Driving Time

Posted: Sat 25 August, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Commuting, Driving, Getting Organised, Thoughts, Travel, Work-related | Leave a comment »

Looking back over the D4D™ archives, I realised that I’ve now been driving for just over seven years – since 11th August 2005, to be precise.

And that means I’ve had the car for 5½ years, too – since March 2007 in fact. In that time I’ve done 121,000 miles, a surprisingly round average of 22,000 miles a year. I’ve had really two years which have exploded that average – the year I was commuting Norfolk->Cambridge on a daily basis, and the last twelve months with the daily Suffolk->London round trips, followed by Suffolk->Luton round trips.  With things being a bit more stable (and nowhere near as distant) I’m hoping the next 12 months will have a much lower average.  After all, my current commute works out as  sub-10,000 miles for the year, which is pretty novel by itself.

Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun?

Removing Bridges

Posted: Mon 2 July, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Change, Commuting, Driving, People | 2 Comments »

Over the weekend, the M1 near me (well, my entire commuting route) was closed to facilitate the removal of a bridge that is now un-used.  It’s all part of the works on that stretch of the M1, and I’ve been watching as it all changes.  Luckily I wasn’t going on that road over the weekend, or the detour would’ve been impressive.

The new bridge opened in May, and the last month has been spent removing all the sliproads to the old bridge, leaving it all isolated. By Friday they’d got rid of everything except the span of the bridge crossing the M1.  And this morning, it’s completely gone, including the centre stanchions, and the massive block they stood on. It’s actually pretty impressive, seeing the speed it must have been demolished and removed.

Indeed, if you went past it for the first time today, you’d never really know there’d been a bridge there at all. There are no indicators of its existence at all.

Personally, I think the new junction is currently quite dangerous, although I think that’s also heavily related to the fact that people driving to the 50mph average speed limit turn into complete fuckwits. We’ll see how it works out as time goes on, the roadworks are removed, and normality fights to re-assert itself again.

M1

Posted: Mon 25 June, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Commuting, Domestic, Driving, People, Stupidity, Work-related | 3 Comments »

Since moving, pretty much my entire commute now consists of the M1. It’s only two junctions-worth, thankfully, but all the same, it’s the M1.

The worst bit of this – for the next year, anyway – is that those two junctions I travel are in the process of having lots of work done on them, which leads to an ‘average speed limit’ of 50mph along the entire stretch.

Sadly, this “average 50mph” seems to remove driving skills in the massive majority of drivers. It means they sit in their lane, regardless of anything else going on around them. I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve seen sat in the outside lane, with two empty lanes beside them.

I don’t know what causes it. It just seems like their brains lock down into “50mph, and don’t change anything”.

Needless to say, it’s infuriating.

Anchor

Posted: Thu 14 June, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 1BEM, Advertising, Commuting, Driving, Sweary | 2 Comments »

I got sent this today, and loved it enough to want to share…

Don’t drive like a …

What’s next, I wonder ?

Don’t drive like a tw@ ?

Fogtastic

Posted: Thu 15 March, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Commuting, Driving, Thoughts | 1 Comment »

I’ve written before about moronic drivers who leave their foglights on once conditions clear up – leaving them to dazzle other people.

This week, though, there’ve been a couple of days with heavy fog – and it turns out that there are  also plenty of moronic dickheads who don’t feel they need foglights at all. Or lights.

Sometimes you really just have to wonder about people.

Unrewarded Idiocy

Posted: Tue 13 March, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 1BEM, Commuting, Driving, People, Stupidity | 4 Comments »

On my commute this morning I saw one of the more incredible things of late.

In the outside lane of the M1, two drivers had managed to have a small collision in the traffic. Nothing major, from the look of it, a few scratches, maybe a resprayed bumper or somesuch. But there was nothing major – no broken bodywork, no wheels askew, or anything like that.

The drivers had stopped to exchange details, as one should in an accident.

In the outside lane of the M1. As one shouldn’t, in an accident or at any other time.

Some people are just too stupid to deserve to live.

Tactical Driving

Posted: Wed 7 March, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 1BEM, BMW Drivers, Charm School, Commuting, Driving, MOTB | 6 Comments »

Over the last few days I’ve been taking part in a fun new game I’ll call “The Tactical Driving Game”.  It’s also called “the 505 game”, because it’s currently taking place on the A505.

Basically, find a route with several speed cameras on it. The A505 between Baldock and Royston is good for it, and I’d imagine that the A1 around Elkesley is another gem.

While driving at normal speed, end up with some titbag trying to intimidate you into shifting and letting them past.

Pull in when you get a chance – but particularly at certain spots along the road.

Titbag then goes blasting past, attempting to intimidate/impress with their speed/acceleration/car.

And *flash*, off goes the speed camera.

It’s a joy, I tell you. A joy.

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