C5 drivers! tut tut...

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Northern_Mike

Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by Northern_Mike »

I also drive a C5. I've been involved in two altercations in the last 20 years of driving, one being the 'bike incident, one being an attempted carjacking in Brazil back in 2004. Again, the would-be-assailant came off worst. I'd been at a little party on the beach with the kids and some friends, and we'd ran out of drinks. My wife's friend took me to the supermarket 5 mins from the beach, then waited outside while I went in to get some drinks. I came out with a two carrier bags of cans, and a bottle of beer in my hand which I wanted to drink there and then. Two little turds were trying to carjack Renata, they had a crappy little knife. I walked as though I was going past them, turned and hit the one with the knife on the back of the head with the bottle, so hard it broke. He went down like a sack of potatoes. His mate ran off, and I was so offended by the whole thing, I ran after him, tackled him to the ground in a builders ditch, and proceeded to give him a lesson as to why he shouldn't carjack Lancastrians. Unluckily for me, a police car drove past the ditch I was doing this in and arrested me . It took my ex-father in law (local respected psychiatrist), Renata (a local solicitor) , R$500 in a brown envelope, and a promise that I'd be on the next plane out of there (we were booked to leave the day after anyway!) to get me out of nick.
A rough translation of the conversation in the local nice was

"Ah, hello Doctor Marco. Do you know this violent maniac?"
"Yes, he's my son-in-law. He's a nice guy really. <hands brown envelope over> That's for your troubles, sorry he's been a nuisance.
"Ah, yes. When is he leaving? Today or tomorrow I suggest?"
"I'll make sure it's tomorrow"
"Make sure it is, and keep the *%^*% under control until then please, this is a quiet area"
"Ok, thank you so much for your co-operation"..

Corruption, don't you just love it?

There was a line as we left which was something like "Marco, we'll give him a job as our Terminator, or does he want a job, those little sods deserved it, they've troubled us before"

But yes, you're right. Stay out of trouble if at all possible. I'm 40 this year. Way too old for this kind of stuff, I have family to consider and look after. I played rugby for a while, learnt many tricks from my parents (Mental Health nurses, aunt - Prison officer, Dad, ex-bouncer ) on how to put violent people down without hurting them. My mum, at 63 can still have me on the floor in about 4 seconds.
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by CitroJim »

blackbeard wrote: Sad that we have to discuss such things, but such is the nature of the society we now live in.................
Indeed, terribly sad :( Seems to me that people generally these days are very stressed and overall rather unhappy with their lot. A lot of it is quite understandable in a way, especially if you are of a certain age - as the C5 driver is - and you perceive this country and the world as a whole is rapidly going to hell in a handcart. It isn't but when you're in your 50s and life is perhaps not quite the bed or roses you think it should be then it appears as if it is and it does not take a lot to get a rage going over quite trivial things.

I don't speak from experience exactly but I'm of that age and know how a lot of my peers feel and know too how easy it is to go down that road..

Think of grumpy old men...

And you can't tell them the world isn't actually reeling headlong into the abyss; they have to see for themselves that it's just a process of natural evolution that's been going on since year dot and youngsters are no different today than they ever were - they just might perhaps express themselves a bit differently...

I'm not defending the bloke, far from it, his behaviour is totally unacceptable. I'm just trying to illustrate what might be going on in his head.

As I said before, he needs to get a grip on life, accept how things are, grow up a bit and make the best of it - most likely through a series of lifestyle adjustments...
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by myglaren »

He really should be driving a car built by Teutons with that attitude.
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by Fake Concern »

Reading all these posts makes me think I've lead a very sheltered life! As I was teacher in the East End of London for over 20 years, I have been on the receiving end of a fair bit of threatening behaviour, but got good at diffusing the situation. I have also had people use their cars as a weapon against me while on my bike, but in each case, ignored them & got out of the situation (usually because I could get through the traffic quicker than them.
BTW I particularly liked the "self-defense demonstration in a car parking"-is that anyone from this forum?
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by dnsey »

Slightly OT, but does anyone know the answer to this:
I usually cycle the three miles or so to work each morning - wakes me up and keeps me a bit fitter than I would be otherwise. On the way, there's a traffic-light controlled junction. I stop if the lights are red, but there are sometimes very few other vehicles on the road at that time in the morning. The lights are for some reason not designed to recognise a bike, so unless a four wheeled vehicle approaches in the same direction will never go green.
I admit that occasionally, having waited some minutes and watched the lights cycling through several times, giving priority to all other directions, I will carefully check that nothing is approaching,and jump the red light, as I have no other option.
Why would a system be designed to ignore cyclists who are, quite rightly, required to obey the signals?
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by myglaren »

That's ridiculous! Crap design and implementation. Is there a pedestrian crossing so you can push the button and cross when it is indicating a pedestrian right of way?

Friday morning I watched a cyclist on the pavement at a crossroads waiting for the pedestrian lights to go green.
Couldn't say how long he stayed there as he never pushed the button so never got the green light.
It is of course illegal for a cyclist to do that but I can appreciate why he would do it, the car drivers there wear blinkers that prevent them seeing cyclists.
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by Northern_Mike »

This very morning I was followed by some idiot in a silver Toyota Rav 4 from the A322/A308 roundabout near Windsor all the way up the A308 towards Maidenhead.
He decided I was in the wrong lane (I wasn't) at the roundabout, gave me a blast of his horn, started gesticulating and flashing his lights. He continued to do this for approximately a mile and a half behind me, all the way up to the Fifield turn off the A308. This was at 7:15 this morning when I was on my way home from work after a 12 hour night shift. Now, a Rav4 isn't going to catch me in a C5 on those back roads, not a hope.. but, just imagine I'd stopped and got out instead. I could have done him all kinds of harm, just over him not knowing what lane he should be in..
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by CitroJim »

People like that should be removed from the roads as being mentally not fit to drive. DVLA want to know if you're physically impaired and I believe they should be aware of mental impairments too... It should be part of the driving test too. if you don't display the correct temperament and attitude to the job in hand then a licence should be declined.

You really should have stopped and faced him Mike. You'd have scared him half to death :lol: :lol: And perhaps hopefully made him think through the error he'd just made.
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by Northern_Mike »

CitroJim wrote:People like that should be removed from the roads as being mentally not fit to drive. DVLA want to know if you're physically impaired and I believe they should be aware of mental impairments too... It should be part of the driving test too. if you don't display the correct temperament and attitude to the job in hand then a licence should be declined.

You really should have stopped and faced him Mike. You'd have scared him half to death :lol: :lol: And perhaps hopefully made him think through the error he'd just made.
I quite agree Jim. I just like to get on with my journey in peace. I think the driving test should include time in a simulator where one is put in stressful situation. This could be made part of the theory test and held at the same places. If one reacts badly to the stress.. FAIL.

I've given up stopping and facing people. It'd just not end well after a 12 hour night shift. Also, I have Sam and Adriana to look after and provide for and one is always wary of the fact the law might not take facts into account. Who knows, if I stopped, he got out, came running towards me and happened to make contact with my fist on the way , is that self defence because I was threatened? Who knows? What if that fist broke his jaw unintentionally? Six months inside for me? It's just not worth it. Maybe jamming my brakes on and impaling his car on my towbar...
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by CitroJim »

No, I quite agree Mike, it's not worth the potential repercussions, it never is. I was thinking that just one look at you would be enough and nothing else would be required. He'd most likely run away... I would! Especially at the end of a long night shift... :lol:
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by Northern_Mike »

CitroJim wrote:No, I quite agree Mike, it's not worth the potential repercussions, it never is. I was thinking that just one look at you would be enough and nothing else would be required. He'd most likely run away... I would! Especially at the end of a long night shift... :lol:
You'd be wise to do so Jim, however if I saw a bearded wiry man driving a Xantia and behaving like that, I'd just assume it was you, or another like you who wanted to tell me a bulb as out or something. You have a nice face and your demeanour would calm me down. :-D In fact, I think most of the members here would, certainly the ones I've met...

An example - we work with a chap who's ex special forces/marines. Last years he was at a charity gala, black tie do, to raise money for one of the disabled childrens charities in a town on the South coast. One of the morons managed to wangle his way in and starts shouting and bullying some of the kids in wheelchairs. Our man asked him nicely to shut up and leave, so the moron pulled a knife out on "our" man. Our man didn't take kindly to this. Simply quickly disarmed the moron, and stuck the knife deep into his leg.

Good on him I say, the moron will think twice before carrying a knife and waving at someone. YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHO/WHATTHEY MIGHT BE!

No DickieG, I'm not condoning vigilantilism, the Police have a police in society.
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by Xantidote »

Well done Mike, you took a mature attitude (even if part of you didn't want to).

I've cursed the odd driver at roundabouts, in the wrong lane, or cutting me up to dart off to the left. However, since I've started using a satnav when in unfamiliar territory, I've realised that sometimes my satnav doesn't always give me much warning when on a complex multi-junction roundabout, so maybe some other drivers have the same problem - just trying to explain the odd cutting up incident. I also think that road designers don't always get it right.

You live to fight another day :-D
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by Xaccers »

Reminds me of when I had my 2nd 205, I'd had the steering wheel off and hadn't put it on quite center, so had the large socket wrench with me as I headed off for a test drive to see if I'd got it straight this time.
At a roundabout an old block took objection to me wanting to follow my lane and thus prevent him cutting straight across (you know the sort, lane 1, hit roundabout and wobble into lane 2, then back into lane 1 all without indicating), and without me noticing he followed me home and tried to have a go.
I told him to clear off and that he was a fool to follow someone to an unknown area, and explained lane control to him before he went on his way in a huff.
I then thought if I was a bit of a thug or a real hot head, I could have used that wrench as a weapon very easily and he'd not have been able to defend against it. Crazy idiot!

Had something similar in MK on the way to Costco, actually with a bloke about the same age. He pulled out from a single lane road onto a 3 lane roundabout straight into lane 2 (marked faintly for getting you into lane 1 of the two lane dual carriageway at exit 4.
I was behind him, needing exit 2 straight across so entered lane 1, passed him, indicated and exited. He sounded his horn and followed me off the roundabout without indicating.
I left him behind, parked up and entered Costco. I'd gotten as far as the music systems when he caught up with me and started raving about cutting him up.
I just explained how these new fangled things called roundabouts, lanes and indicators worked and suggested he read a more up to date version of the highway code which sent him on his way.

I hate that roundabout. The lines need repainting with arrows for the feckless. So many go from lane 1 of the two lane dual carriageway into lane 2 of the roundabout, so if you actually drive properly you could end up in an accident.
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by CitroJim »

If that's the same roundabout I'm thinking of Xac then yes, it's horrific and badly designed and laid out. Is that the H6/V10 one?

There's a common theme here and that’s older men. Worrying :roll:
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Re: C5 drivers! tut tut...

Post by Xaccers »

CitroJim wrote:If that's the same roundabout I'm thinking of Xac then yes, it's horrific and badly designed and laid out. Is that the H6/V10 one?

There's a common theme here and that’s older men. Worrying :roll:
H7/V11 was the one I was thinking of.
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