I know this probably makes me sound like an old curmudgeon, but what is it about drivers these days? And particularly the none too sophisticated art of indicating?
It occurred to me whilst driving to our local ‘Tesco Extra’ to fetch son number two from his shift at work. I encounter a good few roundabouts en route, as we English call it, and I seem to be the only person indicating. And it’s not that difficult either. Put simply, you flick the indicator switch and lights at the front and back of your car flash to indicate the direction in which you wish to travel, thus alerting other drivers. But no one else seems to bother.
It is, I appreciate, a rather trivial complaint but it happens all the time. I seem to be forever waiting for people to turn left but then they carry on round the roundabout. Or when they do indicate, their subsequent movements bear no relation to the indication.
Perhaps these other drivers assume I will know what they intend to do. “As I know where I am going,” they may be silently muttering, “They must know too. I mean, it’s obvious.”
Traffic lights too are a problem to many. Just the other day, I stopped at a red light, allowing various pedestrians to cross the road. I had had the opportunity to drive through the lights at amber, a millionth of a second before it went red and elected to stop. A car tore up behind me and I could see through my mirror that he was furious, shouting and waving his arms about. I’m afraid this brings about the worst in me and it was the cue for me to pull away from the lights with the utmost over-caution and stick within the 30 MPH limit by at least 10 MPH. I suspect the angry man behind me was positively frothing at the mouth as I eventually turned left and he carried on and I fear my provocative action may have made him an even more dangerous driver.
Despite all that, I am trying to be a better and safer driver. And a cheaper one. I try hard to stick within the limit in the full knowledge that one day I shall find my mind drifting and I’ll get caught out by a police camera vehicle. (Actually, we should probably celebrate the regular presence of the so called Scamera vans since it must surely prove that the police have very little real crime to investigate these days!)
But can I please request, as politely as possible, that drivers consult their handbooks and check the bit marked indicators. It’s not that difficult. And a red light is not merely the basis for negotiation. I know there are plenty of distractions and street furniture, not to mention a nice tune on the radio, but please try and indicate when appropriate? It would make my temper far more even.
