Man of Honour
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Reading all that I think you are the problem.
You need to relax and not think the road is just for you.
Bad driving in the UK - What is the solution?
- Thread starter AshD93
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Reading all that I think you are the problem.
You need to relax and not think the road is just for you.
Quoted for the truth, I can barely believe that he would admit that. Like someone has posted I believe it's largely about attitudes and to admit having little idea about the highway code without doing something to rectify the problem is mind boggling.[TW]Fox;28933152 said:
bang on.
Who cares if you touch the kerb whilst performing a 3 point turn ? and not once in my driving life have I had to reverse round a corner whilst perfectly shadowing the kerb.
Change the test to focus on less on car control and more on road etiquette. I also think motorway lessons like Pass Plus should be mandatory before you're allowed on the motorway. Introduce a separate category on your license for it with a separate test.
Not sure if serious (FB comment lol) but I'll bite anyway - It was a A road with plenty of opertunity to turn off and stop. Driving ability? On a straight road...
I disagree. I did not tail gate nor overtake hurridely nor cause them any issues. You're supporting drivers who had no consideration for other users in the road and then tell me I need to relax and learn the road is not just for me when other drivers are driving like the road is just for them. .
I've just taken my Class C test and that has a much bigger emphasis on your effect on other drivers. No surprise in a 13 ton truck.
People who complain about UK driving really need to go explore the world ! Russia isn't that bad, they certainly don't hang about but you won't get anywhere in Moscow of you drive like we do here. I think I have seen more bad driving in the US.
People who complain about UK driving really need to go explore the world ! Russia isn't that bad, they certainly don't hang about but you won't get anywhere in Moscow of you drive like we do here. I think I have seen more bad driving in the US.
I've been an instructor for my sins and this is one of the biggest problems with trying to turn out a considerate driver. You can teach almost anyone to drive, given enough time and patience. But instilling an attitude in someone who thinks they know better or can't be bothered is extremely difficult. You can point out the hazards, danger to life, even cost to them if it all goes wrong, but if they don't want to see it they never will. Well maybe not never, but certainly not until they wreck a car or two and realise they cannot afford to keep replacing cars or have hurt someone. It's also to do with how they perceive hazards or more to the point not perceive them. We've all been young and had that feeling of immortality and over confidence in our own abilities. If we are lucky we look back and say yeah I was a loon at that age but luckily got away with it.
What people may not be aware of is how much of the attitude to driving their kids have is learned from their parents, friends, siblings. If you're constantly exposed to someone driving like a tool, you inherit those traits to some degree. Leaning someone to drive can be as much about trying to un-learn what they believe to be correct and proper. Also the notion that instructors don't spend time trying to teach and instil good road etiquette, manner, craft, whatever you want to call it is miles away from the truth. Generally parents find it difficult to hear that butter wouldn't melt in his mouth "Jack" is immature, reckless little brat that no amount of instruction will change.
Without doubt the system has it's weaknesses, Motorway training is the one people always rant about. But people have the skills and knowledge they need, the problem is the can't be bothered to apply it or think the rules don't apply to them.
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Man of Honour
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So when was the last time you sat down with the Highway Code and flicked through it?
I reckon I could go out on the streets now asking drivers when they last looked at the Highway Code and I absolutely know most would admit it was when they passed their test.
There is no reason why any driver should do this once they've passed their test BUT THERE SHOULD BE.
Like I said twice, you pass your test and then let out in control of a big piece of metal.
Update,
There are 4 adults in my house right now besides me - 56, 52, 35 & 28 and all have given the answer above.
I think what Jeremy Clarkson said with regards to people having an interest in cars usually shows they are more careful and aware on the road. Talking to colleagues at work and my other half talking about her friends and their cars I'm scared to be on the road if that's the status quo.
Cheapest of the cheap Ling long ditch finders because tyres are tyres right? No idea about tyre pressures or how to pump a tyre. No idea how to do basic maintenance on their car. If they have no sense when it comes to the basic upkeep of a moving tonne of metal why would they think about their driving ability?
I think more needs to be done with understanding the physics of cars with FWD, AWD and RWD so that people can drive accordingly and also stress stopping distances even further.
I take a bit of a hard line approach when it comes to people talking about cars and lack of funds to keep it in good working order for their safety and others. If you can't afford safe tyres you shouldn't be on the road.
I think teaching people correct use of merge lanes would be a good start!
Cheapest of the cheap Ling long ditch finders because tyres are tyres right? No idea about tyre pressures or how to pump a tyre. No idea how to do basic maintenance on their car. If they have no sense when it comes to the basic upkeep of a moving tonne of metal why would they think about their driving ability?
I think more needs to be done with understanding the physics of cars with FWD, AWD and RWD so that people can drive accordingly and also stress stopping distances even further.
I take a bit of a hard line approach when it comes to people talking about cars and lack of funds to keep it in good working order for their safety and others. If you can't afford safe tyres you shouldn't be on the road.
I think teaching people correct use of merge lanes would be a good start!
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Apart from the agreement you sign when you accept your licence stating that you will.
Granted those with licences that could fetch a pretty penny on antiques roadshow may not have had to do that but I'm pretty sure it's not a particularly new thing.
Edit - you won't even have to read the whole thing any more either, they publish update lists now
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/updates
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Soldato
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I blame all the none Brits for all the bad driving 
and all the under 25s and BMW/Audi drivers as well
and all the under 25s and BMW/Audi drivers as well
Quite honestly, yes. I've seen numerous drivers perform manoeuvres or drive in a manner that would be an instant fail in a test. From cutting lanes, pulling out without looking and my favourite from my old house.... driving the wrong way down a one way street. Drivers hesitating and causing queues because they don't have the confidence to be driving and people who don't have proper control of a vehicle or any idea how to check/maintain it.
There are countless people who passed their test decades ago who aren't fit to be driving now. One of my employees passed when he was 20, he's now 50-ish and has a medical condition where he blinks too frequently and too aggressively. We always joked about how on earth he makes it to work each day, then a couple of months ago he crashed into a motorcyclist and wrote his car off. The guy on the bike was in hospital for weeks. I'm fairly confident he wouldn't have been able to pass his test if a retest system was in place and that may have saved the motorcyclist the pain he's obviously gone through. Since the accident he's been deemed unfit to have a license and now walks to work so why wasn't this put in place sooner?
I think a separate motorway test should be mandatory as well within 6 months of passing your initial test.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
They won't do this stuff in a test.
How do you think residents of Penzance, Thurso or Weymouth should deal with that?
[TW]Fox;28934840 said:
Wrong lanes, hesitation and lack of observation is definitely looked for in a test. Force of habit is a hard thing to overcome
Book a motorway test and drive to a motorway
I don't really get the point you're trying to make, you'll have to be more clear.Wrong lanes, hesitation and lack of observation is definitely looked for in a test. Force of habit is a hard thing to overcome
Book a motorway test and drive to a motorway
His point is that there is a vast section of the population who live absolutely nowhere near a motorway, so it would be impractical to expect them to drive hundreds of miles just to drive on one.
Maybe a week ago but I prior to that I had much more than little idea of what it contained.
Then they wouldn't be legal to drive on one. I fail to see the difference between having to pay a lot of money and spend a lot of time to be allowed a car license and having to do the same for an extended motorway license.
The root of the problem in most cases is not that people can't drive properly, it's that they won't.
As long as they get from A to B they simply do not care if they cut you up by skipping a queue in the wrong lane, they don't care which lane they go on at a roundabout, they don't care if the gap is really big enough, they don't care if their car is fast enough to make that overtake...
As long as they get from A to B they simply do not care if they cut you up by skipping a queue in the wrong lane, they don't care which lane they go on at a roundabout, they don't care if the gap is really big enough, they don't care if their car is fast enough to make that overtake...
Wrong lanes, hesitation and lack of observation is definitely looked for in a test. Force of habit is a hard thing to overcome
Book a motorway test and drive to a motorway
It is over 100 miles from Penzance to the nearest motorway - Thurso is more than 200 miles to the nearest motorway.
Your suggestion is impractical and unworkable. Motorways are about the easiest roads to drive on as well, they do not really require a special test.