Driver got out of his car and opened my car door.

We all want cheaper car insurance. We all want to live as long as possible. We all want a happier existence. Then we drive our cars and insist on using our mobile phones, drive aggressively and too fast. We fight for the length of a car space. We overtake when it’s dangerous. We think we own the road. Nobody has ever met a driver who caused an accident; it was always somebody else who caused it.

We have to start somewhere. Let’s begin to be more careful out there. A smile, a friendly wave, good conduct and switching off of our mobile phones would be of benefit to every road user. I said it before, let’s lead by example, it works! Everything else doesn’t.
 
Leper said:
A smile, a friendly wave, good conduct
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I was behind a car that drove from Blackrock to Clonskeagh the other day and not once did the car indicate when turning left or right. It didn't stop on it's side of the road when it had an obstruction but just overtook the obstruction even when there was oncoming traffic. It is hard to smile when you see this type of behaviour.

The person in the Alfa Romeo car that got out and opened my door to lecture me last week and who took umbrage to me using my car horn was full of his own self importance but in reality was just a self righteous thug.
 
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Very interesting read.

Here's a little observation. I'm sure you've all noticed when you walk around the supermarket with your trolley and at every aisle you meet someone coming the opposite direction, you both nod and smile at each other and steer around...maybe even a bit of banter.

Another time you nearly collide with someone else's trolley and you both apologise profusely...'Sorry, my fault!'. They go...'Ah no, sure I wasn't watching'

You get to the till and start the dance with someone else about 'No, go ahead, you were here first / Ahh go on, sure my trolley is full and you only have 2 items / Sure I'm on a day off and have all day...etc etc.

Fast forward to the car park when everyone is in their car or out on the open road and something changes. No more 'you were first, go ahead / sorry, my bad. Suddenly jungle rules take over.

Is it fear or a territorial issue once you're inside your own bubble?
 
Obairchrua said:
I'm sure you've all noticed when you walk around the supermarket with your trolley and at every aisle you meet someone coming the opposite direction, you both nod and smile at each other and steer around...maybe even a bit of banter.
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Obairchrua said:
Another time you nearly collide with someone else's trolley and you both apologise profusely...'Sorry, my fault!'. They go...'Ah no, sure I wasn't watching
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Where is this supermarket?
 
Great analogy! I assume you are speaking about Dunnes in Cornelscourt! Def people change in their car bubble.
 

TrundleAlong said:
Where is this supermarket?
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Sounds more like a very large off-license!
 
In France they have a rule from the right, meaning cars joining a road from the right have priority over the cars going straight on main roads unless indicated otherwise. On the Arc de Triomphe we had great fun recently, that one is an exciting trip, any accidents on it are automatically 50/50 responsibility as the insurance companies have given up on figuring out who is wrong. The Italians are lunatics so I refuse to drive there. Mad parking too, they literally bump to park.
 
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Ah but Brontë not all places in France are priorité à droit.

A village near where we holiday is (now) but the next one along isn’t. As you enter a town you have to pay attention to the signage. And of course you have to pay attention to where the boundary is too.

Another place has priorité a droit BUT has added yield signs on the « minor » road, I guess they forgot to remove the priority sign. Leads to a lot of people sitting looking at each other! Tractors take the lead, no one is arguing with them.

Keeps you on your toes while driving.

Just to add to the fun they installed a roundabout recently at a junction… and retained the priorité à droite signs. Work that one out.., you are on the roundabout and someone coming on has priority!
 
Annieindublin said:
Just to add to the fun they installed a roundabout recently at a junction… and retained the priorité à droite signs. Work that one out.., you are on the roundabout and someone coming on has priority!
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I just always assume priorité à droit instead of figuring it out, don't want to get the car smashed. So in your junction scenario where nobody knows who has the priority I go last. Tractors in Ireland drive me nuts, troddling along for miles in tailback as they won't pull in and let the traffic pass. At; least, in general, we don't get held up much by cows any more on the 'motorway' between Limerick and Cork round about where Eamonn DeValera grew up.

The first roundabout in Dublin when I go back I always have to think about going the other way round. Helpfully that one has a arrow sign !

I don't think anyone should beep at a N driver, but the person getting physically out of the car was bang out of order. My husband beeped at a very rude driver who overtook us wrongly and dangerously, 5 young men got out of that car and I was terrified, this was when the children were very little, luckily that's all they did but it was a very scary moment. I do beep the very odd time. But it's only when someone is outrageous.
 
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