Ignorant Drivers
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I had to go through Donaghadee yesterday afternoon heading to Bangor to collect a chair. On the way out of the town there were road works… the scourge of the countryside. Everywhere you go now there seems to be some kind of digging activity going on leaving only one side of the highway available for road users. This one had lights which work for the most part in keeping the flow of traffic moving in fair turn. However, while traffic may have been moving well all day, this was rush hour in Donaghadee. After passing the go light, a slow moving vehicle in front of me turning right held back myself and several other cars behind me. That wasn’t any problem. People turn right all the time and you have to stop to give them time to get out of the way.
Moving on and almost at the other end of the road works, the lights for the oncoming traffic had obviously changed and the arrogant little man in the first car led a three vehicle charge into the breach. There was no excuse. Big red van no more than six car lengths away is not invisible. So there he was on my side of the road blocking the way, throwing his arms around and mouthing what were no doubt profanities in my direction. His poor wife sat mortified with a face like thunder looking out the passenger window. I beeped at him and pointed that he could easily move over through the cones onto his own side of the road. More arm waving and mime and hand signals that I should reverse out of his way. Where did he think I could go? There were at least three cars immediately behind me and no room to get past him even if I mounted the footpath. So I complied with his wishes for me to shift and moved forward rather than backwards while pointing that he could move to the other side of the road. At this stage, a workman came walking towards the potential stabbing and as if by magic, Mister ‘I own the road’ moved back onto his own side followed by the two cars who were jammed in behind him. He’d already disrupted the traffic for at least five minutes. Why on earth he couldn’t just move over in the first place was a mystery to me. It wasn’t a difficult manoeuvere by any means.
So who had the right of way? Who should have moved? Who was to blame? Are road works with lights exempt from all the rules?
I would gladly have nudged over had there been anywhere to go regardless of who was right. Everyone makes mistakes but discourteous drivers with a bad attitude REALLY get up my nose.
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I was going to Bangor yesterday via Carrowdore and was stuck behind a couple of cars and a pony and trap. The guy on the pony and trap was oblivious to any traffic for a while until the 1st car overtook him. When it did the pony veered towards the car and nearly collided with it. That car overtook and it had literally scared the shit out of the pony who had deposited a load of it on the road. The pony and trap man decided to stop after that to let us all past safely. Then today between Bangor and Donaghadee a horse rider crossing the road didn’t realise what speed a driver was doing and there was another near collision. These road users and cyclists should have licenses to permit them to ride on the roads I reckon.
I noticed a woman driving a big red van in N’ards on Monday afternoon, was it you by any chance or is there an epidemic of woman van drivers ?
People tend not to slow down enough when passing/approaching orses. A license to be on the road sounds fair to me, especially for cyclists who travel in packs making it near impossible to get past them on a wee windy road and while they might think they’re flying along with the wind whistling through their lycra, I would like to choose me own speed rather than be limited to theirs.
No it wasn’t me in N’Ards, so that must mean there’s an epidemic. My van is the one with WASH ME written on the back
When ‘WASH ME’ is scrawled on a van does it refer to the van or the driver?
Dunno… I’ve never been the author of such imaginative graffiti.