When I was growing up I used to think that anyone who drove a BMW was a nob head. I'm not sure where this came from. Did i subconsciously inherit this belief system from my parents? Was i jealous of people who drove BMW's, as we, as a family, were limited to a stone age Renault Laguna? Or was it because a man on the street next to mine, once got really angry when I accidentally kicked a ball at his BMW ?
I now drive a BMW.
Now, after 7 years of being able to drive (legally), I've came to the conclusion that it is wrong to judge people by what kind of car they drive. I imagine there to be a very similar percentage of nob head car owners right across the board, from Nissan Micra drivers to Ferrari drivers.
HOWEVER, this all changed last Saturday afternoon. Let me set the scene, I was driving back from town, it was baking hot, I had my tunes blaring, shades on, in a really nice mood. The 2 way road that I was on had lots of parked cars on the opposite side of the road and I noticed a queue forming in the opposite direction. Like I said I was in a fairly relaxed mood so I thought I'll give up my 'right of way' to allow some cars in the opposite direction to drive through.
As I sat there, still jamming to my tunes, I awaited the flurry of thank you waves (that I responded to with a thank you, thank you wave), and they came, they came in numbers... Until a Range Rover driver didn't even acknowledge my existence and drove straight past me. What a cheeky bastard. A few more cars came through and the thank you waves were back flowing, then, all of a sudden another Range Rover drove past. AGAIN, no thank you wave. I must've let 15-20 cars out and the only 2 thank you waves i didn't receive were from Range Rover drivers!
Coincidence? We can't be sure. However, this episode has sparked an interesting debate. Who are the biggest nob heads on the road? Do Range Rover drivers think they are above the unwritten rules of the British highway?
To find out I aim to conduct research into which drivers fail with the simple etiquette of the road. A thank you wave for Christ sake, a simple wave. Or a nod, i'll take a nod.
Stay tuned for the results.