Pulling out into oncoming traffic - Driving Standards
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Transcript:
So welcome to a little tour of bad driving with a city cabbie.
You can see at this point that we have been given the green filter light for going forwards, which means that the traffic coming from the right well have been shown the red light for at least a few seconds, yet we can just see the nose of the taxi moving beyond the junction line. He has ran the red light!
I begin slowing down as there is a wheelchair user still crossing the road. The red car then has to take emergency braking action to avoid the taxi, using it's horn to warn the taxi of it's presence.
Now aware that the taxi's driving is of a very low standard, I slow down further so I am not alongside the taxi. Just as well, as the taxi casually drives into my lane without indicating. He then continues down the road, straddling two lanes.
So there are 3 faults this taxi driver makes during this short clip. Firstly, running a red light. If a traffic light goes red, and you are beyond the junction line, then you should still attempt to stop, unless by doing so, you would block the junction. In this image, just as my light goes green, you can clearly see that the taxi is not blocking the junction. Therefore he really should have stopped. By failing to do so, he forced the red car to take emergency action.
The second fault is changing lanes without indication. Had I not slowed down, and was driving at the speed limit (which I have the right to do), then I would have been alongside the taxi when it merged lanes. Without indicating, I would have had no warning he was changing lanes and one or both of us would have had to take avoiding action to prevent a collision. I always give dangerous drivers a wide berth, so thankfully I slowed down and allowed the taxi in front of me.
The final fault is straddling two lanes. I'm not 100% sure of the legal implications of doing this, but it is still a very bad practice. Here's why: each lane has a purpose and is a way of grouping vehicles with similar directions of travel into one place. By being in two lanes at the same time, other road users and pedestrians have to second guess what your intentions are, and getting it wrong could lead to a major incident! If you stay in the correct lane and indicate properly, other drivers will have a much better time of working out your intentions. Additionally, in heavy traffic, by taking up two lanes, you effectively reduce the capacity of vehicles on the road, and as such, you contribute negatively to traffic flow problems, and detriment everyones journey times.
That's all for this video, please like if you think this taxi driver should get a copy of the highway code through the post! Stay safe on the roads, and thanks for watching! Hibblejaybob