Mind the gap you idiot!

[fireheart]

Don't know if they were just an EW or what, but I got out of this one unscathed.

Driving down a 3-lane road. I'm in the left lane. Car decides to pull out onto the road just before I pass it, cutting me off and forcing me into the middle lane so I don't hit them. The car then decides to move into the lane I'm in, completely cutting me off and forcing me to swerve behind him/her so I don't hit them AGAIN.

(for the record, we drive on the left-hand side)

[Jay 2K Winger]

"Mind the gap."

NOT just a reminder from the London Underground.

[fireheart]

Oh and it gets better.

I'm a P-Plater. This person appeared to be at least a lot older than me. Yet I'm the one who actually followed the rules! (I had right-of-way)

[RealUnimportant]

Ah, that's it then - they were "pulling rank"

[Pagan]

Oh and it gets better.

I'm a P-Plater. This person appeared to be at least a lot older than me. Yet I'm the one who actually followed the rules! (I had right-of-way)

Um....que es a "P-Plater"?

[greek_jester]

Um....que es a "P-Plater"?

Learner drivers in the UK have to have a learner plate on the back & the front of the car. This is a white square with a bright scarlet capital L in the middle.

If someone has just passed their test, they can opt to put a Just Passed plate - a white square with a capital green P in the middle - in place of the L plates to warn other drivers that they're still a little hesitant e.g. they might stall, brake abruptly, etc.

I'm not certain of this, but I believe that P plates are mandatory for the 1st year after passing your test in Ireland. Can anyone confirm that?

[fireheart]

Um....que es a "P-Plater"?

Learner drivers in the UK have to have a learner plate on the back & the front of the car. This is a white square with a bright scarlet capital L in the middle.

If someone has just passed their test, they can opt to put a Just Passed plate - a white square with a capital green P in the middle - in place of the L plates to warn other drivers that they're still a little hesitant e.g. they might stall, brake abruptly, etc.

I'm not certain of this, but I believe that P plates are mandatory for the 1st year after passing your test in Ireland. Can anyone confirm that?

Close, but slightly different.

In Australia, Learner drivers need to have someone in the car at all times and also display L plates on the front and back of the car that they're driving. ANY car that they use. (Driving Schools usually will have the L-Plates on top of their car sign so that people know it's a driving lesson)

After a period of 6 months-1 year depending on state, you can go for your P-Plates, which allow you to drive solo, but with similar conditions to Learner drivers (the conditions are that you can't have any alcohol or drugs in your system, you can only go 100km/h max, even in a 110km/h zone, you may or may not be allowed to carry extra passengers (depending on state) and that you have to display P-Plates on the front and back of your car: depending on state, these are usually either red/white or white/red (letter on background)

After a year or 2 years depending on state, you can go for your P2's, which means you still have the same conditions, but you either don't have to display your P-Plates, or you display green and white P-Plates.

[Pagan]

After a period of 6 months-1 year depending on state, you can go for your P-Plates, which allow you to drive solo, but with similar conditions to Learner drivers (the conditions are that you can't have any alcohol or drugs in your system, you can only go 100km/h max, even in a 110km/h zone, you may or may not be allowed to carry extra passengers (depending on state) and that you have to display P-Plates on the front and back of your car: depending on state, these are usually either red/white or white/red (letter on background)

How do they know you don't have any drugs/alcohol in your system and you're not going over 100kph?

Man, here, you take a driving course (a school or as a class in high school, like I did), take a written and driving test (my driving test was a joke, honestly, administered by one of Las Cruces' finest), get a bad picture taken, pay for the license, and off you go. No restrictions whatsoever by the government.

[wolfie]

Don't know if they were just an EW or what, but I got out of this one unscathed.

Driving down a 3-lane road. I'm in the left lane. Car decides to pull out onto the road just before I pass it, cutting me off and forcing me into the middle lane so I don't hit them. The car then decides to move into the lane I'm in, completely cutting me off and forcing me to swerve behind him/her so I don't hit them AGAIN.

(for the record, we drive on the left-hand side)

Happened to me a few years back in New Jersey (except I was in the right lane at the start). Had to make 2 quick moves to avoid rear-ending a car that cut me off TWICE when he entered the highway at far less than highway speed. I had over 40,000 pounds of cargo in the trailer at the time.

[fireheart]

How do they know you don't have any drugs/alcohol in your system and you're not going over 100kph?

Man, here, you take a driving course (a school or as a class in high school, like I did), take a written and driving test (my driving test was a joke, honestly, administered by one of Las Cruces' finest), get a bad picture taken, pay for the license, and off you go. No restrictions whatsoever by the government.

Random breatho tests and/or drug tests for the former, and the same way that they catch normal speeders: radar/speed camera.

Oh and we still have to take a theoretical test to get our learners and then to get your P-Plates, you can do one of two options (at least here you can):

-Have a series of driving lessons with a professional driving instructor and have competencies marked off. (my instructor would mark up to 4-5 off per lesson) The last two units are your tests: test #1 covers all your maneuvers (hill start, parking, pulling in and out of the kerb etc.) while test #2 covers how well you handle traffic in general.

OR

-Do one straight test displaying all the above maneuvers in one go. If you fail it though, you have to wait a period of time and then do it again.

I did the first option (so did my sister) and I got lucky: because it was raining the day that I had to do test #1, my instructor let me skip the parallel park, only asking me where I had to look to back into one successfully. It took me 2 tries to get the country driving (high-speed driving) and pulling in/out of a kerb marked off. My dad and I came up with a solution to the high-speed driving one (I was really nervous doing it the first time and had a panic attack mid-lesson). We drove all the way to the start of the local freeway and drove the whole length of it-at 100km/h.

[Pagan]

Random breatho tests and/or drug tests for the former, and the same way that they catch normal speeders: radar/speed camera.

That explains a lot. My state gives anyone, and I mean anyone a driver's license.

And just wondering, because in NM, some people (don't ask me how it's determined, haven't figured it out yet), when convicted of DUI, have to get a breathalyzer installed in their car. That's just for alcohol, don't do anything for drugs.

I took Driver's Ed in high school. They didn't even bother teaching us to parallel park. At the time, there wasn't anywhere in Las Cruces that even had parallel parking. Even now, there's only one place, sort of.

My driving test, administered by one of Las Cruces' finest, consisted of turning right out of a parking lot, the cop telling me I had enough room to squeeze between a car and the curb to make a right on red, and a right turn into another parking lot. Took all of 5 minutes.

That being said, in 26 years of driving, I've only had one accident and that was totally the other driver's fault.

[fireheart]

And just wondering, because in NM, some people (don't ask me how it's determined, haven't figured it out yet), when convicted of DUI, have to get a breathalyzer installed in their car. That's just for alcohol, don't do anything for drugs.

Oh, we have those too. And as far as the "random" breatho tests go, nearly every time I pass a breath testing station, I get pulled in.