To add to why that car in the first clip might have thought to drive on the right, that's Aberystwyth and it has a monster one-way system with something like 4 lanes at one point, which does feed you out onto that road, so it's fairly easy I'd imagine to think it continues and miss the signs telling you the road goes back to being bi-directional
In Canada and the US if it's a two lane road, the middle is an orange line to signify it's two direction traffic. If it's a one way, it's a white line in between. Not sure why you guys don't have a similar system.
@@Blahsheep we have the single and double yellow lines along the gutter ... which means people are allowed to park there while they nip to the shops.
Yeah that bus driver at the castle was reprimanding, or more accurately "being a d**k". Once again this video shows that it's impatience, lack of courtesy or just not thinking logically that causes 99% of the problems on the roads. Happy New Year to you, your family and viewers Ash. 🎉
Two could easily play that game. If the oncoming car driver wanted to pull up to the front of the bus and stop, I can’t say I’d blame them. Then we can see what the police have to say about the bus drivers road position… Fortunately for all the car driver decided to “fix it” instead.
Agree, and I very much doubt s/he just thought of doing that alone. Probably all the drivers in that coach company had a big collective grumble about people 'stealing priority' through that narrow pass so all decided to 'take action'.
@@horrortackleharry Might just be a "I'm in big vehicle, you're in small, I go, you wait!" Mentality. I get the same when I'm on my bicycle. Every time I have to go through a traffic calmed area where the road narrows to one lane and I should have priority, people in cars will barge right in front of me, often driving directly at me. If I stay in front of them they start beeping, swearing and telling me to get on the footpath. I'm sick of the UK roads and the mentality of the road users.
1:51. Van and fire truck. Most people think that you *must* ‘Pull Over to the side of the road’ when you hear or see an emergency vehicle, which is wrong. If you can pull over and clear the road that’s great, but in other situations like this you need to stay put and don’t move. It’s like the people who pull over to the side on a blind corner instead of keeping on going until you find a better place to get out of the way.
Definitely the van driver's first instinct was to pull to the side of the road I think their initial intention was to try and be helpful - I find a lot of these situations are caused by people jumping in a work or hire van without bothering to adjust the mirrors...
I've heard emergency services people say the same, stay where you are and let them find the path around you. A friend made a good suggestion: while waiting for them to go around you, hold both hands up in the air. That tells them you are not going to turn into their path.
You really shouldn't even pull over but keep a steady speed and go with the flow of the traffic. If you start parking, you just cause the traffic behind you to build up, making it even more difficult for the emergency vehicle to pass.
Right from the outset, you've hit one of my major gripes: people riding on the coattails of ambulances. It's something I've only really seen in the last ten years, but it's becoming fairly common now, I feel. It's dangerous to everyone, from the ambulance occupants to the other drivers around. While we should obviously look before pulling off again once we've let an ESV pass, I think it's fair to say that most drivers don't expect a BMW to be in the wake of the ambulance, yet somehow, the driver of said BMW takes personal offence whenever someone fails to anticipate their behaviour. Many US states have a law that forbids getting within so many hundred of feet behind an ESV, and I'm beginning to think something similar is needed here. All ESVs should have rear-facing cameras that record such behaviour and allow prosecutions to follow. Motorcyclists have also taken up this egregious habit. The bus driver at Conwy should have lost his job for that, and that last clip was a clown show.
I have a feeling they might have been looking at it as overtaking the bus more than chasing the ambulance. Lack of observation though if that was their mindset at the time.
Yes, the ambulance-chasing van is likely to be opportunistic. However, it could also possibly be driven by family of the occupants in the ambulance. Ambulance-chasing motor-bike is even less likely, though!
I've said a time or two that for certain lapses of judgement, it should be ruled that the offender has forgotten how to drive, and so must start over from scratch.
@@RiverMersey I have heard people on a scene tell the family that the ambulance is going to be using exemptions from traffic laws to get to the hospital faster, and not to try to keep up. it's important for family to be reminded that they are not going to be able to see their loved one until they are settled in and stabilized, so there is no need for them to take risks.
As we come to the end of another year I'd just like to thank Ash for all these videos. I've learned so much watching this channel and it helped open my eyes to the idea that I'm not as good a driver as I thought. Before I watched this channel I probably would have let people out when there was no one behind me or overtaken when there was a set of lights up ahead. It's also helped a lot with my self-confidence on the road because I feel like I properly understand the correct was to drive now. Keep it up Ash! 👍
With the ambulance, I wonder if it was more just auto-pilot, seeing the bus pull in they made a wrong assumption it had stopped at a stop rather than moved to let the ambulance pass. Still a fail but maybe slightly more of a perception fail, rather than a "being a massive piece of you know what" fail.
I’m sure it’s an offence to slipstream any esv, admittedly they may have thought the bus had stopped legitimately but should not be so close that they overtake it at speed, as they they to assume is to make “an ass of you and me”
1:56 Riding an e-scooter the wrong way down a slip road, with no protective gear on and smoking a cigarette at the same time. Now that's someone with a very serious death wish!
And yet there are those who would argue they should be able to do whatever they want, because telling them to look out for themselves is victim shaming... 🤦♂️
they've recently turned all the roads into town centre to 20mph around my way. Hardly any of it has been signed, in fact theres two signs its 20mph and some white paint on the floor at times. Had no idea as i rarely drive in town in the day and usually cycle in the bike lane on the dual carriage way (which is now 40MPH and 30MPH). Dropped my sister off in town last night at 8, was doing 24MPH home and got pulled over for speeding. Like, really? I even said to the cop where is the signs? I didnt see a single sign. Told me one is in the town centre after the station, the other is by the pub at the far end of the highstreet. I came from a residential side street which was signed at 30MPH. I was apologetic but this whole 20MPH everywhere is getting stupid. Then I pulled away with the unmarked cop following me, doing 20MPH and within minutes a van overtook the pair of us doing 3oMPH+. And again, siren came on and they pulled them over. They are making a killing on fines with this 20MPH stuff now.
They turned the 3 town centres near me into 20mph a few months ago. The placement of the 20 signs and repeaters are soooo "creative" it's almost like they don't want you to see them. The main entrance for two centres are light controlled T junctions, the start of 20 signs are placed behind the pedestrian signal column on the left and the main signal column on the right, which obscures the only left filter arrow out of one. The first repeater sign in one centre is reusing a parking restriction post on a side street... around 15m from the left kerb of the road, behind some tourist info boards and a CCTV column. They also spent a week installing a kerb around a roundabout near the Tesco delivery entrance, increasing the diameter from 12m to 22m.
Recently drove through an area i was not familiar with that had 20 mph zones, to be honest I agree with it in that area because it was twisty narrow country village town centers, i feel though there should be warning signs to inform you your approaching a 20 mph zone
When I was driving, it was a dual lane road, We were all stopped at the red lights with a clear turning lane on the right side. So 3 lanes. An ambulance came up behind, I was going to turn right but held back in the right land to give the ambulance space to get through. Someone from the 2 lanes on the left decided to move from the lanes with about 7 cars in to the unobstructed right turning lane and blocked the ambulance. Sometimes people panic but sometimes the better option is just to stay still.
I think the fact they have introduced it with an almost blanket policy in built up areas has detracted from the effectiveness of a 20 mph speed limit. It should be used pragmatically in places where there is a genuine increased risk over typical 30 mph roads. Such as narrow residential roads, busy high streets and near schools. Whereas now, with 20 mph speed limits on major thoroughfares through towns and villages. It causes frustration, a lower standard of driving, less respect and abidance of the limit. In my opinion of course.
Yep, that was always going to be the result. And yet you won't get one iota of acknowledgement about that from the zealots who imposed this stupid speed limit.
It's the same around London. Sticking to the 20mph limit is a sure fire way to get yourself tailgated and often overtaken, irregardless of whether there is oncoming traffic or now.
Not every road speed limit has been reduced to 20mph in Wales. Maybe only 50% of them. Some of the roads that were 30 before the change are still 30 today
I was overtaken in Wales on the weekend of the change. The private hire driver who overtook me disappeared off at stupid speed. Those cars weren't even going to obey the 30mph. All that has changed is they'll get a ban for doing 50 in a 30 instead of points. And I think that's what most people who complain about it are worried about. They know they never did 30 before.
The situation with the bus is a common problem with give way to oncoming vehicles. Some are too long. There's one in High Bentham, when you approach from Clapham you can't see the vehicles coming along due to a bend. They have priority but I always get people moaning at me. It's a 30mph limit.
5:20 reminds me of a situation we had leaving our town when heading south. The speed limit went 30/40/50. In an attempt to make the road "safer" the 40 was dropped to 30. The new extended 30 butted up to the 50 with the limit now 30/50. Of course what happened was the sensible people who stuck at 30 became sitting ducks for anyone prepared to speed in the 30 to get enough speed up for an overtake at the speed limit change (often over taking on the wrong side of a central bollard). Eventually - after months of complaining and campaigning by locals (who were struggling to exit their driveways because of the people on the wrong side of the road) the council saw sense and put the speed limit back up to 40.... Low and behold the cars behind didn't have enough of a run up to get past the car in front and the problem largely went away.
That road is the A5 heading just before it passes under the M6; the whole stretch after DIRFT used to be national speed limit (so the dual carriageway was 70) but has recently been all dropped to 50 (about 2018-ish) due to the new industrial units around there. So now the dual carriageway is mainly so you can pass lorries turning into Europark. It doesn't leave much time to overtake vehicles who aren't turning off so a lot of cars accelerate to 70 as soon as they get to the dual carriageway.
@@tautology_zero if you are replying to me I was refering to the clip before that one IIRC. It is the two way road with the cammer being overtaken by a car pulling a trailer and a white van.
Very few Drivers Care or Take Pride in their driving. The other problem is that a vast majority of drivers think they have a right to a driving licence, when in fact it is a privilege which should be earned.
The problem with the electric motorbikes, is that how do you police that? It's a vehicle that can out accelerate a police car or bike, is light enough to easily jump up and down kerbs, and narrow enough to zoom down the tightest of paths. And with global commerce meaning you can get one sent to you from China, even banning their sale in shops wouldn't stop it. I live in Reading and there are a few people around here with them - earlier in the year one quite happily kept pace with me at 40mph when I was on my motorbike, the difference being I was wearing all the necessary protective gear, and they were wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Unlike the one in the video, the majority also seem to wear a fall face bandana/balaclava, which does scream that they are absolutely aware that what they are doing is wrong/illegal, but don't give a shit.
Maybe increase or make tighter the penalties for sale, purchase, use on the road or even make being in possession of one illegal? Allow police to make contact with them as they do with motorcycles used in crime? Or maybe make them horrendously unfashionable by running an advertising campaign saying they are being handed out free to all paedophiles?
Run an advert about how dangerous going at 30+ mph with only a tracksuit or a pair of jeans to protect you is dangerous to you? Dish out driving bans and prison time for people that do get caught, and make sure this gets into the news?
Ban the sale of them to people without recording who they are or license or some sort. Then go visit people who have one that don't have the "private land" which you need to use one. Like they use to with TV sales for Licensing back in the day. You didn't need a TV License to "own" a TV, but you had to supply your details when buying it so the TV License people knew who had a TV without a License and come knocking...
@@robinday8200 Many E-bykes are home made, hence the speed settings (over 17mph) being illegal - eg they use motors over 250w, as bought on Ebay from China, and the USA - where any speed is legal, I believe
Related to the van driver at 1:15, I was driving when an ambulance came from behind and the person in front of me thought "ambulance means pull over now", and pulled over in a narrowing in the road. The ambulance had to ride the curb to get past. Probably the one time I've tried to use the horn in frustration (to tell the driver ahead they were blocking the traffic rather than giving priority). I wish I had my dashcam running for that moment.
Fingers crossed there’s less of these compilations in the new year where drivers fail and ignore road safety. There’s always things we can improve on but safety is always key! Happy new year 🍻🍾🥂
I’m retired now but served 40+ years on front line Ambulances, and that scenario happened a few times when I was driving, twice on the M4 and each time via our control we called the police both time the police pulled them over at the scene as we stopped. We were told they would be held there until most of the traffic had cleared! 😊 not sure if they booked them.
In the last clip, not only the lorry and car were in the wrong lane, but the 2nd car in the correct lane then also followed them into the wrong lane of the junction!!
7:35 The bus was massively at fault but the Merc two cars behind deserves a special stupidity award for continuing forward after seeing the bus on the wrong side of the road and creating a ridiculously narrow gap.
I dont see how the mercedes did anything wrong? If anything, the corsa is worse for just following the bus onto the wrong side when there was plenty of room for the camera car to get back on the right side. I dont think the mercedes could see much until the corsa moved over, when he had little choice where to go.
I hope you had a great Christmas. 1:00 there's a clip elsewhere showing an ambulance driver stopping and berating a following vehicle for doing exactly that. Contrariwise, do remember that the police car may be escorting the transporter. That clip with the BMW doing 70 too soon: remember that not all new speed limits are marked. We could be charitable and say the driver thought that the switch to a dual carriageway meant an automatic change in the speed limit. Perhaps it might be worth doing a video on when a change in road type gives an automatic speed change? Residential streets are the obvious one. To prevent any doubt, the road planners might have put a 50 reminder sign at the start. Best wishes for 2024.
@@robloxfan4271 For example, escorting a woman in labour or a Kentucky-ballistics-level injury to hospital. No time for an ambulance so just drive. (Are there still issues with ambulance response times?)
The clip near Conwy Castle I know very well, we used to have a caravan on a site near there. The coach had 'Llew Jones' written on the side of it, 'llew' is Welsh for 'lion'. Perhaps the driver thought he was 'King of the Jungle?' It might have got a bit interesting if one of the many vehicles towing a caravan had been approaching the coach from the opposite direction. I confess to being a coward, I always took an alternative route when towing our caravan, rather than negotiate the bridge. Others were made of sterner stuff...
The clip at 5:20 is one of my biggest problems with 20mph roads. I think that if the limit was 30mph and the cam car was doing 30 then the odds of being overtaken are significantly lower than at 20. This makes them more dangerous for obvious reasons. Either put them back to 30 or find some way to enforce the limit somehow because they are not working right now.
You've hit the nail on the head - enforcement. Massive advertising campaigns are needed to raise awareness followed by actual enforcement through fines. I don't necessarily agree with fines but it'll likely bring about the most changes.
For the bus at the castle, I would have just stayed on my side and let the bus driver sort it out. The ones following the police car could have easily justified it by thinking the bus had stopped at a bus stop. The bus should have kept moving slowly while keeping in and indicating
Given that the bus has a timetable to keep, I'd have struggled to resist the temptation to meet the bus head-on and hold him up for ten minutes. It would have been childish, but that's exactly how he's behaving.
2:53 the best solution would be giving people places to do that kind of stuff safely and legally with a low barrier to entry. It feels as though there are fewer recreational areas with more people spending time with electronics, but it results in those who can't or won't entertain themselves in that way mixing in with traffic instead.
On the transporter following the police car, it’s less likely when it’s a police car than an ambulance, but sometimes cars following have anxious family members inside them.
That 20 mph speed limit is too slow for that road. There, said it. I'll get criticism, but when you make rules the majority don't agree with then don't expect people to follow them.
In Glasgow we are having a real problem with these electric bikes and scooters, the police have had a sort of clamp down on them and confiscated nine of them 3 weeks ago, apparently they had their motors tweeked and were capable of 35-40 MPH. These are the same muppets that ride on pavements in city centres on these bikes. I asked the Police what they would do if they caught me (as an example) on an electric scooter which are not legal here, his answer was i would be prosecuted (rightly so) as a i would be in a car with no Tax, Mot, Insurance or Licence, yet these same people are getting away with it day after day.
Best solution for the electric bike rider what the white van do keep out the way! Following an ambulance is also dangerous as a lot of drivers who have pulled in get ready to pull back out after the emergency vehicle and often looking behind more that in front so if some idiot suddenly appears at speed behind it there is a high risk of a misjudgement that is apart from the morality of using the path created by people rushing to save lives.
7:17 look at it from the perspective of the bus driver: you have two people walking on your side of the road, and you have priority to pass through the gate ahead.
The van that cut off the fire engine probably just thought they'd change lanes to get a couple of meters closer to the red light, and didn't bother to check what was coming up behind them
Having travelled on buses, coaches and in cars through that Conwy Castle arch for 30+ years, buses have to move to the RHS to get through the arch. The best thing to do if you see a bus coming down is to just be patient and give way.
I feel like this is necessary context for some people regarding the clip of the bus at the castle. This is Conwy Castle in North Wales. It is true that the bus needs to get through the arch "straight" because it is very narrow but the arch is cut at an angle to the road, so large vehicles actually need to approach on the far right hand side (the side the bus was on) in order to get through. There isn't enough run up from the mini roundabout at the top to start on the left then move over at the arch, which is why the bus took this position and waited to leave room for the camera car to pass through on the offside. It was not a move to "reprimand" the driver of the car coming up the hill. The arch is narrow enough for some large vehicles to scrape their mirrors on both sides while passing through.
Happy New Year Ashley and lang may your lum reek! I trust you don't think there was anything your viewer ought to have done differently at 3:18 to 3:48. The reckless overtake was all on that van driver, and your viewer's calm and care did nothing to "encourage" it. Better drivers, and I still think that's most of us, would only have been encouraged to follow suit. You raise a big question in preceding clips, what can be done about the wacky abuse of powered bikes and e-scooters. As you said about the scooter, first of all it's up to the less vulnerable caged or helmeted road users to look after them.
You said about the number of illegal road users with nothing being done. There seems to be a fair number of (supposedly) legal drivers on the road who probably shouldn't have a licence with nothing being done.
I would choose a idiot with a 30kg e-bike over an idiot in a car over a ton any day of the week. And now that they are using electric motors rather than screaming petrol engines, they don't even cause noise or air pollution.
Yes, the ambulance-chasing van is likely to be opportunistic. However, it could also possibly be driven by family of the occupants in the ambulance. Ambulance-chasing motor-bike is even less likely, though!
At 5:40, I had to use the frame advance to actually pick out the pedestrian against the background. There's a brief moment where he is illuminated by the preceding car's lights, but the all-black clothing and corner crossing would have caught me out too. I'd have been looking, but I doubt I'd have spotted him any earlier. Good reaction time from the driver, awful decision from the pedestrian.
@@kenbrown2808 I've had two near misses recently. Both times were night time, with a car parked facing into traffic with its headlights on (dazzling all oncoming traffic), and behind the glare there's a pedestrian in black clothing standing in the middle of the road, chatting to his mate in the parked car. This gave me about a car's length to swerve out of the way - luckily I'd slowed right down due to being dazzled. All these people are complete idiots.
Best wishes to you for 2024 Ashley. Your passion for road safety is inspiring and has made many of us - myself included - better drivers for it. Thanks.
Quite a few comments suggesting the HGV in the last clip might have done that on purpose to make the turn easier. I did wonder, and maybe it's right.... But they certainly would have violated a keep left in order to get there, which is an offence.
In the 2nd clip thats a tight bit of road in Aberystwyth where the lanes merge very briefly because the buildings either side are too close together and also has a tescos warehouse that you can see on the right where the lorries go in so its a bit of an awkward spot but theres no good solution to it as its the only road that goes over the river in town centre so it has to be multidirectional. Aber is honestly just a big labyrinth of one way roads and if you aren’t local you’ll get stuck.
I like the HGV at the end used the wrong lane on purpose. Where the Micra turns right after the island and the lights there would have been a struggle to get the HGV around that corner. The car was just a bit dim.
Should treat illegal e-bikes like you would any illegal moped! If it goes more than 16 under its own power-you need a CBT and registration, if it goes over 30, you need insurance as well and if it is more powerful you need your A licence. I see a lot of people riding dirt bikes and quad bikes too! Seeing some of the driving, though, I believe that getting a licence to operate a motor vehicle is just too easy and losing it is too difficult, and that our infrastructure fails to promote alternatives enough!
the problem is the police struggle catching them without hurting them and then there is no punishment to make them stop. they have a bad attitude and feel they can get away with it and probably dont care for the rules. you cuold change the rules to allow these bikes into the current system but you will still get these types of people that deliberately break the law.
they do treat them the same as an illegal moped - because they're illegal. But there are a lot of illegal vehicles on the roads. I've just done a 4 hour motorway run and the number of illegally spaced numberplates, illegal tints on windows, illegal exhausts etc. The list goes on and that's without talking about the dangerous weaving in and out of the lanes that many car drivers think is acceptable (usually older BMW/Audi's).
To me that cammer wasn't that aware @5:40. Yes, the pedestrian was dressed almost in black, but I think there was sufficient visibility to have seen him much earlier. At night, you have to be aware of drunks being around in urban settings. I should add, when I was young, the government used to repeat the message "wear something bright at night". It seems to be a lesson that we have completely forgotten. These days, it seems pretty well everybody walks around at night dressed in black. Also, I think the lorry in the last clip turned right from the oncoming lane deliberately in order to avoid what have been a very tight turn for a long vehicle around the traffic island where the signal was located.
Happy New Year. I am taken aback by how badly many of those electric scooter riders ride/drive. On the road and on the pavement. As in your video, they also often have no protective garments on at all. I think a. Tests should be brought in, and number plates.
They seem to have become popular due to a loophole allowing electrically assisted bikes. Once things get into common use, it is difficult, but not impossible, to stop them. Even though many are illegal, there are never any police around to enforce the law.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but as a powered vehicle, don't they already require headlights, number plates, and a drivers' license? I'm pretty sure most of them aren't legal.
My pet hate whilst driving at night is broken damaged or completly missing reflective or illuminated direction arrows, usually the reflective material is missing or worse missing and no illumination. A case in point ( with you being local) is the breeze hill flyover when approaching from bootle the illuminated arrow marking the split between flyover and slip rooad is non existent and just an accident waiting to happen in rainy or misty conditions at night.
Had many observations to make comment to ,about the various clips , but I think the comments that have gone before, say it all. Have a good new year , Ashley, and let's get to 200k at least.👊
7:49 That's Kidderminster! Quite regularly see people messing up that junction in various ways, I think they get confused by the fairly big space in the middle. I've even seen a car drive the wrong way into the filter lane that the cammer is coming from in this video!
1:34 One night in a pub I was talking to a paramedic. He said that stuff like this happens all the time, because people's instinct is to let the ambulance pass on the right. Even though in many cases the left lane is clear.
Probably not the case here but sometimes ambulance chasers are relatives of the person in the ambulance following them to the hospital. Again, probably not the case here.
I think sometimes we should not judge vehicles that are following ambulances. My sister (as a carer in a care home) has been told by ambulance crews to follow them to the hospital in her own car. Usually under those circumstances they don't use their exemptions (because she won't have them) but they may use the siren to clear the way a bit.
I believe no blame may be applied to the law abiding drivers for the self-entitled, stupid law breaking and dangerous drivers, eg, overtaking cyclists, and obeying the speed limits, particularly a life saving 20mph limit. If I am behind cyclists and believe it is not safe to overtake, what extra action should I take not to encourage the bad driving? If I am driving at the speed limit, what should I do not to be responsible for other drivers breaking the law, other than breaking the law myself?
in the most egregious cases, the officer in a fire engine will call dispatch to report such behavior, but frequently, if the fire engine is on a shout, all the police are trying to get there, first.
in the first clip, the fact that everybody on the viewer's left were parked facing the viewer didn't help. for those who haven't seen my conversations with Ibs about it, in the US and Canada, a white line of any kind divides two same-direction lanes, while a yellow separates opposite direction lanes. it's still not idiot proof, but it is a nice feature.
The second clip I think they just panicked because of the sirens and think getting off the road is best. Rather than thinking have the emergency services got a path past without moving
I worked for Walkers crisps at Warrington, which is run by Stobarts. I was hit head-on by an artic that went right side of keep left bollard,50+ mph in July.
The attitude of the bus driver is unfortunately very common among PSV drivers in Brighton, they are a law unto themselves. But it cuts both ways, I regularly drive under an 11 foot bridge in hovering, to get my 10ft 9 lorry under I need to drive in the middle of the road, and every time I get car drivers drive up to the lorry cursing and waving rather than slow down and let me through. Just remember there is usually a reason a large vehicle appears to be driving strangely.
On a number of occasions as an ambulance, or other emergency vehicle comes up from behind, all those behind me have stopped and restarted as it goes by, using it as a reason to pass me too. Nothing more than a 1st World Problem, but a bit cheeky.
Accelerating to 70 when the speed limit is changing to 70 soon and there's no hazard is not a big deal. The viewer couldn't see the wide load at the time of doing that. Yes for a test you should wait until you pass the sign, but for practical driving it makes zero difference to anything (provided people are reasonable and there are indeed no hazards) and gets traffic moving a little quicker.
At around 6:12 re the lethal overtake. I've said this before but I honestly can't remember the last time I overtook on a two way, two lane road. Other than passing tractors, cyclists and the like. But if it's just another motorist driving "a little slower" than I'd like, I just chill out, keep well back and enjoy the ride. This is perhaps one reason I've put off going for the IAM Advanced Test. Perhaps I'm perceiving this wrong but I feel they may put too much emphasis on "making progress" and expect to see you overtaking a "slightly slower" vehicle if conditions dictate. That's just not my style of driving. Different story on motorways and dual carriageways though.
04:32, even though a national speed limit sign is shown, as the dual carriageway had started a short distance before without any 50mph repeaters, the national speed limit applies from the start of the dual carriageway, which is why the viewer went up to 70mph
One reason for the car at the beginning being on the wrong side could be attributed to UK road design - there isn't a clear enough difference between lane markings and those at centre of the road. This is one area in which the US system is clearer, with centre lines being yellow and lane lines being white At 7:20 I would NOT have passed the bus on the wrong side of the road! I'd have stayed on the left and waited for the bus to reverse - box junction or not; the exit to the box junction was clear when entering.
I go through that arch in Conwy every day & larger vehicles have to approach the arch from the right as the arch is angled slightly right , the amount of coaches I’ve seen trying to get through that arch unsuccessfully is laughable.
The penultimate clip with the car trying to go down the wrong side of the junction is Weavers Wharf in Kidderminster. It is a VERY confusing junction the first time you come to it and especially turning right from there you feel as though people are going to hit you
Regarding your question about electric bike use - I think vehicle classification, who, where and how they should be used is not a simple or straightforward issue to address. Regarding enforcement of rules and regulations I think we need more investment in common sense street level policing, behaviour is also influenced by good quality continuous education, delivered at the right time and in the right way (with good role models etc)
As a person who possesses a valid cat D licence and drives 11.5 metre buses, that mini bus driver had plenty of room to return to the left before meeting that car in the narrow section. It's typical I'm a big vehicle, clear my way behaviour. Not driving professionally how any CPC holder should.
That bus driver was a disgrace, defiantly reprimanding, anyone who uses the gap to created for an emergency service vehicle to pass quickly is disgraceful, so dangerous too
I will hold my hands up and say there was a time I took it to triple digits to get around a 40 MPH bandit, when I knew I had one and only one chance to get around him in the next 40 miles. it bears mentioning that the highway code in my state says if you are holding a queue of 7 vehicles behind you, you MUST pull off and allow them to pass.
I do hope in true American Dash Cam channel fashion you blasted your horn as you went pssed and slowed down to 20mph for at least a mile before zooming back off again 😉 Happy New Year to you and your family Ken
@@smilerbob no, i was at least well cognizant of the risk involved and was focused on keeping control of the car. And i certainly wasn't going to waste time being petty. It was a trip that normally took me 3 hours down with no traffic and 4 hours back with tourist traffic.
I assume the first part of the reg at 4:11 is MG1F 😉 Just messing with the reg but that clip did scream of impatience due to going slower than the speed limit so must overtake everyone.
White van at 1:13 - didn't look but more to the point probably didn't hear with his radio blasting on at volume. Hearing is an essential sense when driving as well as sight.
On the last clip, not only is the HGV on the wrong side of the road, but they continue on the wrong side of the road down the M6\M58 slip road. Fortunately, you are able to get on the correct side before the Motorway, lets hope that the driver realised the error in time.
the solution to people riding electric bikes that way is to declare the bike a motorcycle, and require them to license and insure it, and follow all the other rules required of motorcycles.
That's already the case. It's just that some people ignore it. Where I am from in Wales, there are a load of people with unregistered, untaxed and uninsured dirt motorbikes. People ride them on the road to get to the mountain where they off-road them and then back again.
Imagine submitting your own video where you're speeding at 71 in a 50 😮💨 it worries me that these people fail to see their own faults but submit a video mainly for someone else's fault they've captured 🤨 I don't bother crossing the roads these days anywhere besides a marked crossing/light activated crossing, safer and less chance of me getting hit by a fool.
Hi Ashley, Amazing content as always. I can sort of see the van with the fire engine clip. They were trying to create space and had a 33% chance they were moving into a lane to accommodate the fire engine. Unfortunately they picked the wrong lane. However, they kept moving into it instead of stopping. Either way, have a Happy New Year everyone
Well, with the clip at about 1:30, the forward and back dash videos show the white van directly behind the recording vehicle, so that lane was clearly blocked - best to stay there, out of the way! Although you only only hear the fire engine right as the van starts to move, so it probably wasn’t aware when it started to move…
The rule from 'Chris Martin EMS' (who runs a superb emergency vehicle driving channel on YT), on what to do if an EMS vehicle approaches from behind is LOLO: Leave Open Lanes Open
@@type17 Ah yes, I like Chris' videos. His emergency driving is also quite something. Very calm and drama free despite the higher speeds. And he often actually makes the effort to Thank another driver who's moved out of the way. Plus, as I'm sure you've seen, he's done videos about the actual vehicle, what equipment they carry and so forth.
in most of the states, the law is to pull as far to the right as safely possible and stop. I have seen many times when there are two care in a row, the lead car will recognize the sirens and pull over, and the car behind will overtake. worst I have seen was the emergency vehicle ending up using the parking lane on the opposite side of the road to get around a cluster of people who refused to give way properly. and in the US, the sirens and horns are engineered for maximum noise.
Make them liable for all associated costs for their hospital and after care as well as deny them any compensation for missed work if it can be proven that their illegal road use caused their injuries...
Ashley, would love to know: at 3:39 would you be driving more centrally in the lane to stop the van overtaking you when there is a corner coming up? Or is that possibly a red rag to a bull? I'll tell you if you tell me!
In Scandinavië we signal. If you are slow and the one behind can pass we signal to our side ( right here left for pommies) . If you go slow and the one behind cant see why , when its dangerous to pass we signal as if we would overtake or turn other side ( left in Sweden, right signal in UK).
"What do you think is the best solution for people riding like this?" Braking. Tongue in cheek comment, but they'd learn why they need their front wheel on the ground pretty quickly. Sadly until the government starts funding the police again instead of G4S (and the MPs who own shares in G4S) this will only get worse.
Interesting reading all the comments about how the BMW driver could’ve assumed the speed was 70mph as it was a dual carriageway, and some have commented as well about how not all changes to 70mph are marked. The previous sign was 50mph (as you highlighted) and not NSL which I believe is where some confusion is arising from. I wonder if a helpful reminder / repeater sign would be useful underneath the Dual Carriageway and Keep Left sign as the road opens up? Possibly some legislation somewhere that prevents speed limit signs being on the same post as information signs…maybe
There is a problem here where the signs are 'unhelpful'. Where there is a dual carriageway with a central reservation the national limit is 70mph. That is just what this section seems like. Technically, you have not yet passed a change from the 50mph limit. All of a sudden you are on a dual carriageway that would be normally 70mph but there is no signs indicating what the limit actually is. Having just gone past a complex and dangerous junction that requires close attention and accelerating up hill into what looks like a national limit dual carriageway section, it is easy to become confused as to what the limit actually is. There are no reminders. The limit is 50mph right up to the national limit change.
To add to why that car in the first clip might have thought to drive on the right, that's Aberystwyth and it has a monster one-way system with something like 4 lanes at one point, which does feed you out onto that road, so it's fairly easy I'd imagine to think it continues and miss the signs telling you the road goes back to being bi-directional
Also, the parked cars were pointing the same way as the driver on the wrong side, which might have reinforced their impression.
In Canada and the US if it's a two lane road, the middle is an orange line to signify it's two direction traffic. If it's a one way, it's a white line in between. Not sure why you guys don't have a similar system.
@@Blahsheep we have the single and double yellow lines along the gutter ... which means people are allowed to park there while they nip to the shops.
@@Blahsheep Because we are mostly an inteligent nation unlike in Canada and the US! Lol. Do you still have that TV series Canada's Worst Driver?
@@Blahsheep To be fair, until the 1950s the US also used white lines. Then we got the brilliant idea to add in yellow.
Yeah that bus driver at the castle was reprimanding, or more accurately "being a d**k". Once again this video shows that it's impatience, lack of courtesy or just not thinking logically that causes 99% of the problems on the roads. Happy New Year to you, your family and viewers Ash. 🎉
Happy New Year!
Two could easily play that game. If the oncoming car driver wanted to pull up to the front of the bus and stop, I can’t say I’d blame them. Then we can see what the police have to say about the bus drivers road position… Fortunately for all the car driver decided to “fix it” instead.
Agree, and I very much doubt s/he just thought of doing that alone. Probably all the drivers in that coach company had a big collective grumble about people 'stealing priority' through that narrow pass so all decided to 'take action'.
@@horrortackleharry Might just be a "I'm in big vehicle, you're in small, I go, you wait!" Mentality. I get the same when I'm on my bicycle. Every time I have to go through a traffic calmed area where the road narrows to one lane and I should have priority, people in cars will barge right in front of me, often driving directly at me.
If I stay in front of them they start beeping, swearing and telling me to get on the footpath. I'm sick of the UK roads and the mentality of the road users.
@@user-oo9el4wt2r Bus was nowhere near the narrowing when the car passed through. You might need to re-take your driving test.
These clips confirm why I'm more worried by the lack of human intelligence than from artificial intelligence.
1:51. Van and fire truck.
Most people think that you *must* ‘Pull Over to the side of the road’ when you hear or see an emergency vehicle, which is wrong.
If you can pull over and clear the road that’s great, but in other situations like this you need to stay put and don’t move.
It’s like the people who pull over to the side on a blind corner instead of keeping on going until you find a better place to get out of the way.
Definitely the van driver's first instinct was to pull to the side of the road I think their initial intention was to try and be helpful - I find a lot of these situations are caused by people jumping in a work or hire van without bothering to adjust the mirrors...
@@Rroff2 Except they then blocked the left turn, which the fire engine could have been wanting to use.
I've heard emergency services people say the same, stay where you are and let them find the path around you. A friend made a good suggestion: while waiting for them to go around you, hold both hands up in the air. That tells them you are not going to turn into their path.
You really shouldn't even pull over but keep a steady speed and go with the flow of the traffic. If you start parking, you just cause the traffic behind you to build up, making it even more difficult for the emergency vehicle to pass.
Right from the outset, you've hit one of my major gripes: people riding on the coattails of ambulances. It's something I've only really seen in the last ten years, but it's becoming fairly common now, I feel. It's dangerous to everyone, from the ambulance occupants to the other drivers around. While we should obviously look before pulling off again once we've let an ESV pass, I think it's fair to say that most drivers don't expect a BMW to be in the wake of the ambulance, yet somehow, the driver of said BMW takes personal offence whenever someone fails to anticipate their behaviour. Many US states have a law that forbids getting within so many hundred of feet behind an ESV, and I'm beginning to think something similar is needed here. All ESVs should have rear-facing cameras that record such behaviour and allow prosecutions to follow. Motorcyclists have also taken up this egregious habit.
The bus driver at Conwy should have lost his job for that, and that last clip was a clown show.
I have a feeling they might have been looking at it as overtaking the bus more than chasing the ambulance. Lack of observation though if that was their mindset at the time.
You are right, we've both commented in a very similar fashion. I think our respective North American experiences can often lend itself to this.
Yes, the ambulance-chasing van is likely to be opportunistic.
However, it could also possibly be driven by family of the occupants in the ambulance.
Ambulance-chasing motor-bike is even less likely, though!
I've said a time or two that for certain lapses of judgement, it should be ruled that the offender has forgotten how to drive, and so must start over from scratch.
@@RiverMersey I have heard people on a scene tell the family that the ambulance is going to be using exemptions from traffic laws to get to the hospital faster, and not to try to keep up. it's important for family to be reminded that they are not going to be able to see their loved one until they are settled in and stabilized, so there is no need for them to take risks.
As we come to the end of another year I'd just like to thank Ash for all these videos. I've learned so much watching this channel and it helped open my eyes to the idea that I'm not as good a driver as I thought.
Before I watched this channel I probably would have let people out when there was no one behind me or overtaken when there was a set of lights up ahead.
It's also helped a lot with my self-confidence on the road because I feel like I properly understand the correct was to drive now.
Keep it up Ash! 👍
With the ambulance, I wonder if it was more just auto-pilot, seeing the bus pull in they made a wrong assumption it had stopped at a stop rather than moved to let the ambulance pass. Still a fail but maybe slightly more of a perception fail, rather than a "being a massive piece of you know what" fail.
I’m sure it’s an offence to slipstream any esv, admittedly they may have thought the bus had stopped legitimately but should not be so close that they overtake it at speed, as they they to assume is to make “an ass of you and me”
I'd perhaps give that leeway to the motorcycle, but not the van driver, they were so close behind.
Perhaps the van was following the ambulance to it's destination. Can't make assumptions
@@Chrisridesso they were doing what you are told not to do
1:56 Riding an e-scooter the wrong way down a slip road, with no protective gear on and smoking a cigarette at the same time. Now that's someone with a very serious death wish!
Drive in London, nothing unusual
Doubt it was tobacco...
And yet there are those who would argue they should be able to do whatever they want, because telling them to look out for themselves is victim shaming... 🤦♂️
they've recently turned all the roads into town centre to 20mph around my way. Hardly any of it has been signed, in fact theres two signs its 20mph and some white paint on the floor at times. Had no idea as i rarely drive in town in the day and usually cycle in the bike lane on the dual carriage way (which is now 40MPH and 30MPH). Dropped my sister off in town last night at 8, was doing 24MPH home and got pulled over for speeding. Like, really? I even said to the cop where is the signs? I didnt see a single sign. Told me one is in the town centre after the station, the other is by the pub at the far end of the highstreet. I came from a residential side street which was signed at 30MPH. I was apologetic but this whole 20MPH everywhere is getting stupid. Then I pulled away with the unmarked cop following me, doing 20MPH and within minutes a van overtook the pair of us doing 3oMPH+. And again, siren came on and they pulled them over. They are making a killing on fines with this 20MPH stuff now.
They turned the 3 town centres near me into 20mph a few months ago. The placement of the 20 signs and repeaters are soooo "creative" it's almost like they don't want you to see them.
The main entrance for two centres are light controlled T junctions, the start of 20 signs are placed behind the pedestrian signal column on the left and the main signal column on the right, which obscures the only left filter arrow out of one. The first repeater sign in one centre is reusing a parking restriction post on a side street... around 15m from the left kerb of the road, behind some tourist info boards and a CCTV column.
They also spent a week installing a kerb around a roundabout near the Tesco delivery entrance, increasing the diameter from 12m to 22m.
Recently drove through an area i was not familiar with that had 20 mph zones, to be honest I agree with it in that area because it was twisty narrow country village town centers, i feel though there should be warning signs to inform you your approaching a 20 mph zone
When I was driving, it was a dual lane road, We were all stopped at the red lights with a clear turning lane on the right side. So 3 lanes. An ambulance came up behind, I was going to turn right but held back in the right land to give the ambulance space to get through. Someone from the 2 lanes on the left decided to move from the lanes with about 7 cars in to the unobstructed right turning lane and blocked the ambulance. Sometimes people panic but sometimes the better option is just to stay still.
Being in Wales the number of people who overtake or tailgate since the default 20mph introduction is ridiculous
I think the fact they have introduced it with an almost blanket policy in built up areas has detracted from the effectiveness of a 20 mph speed limit. It should be used pragmatically in places where there is a genuine increased risk over typical 30 mph roads. Such as narrow residential roads, busy high streets and near schools. Whereas now, with 20 mph speed limits on major thoroughfares through towns and villages. It causes frustration, a lower standard of driving, less respect and abidance of the limit. In my opinion of course.
Yep, that was always going to be the result. And yet you won't get one iota of acknowledgement about that from the zealots who imposed this stupid speed limit.
It's the same around London. Sticking to the 20mph limit is a sure fire way to get yourself tailgated and often overtaken, irregardless of whether there is oncoming traffic or now.
Not every road speed limit has been reduced to 20mph in Wales. Maybe only 50% of them. Some of the roads that were 30 before the change are still 30 today
I was overtaken in Wales on the weekend of the change. The private hire driver who overtook me disappeared off at stupid speed. Those cars weren't even going to obey the 30mph. All that has changed is they'll get a ban for doing 50 in a 30 instead of points. And I think that's what most people who complain about it are worried about. They know they never did 30 before.
The situation with the bus is a common problem with give way to oncoming vehicles. Some are too long. There's one in High Bentham, when you approach from Clapham you can't see the vehicles coming along due to a bend. They have priority but I always get people moaning at me. It's a 30mph limit.
Just got to say a happy new year to Ashley and his family and looking forward to watching more content in 2024.
5:20 reminds me of a situation we had leaving our town when heading south. The speed limit went 30/40/50. In an attempt to make the road "safer" the 40 was dropped to 30. The new extended 30 butted up to the 50 with the limit now 30/50. Of course what happened was the sensible people who stuck at 30 became sitting ducks for anyone prepared to speed in the 30 to get enough speed up for an overtake at the speed limit change (often over taking on the wrong side of a central bollard). Eventually - after months of complaining and campaigning by locals (who were struggling to exit their driveways because of the people on the wrong side of the road) the council saw sense and put the speed limit back up to 40.... Low and behold the cars behind didn't have enough of a run up to get past the car in front and the problem largely went away.
That road is the A5 heading just before it passes under the M6; the whole stretch after DIRFT used to be national speed limit (so the dual carriageway was 70) but has recently been all dropped to 50 (about 2018-ish) due to the new industrial units around there. So now the dual carriageway is mainly so you can pass lorries turning into Europark. It doesn't leave much time to overtake vehicles who aren't turning off so a lot of cars accelerate to 70 as soon as they get to the dual carriageway.
@@tautology_zero if you are replying to me I was refering to the clip before that one IIRC. It is the two way road with the cammer being overtaken by a car pulling a trailer and a white van.
Very few Drivers Care or Take Pride in their driving. The other problem is that a vast majority of drivers think they have a right to a driving licence, when in fact it is a privilege which should be earned.
3:33 that’s a good pint you made.
There is a difference between being patient and causing an obstruction by not progressing.
The problem with the electric motorbikes, is that how do you police that? It's a vehicle that can out accelerate a police car or bike, is light enough to easily jump up and down kerbs, and narrow enough to zoom down the tightest of paths. And with global commerce meaning you can get one sent to you from China, even banning their sale in shops wouldn't stop it. I live in Reading and there are a few people around here with them - earlier in the year one quite happily kept pace with me at 40mph when I was on my motorbike, the difference being I was wearing all the necessary protective gear, and they were wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Unlike the one in the video, the majority also seem to wear a fall face bandana/balaclava, which does scream that they are absolutely aware that what they are doing is wrong/illegal, but don't give a shit.
Maybe increase or make tighter the penalties for sale, purchase, use on the road or even make being in possession of one illegal? Allow police to make contact with them as they do with motorcycles used in crime? Or maybe make them horrendously unfashionable by running an advertising campaign saying they are being handed out free to all paedophiles?
Run an advert about how dangerous going at 30+ mph with only a tracksuit or a pair of jeans to protect you is dangerous to you?
Dish out driving bans and prison time for people that do get caught, and make sure this gets into the news?
Ban the sale of them to people without recording who they are or license or some sort. Then go visit people who have one that don't have the "private land" which you need to use one. Like they use to with TV sales for Licensing back in the day. You didn't need a TV License to "own" a TV, but you had to supply your details when buying it so the TV License people knew who had a TV without a License and come knocking...
@@robinday8200 Many E-bykes are home made, hence the speed settings (over 17mph) being illegal - eg they use motors over 250w, as bought on Ebay from China, and the USA - where any speed is legal, I believe
More specialist police trail motorbike units needed, and new laws... huge penalties for the rebels
Related to the van driver at 1:15, I was driving when an ambulance came from behind and the person in front of me thought "ambulance means pull over now", and pulled over in a narrowing in the road. The ambulance had to ride the curb to get past. Probably the one time I've tried to use the horn in frustration (to tell the driver ahead they were blocking the traffic rather than giving priority). I wish I had my dashcam running for that moment.
Fingers crossed there’s less of these compilations in the new year where drivers fail and ignore road safety. There’s always things we can improve on but safety is always key!
Happy new year 🍻🍾🥂
I’m retired now but served 40+ years on front line Ambulances, and that scenario happened a few times when I was driving, twice on the M4 and each time via our control we called the police both time the police pulled them over at the scene as we stopped. We were told they would be held there until most of the traffic had cleared! 😊 not sure if they booked them.
Did you ever instruct someone to follow you to the hospital if it was a relative?
@@Chrisrides hi Chris, good question, we did very often but we also said, to take their time as we wouldn’t know anything until they had been triaged.
In the last clip, not only the lorry and car were in the wrong lane, but the 2nd car in the correct lane then also followed them into the wrong lane of the junction!!
7:35 The bus was massively at fault but the Merc two cars behind deserves a special stupidity award for continuing forward after seeing the bus on the wrong side of the road and creating a ridiculously narrow gap.
I dont see how the mercedes did anything wrong? If anything, the corsa is worse for just following the bus onto the wrong side when there was plenty of room for the camera car to get back on the right side. I dont think the mercedes could see much until the corsa moved over, when he had little choice where to go.
I hope you had a great Christmas.
1:00 there's a clip elsewhere showing an ambulance driver stopping and berating a following vehicle for doing exactly that. Contrariwise, do remember that the police car may be escorting the transporter.
That clip with the BMW doing 70 too soon: remember that not all new speed limits are marked. We could be charitable and say the driver thought that the switch to a dual carriageway meant an automatic change in the speed limit. Perhaps it might be worth doing a video on when a change in road type gives an automatic speed change? Residential streets are the obvious one. To prevent any doubt, the road planners might have put a 50 reminder sign at the start.
Best wishes for 2024.
that was an ambulance car so, i doubt it would of been an escort
@@robloxfan4271 For example, escorting a woman in labour or a Kentucky-ballistics-level injury to hospital. No time for an ambulance so just drive. (Are there still issues with ambulance response times?)
The clip near Conwy Castle I know very well, we used to have a caravan on a site near there. The coach had 'Llew Jones' written on the side of it, 'llew' is Welsh for 'lion'. Perhaps the driver thought he was 'King of the Jungle?' It might have got a bit interesting if one of the many vehicles towing a caravan had been approaching the coach from the opposite direction. I confess to being a coward, I always took an alternative route when towing our caravan, rather than negotiate the bridge. Others were made of sterner stuff...
Nothing surprises me in any footage anymore.
All the best in 2024, Ashley.
Happy New Year to all.
All the best to you also Jon!
Biggest surprise is that a van driver actually looked in the mirrors...
The clip at 5:20 is one of my biggest problems with 20mph roads. I think that if the limit was 30mph and the cam car was doing 30 then the odds of being overtaken are significantly lower than at 20. This makes them more dangerous for obvious reasons.
Either put them back to 30 or find some way to enforce the limit somehow because they are not working right now.
Completely disagree. The impatience of *some* drivers is not a reason to increase speed limits just for that reason.
Some way to enforce the limit? Like the speed bump the driver goes over at the beginning?
@@dmac2573 What exactly are you disagreeing with? I’ve given two ways of fixing the issue, do you disagree with actual enforcement of the 20mph limit?
@@EvilGav The speed bump obviously isn’t working so we need something else to enforce the limit.
You've hit the nail on the head - enforcement. Massive advertising campaigns are needed to raise awareness followed by actual enforcement through fines. I don't necessarily agree with fines but it'll likely bring about the most changes.
For the bus at the castle, I would have just stayed on my side and let the bus driver sort it out. The ones following the police car could have easily justified it by thinking the bus had stopped at a bus stop. The bus should have kept moving slowly while keeping in and indicating
Given that the bus has a timetable to keep, I'd have struggled to resist the temptation to meet the bus head-on and hold him up for ten minutes. It would have been childish, but that's exactly how he's behaving.
it is hard to not realize you are tailgating a police car running blues and twos. (code 3 in the US)
How conceivable is it the police were giving the car an emergency escort? I’m sure it must happen, rarely!
@@mdcollins1984 despite all the urban legends, it is EXTREMELY rare.
@@mdcollins1984 Wouldn't there need to be blues and twos behind the escorted vehicle, as well as in front?
2:53 the best solution would be giving people places to do that kind of stuff safely and legally with a low barrier to entry. It feels as though there are fewer recreational areas with more people spending time with electronics, but it results in those who can't or won't entertain themselves in that way mixing in with traffic instead.
Great clips. I wonder could the lorry make the right turn without being in the wrong lane? Funny the other copied it.
On the transporter following the police car, it’s less likely when it’s a police car than an ambulance, but sometimes cars following have anxious family members inside them.
It was a paramedic, not police :)
That 20 mph speed limit is too slow for that road. There, said it. I'll get criticism, but when you make rules the majority don't agree with then don't expect people to follow them.
In Glasgow we are having a real problem with these electric bikes and scooters, the police have had a sort of clamp down on them and confiscated nine of them 3 weeks ago, apparently they had their motors tweeked and were capable of 35-40 MPH. These are the same muppets that ride on pavements in city centres on these bikes. I asked the Police what they would do if they caught me (as an example) on an electric scooter which are not legal here, his answer was i would be prosecuted (rightly so) as a i would be in a car with no Tax, Mot, Insurance or Licence, yet these same people are getting away with it day after day.
Best solution for the electric bike rider what the white van do keep out the way! Following an ambulance is also dangerous as a lot of drivers who have pulled in get ready to pull back out after the emergency vehicle and often looking behind more that in front so if some idiot suddenly appears at speed behind it there is a high risk of a misjudgement that is apart from the morality of using the path created by people rushing to save lives.
7:17 look at it from the perspective of the bus driver: you have two people walking on your side of the road, and you have priority to pass through the gate ahead.
Another set of baffling clips. Have a great New Year!
The van that cut off the fire engine probably just thought they'd change lanes to get a couple of meters closer to the red light, and didn't bother to check what was coming up behind them
HAppy New Year Ashley, sounded like you've got a cold in this one!
Happy New Year! I did and I still have (since boxing day!)
I pulled over for a police car, on a very busy city street and got a toot of appreciation!
Or they were just changing the settings for their siren, which is often done via the horn (as Chris Marin EMS sometimes explains).
Maybe the ambulance chaser had a loved one in the ambulance, unlikely but a possibility.
Having travelled on buses, coaches and in cars through that Conwy Castle arch for 30+ years, buses have to move to the RHS to get through the arch. The best thing to do if you see a bus coming down is to just be patient and give way.
6:17 Nice to see our city featured! Driving around that area is mental.
I feel like this is necessary context for some people regarding the clip of the bus at the castle. This is Conwy Castle in North Wales.
It is true that the bus needs to get through the arch "straight" because it is very narrow but the arch is cut at an angle to the road, so large vehicles actually need to approach on the far right hand side (the side the bus was on) in order to get through. There isn't enough run up from the mini roundabout at the top to start on the left then move over at the arch, which is why the bus took this position and waited to leave room for the camera car to pass through on the offside.
It was not a move to "reprimand" the driver of the car coming up the hill.
The arch is narrow enough for some large vehicles to scrape their mirrors on both sides while passing through.
Precisely! If you see a bus coming off the roundabout it's best to wait for them to clear the arch.
Happy New Year Ashley and lang may your lum reek!
I trust you don't think there was anything your viewer ought to have done differently at 3:18 to 3:48. The reckless overtake was all on that van driver, and your viewer's calm and care did nothing to "encourage" it. Better drivers, and I still think that's most of us, would only have been encouraged to follow suit.
You raise a big question in preceding clips, what can be done about the wacky abuse of powered bikes and e-scooters. As you said about the scooter, first of all it's up to the less vulnerable caged or helmeted road users to look after them.
You said about the number of illegal road users with nothing being done. There seems to be a fair number of (supposedly) legal drivers on the road who probably shouldn't have a licence with nothing being done.
I would choose a idiot with a 30kg e-bike over an idiot in a car over a ton any day of the week.
And now that they are using electric motors rather than screaming petrol engines, they don't even cause noise or air pollution.
Yes, the ambulance-chasing van is likely to be opportunistic.
However, it could also possibly be driven by family of the occupants in the ambulance.
Ambulance-chasing motor-bike is even less likely, though!
At 5:40, I had to use the frame advance to actually pick out the pedestrian against the background. There's a brief moment where he is illuminated by the preceding car's lights, but the all-black clothing and corner crossing would have caught me out too. I'd have been looking, but I doubt I'd have spotted him any earlier. Good reaction time from the driver, awful decision from the pedestrian.
had a near miss, years back, when all that was visible was her blonde hair. everything else was black clothing against black asphalt.
@@kenbrown2808 I've had two near misses recently. Both times were night time, with a car parked facing into traffic with its headlights on (dazzling all oncoming traffic), and behind the glare there's a pedestrian in black clothing standing in the middle of the road, chatting to his mate in the parked car. This gave me about a car's length to swerve out of the way - luckily I'd slowed right down due to being dazzled. All these people are complete idiots.
@@Zeem4 my dad taught me to refer to it as "hide in the dark colors"
Best wishes to you for 2024 Ashley. Your passion for road safety is inspiring and has made many of us - myself included - better drivers for it. Thanks.
Best wishes to you also! Thanks for your support 👊
Quite a few comments suggesting the HGV in the last clip might have done that on purpose to make the turn easier. I did wonder, and maybe it's right.... But they certainly would have violated a keep left in order to get there, which is an offence.
In the 2nd clip thats a tight bit of road in Aberystwyth where the lanes merge very briefly because the buildings either side are too close together and also has a tescos warehouse that you can see on the right where the lorries go in so its a bit of an awkward spot but theres no good solution to it as its the only road that goes over the river in town centre so it has to be multidirectional. Aber is honestly just a big labyrinth of one way roads and if you aren’t local you’ll get stuck.
I like the HGV at the end used the wrong lane on purpose. Where the Micra turns right after the island and the lights there would have been a struggle to get the HGV around that corner. The car was just a bit dim.
HGV broke the law on purpose?
Have a nice day everyone and a happy new year!
Should treat illegal e-bikes like you would any illegal moped! If it goes more than 16 under its own power-you need a CBT and registration, if it goes over 30, you need insurance as well and if it is more powerful you need your A licence. I see a lot of people riding dirt bikes and quad bikes too! Seeing some of the driving, though, I believe that getting a licence to operate a motor vehicle is just too easy and losing it is too difficult, and that our infrastructure fails to promote alternatives enough!
the problem is the police struggle catching them without hurting them and then there is no punishment to make them stop. they have a bad attitude and feel they can get away with it and probably dont care for the rules. you cuold change the rules to allow these bikes into the current system but you will still get these types of people that deliberately break the law.
they do treat them the same as an illegal moped - because they're illegal. But there are a lot of illegal vehicles on the roads. I've just done a 4 hour motorway run and the number of illegally spaced numberplates, illegal tints on windows, illegal exhausts etc. The list goes on and that's without talking about the dangerous weaving in and out of the lanes that many car drivers think is acceptable (usually older BMW/Audi's).
cops can ram bikers off now, that get the message very fast. be legal or face pain @@douglasreid699
To me that cammer wasn't that aware @5:40. Yes, the pedestrian was dressed almost in black, but I think there was sufficient visibility to have seen him much earlier. At night, you have to be aware of drunks being around in urban settings.
I should add, when I was young, the government used to repeat the message "wear something bright at night". It seems to be a lesson that we have completely forgotten. These days, it seems pretty well everybody walks around at night dressed in black.
Also, I think the lorry in the last clip turned right from the oncoming lane deliberately in order to avoid what have been a very tight turn for a long vehicle around the traffic island where the signal was located.
7:47 - This is one of the most interestingly designed junctions in all of Kidderminster, I've lost track how often I see this happened over the years
Happy New Year. I am taken aback by how badly many of those electric scooter riders ride/drive. On the road and on the pavement. As in your video, they also often have no protective garments on at all. I think a. Tests should be brought in, and number plates.
Happy new year!
They seem to have become popular due to a loophole allowing electrically assisted bikes. Once things get into common use, it is difficult, but not impossible, to stop them. Even though many are illegal, there are never any police around to enforce the law.
@@TheRip72 but when police do chase them and they’re killed in a crash, parents blame the police
Correct me if I'm wrong, but as a powered vehicle, don't they already require headlights, number plates, and a drivers' license? I'm pretty sure most of them aren't legal.
@@lonelymelon6623 only if the motors are over 250 watts; above that, same laws as for mopeds
My pet hate whilst driving at night is broken damaged or completly missing reflective or illuminated direction arrows, usually the reflective material is missing or worse missing and no illumination.
A case in point ( with you being local) is the breeze hill flyover when approaching from bootle the illuminated arrow marking the split between flyover and slip rooad is non existent and just an accident waiting to happen in rainy or misty conditions at night.
Had many observations to make comment to ,about the various clips , but I think the comments that have gone before, say it all.
Have a good new year , Ashley, and let's get to 200k at least.👊
Have a great New Year Thomas! Thanks for your support!!
I work for the emergency services and have had many drivers tailgate me on route to an emergency and some have been prosecuted for dangerous driving.
7:49 That's Kidderminster! Quite regularly see people messing up that junction in various ways, I think they get confused by the fairly big space in the middle.
I've even seen a car drive the wrong way into the filter lane that the cammer is coming from in this video!
1:34 One night in a pub I was talking to a paramedic. He said that stuff like this happens all the time, because people's instinct is to let the ambulance pass on the right. Even though in many cases the left lane is clear.
Probably not the case here but sometimes ambulance chasers are relatives of the person in the ambulance following them to the hospital. Again, probably not the case here.
I think sometimes we should not judge vehicles that are following ambulances. My sister (as a carer in a care home) has been told by ambulance crews to follow them to the hospital in her own car. Usually under those circumstances they don't use their exemptions (because she won't have them) but they may use the siren to clear the way a bit.
I believe no blame may be applied to the law abiding drivers for the self-entitled, stupid law breaking and dangerous drivers,
eg, overtaking cyclists, and obeying the speed limits, particularly a life saving 20mph limit.
If I am behind cyclists and believe it is not safe to overtake, what extra action should I take not to encourage the bad driving?
If I am driving at the speed limit, what should I do not to be responsible for other drivers breaking the law, other than breaking the law myself?
in the most egregious cases, the officer in a fire engine will call dispatch to report such behavior, but frequently, if the fire engine is on a shout, all the police are trying to get there, first.
in the first clip, the fact that everybody on the viewer's left were parked facing the viewer didn't help.
for those who haven't seen my conversations with Ibs about it, in the US and Canada, a white line of any kind divides two same-direction lanes, while a yellow separates opposite direction lanes. it's still not idiot proof, but it is a nice feature.
The cyclist one and the 20mph one unfortunately raise the question of whether it's actually dangerous to do the right thing sometimes
The second clip I think they just panicked because of the sirens and think getting off the road is best. Rather than thinking have the emergency services got a path past without moving
I worked for Walkers crisps at Warrington, which is run by Stobarts.
I was hit head-on by an artic that went right side of keep left bollard,50+ mph in July.
2:53 Very controversial, I know, but more responsibility needs to put on these bike users.
The attitude of the bus driver is unfortunately very common among PSV drivers in Brighton, they are a law unto themselves. But it cuts both ways, I regularly drive under an 11 foot bridge in hovering, to get my 10ft 9 lorry under I need to drive in the middle of the road, and every time I get car drivers drive up to the lorry cursing and waving rather than slow down and let me through. Just remember there is usually a reason a large vehicle appears to be driving strangely.
On a number of occasions as an ambulance, or other emergency vehicle comes up from behind, all those behind me have stopped and restarted as it goes by, using it as a reason to pass me too. Nothing more than a 1st World Problem, but a bit cheeky.
Accelerating to 70 when the speed limit is changing to 70 soon and there's no hazard is not a big deal. The viewer couldn't see the wide load at the time of doing that. Yes for a test you should wait until you pass the sign, but for practical driving it makes zero difference to anything (provided people are reasonable and there are indeed no hazards) and gets traffic moving a little quicker.
At around 6:12 re the lethal overtake. I've said this before but I honestly can't remember the last time I overtook on a two way, two lane road. Other than passing tractors, cyclists and the like. But if it's just another motorist driving "a little slower" than I'd like, I just chill out, keep well back and enjoy the ride. This is perhaps one reason I've put off going for the IAM Advanced Test. Perhaps I'm perceiving this wrong but I feel they may put too much emphasis on "making progress" and expect to see you overtaking a "slightly slower" vehicle if conditions dictate. That's just not my style of driving. Different story on motorways and dual carriageways though.
It's a case of 'running the gauntlet' every time you venture on to the roads nowadays. . .no pleasure at all, just a duty!! 🤔
04:32, even though a national speed limit sign is shown, as the dual carriageway had started a short distance before without any 50mph repeaters, the national speed limit applies from the start of the dual carriageway, which is why the viewer went up to 70mph
That last last clip was total madness haha
One reason for the car at the beginning being on the wrong side could be attributed to UK road design - there isn't a clear enough difference between lane markings and those at centre of the road. This is one area in which the US system is clearer, with centre lines being yellow and lane lines being white
At 7:20 I would NOT have passed the bus on the wrong side of the road! I'd have stayed on the left and waited for the bus to reverse - box junction or not; the exit to the box junction was clear when entering.
I go through that arch in Conwy every day & larger vehicles have to approach the arch from the right as the arch is angled slightly right , the amount of coaches I’ve seen trying to get through that arch unsuccessfully is laughable.
The penultimate clip with the car trying to go down the wrong side of the junction is Weavers Wharf in Kidderminster. It is a VERY confusing junction the first time you come to it and especially turning right from there you feel as though people are going to hit you
Happy New Year, Ashley. Let health and wealth not let go of your family this next year. Cheers! 😛🥂
Regarding your question about electric bike use - I think vehicle classification, who, where and how they should be used is not a simple or straightforward issue to address.
Regarding enforcement of rules and regulations I think we need more investment in common sense street level policing, behaviour is also influenced by good quality continuous education, delivered at the right time and in the right way (with good role models etc)
@rsmith8875 Perhaps they're just tied of eating flies and having chapped lips?
As a person who possesses a valid cat D licence and drives 11.5 metre buses, that mini bus driver had plenty of room to return to the left before meeting that car in the narrow section. It's typical I'm a big vehicle, clear my way behaviour. Not driving professionally how any CPC holder should.
7:17 There is no way in the world I'd be going through there as the bus can clearly be seen by the cammer.
We all make mistakes; as the Dalek said climbing off the dustbin. Some candidates there for the Darwin Awards.
That bus driver was a disgrace, defiantly reprimanding, anyone who uses the gap to created for an emergency service vehicle to pass quickly is disgraceful, so dangerous too
I will hold my hands up and say there was a time I took it to triple digits to get around a 40 MPH bandit, when I knew I had one and only one chance to get around him in the next 40 miles. it bears mentioning that the highway code in my state says if you are holding a queue of 7 vehicles behind you, you MUST pull off and allow them to pass.
I do hope in true American Dash Cam channel fashion you blasted your horn as you went pssed and slowed down to 20mph for at least a mile before zooming back off again 😉
Happy New Year to you and your family Ken
@@smilerbob no, i was at least well cognizant of the risk involved and was focused on keeping control of the car. And i certainly wasn't going to waste time being petty. It was a trip that normally took me 3 hours down with no traffic and 4 hours back with tourist traffic.
@@kenbrown2808 I knew you would be as you always are 👍
I assume the first part of the reg at 4:11 is MG1F 😉
Just messing with the reg but that clip did scream of impatience due to going slower than the speed limit so must overtake everyone.
White van at 1:13 - didn't look but more to the point probably didn't hear with his radio blasting on at volume. Hearing is an essential sense when driving as well as sight.
On the last clip, not only is the HGV on the wrong side of the road, but they continue on the wrong side of the road down the M6\M58 slip road.
Fortunately, you are able to get on the correct side before the Motorway, lets hope that the driver realised the error in time.
At 4:44 it sounds and looks like the cammer flashed them up ahead. If that's the case, more poor driving involved and oblivious to own wrongdoings.
the solution to people riding electric bikes that way is to declare the bike a motorcycle, and require them to license and insure it, and follow all the other rules required of motorcycles.
That's already the case. It's just that some people ignore it. Where I am from in Wales, there are a load of people with unregistered, untaxed and uninsured dirt motorbikes. People ride them on the road to get to the mountain where they off-road them and then back again.
@@paulsengupta971 a rule that's not enforced isn't a rule, it's a suggestion.
The VW van and motorcycle could argue the bus was stopping at a bus stop but at least one of those motorists read the signs wrong
Imagine submitting your own video where you're speeding at 71 in a 50 😮💨 it worries me that these people fail to see their own faults but submit a video mainly for someone else's fault they've captured 🤨
I don't bother crossing the roads these days anywhere besides a marked crossing/light activated crossing, safer and less chance of me getting hit by a fool.
Hi Ashley, Amazing content as always. I can sort of see the van with the fire engine clip. They were trying to create space and had a 33% chance they were moving into a lane to accommodate the fire engine. Unfortunately they picked the wrong lane. However, they kept moving into it instead of stopping.
Either way, have a Happy New Year everyone
Well, with the clip at about 1:30, the forward and back dash videos show the white van directly behind the recording vehicle, so that lane was clearly blocked - best to stay there, out of the way! Although you only only hear the fire engine right as the van starts to move, so it probably wasn’t aware when it started to move…
The rule from 'Chris Martin EMS' (who runs a superb emergency vehicle driving channel on YT), on what to do if an EMS vehicle approaches from behind is LOLO: Leave Open Lanes Open
That only makes sense for the vehicle at the front. How does moving from a lane with someone in front of you into an empty lane ever create space?
@@type17 Ah yes, I like Chris' videos. His emergency driving is also quite something. Very calm and drama free despite the higher speeds. And he often actually makes the effort to Thank another driver who's moved out of the way. Plus, as I'm sure you've seen, he's done videos about the actual vehicle, what equipment they carry and so forth.
in most of the states, the law is to pull as far to the right as safely possible and stop. I have seen many times when there are two care in a row, the lead car will recognize the sirens and pull over, and the car behind will overtake. worst I have seen was the emergency vehicle ending up using the parking lane on the opposite side of the road to get around a cluster of people who refused to give way properly. and in the US, the sirens and horns are engineered for maximum noise.
Make them liable for all associated costs for their hospital and after care as well as deny them any compensation for missed work if it can be proven that their illegal road use caused their injuries...
Missed work? That's quite an assumption!
Ashley, would love to know: at 3:39 would you be driving more centrally in the lane to stop the van overtaking you when there is a corner coming up? Or is that possibly a red rag to a bull? I'll tell you if you tell me!
In Scandinavië we signal. If you are slow and the one behind can pass we signal to our side ( right here left for pommies) . If you go slow and the one behind cant see why , when its dangerous to pass we signal as if we would overtake or turn other side ( left in Sweden, right signal in UK).
"What do you think is the best solution for people riding like this?" Braking. Tongue in cheek comment, but they'd learn why they need their front wheel on the ground pretty quickly. Sadly until the government starts funding the police again instead of G4S (and the MPs who own shares in G4S) this will only get worse.
Happy New Year everyone. It's now officially 2024.
Interesting reading all the comments about how the BMW driver could’ve assumed the speed was 70mph as it was a dual carriageway, and some have commented as well about how not all changes to 70mph are marked.
The previous sign was 50mph (as you highlighted) and not NSL which I believe is where some confusion is arising from.
I wonder if a helpful reminder / repeater sign would be useful underneath the Dual Carriageway and Keep Left sign as the road opens up? Possibly some legislation somewhere that prevents speed limit signs being on the same post as information signs…maybe
There is a problem here where the signs are 'unhelpful'. Where there is a dual carriageway with a central reservation the national limit is 70mph. That is just what this section seems like. Technically, you have not yet passed a change from the 50mph limit. All of a sudden you are on a dual carriageway that would be normally 70mph but there is no signs indicating what the limit actually is. Having just gone past a complex and dangerous junction that requires close attention and accelerating up hill into what looks like a national limit dual carriageway section, it is easy to become confused as to what the limit actually is. There are no reminders. The limit is 50mph right up to the national limit change.