Local Drivers - what's going wrong?

[Brah]

Speaking of driving, just the other day I commented to my husband. How impressed I was with the parking skills of those mothers at school. During drop offs in the mornings (think hectic), cars had to line up in narrow passage way and for those wishing to park, they had to back into the parking lot which is perpendicular to the driving lanes. They would do it skilfully, with ease. I almost got out of my car wanting to clap and congratulate them for a job well-done. And moreso, they usually drive those hugh SUV trucks. This leaves me with no choice but to conclude that white American women (and perhaps extrapolate to American women in general?) have some superior genes going for them .

My husband begs to differ and attribute it to them having well-equipped cars like camera sensors. Could be, I guess.

I did that with regularity as did the other denizens in congested places like NYC and Tokyo with no such sensors.

[JR8]

for those wishing to park, they had to back into the parking lot which is perpendicular to the driving lanes. They would do it skilfully, with ease. I almost got out of my car wanting to clap and congratulate them for a job well-done.

I did that with regularity as did the other denizens in congested places like NYC and Tokyo with no such sensors.

Parking is a basic driving skill. I think a feeling that someone, a stranger, is worthy of applause for having mastered it is revealing.
What I do see though is people who don't use their own eyes and common-sense to park, but instead are over-reliant on parking computers. That's when you see people reversing into a bus sized parking space at like 1mm/second, then pulling out again several times and adjusting by an inch here or there
I also see the kiasu element particularly on the expressways, where there seems to be an occasional driver with the attitude 'my car is more $ than yours therefore I have the right of way'.

[Wd40]

All this with nice automatic cars. Imagine you give these guys a proper 5 geared car and then ask them to climb up the curvy mscp ramp and then stop in the middle and start again

[Primrose Hill]

for those wishing to park, they had to back into the parking lot which is perpendicular to the driving lanes. They would do it skilfully, with ease. I almost got out of my car wanting to clap and congratulate them for a job well-done.

I did that with regularity as did the other denizens in congested places like NYC and Tokyo with no such sensors.

Parking is a basic driving skill. I think a feeling that someone, a stranger, is worthy of applause for having mastered it is revealing.
What I do see though is people who don't use their own eyes and common-sense to park, but instead are over-reliant on parking computers. That's when you see people reversing into a bus sized parking space at like 1mm/second, then pulling out again several times and adjusting by an inch here or there
I also see the kiasu element particularly on the expressways, where there seems to be an occasional driver with the attitude 'my car is more $ than yours therefore I have the right of way'.

In the UK the boy racer kaisu attitude tend to be the VW GTIs and the used to be Vauxaul Cavalier drivers, here its the BMW 3 & 5 series. They drive like twats. Seriously.
Last weekend, as we were started off from the traffic lights on Grange Rd, some idiot on the right lane, did not notice us on the middle lane and drifted across. If husband had put his foot down we would be collided.

[nakatago]

My husband begs to differ and attribute it to them having well-equipped cars like camera sensors. Could be, I guess

I was driving a car equipped with such a sensor. Wide-open street, I was backing and suddenly the reversing alarm goes off.

"What the hell was that? There's NOTHING there!"

"Oh wait; must be that low-hanging leaf."

[Wd40]

Just received this timely joke on WhatsApp:



Q: What happens when you maintain a safe distance while driving in India?



A: The vehicle behind you will overtake you and occupy that "safe distance"

[bgd]

Not just in India.

Anyway things are on the up, driving is no better but I haven't seen an accident for the last 2 days.

[JR8]

In the UK the boy racer kaisu attitude tend to be the VW GTIs and the used to be Vauxaul Cavalier drivers, here its the BMW 3 & 5 series. They drive like twats. Seriously.
Last weekend, as we were started off from the traffic lights on Grange Rd, some idiot on the right lane, did not notice us on the middle lane and drifted across. If husband had put his foot down we would be collided.

'Boy-racers' in their 'hot hatchbacks' is an accurate stereotype. It's usually immature drivers aspiring to drive something with image and performance. A 2nd-hand GTI or Vauxhall Astra in the UK isn't that expensive, though for a youngster the insurance will be very high. I'm familiar with driving a GTI and it's a wolf in sheep's clothing, if you put your foot down the performance is breath-taking.

There seems to be something of a 'hot saloon' thing here, the end-point of which might be something like a M-series BMW; Nissan GTR's being a bit 'Bengy' Again put something like them in the hands of an immature driver...

We've witnessed lane-drift as you describe, it's simply a result of the other driver not looking. I used to joke that on any taxi journey there'd be one incident that would almost give me a heart attack. Since then my wife bought a car and I get to travel in the front. She's a very conservative driver and let's the occasional idiot driver just 'wash over her'... and good for her. But still when we encounter one I tend to be grabbing onto the seat/door-handle/dashboard. In a compact I feel so much more exposed vs my old Malibu which at 17.5' long, had a 6' bonnet/hood, allowing you to always feel rather set back from the action in front