Monday commute hell

[phillip scott]

Does anyone else find the Monday commute appears to be more problematic in terms of near misses with pedestrians and cars. Rest of week is fine generally, However, the last 5 Mondays I've had pedestrians walk out in front of me and cars pull out without looking.

 

[wisdom]

No that' no different from my normal commute

 

[Threevok]

Normally, I'd agree.

However, on the journey home tonight, I can safely say that I have never seen so many brainless idiots in one night.

The highlight being one fool who attempted a roundabout so quickly, that their Nissan Puke was (at one point) on two wheels and nearly ended up over the embankment.

PS "puke" was a not a typo. My apologies to anyone who owns one, but if you think they are remotely attractive, you're too drunk to drive.

 

[NickNick]

I don't have fixed commute times or days as I work all over the shop for myself, I find the time makes the biggest difference. The pre rush hour busy period where kids are being picked up from schools seems to be the worst, but that's maybe because I live right next to two schools and between parking all over the pavements, kids pushing each other into the road and into dog walkers, I avoid it like the plague!

 

[NickNick]

Normally, I'd agree.

However, on the journey home tonight, I can safely say that I have never seen so many brainless idiots in one night.

The highlight being one fool who attempted a roundabout so quickly, that their Nissan Puke was (at one point) on two wheels and nearly ended up over the embankment.

PS "puke" was a not a typo. My apologies to anyone who owns one, but if you think they are remotely attractive, you're too drunk to drive.

Must admit today has been a noticeably bad day over here as well.

 

[Threevok]

I think the closer to Xmas we get, the worse it becomes.

No wonder they call it the silly season

 

[wisdom]

Agree that around schools is worse.They are intent to park as near to the entrance as possible on double yellow lines.corners and the pavement.

 

[NickNick]

Agree that around schools is worse.They are intent to park as near to the entrance as possible on double yellow lines.corners and the pavement.

The worst is the vast majority are within walking distance from the school and pretty much all of them are within cycling distance. The driver that had me off my bike last month was doing the school run in the car despite being less than a 10min walk from the school

 

[ianrauk]

Not really no.

 

[mjr]

I don't have fixed commute times or days as I work all over the shop for myself, I find the time makes the biggest difference. The pre rush hour busy period where kids are being picked up from schools seems to be the worst, but that's maybe because I live right next to two schools and between parking all over the pavements, kids pushing each other into the road and into dog walkers, I avoid it like the plague!

When I lived near a school, I did try to avoid 3-4pm when it was pick-up time. Around here, I'm not that near a school and lots of kids seem to arrive home by bus or bike - or if they're in cars, they're indistinguishable from the other traffic.

I don't have fixed times/routes either, so I try to schedule things so I don't need to ride busy roads on a Friday evening rush hour because that's when I think it's more trouble as the rush seems to be more spread out, with some places finishing early and other groups of people staying for a drink and then the start of weekend-away tourists passing through to the coast (well, not so much this time of year). I don't mind the roads being quiet, and I also don't mind them being jammed (I use the cycle lanes to bypass jams) but it's that heavy-but-fast-moving which seems more troublesome. Don't get that on Mondays here.

 

[Flying Dodo]

Monday morning traffic is always the worst of the week. And if it's raining, then it's even worse. Several miles of slow moving, stop-start traffic clogging the road.

Sometimes it's so bad, it adds about an extra minute to my 30 minute commute, due to having to slow down to go round the traffic islands as I zip down the middle of the road.

 

[NickNick]

When I lived near a school, I did try to avoid 3-4pm when it was pick-up time. Around here, I'm not that near a school and lots of kids seem to arrive home by bus or bike - or if they're in cars, they're indistinguishable from the other traffic.

I don't have fixed times/routes either, so I try to schedule things so I don't need to ride busy roads on a Friday evening rush hour because that's when I think it's more trouble as the rush seems to be more spread out, with some places finishing early and other groups of people staying for a drink and then the start of weekend-away tourists passing through to the coast (well, not so much this time of year). I don't mind the roads being quiet, and I also don't mind them being jammed (I use the cycle lanes to bypass jams) but it's that heavy-but-fast-moving which seems more troublesome. Don't get that on Mondays here.

Yep you're right on the traffic levels, there's definitely the opposite of a sweet spot between very heavy and very light traffic.

I've completely shifted around my leasure bike rides now the data have got so much shorter. I used to like cycling out of Birmingham. Around 6-7pm and spending a couple of hours a riding around the country lanes.

But I found as the days were getting shorter and I was out on country lanes after dark that hardly any drivers would dip their headlights. The blinding of a full beam headlamp followed by the unlit darkness of the country lanes was really unpleasant.

I've started now going out around 10.30pm and cycling around the well lit and very quiet urban roads. It's much less stressful and I'll put up with the lack of scenic views until the spring!

 

[Lonestar]

No.My commutes are at different times anyway so it varies.

 

[HertzvanRental]

I find it easier to stay home and do the crossword.

 

[boydj]

The school run is definitely the worst for distracted drivers - arguing with kids, rushing to after-school clubs, trying to decide what to have for dinner etc etc. Autopilot lets them worry about the important things in life