Motorist mindreading?

[Cyclefrance]

OK, so I know you have to make allowances and the trend today is for 'defensive driving' but there seem to be more and more drivers (the greater proportion directly in front of me, it seems!) who think that any form of signalling is inappropriate, because, 'hey, you can work out what I'm about to do, can't you, idiot!'.

No I f-ingwell can't! I'm not a mindreader*, so the fact that I miss you by the width of a fag** paper when you either suddenly stop dead in front of me for no apparent reason (or turn left/right) is down to my quick reactions and nothing else. So I don't really appreciate the longbowman's*** salute in return! - it really gets up your left nostril!


*unless the driver is wearing a hat (not a baseball cap, those are different) when the car is a hardtop - anyone who has to wear a hat to drive when sitting inside a car clearly is going to do something else stupid - it's an absolute certainty!

**yes, thought this one might cause a bit of a problem - a fag is English slang for a cigarette as opposed to being something totally different in the States, I believe...

***'giving the old two fingers' as we say over here - some may know how this developed, some may not, so for the 'nots': it was a salute originally given by Henry IV's bowmen to the French at Agincourt (and other days out Henry fondly took in France). The English longbowmen caused such fatal injury to their French combatants that if/when captured the French would cut off the first two fingers of the right hand so that the bowman could no longer pull back the bow string. Hence those bowmen with all fingers intact would give the two fingered salute to the French to let them know that they were still a very real threat. A sort of 'up yours, jacques...!' that has actively survived right up to today as a general 'get stuffed' gesture - actions can be so much more powerful than words on occasions...