Now don’t get me wrong; we all make mistakes when driving, but the trick is to learn about what happened and adjust your future driving accordingly. So please don’t think that I am the perfect driver, because I’m probably not. Careful yes, learning all the time yes, making occasional mistakes, of course. But what wifey and I have noticed a lot of late, is the games that people play.
I mean, you are driving your car forward, so please look at the road ahead and don’t pay undue attention to those behind you. they probably know what they are doing, they know how their car handles, and they probably understand anticipation, space and a safe pass. The driver behind doesn't need you to stare at that small bit of glass and in doing so hit the embankment or drift out over the broken white line. But alas that is what they do in their desire to try and stop others making that clean pass.
On Monday on a long drive back from a funeral we saw one car drift into the verge and another car deliberately cross the broken white line to stop an overtaking manoeuvre. Like, hey folks, why would you do that? What difference does it make to you if another car safely drifts on by and moves ahead of you? It’s not like they are speeding or making a dangerous manoeuvre. I stay within the limits of road design, speed enforcement, and personal ability. So just calm down and relax, it doesn’t matter if the car behind you stays there or drifts on by. Honest, it really doesn’t matter so cast off your hang-ups. Their progress does not affect you, but you can and do affect yourself.
This weekend we trundled down to Cardiff. We popped off left at the Carmarthen roundabout and the car in front immediately jumped from the left hand lane into the right hand lane. “What was that all about?” says wifey and we both giggled. I mean, fend me off why don’t you, but 1,000 yards before the next roundabout, are you serious? Time and time again we see it. Drive slow, opportunity for me to glide past and the driver in front speeds up and crosses the centre of the road. Like, uh huh, it’s not a game. This is the real deal folks and if you drive like a prat in your desire to stop others then someone will get hurt. Probably you because you simply are not concentrating, hence going up onto the verge or out into the oncoming lane.
Indeed, wifey and I think that the driving standards these days are quite diabolical. For instance you could never imagine the speed that oncoming vehicles take a blind junction from where we emerge very weekday morning. Each and every one of these drivers simply has no idea whatsoever what is outside of their line of sight. It could be a child or walker in the road, someone on a bike who has stopped or fallen off or a broken down car. But day in and day out; they take the shallow junction at speed and with complete gay abandon as to their fate.
So the next time you are out driving and you start to take an unhealthy interest in the car behind, stop and think. Does it really matter what he or she is doing? Does it matter if they glide past when it is safe to do so? No stop thinking about the person behind, and start wondering if I should slow down before I take that left up ahead. Mirrors are for reversing and manoeuvring and otherwise only tell you where you have been. What matters far more, is where you are going.
