I followed him most of the way back from West Brom this morning in fairly heavy traffic. He was driving a Peugot van. Damn it was quick!! He was however an absolute menace, lane swapping, cutting everyone up and driving at most 5 feet off the bumper of every car he got behind. How the hell do they get away with it??

Unfortunately he was right up the arse of a bus which stopped, and he was too close to overtake. When I looked back in my mirror at least 20 cars had passed him, and the bus was still unloading passengers!

The thing that slays me is he's probably on the road all day, every day, and he's learned... nuttin!!

 

I know what you mean !! A lot of it is due to the fact that the vans are owned by their employers rather than themselves (and insurance is similarly covered).

I bet he didn't have a "Hows my driving ?" sticker

 

One very lucky white van man who maybe has learned a lesson, who knows

On tuesday (bank holiday) I was travelling from Sherbourne to Dorchester which is a really nice twisty drive and had come up behind a large Merc and keeping a reasonable distance when up behind comes White Van Man. He's got a S2000 and the Merc in front of him on a winding twisty road with no straight more than 50/60 yards, but i guess thats a challenge. Now when someone is 3 feet off your rear end and you way up the braking capabilities it starts to get you concerned. Anyway you know the rest he passes me in a crazy spot which makes me ease up and make room for him as I am really concerned some nice familly out for a drive is going to be on the receiving end and he then has a go at the Merc whose made of sterner stuff than me. He eventually passes him while going round a bend completely on the other side of the road. A feat I have only seen bettered on the roads of Corsica. His brake lights come on immediatley and as I come round the bend I have to anchor on hard also . There in the road stopped dead is a bloody great "TANK". It has stopped to allow two kiddies on horseback to pass. Now the van man had a lucky escape, but so did the two kiddies for a minute later and he would have been rounding the bend on the wrong side straight into the two kiddies on horseback, perhaps its a shame he didn't give the Tank a little nudge.

 

I had an experiance with a similar driver on the way to Lincoln. He's driving a Peugeot 206 (or something) we're in the Civic, taking it easy but enjoying the nice bendy roads and the scenery. Joy boy insists on following two feet from the rear bumper round every bend. I'm not trying hard but he thinks it's some kind of competition (perhaps because I overtook him earlier). Eventually I pull over to the left and slow right down to let him pass.
The most annoying thing? He goes by with a satisfied smirk on his face thinking he's won major victory. I think he's a plonker. You can judge for youselves.

 

Drivers like this don't ever realise how much space others make for them.

 

I had a similar experience the other day with.... wait for it.... a 911 !!!!

Driving back from the coast, on a section of road that is one lane each way, with plastic poles down the centre to stop people overtaking. I was behind a couple of slow moving vehicles, but just living with it since there was no way to overtake. Look in my mirror and this 996 convertible comes steaming up behind me slowing about 2 feet off the rear of my S2000. I started getting a little twitchy as he was way way too close for my liking, but there was nowhere that I could let him pass.

Carried on for a while, with him right up there still, when I noticed a sudden movement from him, as I looked again he was looking to see if he could force his way up the inside!! There just wasn't room, I would have let him if it was possible, but the two cars could not fit between the wall and the poles side by side.

We then came into a section where the poles are replaced by studs which are about 150x100 mm on plan and stand about 75mm up from the road. I knew he would be looking again, which he did, but his car lurched a bit as he hit one of the studs and he obviously decided against it again !!

After another 3 or 4 minutes, as we entered a tunnel which is a long right hand curve, the studs stop, but there is still a solid yellow line (this means "do not cross" in Japan) but he had obvioulsy had enough and he floored it. As soon as he was out from behind me and on the wrong side of the road, I braked to allow him back in front of me, since it was a blind bend, but no, he knew better (obvioulsy has corner vision or something) and took on the car and van in front of us. Both of them braked as they saw him coming past. He made it, with space to spare, but he did make three other cars on the road brake because of his maneuver!!

I was always tought that other road users should never have to react to anything you do in a situation like that. If someone needs to brake because you are overtaking then it is not safe to overtake, but then again, I wasn't taught in a Porsche, maybe the rules are different !!!!!


(sorry, rant over, but CT started me off by posting this thread !!! )

 

I saw a cool variation on the "wash me" usually daubed by some wag on the back of dirty white vans - it said - and forgive the un-PC side of this: -

"this van hand washed by Stevie Wonder"

 

... and probably driven by him too !!

 

[QUOTE

I was always tought that other road users should never have to react to anything you do in a situation like that. If someone needs to brake because you are overtaking then it is not safe to overtake, but then again, I wasn't taught in a Porsche, maybe the rules are different !!!!!

[/B][/QUOTE]

It seems that about 70% of people I see on the road should be made to recite this about a dozen times before they're allowed to start the engine in the morning!

Rowan Atkinson (Black Adder) has such a compulsion with buying expensive cars that he doesn't need, that he's actually sought psychiatric help!! He said that about the only prestige car he's never bought is a Porsche 911, and that whilst he's often been tempted, he doesn't want to be associated with the kind of people who drive them!! Whilst I hate those sought of sweeping generalisations, your encounter with the 911 does nothing to enhance Porsche owners reputations does it James?

Mind you, can you just imagine The White Van Driver in a 911???

 

I have to say CT, that living as an expat you do get a different type of person driving the cars than you would in living in the UK. I actually know the brother of the guy who was driving the 996, and so have, just once, met the guy who was driving it... he was a complete knob (excuse my French !!). Loads of money and no style!!!! If he was in the UK he probably WOULD be a white van driver!!!!!