With it being Christmas I take extra care when driving with all the idiots on the road at the moment.
Being the designated driver (as always) I was driving a friend home late at night (circa 1am).
I was taking it easy in the B3 as the fuel costs have been quite high recently (14mpg day to day).
Driving in the left lane on the dual carriageway (40mph limit) with cruise control on, no other cars about and a roundabout in 500 yards.
I glanced into the rear view mirror and saw some headlights approaching at speed. With about 10 yards to spare he pulls into the right hand lane, then sharply back in front of me messing up my mpg experiment :mad
I don't think too much of it and carry on at 40mph.
I approach the roundabout and there's the van driver in the left lane (left only). I pull up beside him in the middle lane to go straight across the roundabout.
The lights change and I pull up to the 2nd set of red lights, I look in the wing mirror & he's trying to make me move over, no sorry, you were in the wrong lane so you can slow down and pull in behind me.
He brakes and pulls up in the lane to my right, rolls his window down & starts shouting abuse at me & revving his engine, I told him to get in the correct lane through my closed window, I can't be bothered to have an argument at 1am. Again the lights turn to green & I follow the lane to the exit, again the van driver tries to cut into my lane. I have nowhere to go, by now I've had enough of this bloke. I carry on at the speed limit of 30mph until there's space for me to pull over to let him pass me.
He doesn't pass me, he just sits 2 feet from my rear bumper for the next ½ mile. I'm now approaching another roundabout, this time there's a car in front of me.
2 lanes, one for going left, the other for straight ahead. The van suddenly pulls into the wrong side of the road and looks as though he's going to overtake us both by going around the roundabout the wrong way :jaw-dropping
He has second thoughts and pulls back in, though a bit too late, he mounts the kerb, hits a lit bollard and a lamp post at 10mph! The other car in front carries on as do I, though my friend is now on the phone to the police.
So I carry on with my journey and I'm now travelling at 70mph on the dual carriageway, guess who over takes me! The van! So we've now got his numberplate and passed it onto the police.
An hour later my friend calls me saying the police found him & pulled him over, needless to say he was over the limit while driving his work van (a national newspaper).
So all in all a good night, one idiot loses his licence & I got 31mpg out of the Alpina :thumbsup
Hope you all had a good Christmas
Being the designated driver (as always) I was driving a friend home late at night (circa 1am).
I was taking it easy in the B3 as the fuel costs have been quite high recently (14mpg day to day).
Driving in the left lane on the dual carriageway (40mph limit) with cruise control on, no other cars about and a roundabout in 500 yards.
I glanced into the rear view mirror and saw some headlights approaching at speed. With about 10 yards to spare he pulls into the right hand lane, then sharply back in front of me messing up my mpg experiment :mad
I don't think too much of it and carry on at 40mph.
I approach the roundabout and there's the van driver in the left lane (left only). I pull up beside him in the middle lane to go straight across the roundabout.
The lights change and I pull up to the 2nd set of red lights, I look in the wing mirror & he's trying to make me move over, no sorry, you were in the wrong lane so you can slow down and pull in behind me.
He brakes and pulls up in the lane to my right, rolls his window down & starts shouting abuse at me & revving his engine, I told him to get in the correct lane through my closed window, I can't be bothered to have an argument at 1am. Again the lights turn to green & I follow the lane to the exit, again the van driver tries to cut into my lane. I have nowhere to go, by now I've had enough of this bloke. I carry on at the speed limit of 30mph until there's space for me to pull over to let him pass me.
He doesn't pass me, he just sits 2 feet from my rear bumper for the next ½ mile. I'm now approaching another roundabout, this time there's a car in front of me.
2 lanes, one for going left, the other for straight ahead. The van suddenly pulls into the wrong side of the road and looks as though he's going to overtake us both by going around the roundabout the wrong way :jaw-dropping
He has second thoughts and pulls back in, though a bit too late, he mounts the kerb, hits a lit bollard and a lamp post at 10mph! The other car in front carries on as do I, though my friend is now on the phone to the police.
So I carry on with my journey and I'm now travelling at 70mph on the dual carriageway, guess who over takes me! The van! So we've now got his numberplate and passed it onto the police.
An hour later my friend calls me saying the police found him & pulled him over, needless to say he was over the limit while driving his work van (a national newspaper).
So all in all a good night, one idiot loses his licence & I got 31mpg out of the Alpina :thumbsup
Hope you all had a good Christmas