Standard of driving

North London is an eye opener in terms of bad driving. But, it's not life threatening, just flipping bad manners, and annoying. Very. Do it every day.

Accidents on motorways, different fish. Should be easy to drive on a motorway but clearly isn't for some. Needs sorting.
 
I do think the standard has decreased, but only because policing is now done by remote camera. If you had regular patrols like they used to before the cuts, then there was a greater chance of being caught or pulled. Now there is effectively zero chance unless you are that 1 in a million, or in an accident with personal injury that requires a police attendance.
For example, Kent has more motorway miles than any other county, and for those motorway miles we have 4 traffic cars. As a result the days of sitting on the ledge watching the traffic, or cruising are gone. They are held at base waiting for a call.
We did have more traffic cars, but budget cuts have taken their effect (not that anyone in power would agree)
 
Bunkermagnet said:
I do think the standard has decreased, but only because policing is now done by remote camera. If you had regular patrols like they used to before the cuts, then there was a greater chance of being caught or pulled. Now there is effectively zero chance unless you are that 1 in a million, or in an accident with personal injury that requires a police attendance.
For example, Kent has more motorway miles than any other county, and for those motorway miles we have 4 traffic cars. As a result the days of sitting on the ledge watching the traffic, or cruising are gone. They are held at base waiting for a call.
We did have more traffic cars, but budget cuts have taken their effect (not that anyone in power would agree)
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Would imagine when Bojo gets in and we rehire 20k bobbies you may have another car to keep the other four company. Surely thats gonna make a massive difference 🧐
 
Liverpoolphil said:
Every 5 years ?! Seriously!

Whilst there does need to be a retest before the age of 70 , every 5 years is just stupid



Patience is easy to control on the road if you plan your journey better and understand that there are many different driving styles out there including people who prefer to drive defensively ( which is the better style )
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What do you call the driving style of those who cruise in the middle lane of the motorway, when the inside lane is empty? I drove to Scotland a few weeks back, and I ended up using my horn to try and let them know they were in the wrong lane. I would like to see the motorway be part of the test, I’ve been in cars with friends who didn’t have a clue how to drive on the motorway, and in some cases the same with their parents.....
 
Wilson said:
What do you call the driving style of those who cruise in the middle lane of the motorway, when the inside lane is empty? I drove to Scotland a few weeks back, and I ended up using my horn to try and let them know they were in the wrong lane. I would like to see the motorway be part of the test, I’ve been in cars with friends who didn’t have a clue how to drive on the motorway, and in some cases the same with their parents.....
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My mum has got friends who won’t drive on a motorway.
I don’t like them but needs must.
I hate the m25 so on Monday after addington I’ll go cross country to the hotel in bagshot
 
I live in a village and often drive through the back roads to avoid the new motorway works that we have on the M20. There are really dangerous bends where, I have to say it, mums on the school run hammer round in their Discoveries, Range Rovers etc etc and really haven't got a clue whether a combine harvester or lorry or whatever are just round the bend. I really cannot understand how they risk their children's safety (and everyone else's) by racing as they do
 
jim8flog said:
When I first started driving the thing about parked cars and whose right of way I investigated with a professional. The answer I was given is that there has to be a line in the middle of road denoting which side is which and in the instance of there not being any line neither party has the right to consider either side of the road as being 'theirs'
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Not what the Highway Code seems to say about it;

  • give way to oncoming vehicles before passing parked vehicles or other obstructions on your side of the road
So no mention of a line there.
 
Impatience is a real problem, especially in cities and on motorways.
People seem so desperate to get from A to B that they will tailgate at 70+ MPH, and cut in front of people at the last minute to take a turn-off making the vehicle they've cut up brake and potentially cause accidents further down.
I do about 25K a year on business and I've just decided to chill. I do 70 MPH on the motorway and get passed by more than those who pass me. I look at the rows of tailgating traffic in the outside lane and am glad I am cruising comfortably at 70 in the inside lane.

Middle lane hoggers are murder on the motorways (whatever happened to the Police crackdown?) and people don't EVER look in their mirrors.
People stopping at T-Junctions in the middle of the lane so if they are turning right and you want to turn left you can't get past.
Cars weaving over the road as people are texting, or playing games on their phones.
There is generally more to distract people in cars these days. When I got my first push button radio, WITH FM, I thought it was class.

The other thing is that modern cars are faster and safer than they were when I started driving so people think they can speed with impunity. And they never think about the consequences of their actions.
And for some reason breaking the speed limit is not seen by many as breaking the law, and they moan if they get caught.

People in cities are generally more aggressive in their driving and in all the places I have been to, I have found Manchester to be continuously the worse for poor road manners.

And as for Ireland, well yes once away from the cities it's nice quiet driving but in Dublin it's the pedestrians who just walk out into the road with the good old Irish "Ah, it'll be grand" mentality.
 
I think there are a few factors at play here.

Rose-tinted spectacles are definitely one of them. Everyone always thinks everything was better in their day, when in fact things like drink driving are much reduced these days.

The zero-sum effect. Driving effectively becomes a zero-sum game like the prisoner's dilemma, if everyone cooperates, everyone gets where they are going quicker. However, if everyone cooperates, it is quicker for an individual to not cooperate and they will benefit to everyone else's cost. Therefore many people do not cooperate and the outcome is everyone loses out.

The other factor is that the UK's roads and driving standards are actually pretty good, if you don't think so, go live and drive in India or China for a while, and it's not even just less developed countries, the USA is one of the worst culprits. The stats for injuries and fatalities bear this out, with the UK being orders of magnitude safer, even when adjusting for the difference in the number of vehicles and distance driven.
 
What would the implications be for dashcam footage to be used in prosecutions? You may end up with self-proclaimed guardians of the road grassing people up left right and centre but if it gets all the white van drivers who think mobile phone rules do not apply to them, or school mums parking wherever they want being fined, I would be all for that.
 
Wilson said:
What do you call the driving style of those who cruise in the middle lane of the motorway, when the inside lane is empty? I drove to Scotland a few weeks back, and I ended up using my horn to try and let them know they were in the wrong lane. I would like to see the motorway be part of the test, I’ve been in cars with friends who didn’t have a clue how to drive on the motorway, and in some cases the same with their parents.....
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All very well but where I live it could take an hour to get to the nearest motorway and potentially an hour back, 15 mins on the motorway going one way then 15 mins back again. That could potentially be a 2.5 hour test. Now you have to factor in a good 15 min break. And with the best will in the world that is not practicable
 
Is correct.
To give an idea...
The Instructor driving test does include a stretch of motorway driving.
As such the Instructor test is only available in places within 15-20 minutes of a motorway - even though the test is an hour instead of 35-40 minutes for the kids.
Where I'm based is 25-30 minutes from a motorway - people who live in Cornwall would have a bit of travelling to do, as would those in some parts of Scotland and Wales.
Just not practical.
What could work is a mandatory post-test training scheme to include motorways.
I do quite a few motorway sessions after test - make it mandatory before going on a motorway.
Although how you would police that is another question.
 
I recently survived 10 days driving south of Preston, so much busier and many more angry impatient selfish drivers.

On the new 4 lane smart motorways I have noticed that the outside lane hoggers still remain in the outside lane whilst the middle lane hoggers have now claimed the second lane as their own. This leaves the first and third lanes generally quiet and drivers seem confused on how to use them.
On many occasions the first lane was empty for miles whilst the other three lanes were busy.

Folk not used to rural single lane driving and moving far too fast for the safety of oncoming traffic/tractors/animals/cyclists/walkers etc
 
Imurg said:
Is correct.
To give an idea...
The Instructor driving test does include a stretch of motorway driving.
As such the Instructor test is only available in places within 15-20 minutes of a motorway - even though the test is an hour instead of 35-40 minutes for the kids.
Where I'm based is 25-30 minutes from a motorway - people who live in Cornwall would have a bit of travelling to do, as would those in some parts of Scotland and Wales.
Just not practical.
What could work is a mandatory post-test training scheme to include motorways.
I do quite a few motorway sessions after test - make it mandatory before going on a motorway.
Although how you would police that is another question.
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That’s a good idea if the motorway test isn’t practical - how about having to put green P plates on your car until you’ve done the motorway training? I’m sure they do similar in Oz.
 
Wilson said:
That’s a good idea if the motorway test isn’t practical - how about having to put green P plates on your car until you’ve done the motorway training? I’m sure they do similar in Oz.
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They tried to bring that in few years ago just after I passed my test (22years). From what I remember bring told by my mates dad who was a Traffic police accident investigator it didn't go to well and they found that people using them felt they were being targeted by some more arrogant drivers. I'm not sure how or why they felt that or how the findings were made, but after that it didn't really take off as a compulsory idea, though you can still get them and put them on cars if you choose to.
 
jim8flog said:
but what is 'your side of the road' if it is not defined:D
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Is it not defined?

Rule 160
Once moving you should
  • keep to the left, unless road signs or markings indicate otherwise. The exceptions are when you want to overtake, turn right or pass parked vehicles or pedestrians in the road
Looks like it's the left then, and again no mention of a line. ;)
 
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