Stupidest (non-rail) behaviour you have seen

[TUC]

I was at a petrol station and was puzzled to notice that the car in front had the petrol pump in it, I cold hear fuel going into the car but there was no driver holding the nozzle. On closer inspection I discovered that the driver had jammed the lever of the pump on 'open' by squeezing a drinks bottle into the frame of the handle whilst he'd gone back into the car to attend to something else.

I was open mouthed at this. Imagine if the pump had fallen out, with the fuel still pouring out as it was jammed open.

Clearly there are lots of examples of people doing dangerous things rail-wise in terms of trespassing etc. but what's the stupidest behaviour you're seen outside of rail situations?

 

[Tracked]

Another road one:

Van in front of me on the way home, open backed, with a trailer attached. Sat in the trailer, barely fitting into it, was a little Bedford Rascal type van. Every roundabout until I overtook it I was expecting it to tip over, it looked that unstable

 

[deltic1989]

I have seen my fair share of stupid behavior in my time, but there are one or two things that stick out in my mind as being perpetrated by individuals in need of professional help.

The first is a tale from last winter (2012/2013): Mrs D myself and our Daughter, were on a bus home from town. There had been heavy snow and there was a lot of it around. Part of the bus route leads the bus to make a sharp right turn at a junction, with a bus stop immediately after.
All of a sudden a school child of no more than 13 or 14 years old, threw a large block of snow directly at the windscreen of the bus. My heart stopped, everything was like slow motion. The snow hit the windscreen, which fortunately stayed intact.
It is only due to the skill and professionalism of the driver that there were no injuries. As the bus stop was full of waiting passengers, which an out of control bus could have made a serious mess of.
The kicker in this story is that I phoned the school that the lad attended (i recognised the uniform), only to be told that since the child wasn't on school property it was nothing to do with them and I should call the Police. (A big difference from when I was at school, where we were bound by the school rules at all times whilst in uniform. Wether in school or not.)

My second and final tale for now, is one that is not uncommon in my line of work, but is certainly something you don't get used to:
It is a fairly regular thing to see groups of people ranging in age from teens to late 20's standing on motorway bridges doing one of the following over the side: Spitting, urinating, dropping things (usually rotten fruit and veg, bricks, other rubble, usually aimed at trucks or convertibles (in the case of fruit and veg)), dangling each other.
Of course I don't need to go into what could happen if a brick went through the windscreen of a fully laden truck travelling at 56 mph, or if the aforementioned truck has to swerve to avoid such and object, and then the dangers of hanging your mate off the side, who won't be your mate very long if you slip and drop him.

The actions of some people, in my mind bring them into a category that my friend would refer to as "very special", a phrase he reserves for extreme cases of idiocy.

 

[Liam]

I was at a petrol station and was puzzled to notice that the car in front had the petrol pump in it, I cold hear fuel going into the car but there was no driver holding the nozzle. On closer inspection I discovered that the driver had jammed the lever of the pump on 'open' by squeezing a drinks bottle into the frame of the handle whilst he'd gone back into the car to attend to something else.

I was open mouthed at this. Imagine if the pump had fallen out, with the fuel still pouring out as it was jammed open.

Isn't that standard fare in the US? (with the exception of the bottle, of course)

 

[Crossover]

Must have been a couple of years ago that I was following a people carrier, with the boot open due to some large, overhanging items, and a kid sat in the boot holding said items (I think it was chipboard or such like)

On the way, we passed a police car that had stopped another vehicle. Thankfully a short while down the road I saw the same police car again , which came past me with the blues and twos, pulled in front and pulled the vehicle over. Not sure what happened from there but I'm glad the police saw it and pulled them.

As for deltic1989, I would say that is a shocking attitude by the school!

 

[Harbon 1]

In a traffic jam behind an accident, ambulance comes up behind, everyone pulls in to the side, clever lady decides to overtake some cars in front of the ambulance...

Cue the ambulance nearly hitting her and not being able to get round her

 

[richw]

I was at a petrol station and was puzzled to notice that the car in front had the petrol pump in it, I cold hear fuel going into the car but there was no driver holding the nozzle. On closer inspection I discovered that the driver had jammed the lever of the pump on 'open' by squeezing a drinks bottle into the frame of the handle whilst he'd gone back into the car to attend to something else.

I was open mouthed at this. Imagine if the pump had fallen out, with the fuel still pouring out as it was jammed open.

Clearly there are lots of examples of people doing dangerous things rail-wise in terms of trespassing etc. but what's the stupidest behaviour you're seen outside of rail situations?

Not a drinks bottle but many diesel pumps have a lever to lock the handle on to flow so you don't have to stand there holding it, for the purpose of HGV and coaches who will take a considerable time to fill.
When it gets to the click it pops the handle out,

 

[fowler9]

Whilst working on the phones for a social landlord a tenant called saying she could smell gas. It turned out she had got some lads she met in the local pub to drop off an electric cooker and when they ripped out the old gas one she tried to cap off the gas pipe herself. She nearly peed herself laughing as she told me she must have have had a blonde moment as I went frantic sorting out an emergency visit from National Grid or Transco or whatever they called themselves at the time.

 

[Saint66]

About 10 years ago, myself and my sister were round my mother's house, it was about 7pm or 8pm, we had all been suffering head aches and could smell something strange. My sister and I decided to switch everything off and call the gas board.

While we were waiting, what did my mother try and do? She came down stairs and told us she had a great idea, and then proceeded to pull out a match and try and light it (To then light a candle, as we had switched all the electrics over)

We, as you can imagine, weren't best pleased...

 

[fowler9]

Part of the problem is that no matter how safe you are you can unwittingly end up living next door to a complete idiot who has in their hands the power to blow up your street.

 

[Saint66]

Are you somewhat referring to my mother as an idiot? I probably wouldn't disagree much!

 

[90019]

All of a sudden a school child of no more than 13 or 14 years old, threw a large block of snow directly at the windscreen of the bus. My heart stopped, everything was like slow motion. The snow hit the windscreen, which fortunately stayed intact.

I find that in certain places you come to expect that. Gore Avenue up in Gorbridge is the worst that I know of.
When halloween comes round, it's guaranteed that there'll be a call on the radio in the evening about the 'little darlings' throwing eggs at the buses. They also don't throw snowballs in the winter, but instead throw tightly packed ice balls that are full of stones, to try and smash the windows.
Oh, and one of them has a laser pen as well, which they'll occasionally try and shine in your eyes from the top of the hill as you're driving up it. Thankfully I've not seen that for a while.
Frankly, I don't see why we still go up there.

Of course I don't need to go into what could happen if a brick went through the windscreen of a fully laden truck travelling at 56 mph, or if the aforementioned truck has to swerve to avoid such and object, and then the dangers of hanging your mate off the side, who won't be your mate very long if you slip and drop him.

We had a Wright Streetlite demonstrator last year, which went out on it's first day in service at my depot (I was the first one to drive it ), and in the evening had a concrete slab dropped on it from a railway bridge. Not only did it land on the bus, but it went through the windscreen. Thankfully, it hit on the nearside, so the driver was unhurt.
Nobody was ever caught.

 

[starrymarkb]

Not a drinks bottle but many diesel pumps have a lever to lock the handle on to flow so you don't have to stand there holding it, for the purpose of HGV and coaches who will take a considerable time to fill.
When it gets to the click it pops the handle out,

I was thinking that too. Given how long it takes to fill a 50l car tank imagine how long it would take to fill a 900l long range truck tank!

 

[TheEdge]

I was thinking that too. Given how long it takes to fill a 50l car tank imagine how long it would take to fill a 900l long range truck tank!

I thought generally you don't use a normal pump to fill a truck, rather use the the high pressure pumps with multiple hoses supplying the nozzle.

 

[90019]

I thought generally you don't use a normal pump to fill a truck, rather use the the high pressure pumps with multiple hoses supplying the nozzle.

Depends on whether the petrol station actually has them or not.

The one my best friend has to fill his truck at every day doesn't, but the most he does in a day is only a couple of hundred miles, so it's not so bad.

 

[fowler9]

Are you somewhat referring to my mother as an idiot? I probably wouldn't disagree much!

Ha ha, no sorry mate, not at all of course.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

While I haven't seen this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-27440191 myself, obviously, it must surely get an honorary mention in this thread!

Europe goes to the polls next week, but election fever sometimes seems in short supply. Maybe that's not such a bad thing. Author Jeremy Clay tells the tale of a 19th Century election rally and the drunken inventor who fired a torpedo down his own High Street.

The man they came to know as "Wild" Cunningham gazed ruefully down the main street of his home town at a scene of devastation. Wrecked buildings. A flattened shop. Debris littered all around. And a smoke trail, like an accusing finger, leading right back to where he stood.

( Lots more detail follows.... )