Worse driving standards?

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Beachcomber
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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby Beachcomber » Mon Feb 01, 2021 4:21 pm

The worst thing for me is the reaction from other drivers when I am trying to stick to a 50kph speed limit on a wide, straight, single carriageway country road with continuous white lines down the centre.

I was even shunted from behind once by someone who thought I should be going faster which I caught on a rear facing dashcam but when the Guardia Civil found that the offending vehicle was being driven by the delinquent son of a vociferous local politician they lost interest.

I dread to think what is going to happen when the general reduction to 30kph on urban roads comes into force.

elusive
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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby elusive » Mon Feb 01, 2021 4:28 pm

Wicksey wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 1:09 pm
elusive wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2021 6:55 pm Tailgating at high speed on the motorway is horrendous here and frankly scary to see. The amount of near misses ive seen,well ive lost count. Seen to many aftermaths in the last 5 years aswell.tbh surprised i havnt seen more. Good ole fatalism. Maybe they are desperare to meet jesus and no i dont mean the footballer!!
That's what I mean nowadays. It used to be like that in Malaga city and to the west but here east of Malaga it used to be pretty sedate. Now cars come along so fast when you're trying to overtake a lorry for instance, it's like they would just knock you off the road if you didn't move over and get out of their way. As I say, I'm no dawdler when I drive, so they must be doing 160kmph judging by the speed they arrive up behind me.

People also drive inappropriately fast along some of the narrow back roads on the Costa. Knowing how people step out in front of you from often hidden crossings that are tucked in between parked cars, they would never stop in time. We've seen a lot of near misses on the crossings on the Torrox Costa coast road, even when the lights are red, cars still go sailing through :shock:
I think its just a total lack of manners, road/common sense.like having no clue how to pull into the empty middle lane of a motorway when someone is trying to enter from the slip. Rather than using some common sense the car trying to enter has brake and come to an almost standstill instead.Like you say, the amount of times ive been over taking and a car driving at god knows what speed is up my backside within a second of me looking in my rear view mirror.they can see ive just pulled out if stuck behind a slow vehicle yet dont have the common sense to take their foot of the accelerator for a few seconds.all you you see is tailgating cars brake lights at high speed behind each other. You shouldnt even need to use the brake, taking your foot off the pedal should be enough unless its to avoid a situation.
And why do they cut right infront of you within meters once they have overtaken you.theres no need for it.

Im sure things have gone down hill in the uk. Last time i was there i joked about the "spanish" driving but i guess you get used to people waving you in and thanking you by a wave in the rear mirror. When that happens here i have to rub my eyes. You know when a brit is on a road crossing as they wave a thankyou as they cross the road :lol:

The other day when sat in a cafe a women was nearly rear ended because phone in hand she decided to slam her brakes on to talk to a friend in the street.not giving two hoots about the car behind them that just stopped in time.

Agree beach. Ifs bad enough now at 50

olive
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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby olive » Wed Feb 03, 2021 7:09 pm

Went out to donate blood at local hospital . Dead loss as discovered Brits living Britain during mad cow era aren’t eligible.

Had first near miss with a car overtaking on a corner in our lane.

Second incident was at the long narrow section where traffic coming down give way. We were in it and a tractor came down regardless. Car behind him stopped and waited. Round the corner came a further vehicle which just overtook the waiting car and forced us off the road. All in daylight and good visibility.

Beachcomber
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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby Beachcomber » Thu Feb 04, 2021 7:20 am

Spanish learners have it drummed into them that they must ALWAYS use the right hand lane, even when taking the last exit on a roundabout.

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spanish_lad
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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby spanish_lad » Thu Feb 04, 2021 9:15 am

I was driving down to work this morning at 07.00 in the dark, and i had a "big" motorbike behind - i couldn´t even see his headlights cos he was so close to the back of the car ! there was no other cars for a km either way but he wouldn´t overtake at all.. very weird people indeed
Alhaurin el Grande since 99, working at the airport since 2011.

elusive
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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby elusive » Thu Feb 04, 2021 9:52 am

Beachcomber wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 7:20 am Spanish learners have it drummed into them that they must ALWAYS use the right hand lane, even when taking the last exit on a roundabout.
They shouldnt anymore as the highway code equivalent was changed so they should be taught the same as other euro countries. The roundabout ridiculousness (is that a word?!) To me sums up the lack of common sense and road sense when it comes to driving. Ontop of having pedestrian crossings on the entrance and exit to them and on the corners of road junctions. Whoever created them and thought it was a logical place to put crossings has a total lack of road/common sense. :silent:

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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby Lavanda » Thu Feb 04, 2021 10:50 am

We have a big Carrefour in Cáceres with various roundabouts to access the store and car parks. There are pedestrian crossings within 10-15 metres of the roundabout entrances and exits and it is dangerous to put it mildly. Agree with you, elusive, about the lack of common sense in the planning of said crossings.

elusive
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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby elusive » Thu Feb 04, 2021 4:22 pm

Know where you mean lavanda. We ended up in McDonalds there after a day in trujillo.

Ignorant bleeper of the day award goes to the idiot ive just had to deal with. Im doing a three point turn on a quiet village road.you can see either way for 100's of mtrs so nice and "safe" what does some idiot do. Drive towards me at high speed. Not slowing down like any normal considerate driver would do.im just about to do the 3rd point of the turn so three quarters on the opposite side of the road and instead of just waiting one second to let me do the rest of the manoeuvre he drives up the side of me in a big 4x4 within inches and gesticulating as he goes.he got back as good as he gave. What sort of ignorant k!@# acts like that?. What is wrong just taking you foot of the excelaratoter so the other driver can do what they are doing. No manners whatsoever. And they have the check to blame you! slow down, flash of the lights,a wave thank you and a wave your welcome as it used to be in the uk.

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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby Wicksey » Thu Feb 04, 2021 5:22 pm

A few years back we went to Toledo. It was our first trip that way for a number of years but when we used to drive back and forth to France, we always used to remark how easy it was to drive here, hassle free.

However we found it had changed completely with maniacs driving scarily fast on the motorway. We hit a traffic jam south of Toledo and all the traffic came to a halt but a man in a big 4x4 drove really fast up behind us flashing his lights when you could clearly see we had all stopped in a jam. He was gesticulating as if we should somehow just disappear off the road. We were quite disappointed as to how the driving had got so much more aggressive compared to 8 or 9 years earlier.

Agree with you too Lavanda. They presumably don't have a Highways Dept like UK County Councils have to regulate the placement of crossings etc. We always notice the poor slightsplay on junctions. They place junctions on bends and often with insufficient room to easily turn into as they're too narrow.

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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby elusive » Thu Feb 04, 2021 6:24 pm

A few weeks ago when the guardia was ran off the road by the british car thief on the motorway at the velez turn off, we drove past the scene a few hrs later.there was a warning sign a few km before on the over heads and you could see the guardias blues flashing from far off and there was a guardia stood on the motorway slowing people down and trying to push them into the hard shoulder away from the crashed van etc. The car infront of me puts on his warning lights and slows down towards the hard shoulder and i do the same. Directly behind me some idiot pulls into the outside lane although you could clearly see the carnage ahead and drives straight towards the poor guardia whos about to dive out of the way. The car pulls across the lanes and carries on. The guardia has a WTF look on his face and has no time to do anything but save himself. Was the driver on the phone.Didnt see the big warning sign at algarrobo? Talk about blinkered

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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby qe2ex » Thu Feb 04, 2021 9:21 pm

elusive wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 4:28 pm Like you say, the amount of times ive been over taking and a car driving at god knows what speed is up my backside within a second of me looking in my rear view mirror.they can see ive just pulled out if stuck behind a slow vehicle yet dont have the common sense to take their foot of the accelerator for a few seconds.
If he's up your backside within a second, why don't you wait a second or two and let him pass, before moving into the left lane to overtake whatever it is you want to overtake? Wouldn't that be more polite than forcing him to break/slow down just because you couldn't wait a second or two to let him pass before you jumped into his lane to overtake?

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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby Lavanda » Fri Feb 05, 2021 8:16 am

I don't understand which lane is 'his' lane. Sorry.

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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby qe2ex » Fri Feb 05, 2021 10:43 am

Lavanda wrote: Fri Feb 05, 2021 8:16 am I don't understand which lane is 'his' lane. Sorry.
Sometimes I'm in the right lane and I want to overtake a slower car. Before changing to the left lane, I have a look and see if there's another car in the left lane already. Perhaps a car that is approaching fast from behind. If so, I stay in "my lane", and wait for him to pass in "his lane". After he has passed, I overtake the slower car.

My thinking is that since he's already in the left lane, it's more polite for me to wait for him to pass, than for him to have to slow down because I suddenly changed into "his lane", and then have to wait for me to overtake the car in front of me before I get back into "my lane", so he can pass me.

I hope this explanation helps.

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Wicksey
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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby Wicksey » Fri Feb 05, 2021 11:15 am

I think what elusive is describing is what happens to us.

We have not pulled out to overtake knowing that a car is speeding along the outside lane. I would not pull out in front of a fast advancing vehicle. I check my mirrors and there's nothing in sight but then as I'm halfway overtaking the slower vehicle a car will appear from nowhere doing a ton and then roars up within a few feet of me. If people drive that fast then they should be aware that they will encounter others in the overtaking lane doing 120kmph (or sometimes less) and they have to be prepared to slow down, not act as if they want to try to knock you off the road.

olive
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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby olive » Fri Feb 05, 2021 12:01 pm

so is this general behaviour ?

Drug fueled
Alcohol fueled
Inspired by youth and invincibility
Improved cars and their availability

It surely cannot be down to a more pressurised lifestyle

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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby Lavanda » Fri Feb 05, 2021 12:37 pm

Maybe it's a young man thing?

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Wicksey
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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby Wicksey » Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:22 pm

It's not always young men driving. I think now that there's finance available for new cars there's more on the roads. We often see adverts for cars and they never say a cash price to buy outright, just 150 euros pm for example, so I think people are getting themselves a nice high powered car. It wasn't that long ago down this end of the Costa that people mainly drove older cars, but it's noticeable now how many are nearly new.

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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby Lavanda » Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:42 pm

Here, the biggest hazards are tractors especially at tomato-rice-fruit harvesting time of year. The Spanish speeding rules are that no one is allowed to go slower than 50% of the stated speed limit. That's obvious for motorways and A-roads but many smaller lanes do not actually have a limit so I expect it is the national limit which is — no idea. Anyway, drivers queue up to overtake the tractors. Locals know that the trailer in front is not just pulled by a tractor but there will be a trailer in front of the trailer plus the tractor. The 10km stretch of road from Miajadas, where the tomato processing factories and the rice factories are, and the village of Almoharín is 90kph. This is all right but it is complicated by sets of crossroads at intervals allowing access to the canals and waterways. In those areas the speed is 70kph. Locals either relax and drive at 20kph like the tractors, or use the canal side roads which are restricted to canal work vehicles only but no one takes any notice of that. The limit on those roads is 40kph but that is double going behind a tractor. Either side of the Miajadas - Almoharín road, mostly, are very wide grassy verges with upended cars on a few days every week in the Summer. We just imagine they are the impatient people.

elusive
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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby elusive » Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:50 pm

qe2ex wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2021 9:21 pm
elusive wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 4:28 pm Like you say, the amount of times ive been over taking and a car driving at god knows what speed is up my backside within a second of me looking in my rear view mirror.they can see ive just pulled out if stuck behind a slow vehicle yet dont have the common sense to take their foot of the accelerator for a few seconds.
If he's up your backside within a second, why don't you wait a second or two and let him pass, before moving into the left lane to overtake whatever it is you want to overtake? Wouldn't that be more polite than forcing him to break/slow down just because you couldn't wait a second or two to let him pass before you jumped into his lane to overtake?
Or maybe he shouldnt be driving at 160 plus on the motorway. From a long way off you cant tell how quick they are driving. Once they see someone pulling out possible 100s of metres infront of them yet because they are speeding they know they will be on them in seconds then its common sense to take your foot of the accelerator .if you are intop of someone because you are driving at high speed well over the limit then your the one at fault hence why you see so many brake lights coming on all the time. You shouldnt need to use them on a motorway unless its an emergency situation. Unless of course you are driving to fast and tailgating someone.

elusive
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Re: Worse driving standards?

Postby elusive » Fri Feb 05, 2021 2:04 pm

Wicksey wrote: Fri Feb 05, 2021 11:15 am I think what elusive is describing is what happens to us.

We have not pulled out to overtake knowing that a car is speeding along the outside lane. I would not pull out in front of a fast advancing vehicle. I check my mirrors and there's nothing in sight but then as I'm halfway overtaking the slower vehicle a car will appear from nowhere doing a ton and then roars up within a few feet of me. If people drive that fast then they should be aware that they will encounter others in the overtaking lane doing 120kmph (or sometimes less) and they have to be prepared to slow down, not act as if they want to try to knock you off the road.
Yeap exactly my point wicksey. Thanks


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