As each day goes on I get more and more agitated by the driving I encounter in Oulu. Either I am just getting older or the driving being taught by driving schools in Finland is getting more and more shoddy.
I think it is the latter as what I observe are the violation of basic principles of driving.
Car drivers must always be in a position that they do not impede the progress of cars that are either in front of or behind them. Today's drivers conveniently forget that there are cars behind them as they take their positions in lanes.
When one approaches a point in the road where one is turning left or right, the positioning of a car on the road, if possible, should be to try to leave sufficient room for cars to pass by, in case, the car turning is somehow delayed by on-coming traffic or pedestrians crossing the road who have right of way.
A typical cross-road is one in Oulu where one has to turn left in the face of on-coming traffic. Some drivers do not proceed to the centre of the crossing. If there are no on-coming cars driving straight on, they can turn left. Even if there are on-coming cars who are signalling that they are turning right, they can complete the trn to the left, especially as there is a double lane to allow each car to keep its correct lane when turning.
By not doing this, just one car may get through during a Green Light session. Whereas, by correct positioning and following what the on-coming traffic is doing, it is possible for about 8 to 9 cars to get through in the same time.
This bad driving results in a huge back-log of cars. It reflects bad driving training.
In another instance, where cars turning left do not position themselves to the extreme left of their lane, they block traffic behind them which wants to go straight on! This again causes a back-up of traffic which can block another side-road. This auses a road jam along the main road, right up to the traffic light.
Oulu is a small town, and most of us are not in a hurry. But we like to see that good behaviour is practised by all drivers.
On the other hand, maybe I am just getting OLD! :-)
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