well if I hadn't been there and seen it I would not have believed people could be like that,,, I my new part time job as a road works traffic controller which I might add I am enjoying a great deal, I have had abuse hurld at and have almost been run down by an older gentlemen that should have known better I would have thought. In the few weeks that I have been doing this job I have noticed that the worst offenders for verbal abuse are drivers of more expensive cars such as bmw's merc's jags and so on and it seems that a lot of these are women !! I didn't know that women knew some of the words that I have been called of late.... I have even had one day a half empty bottle of water thrown at me because I help them up for longer than they thought was necessary ,,, ( I have found that I can move fairly quick for an old short fat fella LOL ) since starting this job I have a new found respect for road workers and traffic controllers that's for sure....
Yuglamron said
04:48 PM Jul 13, 2013
And we have these idiots on our roads who put all of us at risk with their antics.
No wonder places like Russia with the biggest percentage of accidents per capita have the highest take up of 'Crash Cams'
Might be an idea to get one of those adrenalin junkie GoPro cameras that can clip to a helmet or even your clothes and video these idiots.
Throwing a bottle of water at someone is an assault and a criminal offence apart from being such an arrogant act.
I know that I along with everyone on the road gets frustrated at road works but our roads would be a lot worse if the weren't done so we need you guys. Much better than traffic lights.
Take care
Cheers
Trevor
Duh said
06:02 PM Jul 13, 2013
The new job sounds great BB even having to put up with horses (apologies to horses) backsides on the road.
Some people are just beyond the pail, lollypop crosswalk controllers have similar abuse etc.
Take care and be aware of your safety at all times with some of these lunatics behind the wheel.
beachball57 said
08:00 PM Jul 13, 2013
yes well I intend to do just that,, get a gopro cam or something like it anyway,, but I must say that for everyone that does the wrong thing another 10 do the right thing and will have a bit of a chat or a smile or wave, and that makes it worth while....
Gerty Dancer said
08:12 PM Jul 13, 2013
Come and work our roadworks BB, we'd give you a smile and wave!
Wombat 280 said
09:27 PM Jul 13, 2013
Don't take it personally the frustration is with the group of workers standing around seemingly doing bugger all and the person who drew up the TCP in the first place . I think everyone get cheesed off when you come across a road works site and nothings happening but the lights are on the work cycle instead of the flashing orange The Oxely Highway to Walcha is a good example of poor TCP development
beachball57 said
11:37 PM Jul 13, 2013
well as a reply to you wombat old mate,,we are there to help not only protect the road workers but also the general public,, and if people are so busy that stopping for 5 mins out of their day, then perhaps they need to slow down in their life a bit..
Happywanderer said
11:46 PM Jul 13, 2013
I am always patient at road works and when the lollipop man or lady give me the ok to move on I always smile and wave.
There's always something you can do to occupy yourself for the small amount of time they ask you to wait.
I will check the radio, change the CD, check my map, make a note in my notebook of something I need to remember, take photos out the window of something of interest (scenery, animals etc).
Any of those things help to pass the time with no stress.
GaryKelly said
12:07 AM Jul 14, 2013
I'm glad you mentioned that 9 out of 10 people are courteous, BB. That's a relief!
jimbo said
07:11 PM Jul 14, 2013
My pet hate is having to do 40 klm per hour with signs everywhere and no workers to be seen...Vic roads is a beauty for this I once over at Riddels creek Vic watch a Motorist throw the speed limite sign in the busses
beachball57 said
05:42 PM Jul 19, 2013
I was in the shops the other day and saw a small water proof video camera that has several mounting options, car, helmet and so on, so I thought why not, so now when the next knob tries to run me down or test their throwing arm with a half empty bottle of water or anything else for that matter, they're gunna be on video, and when i'm not using it for work it'll fit nicely on the land yacht for some action pic, win win really
Delta18 said
01:56 AM Jul 20, 2013
Go Pro!
ShortNorth said
04:23 AM Jul 20, 2013
I've had a twin camera recorder in my car since early last year - I put it in just after a Main Roads contractor nearly killed me and my wife, by turning his tractor slasher directly across my bows when I was doing 108KPH in the 110kph zone on the Bruce Highway - he didn't look, just forgot where he was, listening to his radio with earmuffs on. A really big swerve to avoid tee-boning him amidships, just missed him by about half a metre and half a second. I reported it in great step-by-step detail to Main Roads on how it all unfolded, but they quickly swept it under the carpet - didn't even get an apology for nearly killing me !!!
One camera sits beside the rearview mirror looking forward and the other sits in the rear hatch window looking backward - in all probability any prang will be a good shunt up the rear, so I figured having both cams was the better option. When I'm towing the Aliner, I disconnect the rear camera, as all I'd have is constant vision of some silly bugger in an Aliner right up my backside !
It is quite a nice little system, an i-tronics ITB-80G. The system records on SD card for about 8 hours before overwriting old records. I've not had any major incidents yet, but I do have a small directory of short videos of idiots cutting me off. I'm so used to the system now, I'd never drive without it. If anything happens, at least I can prove my innocence, even if I get killed in the process ! Such is life !
And we have these idiots on our roads who put all of us at risk with their antics.
No wonder places like Russia with the biggest percentage of accidents per capita have the highest take up of 'Crash Cams'
Might be an idea to get one of those adrenalin junkie GoPro cameras that can clip to a helmet or even your clothes and video these idiots.
Throwing a bottle of water at someone is an assault and a criminal offence apart from being such an arrogant act.
I know that I along with everyone on the road gets frustrated at road works but our roads would be a lot worse if the weren't done so we need you guys. Much better than traffic lights.
Take care
Cheers
Trevor
Some people are just beyond the pail, lollypop crosswalk controllers have similar abuse etc.
Take care and be aware of your safety at all times with some of these lunatics behind the wheel.
There's always something you can do to occupy yourself for the small amount of time they ask you to wait.
I will check the radio, change the CD, check my map, make a note in my notebook of something I need to remember, take photos out the window of something of interest (scenery, animals etc).
Any of those things help to pass the time with no stress.
Go Pro!
I've had a twin camera recorder in my car since early last year - I put it in just after a Main Roads contractor nearly killed me and my wife, by turning his tractor slasher directly across my bows when I was doing 108KPH in the 110kph zone on the Bruce Highway - he didn't look, just forgot where he was, listening to his radio with earmuffs on. A really big swerve to avoid tee-boning him amidships, just missed him by about half a metre and half a second. I reported it in great step-by-step detail to Main Roads on how it all unfolded, but they quickly swept it under the carpet - didn't even get an apology for nearly killing me !!!
One camera sits beside the rearview mirror looking forward and the other sits in the rear hatch window looking backward - in all probability any prang will be a good shunt up the rear, so I figured having both cams was the better option. When I'm towing the Aliner, I disconnect the rear camera, as all I'd have is constant vision of some silly bugger in an Aliner right up my backside !
It is quite a nice little system, an i-tronics ITB-80G. The system records on SD card for about 8 hours before overwriting old records. I've not had any major incidents yet, but I do have a small directory of short videos of idiots cutting me off. I'm so used to the system now, I'd never drive without it. If anything happens, at least I can prove my innocence, even if I get killed in the process ! Such is life !