Driving home from work quite late, pulled up at some traffic lights and a guy was stood on the opposite side of the road looking at the car and I immediately thought it looked a bit odd but didn’t think any more of it (but checked that my doors were locked).

The next thing he was stood by my window so I wound it down a little and he said something along the lines of ‘your registration plate has been changed so the ‘E’ looks like a ‘6’.

I thanked him for his help, wound the window up and drove away. When I got home I checked and it hadn’t been altered nor was there any evidence it had been and it had subsequently blown off (the car is muddy and there was no evidence of tampering).

So what was happening? Did he hope I would get out to check there and then and then hop in and drive away? Is this a common ploy at the moment if it was his plan?

Very odd experience, especially in the centre of Harrogate.

He was looking for e see 6

[applauds]

He’s probably one of those sad souls that used to go around checking people’s tax discs, when that hobby was denied him, he’s turned to number plate letter spacing crime?

Possible car jack.. His assailant jumps in and runs you over when you hop out to look at your German font plate

Possibly a slightly nutty bloke who’s decided to inform everyone of minor infringements. Seen a couple of those before.

molgrips – Member

Possibly a slightly nutty bloke who’s decided to inform everyone of minor infringements.

That’ll never happen on STW 😉

It’s not me either, in case anyone was wondering.

I had a bloke chase me for a good 15mile, sounding his horn, flashing his lights, shouting, waving his fists etc……pretty sure he wanted to kill me. It was dark and foggy on unlit roads, eventually I could see he was alone (like me) so I positioned myself so he could pull up alongside me. “Your rear fog’s on mate”. Some strange folk out there!

BTW, the plate is completely unaltered – just a bog-standard plate that came with the car. I tried looking at it from different angles to see if the light had cast a shadow on it but nothing.

He was being sarcastic about your private plate manipulation?

You get that in London a lot. Normally it’s just odd folk, of which there are many. Tend to either stare you down, point and gestate or tap on your window.

Best thing to do is humour them but don’t open your window.

I had a guy approach me in Clapham last week whilst I was sitting in the car in a queue, harmless enough he tapped the window and gestated to me to open it but I declined and smiled, he smiled and said “nice car mate”

Harmless but didn’t want to get involved.

And I do have a heightened state of alert about this particular ‘prank’ after driving 20 miles in my brand new Ford Puma back in the day. Pulled up at a roundabout and a guy pulled alongside me, grinning, thumbs up etc and I thought he was just as excited as me about my brand new shiny car.

Parked up at home, walked round to the shops and as I walked back up I noticed a very authentic-looking registration plate that workmates had taped over the top proudly saying GAY 80Y.

Bastards 🙂

He was being sarcastic about your private plate manipulation?

No private plate, no manipulation, just the plate as was delivered on the car by the manufacturer.

I had a bloke chase me for a good 15mile, sounding his horn, flashing his lights, shouting, waving his fists etc…

A mate of mine had this happen to him on the M61, except instead of fog-lights it turned out the back of his car was on fire. 30 secs after he pulled over and got out the petrol tank exploded.

point and gestate

Blimey, long waits at London traffic lights these days? Anything up to nine months it seems.

A mate of mine had this happen to him on the M61, except instead of fog-lights it turned out the back of his car was on fire. 30 secs after he pulled over and got out the petrol tank exploded.

I did this to a bloke in a Type R- he was driving along with his bonnet flapping up and down (not on the secondary catch). This was on the way to the motorway so I shudder to think what might have happened.

I had a bloke chase me for a good 15mile, sounding his horn, flashing his lights, shouting, waving his fists etc……pretty sure he wanted to kill me. It was dark and foggy on unlit roads, eventually I could see he was alone (like me) so I positioned myself so he could pull up alongside me. “Your rear fog’s on mate”. Some strange folk out there!

I can undestand your concern at his behavior and his reaction was over the top. However, I was always under the impression that once you were sure the person behind had seen you with the fog light on, you should then turn it off unless the visibilty was considerably reduced, eg. Less than 50m. This is because the glare from your light is a potential hazard to the driver behind. The fogs should only go on when the visibility is less than 100m. That’s pretty foggy.

I will flash my lights at people who have rear fogs on in misty, rather than fully foggy conditions. If I can see the normal rear lights of the car in front of the one with the fogs on, the visibility is good enough not to need them.

http://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/driving-in-adverse-weather-conditions—fog-234-to-236.html

goon – Member
point and gestate
Blimey, long waits at London traffic lights these days? Anything up to nine months it seems.

Ha! a pregnant pause 😆

OP did you happen to notice the altitude of the hem of his trousers? Anything above the ankle is usually a pretty good indicator of a lunatic.

Was it this guy?

thegreatape – Member

OP did you happen to notice the altitude of the hem of his trousers? Anything above the ankle is usually a pretty good indicator of a lunatic.

What about shorts?

In those circumstances you have to assess the degree of lunacy solely on the content and volume of whatever they are saying to passing traffic.

This fella ?

I HATE stupid bastards who drive around with their front or rear fogs on. Rear fogs and I pass them and flash mine at them. Front, and I give them full beam in the hope they’ll crash.

Really, incompetence winds me up that much.

He was looking for e see 6

I HATE stupid bastards who drive around with their front or rear fogs on.

Pet hate of mine is audi drivers who sit with their foot on the brake at the traffic lights, feels like being interrogated by a Christmas tree.

Re odd incident:?

You live in Yorkshire don’t you? That people hang around doing this doesn’t surprise me.

Just going to point out the reason a LOT of drivers sit at lights with thier foot on the brake (and hence brake lights on) is because they drive Automatics. See that’s the only way of keeping them Stopped Lyke.

😉

The fog light thing is annoying as my eyes are very sensitive.

If you can see the car in front of you easily then turn them off!

Just going to point out the reason a LOT of drivers sit at lights with thier foot on the brake (and hence brake lights on) is because they drive Automatics. See that’s the only way of keeping them Stopped Lyke.

We do have handbrakes as well, and considerate drivers use them.

My car is particularly frustrating. It has a brilliant ‘hold’ feature. Pull up in drive, push hard on the brake pedal once stopped and it applies an electronic brake a bit like the handbrake. To move off, I just hit the accelerator. It would be perfect, but for the fact it keeps the brake lights on whilst on hold…

Sounds like someone on the autism spectrum. Lists, numbers, timings, trains can all become major fixations/obsessions. There are people walking about who have memorised the Yellow Pages. Just think of it.

Not sure what is most annoying those who sit at traffic lights with their foot on brake or those who place car in to neutral and apply handbrake and then don’t anticipate when they can pull away, waiting till the car in front has moved before putting in to gear and releasing the handbrake limiting the number of vehicles through the lights. Actually I’ve decided the second lot are more annoying.

There is of course a middle ground, but it appears to be sparsely populated compared the above types of driver.

Mark90 you must spend a lot of time angry!!