Thursday 8 March 2007

Beware the useless tourists

I'm coming home the other night, blatting down Lilyfield Road on a slight decline at about 45kmh when I spot a car coming down a road on my right. That road intersects Lilyfield Road at a T-junction, and has a stop sign, so I fully expected the car to pull up, look and then go whichever way it wanted. I usually keep a weather eye on cars coming down that road as quite a few couldn't be bothered giving way to me - they just pull out with a "so - you're on a bike" attitude. Luckily, there is a wide bike/car parking lane on each side of the road, so it doesn't matter if they do - I just go further left and give them a wide berth.

This turkey though doesn't stop at the intersection - he just blows through it and turns left towards me. Not only does he do that, but he turns onto the wrong side of the road, where I happen to be - over a double white line and all. I start going left to avoid him, and he keeps heading for the kerb! I can see a head-on approaching, and am thinking about leaning hard right to go around him the wrong way, or banking left and jumping the kerb and just smacking sideways into the chain link fence that runs along the verge. Thankfully, bozo wakes up and returns to the correct side of the road.

I then notice that the driver appears to be a Japanese male, and has a death grip on the steering wheel with both hands. His entire body language is, "Oh fuck, what am I doing driving this car in this foreign land?" His missus has her seat belt off, and is kneeling on her seat fiddling with something in the back. I think he ended up over my way because she leant on his arm and he couldn't turn the wheel enough to tighten his turn and stay on the correct side of the road.

They went their merry way, the car wobbling this way and that down the road. Dazed and confused. Hope the stupid bastards had insurance.

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