Every day about 4.oopm a guy in a Silver car driver hell for leather all the way through from Asda to Swallownest (at least ). The other day I followed him at the speed limit as we came of the Asda roundabout he cut on the inside lane as to go to Asda then cut in left causing the guy in front of me to slam on the Brakes. He continued weaving in and out of the right and left lanes as fast as he could as far as the Turf lights that were at red. As he sped off now 2 car lengths in front down the hill the lights changed when he was about 60/70 yds away to Red and he went through them at red. He then sped off only for me to catch up with him going up fence hill one car length in front. Finally passed him at the Halifax in Swallownest. The night afterhe nearly took my door off when I stopped at the post office on handsworth and he tried to cut into the nearside lane in front of me through a gap of about 4ft. This guy is not a boy racer but a bloke in his mid to late 30's.

How about all the cars going on Effingham Road going to town. Going through the bus gate at the junction of Cutlers gate (cops would have a birthday). They are not all Taxis or private hire.

The people that REALLY annoy me are the ones that come down Hanover Way, move in to the 3rd lane, go round the roundabout and then try to enter Ecclesall Road in the first lane.

There are many idiots like this every day that don't realise the very simple layout on that bit of road and nearly hit the vehicles in the right because of their stupidity.

I was on my motorbike the other week, moved in to the middle lane on Hanover Way, signaled right to show I was going up Ecclesall Road and some idiot moved from the inside lane straight across the front of me causing me to break sharply in order to save myself from a side on hit from this idiot.

I flashed my lights and beeped to make sure he knew I was there and to also make him realise his mistake, but he just stuck two fingers up at me! This has happened several times to me in the car and on the bike. I have in the past had a go at the drivers for doing it and then swearing at me, if they say sorry or realise their mistake fair enoug, but swearing after annoys me.

Anyway, if you are one of these people then learn to read the road!!! The middle lane on Hanover Way can be used to go straight on towards the second roundabout (Bramhall Lane way) or to turn up Ecclesall Road in the first lane. The third lane is to enter the second lane on Ecclesall Road or to go back up on Hanover Way, it's quite simple. :rant:

ditto Hanover Way/Eccy road problem. People think you're an idiot if you go from the middle lane on Hanover Way, all the way round and up Eccy Road. READ THE ROAD MARKINGS.

I agree about the Hanover Way, Ecclesall Road R/B.
I use this roundabout coming from Bramall Lane R/B to turn right to go towards the bottom of the moor (Third exit).... The middle lane is marked for straight ahead (Hanover way) and Right (Moor) yet when I take a right in this lane, and go all the way around it, following the markings, why are people coming from the right hand lane and cutting across THREE lanes to get to the Moor? Grrrrr!

They are just a small example of scenarios!

Sadly you have to spend your entire car journeys fearing other drivers and driving defensively just to aviod an accident.

My motto? Trust No-one!

Originally posted by Sifuweb
They are just a small example of scenarios!

Sadly you have to spend your entire car journeys fearing other drivers and driving defensively just to aviod an accident.

My motto? Trust No-one!

Thats the way it is I'm afraid! Being a regular user of Granville Square, I am constantly wary of stupid drivers who try to make a left turn in the right hand lane. :confused: But then I can only justify using my horn when someone hasn't noticed I'm there, due to the fact that the juction is impossible for someone new to Sheffield due to the lack of signs. I'd change my route for a challenge, but I don't think I need one with the constant observation I require for such a junction lol!

Oddly enough, on my 180 mile round trip to Skeggy t'other day, I encountered very few fools out on the open road. Obviously I had to watch for bikers on the Lincolnshire bends, but other than that, it was a comfortable drive! It was only when I got back into Sheffield that I was cut up and tailgaited... Lovely!

Yesterday I ran my two eldest sons to Alton Towers leaving home at 7.45am. Having dropped them off I returned home again. I then drove back to Alton Towers to pick them up again, leaving home at 4pm. 212 miles of the most frightening driving I have ever undertaken.

God knows why, but it appeared as though every idiot with a car, van, tractor and motorbike was on the roads yesterday.

Bakewell show was on so I assume that most of the traffic was either on its way there or on its way back, but I have never experienced so many close shaves in my life.

Incidents included:

Overtaking on blind bends when the traffic being overtaken was on the speed limit. Lots of times

Cutting corners on narrow lanes with oncoming traffic. Lots of times.

Dawdling and wandering all over the road as though the driver was concentrating on something other than driving. Several times.

Pulling in within a couple of yards of leaving a roundabout (in a bloody big camper) to check the road map. Only one prat did this.

Just popped out for some food and have ended up feeling quite sick before I even ate anything! I slowed for the lights at Granville College and saw a car coming down from the tram gate at about 25mph (tad too fast considering the corner you have to turn) but they didnt know it was Right turn only and almost went up the tram tracks. The screeching sound of those brakes made me feel quite ill :gag:

I personally think this is quite well signposted, but perhaps not from this drivers perspective. Would barriers be a viable option to have on the bits of the tram system, where its Tram-only (Such as Castle college stop)....? It would possibly have saved this poor driver from a nasty shock this evening... as well as my insides from a re-jig :gag:

Prince of Wales Road could be mistaken for a race track most days. Speed limits and red lights appear to be just a suggestion to a great many drivers.
...and which ever nincompoop decided that it was a good idea to put a crossing immediatley after, and another before, the roundabout over the parkway on the way down/up Prince must have thought that extreme cross walking was a such a jolly laugh. Speeding drivers, coming off the roundabout , going down and up Prince , make crossing the road an art!:rant:

I would make every single driver sit in a dark room with just Rotten.com for company

I wouldn't give them a valid license unless they came out palefaced and sweating

Originally posted by Splodge_CRB
I would make every single driver sit in a dark room with just Rotten.com for company

I wouldn't give them a valid license unless they came out palefaced and sweating

or we could put a big sharp metal spike on everyones steering wheel. I am sure people would drive more carefully then...:)

Originally posted by caprice
Just popped out for some food and have ended up feeling quite sick before I even ate anything! I slowed for the lights at Granville College and saw a car coming down from the tram gate at about 25mph (tad too fast considering the corner you have to turn) but they didnt know it was Right turn only and almost went up the tram tracks. The screeching sound of those brakes made me feel quite ill :gag:

I personally think this is quite well signposted, but perhaps not from this drivers perspective. Would barriers be a viable option to have on the bits of the tram system, where its Tram-only (Such as Castle college stop)....? It would possibly have saved this poor driver from a nasty shock this evening... as well as my insides from a re-jig :gag:
Regarding your comment about drivers doing a left hand turn from the right hand lane at the bottom of Granville,i couldnt agree more,the times i had to brake for some stupid idiot when i used to drive the 41's it was a daily occurance.

As for the 'poor driver' they really should pay more attention to the road signs,road markings,the arrows on the traffic lights,and look into the distance to see that there isnt any road straight ahead,.so i do not agree that we should waste money on barriers.People should be more aware and sensible when driving then they wouldnt have to brake sharply.

Well as someone who's mainly a pedestrian in Sheffield, I get annoyed by people who don't use their indicators to tell you what they're doing. As a pedestrian this can result in serious injury if you get it wrong and they don't do what you expect. It annoys me as a driver to except you just end up with a dented car.

The majority of roads in Sheffield seem to be quite well signposted, but there's a few that just leave you guessing. I wonder, does anyone in the council actually drive around Sheffield and think what it would be like for someone who does not know the roads?

Asaw - Let's have a bit more detail on the silver car and I can go watch it race up Handsworth Road. It will make a change from wincing at chavs driving mini motos who ride on the main road sans number plates or helments. I really do wonder why I bother to pay tax and insurance sometimes.

A couple of gripes from driving in Sheffield over the last week:

1) Cyclists - RED TRAFFIC LIGHTS APPLY TO YOU TOO. It is not up to you to take the law into your own hands and decide that it's OK to just go through on red - if a car did so they'd rightly get a ticket. Yet in the last week alone, I've seen 3 cyclists of varying ages all do this. I've been sat patiently at red lights, and they just speed right through, potentially causing accidents when other cars whose lights are on green have to swerve to avoid them.

2) The SILVER 02 REG VW GOLF WITH TINTED WINDOWS that drives around the ENDCLIFFE PARK/ HUNTERS BAR area is a psychopath. This PILLOCK not only speeds on busy roads and junctions, but also undertakes using bus lanes, cuts people up by a matter of inches, and uses wrong lanes on roundabouts. He was in action yesterday evening, flying down Rustlings Road, over hatchets, before undertaking and cutting people up on Ecclesall Rd down to Hunters Bar. I was sat in the queue on Rustlings Rd PATIENTLY and saw it all before me.

Is there a web site where we can post car number details or pictures.
I am sure this site wouldn't let us post details of those who are acting silly.

Originally posted by mrchinnery
Is there a web site where we can post car number details or pictures.
I am sure this site wouldn't let us post details of those who are acting silly. There are legal implications to take in to consideration, if you make accusations and post photos etc. be prepared for comeback.

Originally posted by t020
1) Cyclists - RED TRAFFIC LIGHTS APPLY TO YOU TOO. It is not up to you to take the law into your own hands and decide that it's OK to just go through on red - if a car did so they'd rightly get a ticket. Yet in the last week alone, I've seen 3 cyclists of varying ages all do this. I've been sat patiently at red lights, and they just speed right through, potentially causing accidents when other cars whose lights are on green have to swerve to avoid them. I had one nearly run me over on Abbeydale Road last year, while I was crossing. The light was red to vehicles and the green man was on.

I looked and traffic had stopped, but as I went to step out the cycle carried on! He called me an idiot as he went past, so I returned with some words of my own. He then stopped and asked what I'd called him, I happily repeated it again with a couple more words about his actions and what I'd like to do to him and waited for his next outburst. He then paused, looked at me and then cycled on and said "unbelievable". How on earth was it unbelievable? He was in the wrong? (ok, so I shouldn't have used the bad language, but he had annoyed me by nearly coliding with me while he broke the law and then insulted me as a result of it, so I think on this occasion I was justified).

I can appreciate cyclists could sometimes do with a headstart in traffic situations (hence the cycle area at traffic lights), but they really should stop for red lights. They go mad if you don't treat them as other users of the road, so why should they have it both ways??

As a part-time resident of sheffield (student), I have sadly come to the following sweeping conclusion:

People in Sheffield just cannot drive properly.

Red lights, lane markings, box junctions, merge in turn, giving way on roundabouts are just things other towns have, as barely anyone in this city seems to have regard for anything other than themselves, their passengers and vehicle.

Never before have I seen so many red lights blatantly ignored, box junctions deliberately blocked (Suffolk Road as a prime example) and such arrogance/stupidity regarding lane arrangements (Granville Square, Park Square, Hanover Way/Ecc Rd). Don't get me started on bus drivers, who im convinced attend rally school as part of their training.

Luckily I was taught to assume the worst in other drivers because after 5 minutes of driving in Sheffield, that's the impression you get.

For a city that has such warm and friendly people, you don't half produce lousy drivers.

When Cyclone gets here and tries to take Dinp's monologue to shreds, let it be known that I wholeheartedly agree with Dinp :thumbsup:

Originally posted by Strix
When Cyclone gets here and tries to take Dinp's monologue to shreds, let it be known that I wholeheartedly agree with Dinp :thumbsup:

Cheers!

Its not something I say with a light heart, but as an outsider looking in and occasionally participating in the motoring scene here, I just dispair at how crap people are.

IT IS NOT THE SAME EVERYWHERE ELSE!

How about the drivers who use the right turning lane from the Brook Hill roundabout that takes them to Mappin St as an overtaking lane , then when they run out of road try to push in because they want to carry on down Brook hill to West Bar. :loopy:

I notice Sheffield gets more difficult to drive in at this time of year. It's full of people who are not familiar with the road layouts or have not been here for sometime and are expecting to be alble to take routes no-longer available to them.

It's quite challenging spotting which drivers fall into which category and predicting exactly which emergency manouvre they'll attempt without signalling, whilst sharing a road with a number of locals who have a 'every man for himself' attitude behind the wheel :rolleyes:

Originally posted by dinp
....For a city that has such warm and friendly people, you don't half produce lousy drivers.
You do us a grave injustice! Not only do we have some lousy drivers, we are also awash with lousy pedestrians too, when it comes to having road sense! ;)

In this I include the suicidally-inclined students who apparently fail to grasp the fact that stepping blithely from the pavement into the road, in order to pass groups of people in front of them, is not conducive to continued good health... As this is evidently totally beyond the comprehension of some, perhaps it may be more efficacious to appeal to their better nature and point out that they can cause a lot of damage and inconvenience to motorists when they collide with their vehicle.

"Sheffield...City Of Sport" should perhaps be changed to read: "Sheffield...City Of Defensive Driving"? ;)

One driver who causes extreme annoyance in the woodseats area, is a young man in a rapid curry delivery van.

I have seen him driving extremely aggresively myself and a couple of my friends have narrowly avoided accidents with him as he drove along the wrong way on Abbey lane to go around traffic on the other side of the bollards against oncoming traffic, he has also been seen driving at speed across the pavement to get around traffic on the road.

When I get his number and see him mis - behaving next time I am going straight to the police, he will cause death or injury soon if he isn't stopped. :rant: :loopy:

Originally posted by Pseudonym
*Humorous rant about pedestrians and students*
Many of those students come from towns and cities where the law about not running pedestrians over is actually heeded :rolleyes:

In Sheffield there seems to be a '**** off out of my way' attitude to driving - particularly to more vulnerable road users

Well thankfully they are improving two things on Granville Square that should make life more bearable:

1) There will be 3 lanes heading from Queens Road towards St Mary's Road. This will stop the traffic stopped outside Dixon Ford trying to make three lanes out of two (again making their own rules up).

2) There will be 2 lanes heading from Granville Square to St Marys Road.


Good.

This might stop the effing boy racers from cutting people up between Dixon Ford and No Frills DIY on St Mary's Road because they've conveniently selected the wrong lane. This was always my gripe about this junction and i'm glad they are rectifying it.

When these improvements come around remains to be seen though!

And whilst we're setting the world to rights....

Handsworth - the old A57 needs painting down to one lane instead of a dual carriageway. It is anyway, given all the parked cars and right-turning traffic which reduces traffic flow down to single file through an interesting and exciting white knuckle ride with nutters trying to undertake and overtake the cars infront who are already doing 40 through a 30 zone in an effort to 'keep pace' and not get boxed in behind one of the many entertaining and challenging obstacles to be found along the way, the heartstopping ones of which are generally just over the brow of the hill where one can practice one's emergency braking technique, or if a more skilled driver - emergency accelerating out of a tight spot, before racing to the traffic lights at the bottom of the hill and into the real 40mph zone which passes over 2 or 3 pedestrian crossings and past a school :loopy:

It were great when they had the road up for the waterworks :D
single file and much safer :thumbsup:

Originally posted by Strix
Many of those students come from towns and cities where the law about not running pedestrians over is actually heeded :rolleyes:

In Sheffield there seems to be a '**** off out of my way' attitude to driving - particularly to more vulnerable road users
The attitude of some of these jay-walking students can only stem from them having grown up in a rural environment where the evening rush-hour is comprised of the vicar on his bicycle and a herd of cows heading back for milking!

The "more vulnerable road users" that you refer to, seem astonishingly unaware of their vulnerability... For example, a 9-stone student versus a 1-ton motor vehicle is bound to end in tears... But then perhaps they aren't physics students, those who so often step blindly into the path of objects with far greater mass than themselves... Perhaps they're divinity students, testing their beliefs? ;)

In Glasgow pedestrians genuinely have right of way - a scary concept to anybody visiting in a vehicle without prior warning of this phenomenon.

If eye contact is made between pedestrian and driver, the pedestrian is guaranteed to step out infront of the moving vehicle, as the highway code and local custom dictate that the driver give way.

It works really well once you've grasped the concept, and it in no way hinders the progress of the traffic

Originally posted by Strix
...If eye contact is made between pedestrian and driver, the pedestrian is guaranteed to step out infront of the moving vehicle...
Eye contact? From 75 feet away? (The typical stopping-distance from 30mph in good conditions). Those Scots must have exceptional eyesight! :D

Originally posted by Pseudonym
Eye contact? From 75 feet away? (The typical stopping-distance from 30mph in good conditions). Those Scots must have exceptional eyesight! :D
:rolleyes: the point is it isn't necessary to stop, just lift your foot off the accelerator a bit

My pet hate is the hunters bar roundabout when your heading out of town.
Why do people think its alright to nip up the left hand side, when people have sat patiently queueing. across the roundabout, and try and cut in further up ecclesall road? I love making a point of not letting them in.

Originally posted by dinp
People in Sheffield just cannot drive properly.


How do you know that people you've seen driving around are actually from sheffield or residents in sheffield in the first place ?

What makes you so sure that you're driving correctly yourself in the first place ?

Originally posted by Strix
And whilst we're setting the world to rights....

Handsworth - the old A57 needs painting down to one lane instead of a dual carriageway.

Does that mean I can claim my front garden back, as it was lost due to road widening for the dual carriageway (long before my time though)

Originally posted by mega_monty
How do you know that people you've seen driving around are actually from sheffield or residents in sheffield in the first place ?

What makes you so sure that you're driving correctly yourself in the first place ?

True true, the thing I have noticed is that we all complain about 'stupid drivers', but none of us admit to being one of the 'stupid drivers'. Im sure we all make mistakes sometimes.

Originally posted by Nathen
My pet hate is the hunters bar roundabout when your heading out of town.
Why do people think its alright to nip up the left hand side, when people have sat patiently queueing. across the roundabout, and try and cut in further up ecclesall road? I love making a point of not letting them in. I can see your point, but I can also understand why some drivers do what you are describing.

By moving in to a second lane it shortens the traffic que further down the road and relieves congestion. Then the traffic should merge in turn further up and continue smoothly. That's the theory, but it doesn't always work like that as we can see from your statement about blocking the drivers.

I notice the main difference about the motorcycle and car driving test is that on the motorcycle test they heavily emphasise making progress. If you weren't to move from the queing lane as you describe to the quieter lane (as long as it was legal and safe to do so) then that would count as a minor fault against you.

So I think there are two ways to look at this, but the overall point I see here is that we should all be more tolerant of each other on the road and realise that retaliation like manouvres don't always help the situation.
(not saying I'm a perfect driver either, we all have faults).

I see what you mean with the bike test bit, as i've got both a full car and bike licence.

Originally posted by Nathen
I see what you mean with the bike test bit, as i've got both a full car and bike licence. Same with me, and I think the bike test taught me a lot more about how to use the roads properly than the car test ever did.

The car test felt like it was just teaching you to pass a simple routine, quite easy and didn't really prepare you for the road.

The bike test felt like it was teaching you a lot more about the road and other users. If everyone had to do a bike test and a car test I think the roads in the UK would be a lot safer.

Originally posted by mega_monty
How do you know that people you've seen driving around are actually from sheffield or residents in sheffield in the first place ?

What makes you so sure that you're driving correctly yourself in the first place ?

Well perhaps I should rephrase my quote - "When people drive in Sheffield, they don't or can't drive properly"

Obviously I haven't surveyed the P****s that have stood out as crap.

I know what lane to be in at what point on my journeys, it isn't difficult you know.

If you would like to see examples of maniac type driving come over to Rotherham and watch some of these local Dizzys performing on the Centenary roundabout its a mirical no one has to my knowledge been killed yet they approach the roundabout at excess speed showing no roundabout disipline at all.

Rotherham has some terrible roundabouts there. I think it's a bit of a bad design to be honest.

If some people have trouble handling the normal roundabouts like the one at the bottom of Ecclesall Road then you can imagine how they react to the ones in Rotherham! :o

Drivers heading into town that turn right into Halfords off Queens Road at Heeley. It is clearly signed as a 'no right turn' but many drivers consistantly ignore the sign and road markings. :rant: :rant: :rant:

Originally posted by the_rudeboy
Drivers heading into town that turn right into Halfords off Queens Road at Heeley. It is clearly signed as a 'no right turn' but many drivers consistantly ignore the sign and road markings. :rant: :rant: :rant: Yeah I see this a lot. I don't think many drivers are aware that doing something like that can easily earn you three points on your license. Is it really so hard to continue down the road, take the first left and follow the system round to turn in to Halfords instead?

What really makes me laugh is the amount of people that don't observe the markings on the gantry system on that stretch of road. I have seen many people coming down a lane only to be confronted with oncoming vehicles. Simple tip, if it's an arrow then you are ok, if it's a red X then you are on the wrong side of the road and the middle lane changes depending on time of day etc. :D

what proportion of these bad drivers are in Nissan Micras? my money would be on 80% of them. In Rotherham or Sheffield!

One of my personal favourites is Upper Albert Road going up to Norton...

There are signs at the top saying vehicles coming up the hill have right of way, which is only fair considering they have to contend with the mountainous speed bumps all the way up the road.... but obviously some people just can't read...

I love nothing more than to practise various hand signals and shout abuse at the tw@** who just continue coming down the hill when they can see your struggling up the hill in 2nd gear.

And that bus lane at the top! What is that? I've lost count of the times when I've reached the end of Lees Hall Road, about to go down Upper Albert, and nearly had the front end of my car ripped off by a bus hurtling across the junction....:rant:

Originally posted by dinp

snip.

I know what lane to be in at what point on my journeys, it isn't difficult you know.

As a non resident of Sheffield I had the misfortune recently to end up in the centre by mistake, having come up the Baslow? (Barlow?) Road.
The state of that road was one of the worst I've been on, more potholes than the York Moors. I thought my fillings were going to fall out.

I have to say that the sign posting in town is B awful, each time I had to make a decision as to which road to take you can bet it was the wrong one.I even passed the SU football ground twice!!!
MY B in L told me the Council is trying to discourage cars in the centre, well they succeeded with me , I used the tram/bus the next day.

This government is shooting itself in the foot with its anti-car policies. It will come to a point where so many people are priced out of their vehicles, that there will be far less income from fuel tax, road tax, speed cameras etc.

Oil companies will shed loads of jobs as demand for their product will fall and the state of the roads will decline as there will be no cash in the pot from motorists to fix it up.

So then, who will pay to mend the roads in the future? The bus companies, who have until now been getting free and subsidised bus lanes hither and thither.

Don't hold your breath.

If however, they do have to foot the bill, fares will soar and the poorest people will suffer.

Its a bad policy. Invest in cleaner fuels, shut the environmentalists up and then congestion will be less of an issue, as it wont be destroying the planet.