Road rage

I will be totally honest here and freely admit that I am not the best driver in the world. I take the odd shortcut; break a few rules and laws here and there. But what really gets my goat is those drivers who have never ever seem to have read the Highway Code. Especially the bit about right of way.

As I understand it as I drive along, the road ahead is my right of way. If someone has to pass a vehicle that is parked on the other side of the road and that involves them moving across the white line onto my carriageway then they must give way to me. Please inform me if I am wrong.

So here in Sunny Devon some of the roads are a little narrow, for our American readers you have to remember some of these ‘roads’ are simply medieval lanes with tarmac! So I get a bit peeved when, as I am tootling along trying not to think about the destination (work), some other idiot, probably doing the same and listening to Terry Wogan, comes screaming down from the opposite direction on my side of the road, barley misses me, coming so close that I have to check my wing mirror is still there, (two replacements so far! Electric mirrors, not cheap even on ebay!) and then flings me a look like I should have been somewhere else. (The look comes between the barely missing me and me checking the wing mirror when we are so close I can see the whites of his/her eye’s)

Or even worse the ‘tourists’ in their new cars who drive in the middle of the road/lane so that the sharp grass doesn’t touch their gleaming paintwork. They don’t worry that they have just forced me into the blackthorn hedge and now my car sports so many zebra stripes down the side I could sell it to a safari park! Why is it also that ‘tourists’ also seem to have forgotten how to use reverse gear? They sit there looking at you waiting for you to move, behind them is a passing place, they would have to reverse about 5 meters I know I will have to reverse about half a mile, around a corner and up a hill before pressing the car against a gate so they can pass – all without so much as a wave a smile or a thank you.
Here in Sunny Devon we’re a laid back lot, most of us, lots of green fields, tress, sheep, and I don’t want to put those of you who live around the world off visiting us, but if you do come. PLEASE READ THE BLOODY HIGHWAY CODE right thanks..........

Here it is rule 139: ‘give way to oncoming vehicles before passing parked vehicles or other obstructions on your side of the road’ the internet is a wonderful thing!