Just realised - belatedly - that this father lives down our road! No bull! Not the actual guy in the ad, as he's obviously an actor, but the REAL guy this ad was based on!
Guy down the road and his wife think they own the road. We live on a narrow country road with no lane markings, and while technically it IS a 100kph road, very few people travel along it at that speed, certainly not in every part of the road - it's more like 80kph max. In parts there are ditches and culverts on the side of the road, in others banks or drop offs, and everywhere there is a thin edge of gravel and grass, no wide shoulder. Aside from these two - who are aged about the same as the couple in the ad - everyone who sees an approaching vehicle slows down as there is no margin for error.
This guy does not - and recently while we were at a complete stop waiting until he passed us (he was coming towards us) before we could turn into our driveway, he went past at 100kph and flicked up gravel and cracked our windscreen. That was annoying enough, but coming home on Sunday we again saw him coming towards us so we moved over until our left wheel was inches from the edge of the road. He was again travelling at full speed and I think both of us actually winced as he flew past inches from our right side.
Monday night we had a neighbourhood support meeting so when it finished I took him aside and asked if he could possibly slow down when approaching other vehicles. Well, you can imagine that went down like a lead balloon!
“I’ve had to listen to YOU, now you have to listen to me. Everyone in this road needs to learn how to drive. They all drive in the middle of the road and whenever I see them they have about this much (and he spread his arms wide) on the left side of THEIR vehicle and I am forced to run off into the gravel. When I saw you yesterday you had at least that much on the left of you.” I was stunned and said “well, I don’t drive down the middle of the road and we were right on the edge of the road yesterday.” He then said whenever he was following us and we were turning into our driveway, he had to slow to about 20kph and that if he had vehicles behind him when he was turning he pulled over to let them pass. (Although I doubt very much he would ever have anyone behind him when he is turning as he lives about 100m from the dead end of our road, he also lives on a part of the road with wide grass verges where they graze cattle whereas we have a bank and a culvert either side of our part of the road!) I said at least four of the people in the street – who were all older than me – had expressed their concerns to me about his driving so it wasn’t just me being sensitive. I also said his son had crashed not long after we moved in here (he lost control on the next corner and took out several metres of fence, ending up in the farmer’s paddock next door – we rang the police and ambulance but he picked him up before they got there and got really shitty about it) but he denied that – selective memory! He said one neighbour's daughter had pulled out in front of him and he had nearly hit her (she hasn't lived here for about 10 years so he obviously holds a grudge), and that another neighbour had actually hit him. “And I don’t speed, it’s a 100kph zone and I don’t go faster than that.” I said to him that it may well be a 100kph zone but it was NOT safe to travel at that speed when approaching an oncoming car.
It was a waste of time talking to him so in the end I said “we’re not getting anywhere here. I’m sorry, I hadn’t realised it was [his name] Road and not [the actual name] Road” and then I called him a wanker and walked off!
I don't know if he sat down and had another think when he got home (or perhaps his wife made him), but for the past two days he appears to be travelling a little slower. He still doesn't slow down for oncoming traffic, but now he does seem to be doing a more reasonable speed.
Yes, I am pedantic about spelling and grammar so get used to it!
Originally Posted by Gubb
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