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Probably influenced by my commute route but: people in Burkas. Never worn one myself (obvs) so don't know if its because they have rubbish visibility (I wouldn't even drive with my hood up personally) or some other reason but some stretches of my journey you can almost guarantee someone wearing one is going to pull out on you.
Toyota Prius drivers and their pious belief that they are actually saving the planet, because they aren't.
psling - MemberI'm struggling with "trophy wives". How do you differentiate them from successful women who might actually own their own expensive motor vehicle?
I don't - its lazy sterotyping If its a range rover - trophy wife. Nice porsche - successful woman in her own right? Its only the ones in rangies that are out to get me tho.
Its just one fitting the stereotype nearly got me the other day/
LRT bus drivers get specific training on co existing with cyclists and it works. The wave you out of side roads, sit 30 ft behind you coming up to a stop not 3" or overtake and stop. If a bus gets too close to you in traffic in Edinburgh its always a first bus
Not so much when cycling, but in towns and places like retail parks, I notice that women often accelerate and drive faster, even when it might be dangerous. I think they just have their mind on other things. Having said that, a few years ago when I didn't own a car, I'd cadge lifts from work colleagues, and often the women would be more vocal in their criticism of other drivers, and generally impatient.
The worst driving I've seen while cycling recently was when we were overtaken by a bin lorry driving uphill on a narrow B road and on a bend. The oncoming car driver had to take evasive action in order to avoid a collision.
I'm surprised WVM isn't higher on the list, both punishment passes I've experienced have been by them (including one on a cargo bike with a 3yo on the back)
Anyone wearing a hat.
Driving instructor had this rule of thumb and it's been incredibly accurate. Covers neds in baseball caps through to old biffers not paying any attention in their jazz/juke/micra and 4x4 mob in between.
Can't beat a good stereotype!
In these parts it's drivers of Tata's finest Indian tractor, the Range Rover particularly on narrow country roads where they believe it gives them some sort of entitlement to force anyone else out the way
haha, I came here just to post the very same. I work in an office where Tata have a floor of the building, there's freebie Range Rovers everywhere, all an absolute nightmare. Even today we were in town and had one honking it's horn as the car in front was letting someone pass.
I can't say any other demographic hugely stands out, everyone seems to drive into the bike advanced stop line at every set of lights.
That said, I drive a BMW and previously drove a Mini, so I'm probably quite high on the list. If any other country would accept that people can potentially be 200cm+ though who knows what I'd be in.
Brassy blonde birds in Range Rovers
HGV drivers
BMW 5 series
Young girls in smart hatch backs
In the lanes of South Devon I'd go with:
1. Young women (often on their way to / from the stables, which is even worse, given you might have expected them to have an awareness of the issues with traffic in narrow lanes, given their performance when they are on their horses).
2. Holiday makers - they generally have no idea of where they are / where they are going so drive by peering at the GPS and driving in the middle of the lane to avoid the hedge. They all seem have vehicles that in terms of perception, far exceed their actual physical dimensions on the road. None of them have reverse.
3. Main roads / towns, it's kinda everyone. 😕
4. On the rare and frankly buttock-clenchingly horrible occasions you have to use the A38 Devon Expressway to jump from one lane to another, it's the big Euro trucks and courier vans, then anyone else.
Another on the range rovers - up north on single track roads the only incidents I had were with newish range rovers - 2 of them refused to drop a wheel off the road to let us past. One wanted me to back up a tandem and trailer uphill to let him by. All the locals fine. Camper vans - fine. Posh range rover pain in the arse
Royal Mail vans are undoubtedly the worst around here, followed by white vans, then minicabs, then taxis.
i'm actually not joking but anyone with a flat cap or trilby. my uncle told me this and to watch out when i was learning to drive and i have to say he, for some reason, is totally right and to this day i give anyone driving who is wearing one a very wide berth.
oh, and a very specific one, anyone in cornwall who ain't local especially in summer.
Empty 8x8 tipper trucks. They must handle like an MX5, judging by the way they carve their way through traffic!
grockles or Emmetts then?
for sure your list will vary depending where you live.
Micra drivers. All of them.
Number 10 on the hit list, phew! Students on bikes with no lights cause me the most stress when driving around the 'burgh.
Young girls in smart hatch backs
Yep, definitely this for me. Shiny new ish Fiat 500s in particular
Anyone in a Peugeot. Usually with a broken light. You just never know what they're going to do.
Predictably aggressive driving is much less of a problem IMO (Audi man)
On the flip side - anyone with bike racks on the roof (for obvious reasons)
[I]Most[/i] bus drivers I've encountered recently have been OK.
Whilst we're at it with the stereotypes - I'm convinced that most cars with broken lights are peugeots. I'm not sure if that's because they're shodily made or because the drivers are oblivious but it's a real pattern I've noticed. Keep a look out. .
Interesting.
On my commute...
Bad
vans, buses, 4x4s, mobile shopping trolleys
Good
HGVs, BMWs, boring large saloons (e.g. Mondeo)
Horribly generalised though - an industrial skip lorry came close the other week
I drive for a living in London so I see a lot. My list includes:
Tipper Lorrys, as above, they must have the handling of a sports car the way they are driven.
Scaffold Lorrys: thugs of the road
Royal Mail: Variable, some OK some are shocking
Couriers: Again some OK some real nightmares
Trunk run lorrys(Royal Mail/courier companies) absolute ****s! Ever come down archway hill with one of those bearing down on you. I have been rear ended at archway roundabout by one of these.
PCO minincabs(including Uber): Addison Lee are the better end of the business and some are ok but(massive generalisation), overall the African drivers tend to be aggressive and poor drivers whereas the Asian chaps are just poor drivers. For example, my run into town comes down the M1 and I often see above minincabs on the Luton airport run. Driving at 40mph in the middle lane of the m1 with the interior light on whilst they check their PDA for work.
White Van men: Some real chimp brains here but some really good professional drivers
Bus drivers: Ok
Wannabe gangsters: you can spot them a mile away in their blacked out mercs/bmw/audis. Just avoid.
Cyclists: broken down into the regular commuters(good, aware of the surrounding traffic) that ride in all weather to the nice weather cyclist who is clueless. Boris bike tourists(we drive on the left hand side of the road you chimps!!)
Pedestrians: probably the biggest source of stress for me as a road user. Nobody is paying attention/glued to their phones and putting themselves in stupidly dangerous situations. And then giving a little sorry wave when I swerve around their absent minded lurch into traffic.
School run Mum's: nightmares!!
Ghetto princess: usually drive an older BMW X5, merc suv etc. Extremely aggressive, dangerous attitude, best avoided
Scaffold lorries, driven by people who generally don't give a .., some of the worst close passes ive had have all been from scaffold lorries.
Cars with stuffed toys on the dash or parcel shelf
Cars with aftermarket fur steering wheel cover
Metallic bronze or brown coloured cars
Any car with an unclean rear number plate or defective light cluster (or both)
Toyota Yaris
When I commuted in/around London by motorbike the worst drivers had to be a toss up between Addison Lee and middle-age Asian women in 4x4's.
Now living out in the sticks, only 'hazard' are old folk who do 40mph, irrelevant of the speed limit/conditions etc.
tjagain - Member
Don't get them in urban Edinburgh thom
How about people who clearly need their eyes tested...
There are loads in urban edinburgh
I'm driving to Scotland next year, so me!
The safest is definitely any Saab. Never, in the history of the world, have the words "ooh, look at that maniac in that Saab" ever been uttered! 😉
Lol at the few slating bus drivers/lorries etc owning the road .. Guess you haven't driven a large vehicle in a very busy city ?
It's good to see positive mentions on here for Lothian bus drivers it's not easy 8)
I'll add it's black cabs from me(not all) but Jesus wept when a hand goes up for a fare the dodgy ones only see pound signs and do some ridiculous manoevoure!! It's butt clenching slowing a full bus gently 🙄
Surprisingly bad are people with an mtb on the roof driving to GT/Inners.
This time of year seems worse for all types of dickhead drivers. I commuted across Sheffield for a meeting this week and had more close passes/pulled out on/delivery vans driven on the wrong side of the road right at me, than the rest of the year put together. Merry ****ing Christmas!
Middle aged men at the wheel of a people carrier on the motorway....you can almost smell their anger and frustration at the situation.
So what type of driver is your danger sign?
Any. In my experience there is no "type" for bad or dangerous driving, and I think the range of answers in this thread supports that view.
I agree that LRT drivers are pretty good, and I know a few are cyclists themselves.
Around here on busy rural roads it's generally young men trying to overtake a on a blind bend in there mums Corsa. Older me do it too but generally have faster cars to get them out of trouble. Combined with loads loads of slow farm traffic, an elderly demographic, and a large lorry depot nearby it means there I far more accidents that anywhere I've lived before
Older Nissan Patrol and Shogun drivers are an obvious omission. Especially those with a sweaty unkempt look to them.
Crew cab pick up drivers (gender neutral) that are not used for actual building/towing work but are "on the company" worse if have child seats in.
Timber wagons. Absolutely batshit mental.
IMO "bad" drivers aren't really defined by their demographics, the vehicle they drive or the stereotypes you might apply due to your own biased world view.
But the worst (IMO) are the ones who think they know best; who can reel off a dozen or so descriptions of the "worst drivers" spend all their time behind the wheel eyeballing everyone else with a simmering mix of false righteousness, impatience and envy and generally aren't actually especially good at driving themselves, but "everyone else" is a dickhead of course...
The OP and half the posters on this thread seem to slip neatly into that stereotype...
IMO "bad" drivers aren't really defined by their demographics, the vehicle they drive or the stereotypes you might apply
No shit.
[i]Literally [/i]the first words of this thread:
tjagain - Member
Only a bit of fun
maxtorque - Member
The safest is definitely any Saab. Never, in the history of the world, have the words "ooh, look at that maniac in that Saab" ever been uttered!
I used to do some work for an old (late 80's) guy who drove a Saab 900 Turbo. He was fairly maniacal, to be honest.
Volvo drivers, which is about 80% of Swedes. If I had to narrow it down, I'd say older, gold-coloured S80s (old men) , and XC60s (younger women).
Thank the Lord for us SAAB drivers 😀
'Innit bruv' types in Audi's & BMW's.
Middle aged women in expensive cars. Big mercs, Audi's etc. I'm not sure if they're being aggressive or just totally unaware that their two tonne ego mobile requires more than 5 mm stopping distance.
According to John Peel, anyone wearing a hat.
1 Tipper Lorries , any payload from Transit upwards
2. Men who dig holes in the road , frequently stoned at the wheel
3. Chavsda , Tesco, Sinsbury delivery vans
4. Busses. All driven by tossers.
5. Taxis
6. Any car with a personalised plate. You are not betterer than I.
7. Those pretty 30 somethings in 4x4's. Glued to phone, always pretty.
Having been out on the road today for the first time in ages, then
1) middle aged women in black cars
that's is, everybody else was lovely - I can't believe it was all down to having my son on the back of the tandem as I doubt it was that obvious from behind, but 90%+ of drivers seemed to give a lot more room than I'm used to getting, I wonder if the WMP passing distance initiative is having a real effect (I'm not in their area, but not far away).
Said women though - the very first part of our ride is down a very short DC, and the first one thought it reasonable to overtake us without moving out of the left lane (because there was something passing her on the right), the second one I'm sure would have squeezed us at a width restriction, but I saw her coming and moved to the middle of the gap.
Any Honda Jazz will be driven by a pensioner, and it will never exceed 40mph.
Haaaaa.
They're not happy to go over 40mph in a national zone, but they're happy to do 40mph past a school in a 20mph zone.
People driving to work from 7am-9am Audis, BMWs, Golf GTIs on the way to work from Peebles to Edinburgh. The amount of morons overtaking on blind corners and crests is insane. There's been a few fatalities, but still people drive like idiots. I'm often tailgated doing 60mph.
Just lately, in this globalised, multi-cultural, equal opportunities society in which we live, it would appear that no sub-section of humanity has exclusive rights to cockwomblery, whilst at the wheel of a vehicle.
I would, however, concur with the comment about hats. With the possible exception of wearing a wooly hat when it's cold, wearing a hat whilst driving raises doubts about the logical thought processes of the wearer.