Hahaha this is a brilliant discussion!

Nox this is another of your classics!!

I have yet to decide which way i swing regarding this, because i do agree with you it is behaviour unbecoming of a gentleman, and could be construed as rudeness by fellow motorists.

But like you, i reside in the Capital and often i see people squeezing their way through gaps or racing up the outside & pushing in at the end...

There have been times where ive actually seen it & thought to myself "good lad!", then looked down at the IAM badge on my windshield & thought "ahem, good grief, what am i thinking? Scoundrel! Get to the back of the queue!"..

I usually try to be courteous on the roads but sometimes i have to get where i am going in a hurry which is a skill in itself to do that without offending others! Last thing i want is a horn sounding at me with a client reading his FT in the tranquility of the reclining rear seat....

I totally agree with you about how rude it seems Nox and i try not to do it.

The one exception is what has already been discussed, where there is an empty right-hand lane leading up to a roundabout, and a line of cars in the left lane. I think it is acceptable to indicate right, wizz... ahem i mean proceed with positivity.. up the outer lane, round the roundabout 270 degrees then take the turning which everyone is lining up for. Effectively youre not cutting anyone up by doing that.

gentlemen like us are a rare breed! I know of a particular Porsche driver who no doubt shows less respect for other road users on the A4 Great West Road!

If you look in the highway code b308, you will find that as soon as a big red cross is marked above the lane, that lane is then CLOSED.

It is selfish, irresponsible and crude. In fact, those people who steam past everybody else on the Motorways represent every thing that is wrong with modern day Britain.

Motorway signals

232: Red flashing lights. If red lights on the overhead signals flash above your lane (there may also be a red 'X') you MUST NOT go beyond the signal in that lane. If red lights flash on a signal in the central reservation or at the side of the road, you MUST NOT go beyond the signal in any lane.
Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD regs 10 & 38

highwaycode.gov.uk/23.htm#227

If you both care to read my post again - you will note that I said CONES, not big red cross above the lane - I am well aware what that means and would not go past it in that lane - believe it or not there are loads of roadworks on Mways and dual carriageways which do not have overhead displays and rely instead on old-fashioned cones!

Absolutely right psycho and Nox.

That is the law, and youre spot on.

Youre also right about the rudeness being what is wrong with modern Britain.

Manners are a thing of the past & this is to do with many factors - pushing & cutting people up is commonplace now and often perpitrated by those of a non-western origin it has to be said.


If you see a Nissan Primera or Toyota Carina carving you up and barging its way through, then i suggest give it a wide berth because the driver wont have any manners whatsoever or have any insurance either!

If the government had their way, we would all be handed a state-regulation Toyota Prius, and thats all we'd be allowed.

I suggest a return to driving open-top Bentleys, with a humidor in the dashboard.

If we were able to perambulate these streets in a Bentley Continental convertible, whilst enjoying a fine cigar, we would all show the most gentlemanly decorum.

After you, old bean..

Please Pally, read my post again - I never mentioned red crosses!!!!

B308 - im in no doubt that you are a very considerate motorist! probably more so than most, and a gentleman too..

I was just adding my view on it thats all!

Pardon me if i slip infront of you though, in order to free myself from the diesel fumes from your exhaust!

Cones are a slightly different proposition, although it is still rude to go right up to the very edge of the merging lanes and push in. Stay out for a little while, then take your place with time to spare, that is the way to do it.

People steaming across in the other lanes while people are otherwise stationary is FAR more dangerous than doing the 90-100 or so I get so pillored for on these forums.

Offensive scoundrels, the lot of them.

quote:

Originally posted by Noxide:
Cones are a slightly different proposition, although it is still rude to go right up to the very edge of the merging lanes and push in. Stay out for a little while, then take your place with time to spare, that is the way to do it.

People steaming across in the other lanes while people are otherwise stationary is FAR more dangerous than doing the 90-100 or so I get so pillored for on these forums.

Offensive scoundrels, the lot of them.

I agree, Nox, and that was the point i was making - I don't go right up to the cones, tend to merge in a few hundred yards back, where the traffic tends to be moving and I don't stop anyone.

And i don't go steaming past like some do, thats just plane stupid!

I sometimes wonder why we didn't extend the "merge in turn" experiment, but after an experience I had on the Perth to Dundee dual cariageway i have a fair idea. There were big signs saying stay in BOTH lanes up to the cones and then merge in turn - the outside lane was empty and the inside lane was at a standstill. So I went down the outside - some pr*t tried to block me - right by one of the signs!! - so I pretended to go in then nipped round him - with idiots like that around who was ignoring the instructions its no wonder it didn't work!

What about the "merge in turn" advisory signs? Personally if you want to sit in a line of traffic when things can get a lot shorter another way then carry on. Its only the mindset of joining a queue that people feel aggrieved.

A benefit could be shorter queues and quicker progress through roadworks.

Quite!

Surely this all boils down to common sense with a healthy measure of manners.

Merging in good time is fine, and exactly what I do. It's those who leave it until the very last minute then arrogantly expect free entry that p!sses everyone off (and I suspect there's some culprits on here!). It ain't rocket science.

P.S. Are you sure you want everyone driving around in Bentley convertibles, Palmy? I can think of all sorts of drawbacks....

i weouldent mind a free government issue prius

who can complain about being given £17k+ lol.

id sell it and buy a suzuki swift lol, and then go enjoy the remainder.. or just part-ex it for a new 5-series beema

the motorway issue concerning the red X i was not specifically referring to. in fact i have never seen one. being in Cornwall i never see motorways lol. but i have ventured out on occasions. the times i always go past the queues are when there are crawling slow road works on the dual carriageway or the permanent 2 into 1 lane mergers that are appear in dozens of locations near me on A roads. i dont speed past them i go at normal overtaking speed comparative to whatever speed they are doing. or about 20mph if they are stationary. i really feel that what they are doing is wrong and making traffic congestion worse, as it takes the end of the queue another lanes worth of traffic further back up the road you have come from. when this is added up all over say my county thats many miles of queued cars that don't even have to be there..

quote:

Originally posted by TrevGo:
Surely this all boils down to common sense with a healthy measure of manners.

Merging in good time is fine, and exactly what I do. It's those who leave it until the very last minute then arrogantly expect free entry that p!sses everyone off (and I suspect there's some culprits on here!). It ain't rocket science.

P.S. Are you sure you want everyone driving around in Bentley convertibles, Palmy? I can think of all sorts of drawbacks....

thats the thing, its not wrong to sail past all the other cars and get to the end and expect to be let in. you are meant to be let in instantly! thats how merge in turn works....
this needs to become law i think. we get signs near towns where this rule is mentioned but it doesn't seem to sink in with drivers on other similar situations.

i carve everyone up wether in my car on my pushbike.....i never wait till the last moment...ie the cones...but the last SAFE moment...if y'all wanna sit in a queue becoming frustrated and late, please yourself...i like to get where im going...bu**er...i MUST be a mannerless oik from the lower orders.....yeehah....vive la revolution....

It's amazing how large you can make a Citroen AX be, Biggbn.

its amazing how insignifacant one can seem when pressed into the grille of my car like an insect on point of impact.......your speed hardly abates....

Last minute mergers combined with tailgaters is the reason why roadwork queues grind to halt. If people kept a reasonable distance and drivers merged when there was an appropriate space then wouldn't be any slamming on of brakes and the domino effect of making traffic grind to a halt.

During one of my trips on the autobahn there was a crash and despite the road being busy traffic didn't grind to a halt because people merged sensibly into the two free lanes.

In short most people in the UK just don't know how to drive, or rather they know the mechanics of driving but not the art.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mustrum_ridcully:
Last minute mergers combined with tailgaters is the reason why roadwork queues grind to halt. If people kept a reasonable distance and drivers merged when there was an appropriate space then wouldn't be any slamming on of brakes and the domino effect of making traffic grind to a halt.
QUOTE]

I agree

Both parties are equally to blame - thats why merge in turn is so good if everyone sticks to the rules - constant flow of traffic and no stop-starts!

i agree with that also. the reason it comes to a halt is because there is a lot of traffic usually in rush hours trying to get into less lanes than there was before. but it can get worse by people not letting in cars from the outside just at the point where it merges to one.

People that think they can push to the front of the queue deserve to wait longer than anyone.

Oh well. Sit in the inside lane all bitter and twisted. Plenty of empty tarmac up to a safe point to pull in with no rule saying I cannot use it.

If people were less bothered with tut tuting and avoiding eye contact then life would be a lot easier.