Inept drivers

Driving behind a beat up old estate car yesterday which swerved, then a few minutes later swerved again more sharply actually losing it for a second. The 'couple' in it were having a blazing row, whenever he - the driver turned to do some finger pointing at her he lost control of the car. It doesn't take snow or ice to make idiots out of some people.
 
I went to pick the missus up from axminster station last night, and although there was no snow the roads were extremly slick and I could feel the back end sliding a litte and the skid lock light flickering so i was driving sensibly (about 40mph on the straights slowing to 25 ish at corners)

just before trill (where theres a sharp corner - a common road death location in any weather) I was overtaken by a bloke in a lexus , who overtook me on a blind rise while travelling i'd estimate at close to 60 - I thought to myself thats going to end in tears

about a mile further on , low and behold the lexus was in a ditch on its side - I stopped to make sure the driver was okay , which he was , and was greeted with a mouthful of invective about "***** who cant ****ing drive blocking the road " - I just smiled and said " yeah, its a real problem, but at least you are in a ditch this time" and drove off and left him
 
I would have been tempted to stay until Plod got there and tell them he was driving like a doodah next tuesday!

My first accident (one of 3) was a result of overconfidence after caution. It was frosty and there was frost on the road when I set off so I was driving sensibly. Others were sailing past me and the road looked and felt good so I decided that I would speed up a little only to discover that I was skating on black ice which saw me meet the central reservation armco. I was luckier than one of those who had overtaken me, he had gone up a bank and rolled back down it, thankfully unhurt but with a far heftier repair bill than mine!
 
Nod said:
I would have been tempted to stay until Plod got there and tell them he was driving like a doodah next tuesday!
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I told my local police contact this morning - when he stopped laughing he said he'd make a note in case there are any complaints
 
big soft moose said:
I went to pick the missus up from axminster station last night, and although there was no snow the roads were extremly slick and I could feel the back end sliding a litte and the skid lock light flickering so i was driving sensibly (about 40mph on the straights slowing to 25 ish at corners)

just before trill (where theres a sharp corner - a common road death location in any weather) I was overtaken by a bloke in a lexus , who overtook me on a blind rise while travelling i'd estimate at close to 60 - I thought to myself thats going to end in tears

about a mile further on , low and behold the lexus was in a ditch on its side - I stopped to make sure the driver was okay , which he was , and was greeted with a mouthful of invective about "***** who cant ****ing drive blocking the road " - I just smiled and said " yeah, its a real problem, but at least you are in a ditch this time" and drove off and left him
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I love it when knob heads get their just desserts :clap:

I saw one guy right outside my window do a large spin because the pillock wouldn't wait for someone else struggling to get out of the way. He was waiting behind a van that was waiting for someone else coming the opposite way struggling. Obviously numb nuts thought they were exaggerating so as soon as the other car had gone he over took the van and promptly hooked a wheel into the deep tyre tracks and spun round and ended up almost reversing into the neighbours drive. I nearly died laughing. He then slunk off back the way he'd come from.
 
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Nowhere near as dramatic, but in the snow that we had a couple of years ago I came across someone who was revving the guts out of his car trying to get up a slight hill.

Inevitably, he ended up at an impossible angle, blocking the road. He couldn't get up because he was incompetent and couldn't get down because of the queue behind him.

So, I drove past him with the help of the pavement, backed up, attached a towing strap to my towbar and looked for a towing eye on his car. There wasn't one, so I said "Just fix this to your front axle and I'll pull you up to the top of the hill"

His reply - "Can't you fix it on?"

The look on his face was priceless as I put the strap back in my car and drove off.
 
srichards said:
I just put the washers on. When they get water on their screens from my washers they then realise they're too bloody close.
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Do this myself, and it's a lot more effective, in my view, than brake testing someone. It's less liable to cause any road rage, and the tailgater slowly slinks back to a safe distance.
 
Had some muppet drive down our little lane last night at 4.15am, yes that early, and get stuck for an hour. The muppet obviously didn't take any notice of the no through road sign, nor the tyre tracks going only into our place, nor the the lack of car tracks going past our place, nor the low overhanging tree branches and continued on down the footpath. It took him over an hour to free himself and in the meantime sprayed our nice clean white boundary wall with mud from spinning the wheels.
At one stage he looked through our gates for help,as if we would have done that time of the day anyway.

Realspeed
 
Garry Edwards said:
Nowhere near as dramatic, but in the snow that we had a couple of years ago I came across someone who was revving the guts out of his car trying to get up a slight hill.

Inevitably, he ended up at an impossible angle, blocking the road. He couldn't get up because he was incompetent and couldn't get down because of the queue behind him.

So, I drove past him with the help of the pavement, backed up, attached a towing strap to my towbar and looked for a towing eye on his car. There wasn't one, so I said "Just fix this to your front axle and I'll pull you up to the top of the hill"

His reply - "Can't you fix it on?"

The look on his face was priceless as I put the strap back in my car and drove off.
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I've got to admit I wouldn't know where to find my front axle either.
 
PatrickO said:
I've got to admit I wouldn't know where to find my front axle either.
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Wheels are attached to the axle. Big metal pole shaped thing.
 
PatrickO said:
I've got to admit I wouldn't know where to find my front axle either.
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That is because most new cars don`t have a front axle as such. There is usually a towing eye attached to the chassis somewhere or a screw in one will be in your tool kit, the owners manual should enlighten you.
 
PatrickO said:
I've got to admit I wouldn't know where to find my front axle either.
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srichards said:
Wheels are attached to the axle. Big metal pole shaped thing.
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fracster said:
That is because most new cars don`t have a front axle as such. There is usually a towing eye attached to the chassis somewhere or a screw in one will be in your tool kit, the owners manual should enlighten you.
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Even those that do have front axles would rather you didn't heave on them! Axles are NOT a recommended attachment point for tow ropes. The closest thing to an axle FWD cars tend to have are the drive shafts/half shafts. These will rotate as the car moves (if they dont get bent or have their CV or U Js buggered...)

Some cars may have tie down points - even these aren't ideal as drag points - they're designed for holding the cars down while in transit rather than for a large force pulling at around 90° to their designed angle.

Towing eye or leave them there! They'll just have to wait for the AA/RAC/Greeen Flag/whoever.
 
Nod said:
Even those that do have front axles would rather you didn't heave on them! Axles are NOT a recommended attachment point for tow ropes. The closest thing to an axle FWD cars tend to have are the drive shafts/half shafts. These will rotate as the car moves (if they dont get bent or have their CV or U Js buggered...)

Some cars may have tie down points - even these aren't ideal as drag points - they're designed for holding the cars down while in transit rather than for a large force pulling at around 90° to their designed angle.

Towing eye or leave them there! They'll just have to wait for the AA/RAC/Greeen Flag/whoever.
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Ah, I did the right thing then, I left it there:lol:
 
Yup!

I had an extremely similar experience a few years ago when I had a 90. A driver had been going too fast approaching a T junction and had gone straight on with his wheels turned on full lock. The "Ultimate Driving Machine" has hit the opposite kerb hard enough to alter the steering geometry rather drastically - infinitely and unadjustably variable. As I was approaching, the driver leapt out and asked me to drag him out so he could carry on to work but wanted me to do all the tying etc. Had he known where the towing eye was, I would have dragged him out but he didn't. A quick wander to the front revealed the damage anyway and when I pointed out that he wasn't going anywhere, he booted his rear door in frustration, leaving a hefty dent (which would probably have popped out with a door slam) and a 6" gouge to the metal where the Blakey on his heel had dug in!
 
Nod said:
Even those that do have front axles would rather you didn't heave on them! Axles are NOT a recommended attachment point for tow ropes. The closest thing to an axle FWD cars tend to have are the drive shafts/half shafts. These will rotate as the car moves (if they dont get bent or have their CV or U Js buggered...)

Some cars may have tie down points - even these aren't ideal as drag points - they're designed for holding the cars down while in transit rather than for a large force pulling at around 90° to their designed angle.

Towing eye or leave them there! They'll just have to wait for the AA/RAC/Greeen Flag/whoever.
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Tying onto the wishbones (or equivalent) or front subframe should be enough to tow a car unless it's a dead weight due to trying to pull out of a ditch.
 
Nod said:
Even those that do have front axles would rather you didn't heave on them! Axles are NOT a recommended attachment point for tow ropes. The closest thing to an axle FWD cars tend to have are the drive shafts/half shafts. These will rotate as the car moves (if they dont get bent or have their CV or U Js buggered...)

Some cars may have tie down points - even these aren't ideal as drag points - they're designed for holding the cars down while in transit rather than for a large force pulling at around 90° to their designed angle.

Towing eye or leave them there! They'll just have to wait for the AA/RAC/Greeen Flag/whoever.
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Thanks Nod. That's useful to know.
 
nilagin said:
Tying onto the wishbones (or equivalent) or front subframe should be enough to tow a car unless it's a dead weight due to trying to pull out of a ditch.
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Rather you than me! IIRC, the OP was meant to pull someone out of a ditch. Neither component you mention is an axle either!
 
Nod said:
Rather you than me! IIRC, the OP was meant to pull someone out of a ditch. Neither component you mention is an axle either!
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Subframes are bolted to the chassis rails as are the crash beams where the towing eyes are located or screw in. Should be perfectly safe.
 
Slow drivers do annoy me too but I'd rather tolerate those drivers than the folk who think a bit of snow and ice turns them into Colin McRrae.

Love that picture further up the thread of the road through the snow in Canada. Not as deep but this was Amulree in Perthshire earlier in the week a couple of miles from where I live.

8408991296_078148652f_z.jpg
 
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The first time it snowed after I passed my test, my Dad told me to "get the car out and learn how to control a skid". I spent the afternoon power sliding round the corner at the end of my road.

Not a very safe thing to do, but what I learnt that afternoon saved me a few prangs over the years.
 
Nod said:
Towing eye or leave them there! They'll just have to wait for the AA/RAC/Greeen Flag/whoever.
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I saw a fiesta yesterday, being towed by the means of a cargo strap passed through both front windows and tied and then a rope tied to it :eek:
 
Johnd2000 said:
The first time it snowed after I passed my test, my Dad told me to "get the car out and learn how to control a skid". I spent the afternoon power sliding round the corner at the end of my road.

Not a very safe thing to do, but what I learnt that afternoon saved me a few prangs over the years.
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First snow after I passed my test, I was at college, I turned up early to an empty car park except for lovely 4" deep virgin snow, had plenty of fun and learnt how to control the car as well as get it moving when it got stuck.
My son did exactly the same thing with his first car too.
 
neil_g said:
if youre going to tow by the wishbones watch out for damaging the bumper plastics when the rope/strap comes under tension.

too many times ive seen bumpers split in two.
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If the car's in a ditch a bit more damage will be the last of your worries.:lol:
 
nilagin said:
First snow after I passed my test, I was at college, I turned up early to an empty car park except for lovely 4" deep virgin snow, had plenty of fun and learnt how to control the car as well as get it moving when it got stuck.
My son did exactly the same thing with his first car too.
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I know a lot of people will look dimly on this sort of thing but I totally agree.

How the hell can you know/learn how a car reacts in these condition unless you try it and push the limits.

Provided you're in an environment where it's only you and your car that can come to grief then it's a great way to learn new skills rather than trying to learn on the fly where there are other road users around and lots of conditions that are beyond your control.

I was fortunate enough to have some training on a skid pan once but that sort of thing isn't widely accessible.
 
Russ77 said:
I know a lot of people will look dimly on this sort of thing but I totally agree.

How the hell can you know/learn how a car reacts in these condition unless you try it and push the limits.

Provided you're in an environment where it's only you and your car that can come to grief then it's a great way to learn new skills rather than trying to learn on the fly where there are other road users around and lots of conditions that are beyond your control.

I was fortunate enough to have some training on a skid pan once but that sort of thing isn't widely accessible.
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Mr viv is a driving instructor, and he did a similar thing with a couple of his more advance pupils last Monday morning, on private ground.
 
Johnd2000 said:
The first time it snowed after I passed my test, my Dad told me to "get the car out and learn how to control a skid". I spent the afternoon power sliding round the corner at the end of my road.

Not a very safe thing to do, but what I learnt that afternoon saved me a few prangs over the years.
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That's what we used to do back when we started to drive. There was a huge derelict space that we used to practice in. It's now got Asda, B&Q, Halfords etc on it now
 
Saw a snow covered car in our city. The driver had only cleared the side windows and front screen, proceeded to drive at speed round a corner a top a hill throwing off the inch of snow from the roof onto some children knocking them to the floor. Parents took down the number plate because the idiot drove off and have now reported it to the DVLA.

You can always tell an English person abroad in Germany, because when they get stuck in snow, they gun the engine like mad. I have seen this myself in Baden Baden where the snow can get very bad, children ski to work as do adults which is a novelty in the UK. Nothing stops and life carries on as normal, I have seen icicle’s stretching right down from the roof almost to the floor.

Scary driving and even walking in ice, they used to put chains on the tyres but I don't know if they do that now.
 
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