In my 15 years of driving, I have been both lucky and skilled to have zero speeding fines against my name. By no means does this feat put me in the slow driver basket, I’m just a professional at sticking exactly to the speed limit and at sensing speed cameras that lurk around the next bend. Enough bragging, my main frustration is the type of driver that slows down the rest of us, puts other drivers at risk, forgets that the road is there to be shared and in general makes me furious. I often wonder whether we should offer car finance services to such drivers.

So who are the main culprits?

The Lane Changers

We all know the type, the indecisive road user who thinks that the tarmac will always be smoother in the other lane. They weave in and out of “spaces” that were left to allow breaking distance between motorists and often find themselves in a pickle when the space gets too tight. I make it my number one priority to block these froggers(CLASSIC 80s Arcade Game) from getting ahead in traffic and genuinely love it when they get caught in a jam. Comeuppance to the Lane Changers that put a rift in traffic flow!

The “Let’s do our morning routine in the car” driver

One Handed Breakfasts are OK

This category is fresh in the memory as this morning a black Hyundai Getz was sitting in the middle of 2 lanes driving at 20kms under the speed limit with absolutely no idea that I was behind them trying to get to work. Pulling up beside the hatchback revealed a young driver putting on deodorant and then casually moving on to eat her cereal. Needless to say I honked!

I don’t mind if you are chomping on a single handed breakfast like a sausage and egg muffin but eating a 2 handed breakfast makes absolutely no sense whilst driving, I mean how can you hold the wheel! Other offenders include but aren’t limited to drivers doing their makeup, brushing their teeth or hair, reading the morning newspaper and pretty much anything to do with wardrobe duties.

Do your morning routine at home for Pete’s sake!

P Platers

Red P Plate on Red Car

Indeed I was once a P Plater and yes I most likely showed a spot of blind confidence and carelessness on the road during my golden years but for the sake of this article, let’s let bygones be bygones. Nowadays I’m a mildly grumpier and slightly older guy who has the right to have a yarn about what I believe to be an abundance of badly behaving P platers on Australian roads.

Don’t get me wrong, I am sure that there are many excellent P plate drivers out there; it’s just that the data from DRIVE STUDY, the largest study of young drivers in Australia paints a different picture.

The research of over 20,000 young drivers aged between 17 and 24 showed that even the most attentive and skilled young drivers were at a 50% higher risk of crashing should they undertake risky driving behaviours such as texting whilst driving, overloading their vehicle, listening to exceedingly loud music or speeding. Both the sets of digits on my hands wouldn’t be enough to count the amount of P platers I saw speeding on the way to the Sunshine Coast over the weekend. Didn’t they get taught in school that speeding doesn’t work?

Bad Drivers Using Mobile Phones

There is nothing more frustrating than being stuck behind a slow coach in the fast lane and then catching them red handed sending a text or fiddling with their mobile phone to get the speaker button activated (Bluetooth anyone?). This is where my passive aggressiveness hits boiling point. If you are a compulsive mobile phone user in the car, please stop. You may not realise it but by texting, you become distracted and often balance your distraction by driving a few kilometres under the speed limit. This type of behaviour becomes an easy target for police on the lookout and could land you both a hefty fine and a demerit point hit. In Queensland, new legislation of double demerit points for repeat offenders begins in September 2015, so how about we all put our phones out of arm’s length whilst driving.

To the Oldies, the Volvo drivers and to everyone who gets bundled into the “bad driver” stereotype, keep up the good driving as you are at the bottom of my furious list.

At 360 Finance, we know that a few bad eggs will never spoil the enjoyment of being in the driver’s seat of your very own new or used car. Fortunately there are no slow coaches in our finance team and you can be sure to have your car finance deal signed and settled in no time. Give us a call today on 1300 361 360 or fill out a Quick Quote above to get the gears shifting today.