The "Spatial Awareness" gene

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Mon 9 Jan 2006 18:53
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - tack
How often have you come across those with a lack of awareness of what is going on outside of the vehicle they are driving? I don't mean the arrogant and aggressive ones who deliberately go out of their way to annoy....just those who simply have no idea of what is going on apart from what is in their head.

Of particular annoyance are those who:

1. Turn from a main road into a side road whare cars are parked both sides without even looking to see if a stream of traffic is coming up the side road to the main road, then blink in mild surprise that someone else has the temerity to want to use the space as well, and wonder why everyone is honking at them. They are not being rude...just totally unaware!

2. Whilst in a side road pulling up towards the give way lines to a main road, totally oblivious that you (as a pedestrian)are waiting to cross the side road and, they then thus, pull up in front of you, despite not being able to pull into the main road due to heavy traffic, making you walk around the car to cross. They are not being rude...just totally unaware!

3. Whilst walking across side road near junction with main road, Mr or Mrs Lack of spatial awareness turns from main road into side road, and again blink in surprise that a pedestrian would happen to be crossing the road at the time they want to use it. They are not being rude...just totally unaware!

4. Reverse off their driveway without looking to see if someone happens to be walking past. They are not being rude...just totally unaware!

To be honest, they might just as well be driving with blacked out windows on the inside. They are mostly those who drive with their chest 2 inches from the steering wheel, drive with a fixed expression on their face, looking neither left nor right, and do about 35 push pull hand feeds of the steering wheel to do a 45 degree turn.

Aaaarghhhh! Is there a Spatial awareness gene missing from a large proportion of the nation?
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Mon 9 Jan 2006 19:08
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Big Bad Dave
I love the ones who can reach their sixties without ever learning in which direction to drive into a petrol station. You can be at pump 2, the chap in front at pump 1 has just paid and gone and you?re about to pull away when some dope drives in the wrong way and blocks you in.
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Tue 10 Jan 2006 07:32
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - L'escargot
I love the ones who can reach their sixties without ever
learning in which direction to drive into a petrol station. You
can be at pump 2, the chap in front at pump
1 has just paid and gone and you?re about to pull
away when some dope drives in the wrong way and blocks
you in.


This isn't restricted to the over 60s. Drivers of all ages do it. I blame it on the petrol stations for not having signs or markings on the ground indicating the best direction. If the petrol station has two entrances from the road it's not always obvious which is the customary direction for that particular site.
--
L\'escargot.
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Tue 10 Jan 2006 08:42
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - cheddar
If the petrol station has two entrances from the road it's
not always obvious which is the customary direction for that particular site.>


To the contrary I find it annoying when the station tries to tell you which side to enter therefore ensuring that there are queues in some lanes and free pumps in others due to proportion of vehicles that have the filler on the right v the left.
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Tue 10 Jan 2006 09:54
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Malcolm_L
I've yet to find a petrol station where the filler hose doesn't reach around the car. It doesn't make sense for the filler hoses not to reach this far.
I guess this is yet another manifestation of the spatial awareness gene being lacking in some.

I was in Chippenham last Friday and having arrived early, I wandered round the town in search of a cafe (without success).
The main street is semi-pedestrianised with a relatively narrow main road defined by bollards, two vans were delivering about 100 yards apart but both on different sides of the road.
Of course, both lanes of traffic drove right up to the vans, there isn't room to get 2 cars through and the entire town centre was grid-locked.
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Tue 10 Jan 2006 08:54
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Big Bad Dave
"This isn't restricted to the over 60s. Drivers of all ages do it."

No but it amuses me that someone can get so far in life without ever learning. A dog would learn after twenty repetitions. 200 for a squirrel apparently.
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Wed 17 Oct 2018 14:14
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - barney100

appar

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Mon 9 Jan 2006 19:10
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - AlastairW
Numbers 2 and 3 get to me every night on my walk home.
Particularly bad case tonight though. 1st the driver did a number 3, then drove straight through the petrol station only to do a number 2 on me too. As I walked behind him he managed ro roll back, causing a certain amount of bad language and gesturing on my part. He was of course....totally unaware!
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Mon 9 Jan 2006 19:14
The - Big Bad Dave
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Tue 10 Jan 2006 07:33
The - L'escargot
Yes? Spit it out, Big Bad Dave. ;-)
--
L\'escargot.
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Mon 9 Jan 2006 19:15
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - David Horn
I was nearly squished today as a result of 3. Fortunately I managed to leap backwards.

Of course, I should have expected the man to turn in there even though he was still travelling fast and wasn't signalling.
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Mon 9 Jan 2006 19:39
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - nortones2
No.5 Unaware (I hope) Zafira driver would like to park on pavement outside off-licence. Mounts kerb, alongside pedestrian, and proceeds to force pedestrian sideways. Pedestrian considers kicking off the useless external appendages from the car, but decides against it. Am known at offie. But remembers the number for later.
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Mon 9 Jan 2006 20:19
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - sierraman
Reminds me of an incident I had,walking along the pavement with a friend and her child in a buggy when a car pulls up and mounted the pavement in front of us and parked.Young lady got out and recieved my views on her actions regarding forcing peds with child into road so she could park her car.She was not at all unaware,she just couldn't give a damn.
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Mon 9 Jan 2006 20:31
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Nsar
"How often have you come across those with a lack of awareness of what is going on outside of the vehicle they are driving?"

There's this woman whom I encounter every day in the same place every morning, about 7am. She drives me bonkers. Absolutely no clue no where she is or what's going on around her. Total menace. But once I've got up and brought her a cup of tea, things improve.

It would take something more illegal than PG Tips to improve her awareness behind the wheel though.
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Mon 9 Jan 2006 20:56
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Navara Van man
Reminds me of deep in the forest of dean. My brother and I were trying to find a mates house. We were in the midle of crossing the road when a blue datsun pickup driven by an enormouse man with a big beard and fixed expresion, and with an old loory engine bouncing around in the back came thundering round the bend and nearly knocked us over.
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Mon 9 Jan 2006 21:09
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - tack
..........I forgot.

5. On frosty mornings, the ones who use a warm finger to clear 1 square inch of frost from their wind screen, unaware that it is not enough to drive safely nor competently, and compound this error by being unaware that even if the car was convertible and they had clear all round vision....they would drive just the same anyway!
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Mon 9 Jan 2006 23:04
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Pete M
I saw a good example of this on the weekend. Due to summer weather here in New Zealand, there have been a number of bush fires. Travelling on a main road on Sunday, a car rapidly closed on me from behind, with headlights flashing and hazard indicators on. Driver was wearing fluorescent coat. A bush fire was burning not far away. Ah, I thought, a volunteer fireman, and pulled over to let him pass. The driver in front of me, however, either had no idea the car was there, or was being b***** minded. She continued at 50mph, not keeping left, and with oncoming traffic the fireman couldn't pass. I saw him gesturing for her to pull over, but it had no effect. Eventually, about a mile further on, the fireman turned left into the property with the fire. Shortly afterwards we arrived at a red light with two lanes. I stopped beside the woman's car and, looking over to her, shook my head. She appeared quite confused as to why I might be doing this. Was she missing her 'spatial awareness gene' or was she a 'he's not an official fire engine/police car/ambulance so he's not getting past.'?
We have some shocking drivers here that would get a nasty fright in the UK.
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Mon 9 Jan 2006 23:06
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Pete M
In my previous message I put:
"was being etc etc minded"

oops, sorry, forgot about the filter. I'm thinking of the synonym for obstinate.
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Mon 9 Jan 2006 22:07
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - codefarm
Aaaarghhhh! Is there a Spatial awareness gene missing from a
large proportion of the nation?


Living in the US is great but I must observe that most people here do not possess such a thing.

Case in point: There is a gated level crossing a few miles outside Union station in Chicago where the tracks cross a very wide road at an angle. Recently about five or six cars were caught queueing across the tracks by an oncoming train. Fortunately nobody was killed. They had been caught when the barriers went down. What sort of person drives on to railway tracks when the exit is not clear?

It's a good thing speed limits are so low and the enforcement so heavy -- as few people look beyond the end of the bonnet, there would be carnage otherwise.
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Mon 9 Jan 2006 22:45
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Hugo {P}
I think having driven in Florida has actually made me more patient with other UK motorists.

I just get on with it now!
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Tue 10 Jan 2006 15:03
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Lud
Most of these posts are nothing to do with spatial awareness, just general stupidity and, as many have pointed out, what used to be called 'selfishness'. Although one sees examples of these every day on the road, it never ceases to amaze me that they don't happen even more than they do. The perpetrators may not deserve our sympathy - most of them could improve if it occurred to them to try - but need our tolerance, because if we always took issue with them even more time would be wasted.

By the way, what about people who insist, like crazed apes, on doing 3-point turns in heavy traffic on main urban roads, when they could just drive round the block like normal human beings?
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Tue 10 Jan 2006 15:56
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Lud
And people who leave a 7-foot gap at the end of a residents' parking bay, encouraging the next two to leave similar gaps, so that 3 cars take up 5 spaces leaving would-be parkers to drive around looking for a slot?
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Wed 17 Oct 2018 10:12
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Nobby Clark

I truly believe that nowadays a lot of people simply don't give a damn about anyone else apart from themselves. This I think is also true not just about driving etc.

But yes, when you view someone that obviously has no spacial awareness, it does make me wonder how they managed to pass a driving test?

The other driving related thing that really boils my blood is the amount of people who drive whilst texting or talking on the phone!!

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Wed 17 Oct 2018 10:48
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Bilboman

With the advance of technology, this is only going to get worse. It's almost as if car design is built around the premise of spatial-awareness-deficient (and almost brain-dead) drivers as the default standard. Thus a driver of a new car these days is freed from the hassle of 1.looking behind before reversing out (reversing IN obviously requires far too much initiative to start with...); 2. having to watch out for those so-annoying pedestrians all over the place; 3. parallel parking; 4. keeping a vague recollection of the prevailing speed limit posted on a prominent signpost for more than half a second; 5.switching on lights and windscreen wipers at the appropriate time; 6. applying the parking brake during a traffic stop; etc., etc., etc.....

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Wed 17 Oct 2018 11:36
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - madf

With the advance of technology, this is only going to get worse. It's almost as if car design is built around the premise of spatial-awareness-deficient (and almost brain-dead) drivers as the default standard. Thus a driver of a new car these days is freed from the hassle of 1.looking behind before reversing out (reversing IN obviously requires far too much initiative to start with...); 2. having to watch out for those so-annoying pedestrians all over the place; 3. parallel parking; 4. keeping a vague recollection of the prevailing speed limit posted on a prominent signpost for more than half a second; 5.switching on lights and windscreen wipers at the appropriate time; 6. applying the parking brake during a traffic stop; etc., etc., etc.....

As many drivers I see drive without lights in mist and rain, can't park, exceed speed limits, and certainly WILL NOT reverse on single track roads (especially elderly drivers of new 4x4s)... I am all in favour of making things easier/reminding them...

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Wed 17 Oct 2018 11:39
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Bolt

Thus a driver of a new car these days is freed from the hassle of 1.looking behind before reversing out (reversing IN obviously requires far too much initiative to start with...); 2. having to watch out for those so-annoying pedestrians all over the place;

Why are they freed from hassle, with most motors now with high backs it is possible to miss children who slip away from parents and get behind a car/motor, so with a camera in place it does assist in making sure no pedestrians are there ( they don`t stop you looking by turning your head which was implied, they do assist.

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Wed 17 Oct 2018 12:46
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - madf

Thus a driver of a new car these days is freed from the hassle of 1.looking behind before reversing out (reversing IN obviously requires far too much initiative to start with...); 2. having to watch out for those so-annoying pedestrians all over the place;

Why are they freed from hassle, with most motors now with high backs it is possible to miss children who slip away from parents and get behind a car/motor, so with a camera in place it does assist in making sure no pedestrians are there ( they don`t stop you looking by turning your head which was implied, they do assist.

When you grow older - or have a neck issue- turning your head to reverse is very difficult at times.. Sciatica can also have that effect.

Reversing cameras are great for picking up the pedestrian who walks behind a reversing car at night...- which is frequent in supermarket car parks..

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Wed 17 Oct 2018 20:50
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Senexdriver
The lack of spatial awareness that irritates me is the inadvertent tailgater. They have an apparent inability to keep a sensible distance behind you and they don’t want to overtake. Try and accelerate away fkom them after you’ve negotiated a roundabout and they catch you up and sit right on your tail again. Is it some sort of security thing? I dunno but it’s very annoying!

And then there’s the timid motorist who keeps tight to the left. As a cyclist, they make my rides very perilous when they give me minimal passing space for fear of getting too close to the centre of the road or - heaven forbid - crossing it!
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Thu 18 Oct 2018 00:19
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - Bilboman

I'm as technophobic as the next middle-aged driver, but I am all in favour of driving AIDS; the problem is when drivers rely too much on technology and count on electronic assistants completely. I have scant sympathy for the able-bodied but lazy driver who just cannot be bothered to move his/her neck or eyes just a little bit more. Some drivers are so tunnel-visioned, and so utterly aware of their immediate surroundings that I swear they wouldn't notice a pair of skunks mating on their front passenger seat.

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Fri 19 Oct 2018 11:59
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - sx200n

Whilst it is not on your list - I do find this a real annoyance and should probably fall under 'awareness' - but why do so many people struggle to be aware of the size of their own cars????

Every morning I pass a specific road in my home town of Newmarket where cars park on both sides of the road. Yet there is still enough space to get a single decker bus plus another car coming the other way through the space between parked cars. At least that is when both drivers of those vehicles are fully aware of their own width.

Yet it seems for 99% of the drivers I find that I am still sat there for several minutes by someone in a tiny Fiat 500, with an equally small car coming the other way. Yet they are completely reluctant to drive through a gap that is several feet wider than their vehicle.

Perhaps it is just because for a short time i was a white van driver with a large Iveco Daily and I had to be sure on the size of my van in order to manouver around Cambridge in a very timely manner.

Surely if you drive a car everyday, you get used to knowing how big or wide it is?

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Fri 19 Oct 2018 13:19
The "Spatial Awareness" gene - nick62
Surely if you drive a car everyday, you get used to knowing how big or wide it is?

No, they don't, hence the problem.

My old man (ex HGV driver) used to say "there's enough room to get a double-decker through there on it's side...."

Edited by nick62 on 19/10/2018 at 13:19

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