
It’s fair to say I do a fair bit of driving on the good old Gold Coast. Gone are the days of coasting down Smith Street alone, unflanked by a wanker in WRX but alas, time moves on and we are now a city approaching 600,000.
Often, we hear that Queenslanders, Gold Coasters in particular are the worst drivers.
Well if the people on our roads who don’t indicate, cut people off and don’t know how to use a roundabout are from Queensland then yes, that is true. But they aren’t. In fact the majority of our population weren’t born here. They were more than likely conceived here though (being a great place to get loose and all).
So driving to 2 schools, a kindy and workplace each day I often encounter the following:
· People who straddle two lanes going through a roundabout. For gods sakes. Choose your lane and stick to it. I am in a little Honda Jazz with a family of 5. We are just waiting to be crushed under your Prado dipshit. Granted, to select a Honda Jazz with 5 people plus at the time Golden retriever in the family, not my mensa moment. That however, does not give vague 4WD drivers a right to sidewipe me off the road. And yes, our other car is a 4WD, so this is not a 4WD hatefest.
· The vague couple who go slow, then speed up, then look around, then have a chat, all whilst driving their Volvo in front of me on my way to school. 1. You have no particular reason to be out in peak hour. 2. Pay attention. Because when you do 40 up to lights then gun it and leave me behind at the red light, it does not make for a good start to the day.
· People who don’t indicate. See as I haven’t activated my crystal fucking ball yet, I don’t know which way you intend to turn. Why do people not indicate? Are they too lazy? It doesn’t get much easier people. It’s a flick of the wrist. Really. Is it because they are above indicating? Do you not have the brain capacity? I simply do not understand this lack of courtesy and this in turn makes me want to ram people. Clearly in my Jazz I would come off second best, but it would almost be worth it.
· It’s a Bus Lane. Not a Wanker Lane. Seriously, It says BL. It’s for Bus’s (and taxi’s) not for tools who are in a hurry. Newsflash dickhead, we’re all in a hurry. We’ve all got to wait our turn. I make it my mission in life to straddle those bus lanes with my car when I see them coming in my rear-view mirror. Sure, it often leads to a douches in a 911’s giving me the finger, but that’s the price you pay.
· Cars so low they can’t get over a speedbump. We’ve all seen them. They lower the bejesus out of their commodore ute and then have to take the speedbumps at an angle. Well I’ll let you in on a secret. You look like a fuckstik. Harsh I know, but if you are scared of your car going into a pothole because it will rip off the front bumper, it is only a matter of time before the QLD Police defect your car, genius.
· Last but not least, people who don’t thank you for letting them in. I make a conscious effort to let people in. Whether it be letting them in after coming from the Servo or out of the shopping centre driveway. When people don’t acknowledge my courtesy I usually think a) they are an ungracious bastard and b) makes me want to jump out and scream in their windows telling them as much.
And in all honesty, I am generally a calm, easygoing person. Inside my car bubble though I turn
into Judge Judy on heat.
So if nothing else, I hope this makes people stop and think, geez, maybe she’s talking about me. But then again, that would mean these people can read and articulate.
Often, we hear that Queenslanders, Gold Coasters in particular are the worst drivers.
Well if the people on our roads who don’t indicate, cut people off and don’t know how to use a roundabout are from Queensland then yes, that is true. But they aren’t. In fact the majority of our population weren’t born here. They were more than likely conceived here though (being a great place to get loose and all).
So driving to 2 schools, a kindy and workplace each day I often encounter the following:
· People who straddle two lanes going through a roundabout. For gods sakes. Choose your lane and stick to it. I am in a little Honda Jazz with a family of 5. We are just waiting to be crushed under your Prado dipshit. Granted, to select a Honda Jazz with 5 people plus at the time Golden retriever in the family, not my mensa moment. That however, does not give vague 4WD drivers a right to sidewipe me off the road. And yes, our other car is a 4WD, so this is not a 4WD hatefest.
· The vague couple who go slow, then speed up, then look around, then have a chat, all whilst driving their Volvo in front of me on my way to school. 1. You have no particular reason to be out in peak hour. 2. Pay attention. Because when you do 40 up to lights then gun it and leave me behind at the red light, it does not make for a good start to the day.
· People who don’t indicate. See as I haven’t activated my crystal fucking ball yet, I don’t know which way you intend to turn. Why do people not indicate? Are they too lazy? It doesn’t get much easier people. It’s a flick of the wrist. Really. Is it because they are above indicating? Do you not have the brain capacity? I simply do not understand this lack of courtesy and this in turn makes me want to ram people. Clearly in my Jazz I would come off second best, but it would almost be worth it.
· It’s a Bus Lane. Not a Wanker Lane. Seriously, It says BL. It’s for Bus’s (and taxi’s) not for tools who are in a hurry. Newsflash dickhead, we’re all in a hurry. We’ve all got to wait our turn. I make it my mission in life to straddle those bus lanes with my car when I see them coming in my rear-view mirror. Sure, it often leads to a douches in a 911’s giving me the finger, but that’s the price you pay.
· Cars so low they can’t get over a speedbump. We’ve all seen them. They lower the bejesus out of their commodore ute and then have to take the speedbumps at an angle. Well I’ll let you in on a secret. You look like a fuckstik. Harsh I know, but if you are scared of your car going into a pothole because it will rip off the front bumper, it is only a matter of time before the QLD Police defect your car, genius.
· Last but not least, people who don’t thank you for letting them in. I make a conscious effort to let people in. Whether it be letting them in after coming from the Servo or out of the shopping centre driveway. When people don’t acknowledge my courtesy I usually think a) they are an ungracious bastard and b) makes me want to jump out and scream in their windows telling them as much.
And in all honesty, I am generally a calm, easygoing person. Inside my car bubble though I turn
into Judge Judy on heat.
So if nothing else, I hope this makes people stop and think, geez, maybe she’s talking about me. But then again, that would mean these people can read and articulate.


10 comments:
nice rant, Bern :) i left the gold coast 4 yrs ago (after living there for 3 yrs), and frankly, while the native Queensland drivers in Qld had their quirks, i do know where your awful drivers are coming from - i already knew some when i lived in Qld - they were usually from Victoria & NSW.
Then i moved to NSW - my God! - the worse drivers since i was briefly in Athens. Unbelievable. Unable to stay in a lane, enjoy tailgating, and think a red light means "accelerate through and try to kill someone".
absofreakinlutely agree Bern!!! I encounter the same dipshits on travelling to and from work each day! I think it should be mandatory that we all do a driving test every couple of years or so. That would weed out at least half of these brainiacs. Maybe that's something else to take up with Nanna.
See u at the sweat shop.
I don't think it's a geographical thing...there are shit dirvers everywhere! I think it's a personality/brain thing. But if I had to pick the worst...Canberra drivers (apologies to anyone from the ACT)...they don't keep left on the highways!
Try living in the UAE. They honestly have the worst drivers in the world. I bang on a lot about it. When we lived in FNQ, we too thought that Qld drivers were the worst drivers we had ever seen (we're Victorians).
However, no they are not the worst drivers ever seen.
Over here as soon as the lights turn green and you haven't lifted your foot off the brake, you get tooted. You must stay out of the left hand lane as it is known as the 'fast lane'. When I mean fast, I mean 140K+ an hour. In a 100 zone. But everyone knows that all the speed cameras are set at 160ks. Parking a problem? No, not here in Abu Dhabi. Park where you want. Park in the middle of a roundabout (a very popular parking place), park in front of other cars, park where ever you god damn wanna park. Indicate? What's that mean? Police? They have NO power here. Emiraties would pay themselves out of any situation... I could go on, but I won't. I will need to do a post abut this myself...
Old Jude on heat? Hot!
I hear ya, Bern. I have roadrage for pretty much the same reasons. My biggest problem is people who can't use roundabouts properly. It's an indicator issue, but surprisingly, not so much that people don't indicate, it's that they don't do it right. First of all, indicate BEFORE you're in a roundabout, NOT halfway round it. I don't like it when you appear to be going straight, and I end up having to floor it because I'm halfway in and you suddenly decide to make a right turn, and the people behind me don't like it when I wait until you're pretty much off the roundabout to go, just in case (of course, it doesn't help that council keep putting shrubs right in the middle of the fucking roundabouts. It kinda deafeats the purpose when no one can see anyone else's indicators, you dumbasses).
Secondly, you're supposed to indicate left coming off a roundabout as soon as feasibly possible (ie, as soon as it's clear that you're not making a left hand turn). It means that I don't have to wait to see if you're planning on going right round the roundabout, or just making a normal left hand turn. It means that I don't have to sit there wondering if you actually meant to put on your right hand indicator earlier.
Thirdly, if you are going straight through, you do not come on to the roundabout with an indicator on. That just confuses everyone, and holds up the flow of traffic. It's particularly confusing when you are indicating a left hand turn that doesn't exist. Had someone coming in the opposite direction do that the other day, and damn did it confuse me.
And my other pet peeve is people who lean on the horn when I'm doing something I'm perfectly in my rights to do. Like not flooring it in the pouring rain on the close to vertical hill near home, so I can get through the gap that's barely safe when it's dry. Or giving way to the bike rider coming through the roundabout on my right. Or braking suddenly so I don't hit the animal crossing the road.
But what really shits me is that everyone bitches about how bad at driving P platers are. Yes, there are some dumbass P platers around. I actually have a friend I am never getting in a car with again because the first time she drove me somewhere, she nearly drove into a traffic island because "When I was on my Ls, I did everything perfect, but now I'm on my Ps, I just can't be bothered. Besides, it's midnight, like there's anyone else on the road". But honestly, most of the really shit drivers I've seen around town are at LEAST 30 years old, and I'm pretty sure some of the dumb shit they try to pull happens because they're working on the principle that as the P plater, I will be the one blamed if something goes wrong. Most of the dumb shit I'm responsible for happens because I just don't have as much experience as other people on the road. I can't help that fact. Other people, however, can help being dickheads, and should know better after however long they've been driving.
Oh, and don't get me started on little old people driving around town at 20km/h, in the middle of the road, with their indicator on from the turn they made 2 blocks ago.
Wow Melody, driving up and parking in the middle of roundabouts kind of appeals to me. ;) Sounds very stressful driving over there.
Hope you feel better Cerry. Massive amount of your chest there. I agree with all of it. Too true about the indicating using a roundabout. A lot have no freaking idea or if they do, can't be arsed.
Oh yes, my favourite kind of rant - the Bad Drivers! I hear you on all counts! Maybe we should just get Hummers and drive right over the stupid twits!
Idiots! I could have written this post, you have echoed my feelings completely. Auckland has loads of bad drivers too. Can I add another three of my most hated categories?
1. People who are lost so just drive really slowly, stop, start, sit in the middle of the road, instead of pulling over and checking the map.
2. Drivers who double park outside of schools, and park people in, because they are SO important and the rules don't apply to them.
3. People who pull out in front of you, causing you to slam on the brakes, but then proceed to drive REALLY slow so that you miss the next lot of traffic lights.
Argh!
Oh I totally like number 2. We have about 3 mums who drive into the school grounds, no reason other than they are too freaking lazy to park and walk like the rest of us have to.
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