claiming it's wrong or right).
In the MG, other MG drivers will generally acknowledge. Mostly other classic drivers do too. In the other half's MX5, it's strange, but people in mk1 cars (flip up lights) will wave or blink the lights or flash (ours is a mk1). Later cars don't seem to bother.
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Dr Alex Mears
MG BGT 1971
If you are in a hole stop digging...unless
you are a miner.
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In the other half's MX5, it's strange, but people in mk1 cars (flip up lights) will wave or blink the lights or flash (ours is a mk1). Later cars don't seem to bother.
My girlfriend has a Mk2.5 MX5 and she sometimes gets waved/ flashed at by other MX5 owners but rarely waves back! If I'm in the car with her I sometimes cringe and always tell her to give them a wave back. But shes a bit shy and doesn't get the "in the club" aspect of owning the car. I sometimes get the urge to wave back myself from the passenger seat, but I know that would look a bit stupid!
I wonder is it because Mk1's were seen as a modernised Elan copy so many were bought by car enthusiasts. Mk2's onwards are more mainstream cars (with more alternatives on the market nowadays) and tend to be bought by more mainstream owners?
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"They sit next to you at the lights. You can tell without even looking that they are poor drivers. When the light changes they out-accelerate your humbler jalopy and then settle into a weaving waddle 10 miles an hour below the limit."
Ha ha, that's me all over Lud. On long dual carriageways I like to floor it at the lights in sport mode, right up to the limit and count how many seconds it takes them to catch me up. If it takes them more than 60 seconds, I win. I like to torment people too. I like nudging the gas when they're just drawing along side, I let them overtake eventually but they've got to really want to.
Dangerous... illegal... irresponsible... yeah blah blah blah. Great fun though.
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I used to have an early split-screen Minor Tourer. Often got friendly waves from veteran/vintage/classic drivers. Bentley drivers seemed to be particularly charming.
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Dangerous... illegal... irresponsible... yeah blah blah blah. Great fun though.
Dear me BBD, you are a naughty little tyke aren't you? But I feel you exaggerate.
As I said: that's society for you. Takes all sorts, even if we might sometimes prefer to do without some sorts.
Although I have used the word dangerous once or twice BBD, I haven't much used the words irresponsible or illegal except with approval. I don't really mind people being illegal or playful, I just hate it when they are obviously stupid pains in the fundament. The thought of trying to explain anything to that kind of person makes your heart sink.
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I'm glad you approve, I fear there are backroomers that would take a great driving game like "Death-dare-glory" and make it sound dangerous.
Of course I would never drive like that in the UK, but there are so many drivers here busily intent on killing themselves, no one takes any notice of little old me playing my little games.
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Interesting thread!
Where do I start ? As I see this from both sides. My wife has a MINI which I sometimes drive, and when you buy this car it comes with a humerous(?) booklet that suggests a "cult" among MINI drivers of flashing, waving and giving way to other MINI drivers. (marketing rubbish really but perhaps I'm too old).
When we first bought the car in 2003 we did flash other MINIS - for about a week - and then got bored with it and now never bother (the model now has been around a while and is not so unusual as it once was ). What we do notice is that whenever we pass a brand new one we get flashed and waved at (new owners have just read the book) but nobody else bothers.
The other thing I notice is that when I'm dring the MINI I do get let out much more than when driving my own car (sorry it's a BMW !) It's very true that other motorists dislike BMW drivers - even when they are driven by someone like me (Fifties, retired - complete opposite of the thrusting marketing types that drive the latest BMW's).
That badge does generate some "furious anger" at times.
I would like to think I'm a safe and curteous driver (don't we all?) , I always try to read the road ahead and let any vehicle out if I think it will improve the traffic flow ( and therefore - as Lud said- benefit everybody)
but my pet hate is that when you do flash someone that you are giving way to them - and I use a hand signal as well to make it clear they can go - then you realise that their observation is so poor they don't see your signals and just sit there waiting.................You are then unsure as to wether to proceed because if you do then go forward it's likely to be at the exact moment they have woken up and done the same!
Oh - and I NEVER give way / let out mummys driving (just about peering over the wheel of) massive 4x4's as I would much rather be in front than behind them.
Jacks
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Frazer
In answer to your original question - yes. I also tend to wave, but like Espada, find that few wave back.
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Since when is a Ka a 'character' car.
The only ones I've driven (loan cars) were terrible.
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Whilst I wouldn't have one myself, they Ka does have character. If you look at it for what it is (a cheap car) then it is quite fun. Surprisingly so in fact when pushed very hard on the twisties - reminded me of a go kart (no bad thing!).
Being the height that I am though, I really couldn't have one as my own car.
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All the character of a cow pat.
I have a tall friend, Adam, although perhaps a bit smaller than you, who has the smallest kind of Seat (a Lupo equivalent I believe) and would really like an old Fiat 500 (he used to have a 595 Abarth, before your time though). Personally I quite like large cars, but small ones are obviously better, or would be, all other things being equal, which they aren't of course.
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As a BMW driver I make it my mission to be nice to other motorists and acknowledge their courtesy.
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When I drove a 1967 Lotus Elan S3 coupe in the 1990s all other Lotus drivers tended to wave... but then Lotus drivers are masochists and one masochist recognises another:-))
madf
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AA Patrolmen on their motor-cycles with sidecar always used to *salute* me.....they obviously knew class when they saw it :o)
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No OAP, they just knew you were driving below the limit .... ;- }
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Well in my dads old car (black rover 620i, N226ARC) we were stuck behind ANOTHER black 620i, reg N223ARC in traffic. i started waving like an excited child, must have looked like a complete weirdo... finally the dude turned around and gave me a 'hand gesture' .
I realised after that there was no way he could tell in his rear view mirror that our cars were identical and 3 numbers apart, and came to the conclusion that i am an idiot. Plus, at the time, my dad called me one too.
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Surely, jacks, you want to have the dodgy drivers in front of you, where you can see them and give them some space, rather than behind you likely to kick your backside while doing their nails/shouting at kids etc..
I love the humour on this site, exemplified on this thread!
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I was let out by a BMW today so the drivers are not all as arrogant as people make out. I wait politely as my boyfriend comments on what type of dealer they are esp if its an X5
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So a Karma moment following the other "incident" then.....
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Fiat Coupe owners will almost invariably flash/wave to each other.I think only about seven thousand were imported,and production ceased in 2000,so they are getting rare.
I have met fellow owners and find they love talking about their car. There is even a "coupe spotting" section on the Coupe website.
Like a lot of other BR`s I will not let SUV`s out and hate them with a passion.
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I was let out by a BMW today so the drivers are not all as arrogant as people make out. I wait politely as my boyfriend comments on what type of dealer they are esp if its an X5
Yes,over the past few days I have been let out by a BMW on two occassions,in a Sierra too,they must be reading this thread.
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Jacks, I had a friend who got serious injuries from a mummy in a Range Rover who didn't spot that he'd stopped several hundred yards in front of her.
I dunno: can't see, or risk her behind is still putting on lippy ...
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Must confess I rarely let out (or give an inch) to anyone in anything German. Simply because 9 times out of 10 they are so aggressive that it gets my back up. Ditto with 4 x 4 and vans with windows.
I do tend to be more courteous with certain superminis, and women with kids (except in the above instances . . . . .) I clear the way for Alfas and cars I like, as long as they are beiong driven in a courteous manner.
There you go - my tuppence worth.
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I don't let vans and 4x4s out on the grounds that if I do I lose forward visibility.
I don't let buses out because they obsure half the world, they stink to high heaven, they have their own special dedicated congestion causing lanes anyway, and lastly they are usually full of 8< SNIP - comments that could well offend people removed - DD
Otherwise, I tend to let others out if it is busy and they would otherwise wait ages. I did once stop when in a queue, to let someone escape a side road, and a few seconds later I heard a crunch as the car behind me was rear ended by the car behind him.
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