Another "loony cager" post

[slofox]

Well. This was as close as I ever want to get...

Went over to Raglan yesterday morning to test the new tyres on a few corners. (they work!!!)
Got in behind a lineup of classic cars heading sedately to Raggers for a rally of some sort.
Being a patient and polite sort of a fulla, I just waited for a nice straight bit to pass. In the meantime the odd car backed up behind, including a Legacy GT right behind me. (THAT should have warned me in itself...)
Came the straight and I pulled out to zoom by. But an oncoming car appeared so I moved left into the first gap available...only to find that the spotty faced, reverse capped driver of the Legacy GT behind me had the suicidal urge to pass ALL the classics on the short straight. Pity about the oncomer....as I pulled into my gap, he was stuck out there on the wrong side of the road, closing on the oncomer at a rate in excess of 200km/hr. He was right beside me - I could have reached out and touched him (if my arms were a little longer)...The oncomer didn't seem to want to avoid him either and for a split second, I was sure that a head-on was about to occur right beside me - with all the consequences that would entail. I could see my head bouncing along the road after being chopped off by flying steel...boing boing boing...
So I got as far left as I could and braked as much as possible to create a gap for the loon to use. He didn't use it - just moved enough left to squeeze by the oncoming car.....By then he was on solid yellow lines with a blind left hander approaching. Did he move left into the gap I made for him? Did he shit. He just floored it and passed the entire line of cars, on the wrong side of the road as he rounded the blind left-hander. Pity if Mum and the kids were coming the other way...
Eventually got home, changed me undies and filed a Community Traffic Watch report online. I would be tempted to contact the rally organisers and see if I couldn't get some of the classic drivers to come to the party and drag the brainless bugger to court. But I am probably too lazy to do that...

[mattian]

Did you manage to get his number plate? He'll be sent a warning letter about his behaviour in the mail. If you want to take it further the police can lay charges but, you will be asked to appear in court to give evidence. I don't know if its worth your time to do that. Perhaps you would be doing him a favour from preventing future stupidity if you did though.

[Grizzo]

Scary shit mate!

[slofox]

Did you manage to get his number plate? He'll be sent a warning letter about his behaviour in the mail. If you want to take it further the police can lay charges but, you will be asked to appear in court to give evidence. I don't know if its worth your time to do that. Perhaps you would be doing him a favour from preventing future stupidity if you did though.

Yes I got the number - that's how I could do a Community Traffic Report.
I think I would need another witness to back me up in court. There were about four in the car against my one...hence maybe contact the rally people...
We would be doing all other road users a favour if he got done for it...

[portokiwi]

It least no one was hurt... Those classic car drivers would be pissed if one of their cars got hit. That boy would have been hog tied and whipped

[vifferman]

It's amazing the depths of stupidity people plumb...

On D'Auckland Anniverserararary weekend, I was heading to Rotorua from Roundabouta. Just south of Paengaroa, on the long straight, there was a line of cars following a very slow camper van, who naturaly didn't pull over. (What's up with that? In the Olde Dayze, people driving slower vehicles were much more considerate. Now it seems to be "Phark you! If you wanna go past, go past, Otherwise wait! I ain't pulling over! )
Anyway, I'd just flicked the injimicator on to pass, when Olde Koot in the Falcadore behind me pulls out. So, I waited till he'd gone past, checked ahead (yup - whole straight still clear) and pulled out too. All of a sudden, two cars from the front of the line, he suddenly slows down, and edges into a smallish gap in the line. WTF?!?
I'm stuck out on the wrong side of the road, forced down to nearly the same speed as the traffic I'm passing. But (however!) I look ahead, there's still plenty of room, so I give Falcadore Olde Koot the melodious tootle, and boot it. Had me shaking my head for quite a while; what would cause someone to do such a dumb thing? Why didn't he pass the whole column?

Last week I had the answer: my first ever speed camera ticket, from the vicinity of Paengaroa. Huh? Speed cameras are so easy to spot - how had I missed this one?!?

Then I put it all together. Falcadore Olde Koot was mid pass, when he spotted a speed camera on the side of the road. Never mind road safety - speeding tickets are really bad! So he slows down - on the wrong side of the road - to avoid getting one. I didn't even see it, and sped up to 120km/h to get safely past.
Cost me $120.
But it was salutory lesson, and I've seen the error of my ways.
Never again will I break the speed limit or pass any other vehicles.

[74 knuckle]

sounz to me like you fellas are havin some real scary times. In saying that I do agree that perhaps you should contact the rally organisers, by the sound of it you wouldn't be the only 1 changing undies that day. Think of it like this; how you going to feel if this guy kills some one, and then you find out? Are you going to think to yourself it may not of happened if I had reported him?

[Badjelly]

...So, I waited till he'd gone past, checked ahead (yup - whole straight still clear) and pulled out too. ...

This is generally a bad idea, in my experience. Whenever you follow another overtaking vehicle, you're putting a lot of trust in the driver not to do something stupid.

[sunhuntin]

holy crap, slofox. that could have been nasty! pity there wasnt a logging truck coming around that corner... wouldnt have to worry about that lunatic anymore.

glad ya survived.

[vifferman]

This is generally a bad idea, in my experience. Whenever you follow another overtaking vehicle, you're putting a lot of trust in the driver not to do something stupid.

A lot of trust?
No.
But I did expect him to continue to overtake, given the road was clear and straight, there was plenty of room to complete his pass, and the column of traffic being overtaken was traveling at only 85-90 km/h.

There was no way I was going to not pass, given that I knew there was unlikely to be another passing opportunity for a very long while, and the camper van and its tail were only going to get slower on the winding roads ahead.

While I have done some VERY dumb passes in the past (a couple of which I was lucky to survive), this was most certainly not one of them.

[BMWST?]

you may find some other people have already reported the f wit....

[ital916]

So, he made a bad overtaking move, over double yellow lines at an excess rate of knots with oncoming traffic and then went through a blind corner on the wrong side of the road. Fark me, swap legacy gt for a bike and the thread name "for my most awesome pass of the day" and get some bling man!

[slofox]

Never again will I break the speed limit or pass any other vehicles.

Yeah...Right...

pity there wasnt a logging truck coming around that corner... wouldnt have to worry about that lunatic anymore.

I thought the same...

you may find some other people have already reported the f wit....

Let's hope so...

[Max Preload]

Speed cameras are so easy to spot - how had I missed this one?!?

Simple answer. You were looking where you should be to overtake rather than gazing onto the roadside between the trees looking for speed camera vans. I hope you've learned your lesson! Wherever it's safe to overtake at speed, there will be a camera to disuade you from doing so, so you must delay your overtaking until you reach a point which is less safe.

[varminter]

At the risk of offending anyone (welllll, hey, what are we here for) if I see a Subaru I assume it's driven by a fucktard, although they are begining to be superceded by something else, the name of which escapes me.