Why do people ignore double white lines?

[akb]

There is also a lot of people who don't know what the lines on the road mean.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

They do it simply because they can, and because their perceived convenience is more important to them than your actual safety.

 

[Boris Bajic]

Some motorists ignore white lines some of the time.

Some feel they can make a 'judgement call' on whether it is appropriate to do so, despite the clarity of the law. It happens.

Broadly speaking, it is not a huge problem.

I imagine that some might do so because they have never been stopped for it and never been aware of it causing an incident or accident.

In the above (and in many of the posts on this thread) we might replace 'motorists' with 'cyclists' and 'unbroken white lines' with 'red traffic signals'.

If we did so, it might resemble a generalised anti-cyclist whinge on a motorists' forum.

(OT aside: My late father only ever got stopped by the police once. He crossed a solid white line by about 20m when passing an unmarked police car. He admitted it at once and was let off with a talking-to.)

 

[shouldbeinbed]

hardly crime of the century as you describe it but to whinge a little: because they feel it is their right to both exceed the speed limit and get past the f*&^%ng cyclist and there is no meaningful enforcement to stop them doing it. A random panda car pulling them over for a quiet chat or a more permanent CCTV and £60 FPN coming through the door a week after overtaking you and it'd soon stop.

 

[PK99]

For the same reason they ignore "no parking" signs, speed limits in general and do as they damn well please in most situations.
I don't know what the reason is other than "because they can"
Some people are just like that.

in just the same way that some cyclists ignore red lights and pedestrian crossings - because they can and want to.

 

[GrasB]

in just the same way that some cyclists road users ignore red lights and pedestrian crossings - because they can, and want to and think they'll get away with it.

FTFY

5000 miles/year of my cycling, about 1/3 of my total miles, is done in the small hours of the morning. I get a whole new perspective on exactly how motorists would behave if they thought they could get away with it.

 

[Drago]

Yep, mall hours commuting in the country is a real eye opener - bad driving, doggers, milkmen masturbating... seen it all.

 

[Miquel In De Rain]

Some drivers just see and think and just HAVE to overtake!

Dangerously and without thought.

 

[Drago]

To add a little balance to this, it's not as if I've never seen cycle riders behaving like tools.

 

[Miquel In De Rain]

To add a little balance to this, it's not as if I've never seen cycle riders behaving like tools.

Definitely,but If I do a close pass against a bus or any vehicle I will generally come off worse,esp if it goes wrong.I don't wear protective body amour on my commute but I fkin need it sometimes

If a car driver makes a mistake or does something stupid they generally get a second chance even if they are in the wrong..

 

[Matthew_T]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjr04Si2AnU
This is what I am talking about. 20mph limit, narrow lanes, and double white lines. And yet some still feel the need to overtake. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjr04Si2AnU

 

[Miquel In De Rain]

Rather they would go past me that way if they are in so much of a hurry as opposed to yet another (too) close pass.

 

[Matthew_T]

Rather they would go past me that way if they are in so much of a hurry as opposed to yet another (too) close pass.

Fair point. Doesnt make it right though does it?

 

[Miquel In De Rain]

Fair point. Doesnt make it right though does it?

No,but there are different levels of rightness and wrongness.

Not sure if they were legal but most of those passes were delightful.

 

[GrasB]

To add a little balance to this, it's not as if I've never seen cycle riders behaving like tools.

Cars jumping red lights is common for me every morning on all the lights which don't have devices which look like cameras on top of them, if they do have those devices I almost never see a motorist jumping those lights. I think the reason motorists get annoyed with cyclists doing these things isn't so much because they're doing them but that they wish they could be doing them but because of other vehicles during the day it becomes much harder & they know that they're more likely to be caught.